Blaming a Few Bad Apples to Save a Threatened Barrel: The System‐Justifying Function of Conspiracy Theories

This research demonstrates that conspiracy theories—often represented as subversive alternatives to establishment narratives—may bolster, rather than undermine, support for the social status quo when its legitimacy is under threat. A pilot study (N = 98) found a positive relationship between conspiracy belief and satisfaction with the status quo. In Study 1 (N = 120), threatening (vs. affirming) the status quo in British society caused participants to endorse conspiracy theories. In Study 2 (N = 159), exposure to conspiracy theories increased satisfaction with the British social system after this had been experimentally threatened. In Study 3 (N = 109), this effect was mediated by the tendency for participants exposed (vs. not exposed) to conspiracy theories to attribute societal problems relatively more strongly to small groups of people rather than systemic causes. By blaming tragedies, disasters, and social problems on the actions of a malign few, conspiracy theories can divert attention from the inherent limitations of social systems.     

Social representations of health and illness: the case of the Chinese community in England

This paper reports results from a qualitative study on social representations of health and illness among the Chinese community in England. It is assumed that representations of health and illness are grounded in cultural frameworks and are constructed through communication, social interaction and the practices of daily life. Our findings show that in spite of differences related to age and degrees of acculturation, Chinese people in England share a common representational system with respect to health and illness. This system is based on the traditional notions of “balance” and “harmony” between the interdependent forces of Yin and Yang. Health results from balance, whereas illness is brought about by disequilibrium. It is through these traditional Chinese concepts that Western biomedical knowledge is incorporated, producing a mixed representational field where Chinese and Western knowledge co‐exist. This representational field is transmitted through the most fundamental dimensions of culture: food, language and kinship relations. We conclude by showing that social representations of health and illness are inseparable from the struggles over identity experienced by the Chinese people in England. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

线上“秀恩爱”与旁观者主观幸福感的关系:自尊的中介作用和依恋的调节作用

随着互联网技术的普及,社交网站已经成为个体日常生活的重要部分,对个体的社会发展和社会适应产生重要影响。为探讨线上“秀恩爱”与旁观者主观幸福感的关系,以及自尊和依恋在其中的作用,本研究采用问卷法对458名成人进行了调查。结果表明：（1）被动接受“秀恩爱”程度越高,个体的主观幸福感和自尊越低。（2）自尊在被动接受“秀恩爱”程度与主观幸福感之间存在中介效应,被动接受“秀恩爱”程度越高,会引发个体自尊下降,进一步降低主观幸福感。（3）依恋焦虑在被动接受“秀恩爱”程度与自尊之间有调节效应,当依恋焦虑水平较低时,被动接受“秀恩爱”程度对自尊的削弱效应较强。     

The Influence of Arbitrary Breakpoints on Judgments of Maximum Output

Consumers often wonder about the product's maximum output: the highest rotation speed of a blender or the best printing quality of a printer. We examine how the number of levels (e.g., a blender with 3 vs. 7 speeds) influences judgments of maximum product output. Objectively speaking, the number of levels is no more than a set of breakpoints in an already predetermined continuum from the product's minimum to maximum output. Nevertheless, because of the ubiquitous association between number of breakpoints and quantity in daily life, consumers do not simply view more levels as a signal of greater precision (i.e., giving consumers more control over the possible outputs). They also incorrectly believe that the product has greater power (i.e., a higher maximum output), even when such an inference is in conflict with diagnostic attribute information (e.g., watts). A series of five studies documents the phenomenon, its asymmetric nature, and its boundary conditions. Reliance on the inaccurate “more levels, more power” lay theory weakens when participants consider a reduction rather than an increase in number of levels, and it disappears when the consumer is presented with an explicit relationship between each level and its corresponding output value (e.g., level 4:400 W).     

Coaching the quiet: Exploring coaches’ beliefs about shy children in a sport context

Organized sports may enhance the social skills and peer relationships of shy children. Interactions with coaches may be critical determinants of these benefits. Thus, our goal was to explore coaches’ beliefs, attitudes, and responses to shy children. Participants were 447 undergraduate students (343 female; M_age = 19.39 years, SD = 2.12) with coaching experience. Participants indicated their anticipated behaviours, emotions, and perceived implications in response to hypothetical children exhibiting shy, unsociable, and verbally exuberant behaviours in a sport context. Coaches viewed shy behaviour more problematically than both verbally exuberant and unsociable behaviours, anticipating the most negative implications for shy children’s peer relationships, development, and team performance and supporting the use of differential coaching strategies. However, despite reporting the most worry about shyness, coaches were less likely to intervene in response to shyness compared to exuberance. We discuss the implications that our results may have for the adjustment of shy children.     

