Exposure to national flags reduces tax evasion: Evidence from the United States,Australia, and Britain

There have been numerous theories from numerous academic fields explaining why individuals engage in tax evasion. Drawing broadly on Social Identity Theory, we predict that exposure to one's national flag can reduce tax evasion by making salient one's national identity, motivating one to sacrifice one's self-interests for one's country—which would presumably include paying one's fair share of taxes. In three experiments, we found that exposure to American, Australian, and British flags reduced Americans', Australians', and Britons' tax evasion in financially incentivized tasks (Experiments 1, 3) and increased tax-paying attitudes (Experiment 2). The effects arose because flag primes made salient participants' national identities that then motivated them to help their country. We ruled out social norms and trust in authorities as alternative explanations. As such, flag primes might reduce tax evasion and in doing so improve the economic and societal welfare of a country.     

How Exposure to the Confederate Flag Affects Willingness to Vote for Barack Obama

Leading up to the 2008 U.S. election, pundits wondered whether Whites, particularly in Southern states, were ready to vote for a Black president. The present paper explores how a common Southern symbol—the Confederate flag—impacted willingness to vote for Barack Obama. We predicted that exposure to the Confederate flag would activate negativity toward Blacks and result in lowered willingness to vote for Obama. As predicted, participants primed with the Confederate flag reported less willingness to vote for Obama than those primed with a neutral symbol. The flag did not affect willingness to vote for White candidates. In a second study, participants primed with the Confederate flag evaluated a hypothetical Black target more negatively than controls. These results suggest that exposure to the Confederate flag results in more negative judgments of Black targets. As such, the prevalence of this flag in the South may have contributed to a reticence for some to vote for Obama because of his race.     

Public Support for Political Compromise on a Volatile Racial Issue: Insight from the Survey Experiment

In 2000, South Carolina officials, after years of political wrangling over the flying of the Confederate flag over the state capitol, finally removed it, placing it at a Confederate monument on the statehouse grounds. Here, via iterative survey experimentation, I look at the public response to the political compromise required to bring down the flag. I show that the public did respond positively to the multifaceted compromise and that black flag opponents were much more likely than white flag proponents to support the compromise. I also show that more white flag proponents can be swayed to support the compromise if they understand that it is supported by a majority of South Carolinians, thus breaking their misperception of the issue. Flag proponents, however, do not respond more positively to compromise simply because it is the by‐product of white and black negotiations. The political process necessarily evokes competitive intergroup attitudes. Can we think about process in a way that redirects these attitudes and makes political compromise more acceptable?     

The effects of confederate influence and confidence on the accuracy of crime judgements

Building on recent work which has investigated social influences on memory and remembering, the present experiment examined the effects of social pressure and confederate confidence on the accuracy and confidence of eyewitnesses. Sixty undergraduate participants watched a video of a staged mugging and then answered questions about the video out loud in the presence of either one or three confederates who had also watched the film with them. Unbeknownst to the participant, the confederate(s) always gave incorrect responses to four out of the eight questions. Participants and confederates were also asked to give confidence scores out loud for each of their answers. Again, unbeknownst to the participant, the confederate(s) always expressed either high or low confidence scores for the incorrect information, depending on condition. Participants gave fewer correct answers, and were less confident, in the presence of three, as opposed to one, confederates. Participants were also more confident, yet no more accurate, when the confederate(s) gave high, as opposed to low, confidence scores. Thus the presumed independence of evidence given by multiple witnesses cannot be safely assumed.     

物体受力分析正误样例组合的学习效果

分别采用正误样例组合、有无错误标记的正误样例组合和有标记的正误样例配对组合设计方法,以物体受力分析正误样例为实验材料,以初中三年级学生为被试进行3项实验,考察了被试物体受力分析图正误样例组合的学习效果。结果表明,正误样例组合的学习成绩显著优于正确样例组合的学习成绩;有标记的正误样例组合的学习成绩显著优于无标记样例组合的学习成绩;有标记正误样例配对组合的学习成绩明显优于正确样例组合的学习成绩。     

Holding your flag: The effects of exposure to a regional symbol on people's behavior

Research has shown that exposure to the national flag alters people's behavior and political and intergroup judgments. In several field studies conducted in an area of France with a strong regional identity, we examined the effect of the presence of the regional flag versus the national flag versus no flag on behaviors. Various situations (e.g., money solicitation, implicit helping behavior, food tasting) were tested in Brittany, on the French west Atlantic coast. Car drivers, passersby in the street, and patrons in bakeries were exposed to no flag versus the French flag versus the Brittany flag held by requesters or presented on a product or on a car. Findings showed that the regional flag increased helping behavior dramatically. Other studies also revealed that the presence of the Brittany flag reduced aggressiveness and influenced preference for food products. The power of a flag as a symbol that could increase in‐group membership is discussed.     

Sowing Patriotism,But Reaping Nationalism? Consequences of Exposure to the American Flag

The American flag is a frequently displayed national symbol in the United States. Given its high visibility and importance, the present research examines the consequences of exposure to the flag on Americans' sense of national attachment. We hypothesized that the flag would increase patriotism, defined as love and commitment to one's country, and nationalism, defined as a sense of superiority over others. Two experimental studies supported the idea that the American flag increased nationalism, but not necessarily patriotism. The discussion focuses on the practices surrounding the American flag and its implications for the reproduction of American national identity.