Conspiracy Formation Is in the Detail: On the Interaction of Conspiratorial Predispositions and Semantic Cues

Significant events are frequently followed by discussions about the event's ‘true nature’. Yet, there is only little evidence whether the conspiratorial reasoning of conspiracy believers and sceptics is a priori determined, or if certain characteristics of information are responsible for provoking a polarization. We investigated how depicted causation (direct vs. indirect; Study 1) and intention (strong vs. weak purposeful; Study 2) might invoke a bias in believers and sceptics regarding conspiratorial reasoning about an ongoing event, namely, whether US investigations against FIFA were more or less likely to be seen as a conspiracy against Russia to sabotage the football World Cup in 2018. We revealed that judgments of conspiracy believers and sceptics about the event's ‘true nature’ are not a priori divided—in fact, conspiracy formation is only affected when direct causation or strong purposeful intentions were obvious. Results point to the relevance of conspiratorial predispositions and semantic cues in conspiracy formation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymmetries in the production of self-directed behavior by chimpanzees and gorillas during a computerized cognitive test

Self-directed behaviors (SDBs) are a commonly used behavioral indicator of arousal in nonhuman primates. Experimental manipulations, designed to increase arousal and uncertainty, have been used to elicit SDB production in primates. Beyond measuring rates of SDB production, researchers have also recorded their lateralized production by primates, thought to reflect laterality of hemispheric brain control and response to emotion. Although a handful of such studies exist, all have been conducted with chimpanzees. Expanding on this line of inquiry, we tested both chimpanzees (N = 3) and gorillas (N = 3) in a serial learning task presented on a touchscreen interface that incorporated both EASY (two-item list) and HARD (four-item list) versions of the task. Although SDB production by the apes did not differ across the two levels of task complexity, both species produced higher rates of SDB when they made an error, regardless of task difficulty. Furthermore, the apes made more SDB with the left hand—directed to the right side of their body (contralateral SDB) and left side of their body (ipsilateral SDB)—when they made an incorrect response. There was no difference in the rate of SDB produced with the right hand across correct compared to incorrect trials. The apes’ responses reflect previous reports that show humans are quicker at selecting negative emotional stimuli when using their left, compared to their right, hand (the reverse is true for positive stimuli). However, previous work has shown that chimpanzees are more likely to produce (contralateral) SDB with their right hand when aroused and so we discuss our results in relation to these findings and consider how they relate to the ‘right hemisphere’ and ‘valence’ models of emotional processing in apes.     

Stress-Induced Cardiomyopathy and Psychological Wellbeing 1 Year After an Acute Event

Stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) typically presents similar symptoms to acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, these symptoms differ when it comes to a transient and completely reversible myocardial dysfunction, which is frequently precipitated by acute stressful events, occurring in the absence of plaque rupture and coronary thrombosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQL) and emotional burden subsequent to cardiac events in SCM patients. Thirty-seven SCM patients were compared with 37 matched AMI patients. All selected patients were assessed for HRQL and psychological distress at baseline and 1-year after the acute event. After controlling for covariates, scores on the Psychological General Well Being Index indicated that depressed mood had increased in both groups, but the increase for SCM patients was greater than for AMI patients. The AMI group displayed greater decreases than the SCM in physical quality of life and in total cardiac-related health quality of life. The percentage of patients with psychological distress increased significantly more in the SCM group than in the AMI group, and it made no difference whether the triggering event was emotional or physical. Our results suggest that, despite the more favorable medical prognosis of SCM patients, their cardiac condition being transient and resolving completely in few weeks, the psychological impact associated with their condition is more negative 1 year later than in the case of AMI patients whose medical prognosis is less favorable, and this difference is independent of type of trigger event.     

Compassionate Conservatives? Evangelicals,Economic Conservatism,and National Identity

In the United States, white evangelicals are more economically conservative than other Americans. It is commonly assumed that white evangelicals oppose redistributive social policies because of their individualistic theology. Yet Canadian evangelicals are just as supportive of redistributive social policy as other Canadians, even though they share the same tools of conservative Protestant theology. To solve this puzzle, I use multi‐sited ethnography to compare how two evangelical congregations in the United States and Canada talked about poverty and the role of government. In both countries, evangelicals made sense of their religious responsibilities to “the poor” by reference to national identity. Evangelicals used their theological tools differently in the United States and Canada because different visions of national solidarity served as cultural anchors for religious discourse about poverty. To understand the political and civic effects of religion, scholars need to consider the varied ways that religious groups imagine national community within religious practice.     

Fifth-Grade Children’s Daily Experiences of Peer Victimization and Negative Emotions: Moderating Effects of Sex and Peer Rejection

This study examined the relations of fifth-grade children’s (181 boys and girls) daily experiences of peer victimization with their daily negative emotions. Children completed daily reports of peer victimization and negative emotions (sadness, anger, embarrassment, and nervousness) on up to eight school days. The daily peer victimization checklist was best represented by five factors: physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, property attacks, and social rebuff. All five types were associated with increased negative daily emotions, and several types were independently linked to increased daily negative emotions, particularly physical victimization. Girls demonstrated greater emotional reactivity in sadness to social manipulation than did boys, and higher levels of peer rejection were linked to greater emotional reactivity to multiple types of victimization. Sex and peer rejection also interacted, such that greater rejection was a stronger indicator of emotional reactivity to victimization in boys than in girls.     