Lay beliefs about meaning in life: Examinations across targets,time, and countries

We examined how lay beliefs about meaning in life relate to experiences of personal meaning. In Study 1 (N = 406) meaning in life was perceived to be a common experience, but one that requires effort to attain, and these beliefs related to levels of meaning in life. Participants viewed their own lives as more meaningful than the average person’s, and technology as both creating challenges and providing supports for meaning. Study 2 (N = 1719) showed cross-country variation in levels of and beliefs about meaning across eight countries. However, social relationships and happiness were identified as the strongest sources of meaning in life consistently across countries. We discuss the value of lay beliefs for understanding meaning in life both within and across cultures.     

When and How Different Motives Can Drive Motivated Political Reasoning

It is commonly assumed that the effectiveness of political messages depends on people's motivations. Yet, studies of politically motivated reasoning typically only consider what partisans generally might want to believe and do not separately examine the different types of motives that likely underlie these wants. The present research explores the roles of distinct types of motives in politically motivated thinking and identifies the conditions under which motivated reasoners are persuaded by political messages. Results of an experiment with a large, representative sample of Republicans show that manipulations inducing motivations for either (1) forming accurate impressions, (2) affirming moral values, or (3) affirming group identity each increased beliefs in and intentions to combat human-induced climate change, but only when also paired with political messages that are congruent with the induced motivation. We also find no evidence of a backlash effect even when individuals are provided with clearly uncongenial information and a motivation to reject it. Overall, our findings make clear that understanding when and why motivated political reasoning occurs requires a more complete understanding of both which motivations might be active among a group of partisans and how these motivations resonate with the messaging they receive.     

Conspiracist beliefs,intuitive thinking,and schizotypal facets: A further evaluation

This study examined whether thinking style mediated relationships between belief in conspiracy and schizotypy facets. A UK-based sample of 421 respondents completed the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS), Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences Short (O-Life), and measures indexing preferential thinking style (proneness to reality testing deficits and Need for Cognition). Path analysis revealed direct and indirect relationships between Conspiracy Beliefs and schizotypy facets. Unusual Experiences had a direct effect on Conspiracy Beliefs and predicted Reality Testing and Need for Cognition. Preferential thinking style mediated the schizotypy-belief in conspiracy relationship. This pattern of results (higher experiential-based processing and lower Need for Cognition) was consistent with intuitive thinking. Introverted Anhedonia and Impulsive Nonconformity predicted Reality Testing and had indirect effects on Conspiracy Beliefs. Finally, Reality Testing predicted Conspiracy Beliefs, whereas Need for Cognition did not. These results confirm that cognitive processes related to thinking style mediate the schizotypy-conspiracist beliefs relationship.     

How to answer an unanswerable question? Factors affecting correct “don't know” responding in memory tasks

When reporting from memory, people may often be asked unanswerable questions—questions for which the correct answer has never been encoded. These unanswerable questions should be met with an “I don't know” response. Previous research has shown that a manipulation commonly used to enhance memory at retrieval—context reinstatement—reduces appropriate “do not know” responding to unanswerable questions. Here we investigated whether this reduction is due to increased belief that a given question is answerable, or solely to increased confidence in specific responses for questions already believed to be answerable. In two experiments, we show that context reinstatement reduces “do not know” responding even when a “do not remember” option is available to express beliefs that particular questions are answerable. These results indicate that improved access to contextual information at retrieval creates an erroneous belief that unanswerable questions are in fact answerable.     

因果判断中经验与共变信息的结合及各自作用

研究使用相继呈现信息的方法控制了被试获得信息的顺序,从而将经验和共变信息在因果判断中所起到的作用分离了出来。结果表明：（1）个体综合两种信息进行因果判断的过程既不是简单的相加操作,也不是使用经验信息控制共变信息的进入,而是先判断经验信息,再判断共变信息是否与之一致,当出现不一致的情况时又重新考虑经验信息。（2）在改变先前判断的过程中,经验信息所起的作用更大,其中又以当其证明待判断原因不可信时所产生的改变更大。