Christ,Country, and Conspiracies? Christian Nationalism,Biblical Literalism,and Belief in Conspiracy Theories

When misinformation is rampant, “fake news” is rising, and conspiracy theories are widespread, social scientists have a vested interest in understanding who is most susceptible to these false narratives and why. Recent research suggests Christians are especially susceptible to belief in conspiracy theories in the United States, but scholars have yet to ascertain the role of religiopolitical identities and epistomological approaches, specifically Christian nationalism and biblical literalism, in generalized conspiracy thinking. Because Christian nationalists sense that the nation is under cultural threat and biblical literalism provides an alternative (often anti-elite) source of information, we predict that both will amplify conspiracy thinking. We find that Christian nationalism and biblical literalism independently predict conspiracy thinking, but that the effect of Christian nationalism increases with literalism. Our results point to the contingent effects of Christian nationalism and the need for the religious variables in understanding conspiracy thinking.     

Analysis of Religious Bias among Christian Students in Science

Christians are notably underrepresented in science in part due to long-standing public perceptions of science-religion incompatibility and antireligious bias in science. This research explores whether undergraduates at a Christian university perceive and impose anti-Christian cultural stigma in science. Survey results from 126 biology students revealed that though students generally perceived the culture of science to be anti-Christian, they perceived Christians to have equal opportunities for scientific achievement. Results from a quasi-experimental audit study, in which students evaluated one of two profiles for mock prospective Ph.D. applicants (Christian or undisclosed faith) showed that students did not project anti-Christian stereotypes in terms of competence, hireability, or likeability, but showed some evidence of pro-Christian favorability. Together, this study suggests that the affirmational community of a Christian University may alleviate some negative impacts of anti-Christian stereotypes in academic biology, even as students perceive discrimination against Christians in science and atheists as more scientifically competent.     

Behavioral extremity moderates the association between certainty in attitudes about COVID and willingness to engage in mitigation-related behaviors

People generally intend to act more on beliefs and attitudes about which they have greater certainty. However, we introduce a boundary condition to the positive association between certainty and behavioral intentions—behavioral extremity. Uncertainty about a threatening issue like COVID-19 can be disconcerting, and we propose that uncertain people cope in part through increased openness to extreme actions like accepting risky medical treatments and aggression toward those defying mitigation policies. Testing this, we compiled and analyzed all the data on certainty about COVID-19 mitigation policies and willingness to engage in mitigation-related behaviors that our lab collected during the pandemic (6 samples, 20 behaviors, Ns up to 1496). External ratings of the behaviors' extremity moderated certainty-willingness associations: whereas greater certainty was associated with increased willingness to engage in moderate behaviors (the typical result), lower certainty was associated with increased willingness to engage in extreme behaviors, especially among those worried about becoming ill.     

The myth of regaining control: Ostracism increases superstitious tendencies

Whether and how interpersonal experiences predispose people to show superstitious tendencies have been largely unexamined by past studies. By adopting a multimethod approach, three studies tested (a) whether ostracism increases superstitious tendencies through thwarted perceived control, (b) whether the dispositional need for closure moderates the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies and (c) whether restoring ostracized people's thwarted control weakens their superstitious tendencies. The results revealed that ostracized participants had higher superstitious tendencies than nonostracized participants did (Studies 1–3). Moreover, thwarted control mediated the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies (Study 2). In addition, the dispositional need for closure moderated the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies, such that the effect was stronger among participants with a high need for closure (Studies 1–2). Finally, restoring ostracized participants' perceived control weakened the effect of ostracism on superstitious tendencies (Study 3). Altogether, these findings feature the essential role of thwarted perceived control in understanding the link between ostracism and superstitious tendencies and the implication of control restoration in weakening the link. They also highlight the importance of dispositional characteristics in moderating people's responses to superstitions following ostracism and related forms of interpersonal maltreatment.     

Defensive Partisanship? Evidence that In-Party Scandals Increase Out-Party Hostility

Contemporary U.S. politics is characterized by polarization and interpartisan antipathy. This is accompanied by a media landscape saturated with coverage of political scandals. Applying a social identity perspective, we examined whether exposure to scandals that threaten partisan's moral group image (i.e., in-party scandals), may motivate defensive hostility against opposing partisans. Across three experiments we exposed U.S. partisans to scandals attributed to either in-party or out-party politicians. We then assessed partisan hostility using a variety of operationalizations, including anger at a real outgroup politician (Study 1), judgments about the alleged misdeeds of a fabricated outgroup politician (Study 2), and negative perceptions of opposing party members (Study 3). Strength of partisan identity was assessed as a predicted moderator (Study 3). As expected in- (vs. out-) party scandals, were perceived as group-image threats and elicited greater hostility towards opposing partisans, independent of partisans' ideological extremity or prior affective polarization.     