Proactive Responding to Anticipated Discrimination Based on Chronic Illness: Double-Edged Sword?

Purpose

Proactive strategies for avoiding stigmatization may prevent work-related discrimination (Singletary and Hebl J Appl Psychol 94:797–805, 2009), yet these strategies may also cause strain in the stigmatized. We tested a model in which previous workplace discrimination experiences and anticipated future workplace discrimination related to proactive responses (compensatory behaviors and concealing behaviors), which, in turn, related to job tension.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Survey data were obtained from 332 workers with chronic illnesses. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships.

Findings

Perceived previous discrimination directly related to anticipated future discrimination and indirectly related to compensatory and concealing behaviors. Anticipated discrimination directly related to compensatory and concealing behaviors, and indirectly related to job tension through compensatory behaviors. Compensatory behaviors were, but concealing behaviors were not, related to job tension.

Implications

Workers with chronic illness should be educated on ways to mitigate the negative effects of compensatory behaviors, including ensuring adequate opportunities to replenish resources. Organizations should provide assistance to these workers through Employee Assistance Programs or other types of job counseling. Organization leaders and supervisors have a responsibility to build an environment of acceptance for those with chronic illness in order to reduce potential discrimination.

Originality/Value

While proactive strategies are effective in reducing negative outcomes of stigmatization, little research has explored their potential downsides. We highlight the “double-edged sword” nature of compensatory behaviors. In addition, while a large proportion of U.S. workers are managing chronic illness, this population is understudied.     

Testing the dimensional comparison theory: When do students prefer dimensional comparisons to social and temporal comparisons?

Students compare their achievement in a subject with their classmates’ achievements (social comparison), their own prior achievements (temporal comparison), and their achievements in other subjects (dimensional comparison), which can each be better (upward comparison), equal (lateral comparison), or worse (downward comparison). Prior research has investigated the impact of different comparison motivations on the prevalence of social and temporal comparisons, but no study has examined the same for dimensional comparisons yet. The present study closes this gap: A total of 605 German high school students were presented with four situations, in which a fictitious student receives the same objective feedback for an exam in a certain subject, but is motivated either to evaluate, to enhance, to improve, or to differentiate himself. For each comparison motivation, the participants judged how likely the fictitious student was to draw dimensional, social, and temporal upward, lateral, and downward comparisons. As a central result, dimensional comparisons in all directions had the highest prevalences under the self-differentiation motivation. In contrast, the prevalences of dimensional comparisons were relatively low under the other three motivations. This finding complements the recently developed dimensional comparison theory. For the first time, we could empirically show that dimensional comparisons primarily serve self-differentiation motivations.     

Renegotiating Identity: A Phenomenological Investigation of the College Transition for Former High School Athletes No Longer Engaged in Varsity Competition

A breadth of research has examined the influence of athletic identity on college student-athlete experiences (e.g., Harrison et al., 2011; Lally & Kerr, 2005). In addition, scholars have investigated role transition among college student-athletes at the end of their eligibility (e.g., Taylor & Ogilvie, 2001; Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004). However, despite that 97% of high school athletes will not participate collegiately (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2016), little attention has been paid to identity renegotiation among college students who discontinued sport participation after high school. The present study was designed to fill this gap by addressing the impact of sport disengagement on former high school athletes no longer engaged in varsity competition during the first year of college. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 university freshmen at three time points: the end of the first month, the end of the first semester, and the end of the first year. Commonalities among participants’ transition experiences were identified. Findings yielded three major themes, role transition, identity renegotiation, and reflection and projection, each being facilitated by the building of camaraderie. Findings deepen current understanding of role transition and identity renegotiation and offer directions for future research related to sense of self during the college transition.     

How to become a Bayesian in eight easy steps: An annotated reading list

In this guide, we present a reading list to serve as a concise introduction to Bayesian data analysis. The introduction is geared toward reviewers, editors, and interested researchers who are new to Bayesian statistics. We provide commentary for eight recommended sources, which together cover the theoretical and practical cornerstones of Bayesian statistics in psychology and related sciences. The resources are presented in an incremental order, starting with theoretical foundations and moving on to applied issues. In addition, we outline an additional 32 articles and books that can be consulted to gain background knowledge about various theoretical specifics and Bayesian approaches to frequently used models. Our goal is to offer researchers a starting point for understanding the core tenets of Bayesian analysis, while requiring a low level of time commitment. After consulting our guide, the reader should understand how and why Bayesian methods work, and feel able to evaluate their use in the behavioral and social sciences.     

Can Self‐Determination Theory Explain the Self‐Perpetuation of Social Innovations? A Case Study of Slow Food at the University of Wisconsin—Madison

This case study of Slow Food at the University of Wisconsin—Madison (SFUW) examines the success of a volunteer social innovation that promotes sustainable food access. Using inductive thematic analysis of 19 in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews of past and current members, advisors, and collaborators, we find that the success of SFUW is consistent with Self‐Determination Theory. We find that among the participants, the organization satisfies the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn support intrinsic motivation. In this way, volunteering tasks become interesting, fun, and are more likely to be performed over time. The findings suggest that needs fulfillment and intrinsic motivation are linked to creating a self‐propagating social innovation where volunteers generate new ideas and successfully transfer skills to others. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.