Human social defeat and approach–avoidance: Escalating social-evaluative threat and threat of aggression increases social avoidance

Basic research on avoidance by Murray Sidman laid the foundation for advances in the classification, conceptualization and treatment of avoidance in psychological disorders. Contemporary avoidance research is explicitly translational and increasingly focused on how competing appetitive and aversive contingencies influence avoidance. In this laboratory investigation, we examined the effects of escalating social-evaluative threat and threat of social aggression on avoidance of social interactions. During social-defeat learning, 38 adults learned to associate 9 virtual peers with an increasing probability of receiving negative evaluations. Additionally, 1 virtual peer was associated with positive evaluations. Next, in an approach–avoidance task with social-evaluative threat, 1 peer associated with negative evaluations was presented alongside the peer associated with positive evaluations. Approaching peers produced a positive or a probabilistic negative evaluation, while avoiding peers prevented a negative evaluation (and forfeited a positive evaluation). In an approach–avoidance task with social aggression, virtual peers gave and took money away from participants. Escalating social-evaluative threat and aggression increased avoidance, ratings of feeling threatened and threat expectancy and decreased ratings of peer favorableness. These findings underscore the potential of coupling social defeat and approach–avoidance paradigms for translational research on the neurobehavioral mechanisms of social approach–avoidance decision-making and anxiety.     

职场排斥对员工家庭的溢出效应：归属需求和工作家庭区隔偏好的作用

以往研究证实了职场排斥会对员工组织内诸多方面产生危害, 然而关于职场排斥向组织外部特别是家庭领域的溢出效应还知之甚少。本研究基于资源保存理论构建了一个有调节的中介效应模型, 探讨职场排斥对员工家庭贬损和家庭满意度的溢出效应和具体机制, 研究结果表明：(1)职场排斥对员工家庭贬损有显著正向作用, 对家庭满意度有显著负向作用; (2)工作压力中介了职场排斥与家庭贬损和家庭满意度的关系; (3)员工归属需求调节了职场排斥对工作压力的影响, 同时调节了工作压力在职场排斥与家庭贬损、家庭满意度之间的中介效应; (4)员工工作家庭区隔偏好调节了工作压力对家庭贬损和家庭满意度的作用, 并且调节了职场排斥通过工作压力对家庭贬损和家庭满意度的中介效应。     

The legacies of systemic and internalized oppression: Experiences of microaggressions,imposter phenomenon,and stereotype threat on historically marginalized groups

Previous literature has described how people of historically marginalized groups (namely people of color, women, queer and transgender people, people living with disabilities, immigrants, and people of religious minority groups) are likely to internalize negative, oppressive feelings about their identities (David, 2014; David, Schroeder, & Femandez, 2019). For example, studies have found that many women and people of color (and women of color, in particular) experience what has been labeled as imposter phenomenon, or the notion that they are not intelligent or adequate enough, despite evidence that confirms their success or worth. Similarly, people of color and people from other historically marginalized groups are known to experience stereotype threat, or anxiety about performance or behaviors that could confirm biases about a social group they belong to. Finally, previous literature shows that people of historically marginalized groups navigate various types of microaggressions, or subtle or covert biased statements and behaviors that negatively impact their self-esteem, academic performance, mental health, and physical health. While the terms microaggressions, stereotype threat, and imposter phenomenon have been discussed thoroughly in academic literature, less is written about the connections between these concepts. Utilizing intersectionality theory, the current paper will propose an interactional model between these constructs and aims to describe how cumulative effects of microaggressions exacerbate and contribute to internalized oppression. Based on this model, this paper will also provide recommendations for future directions in psychological research and practice.     

错失恐惧对亲社会行为的影响

网络信息的纷繁复杂,让人们担忧因错失信息而导致自身的利益受损,本研究探讨这种现象的加剧对个体的亲社会行为的影响。本研究分别使用问卷法（研究1）和实验法（研究2）,探究错失恐惧对亲社会行为的影响以及在其过程中人际安全感的中介作用和基本心理需要满足的调节作用。结果发现：（1）个体的错失恐惧程度负向预测了其亲社会行为;（2）人际安全感在错失恐惧对亲社会行为的影响中起中介作用,高的错失恐惧水平会降低个体的人际安全感,从而减少个体的亲社会行为;（3）基本心理需要满足在错失恐惧对亲社会行为的负向预测作用中起调节作用,当个体的基本心理需要满足程度低的时候,错失恐惧对亲社会行为的消极影响显著增强。