Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Do the disadvantaged legitimize the social system? A large-scale test of the status–legitimacy hypothesis.
System justification theory (SJT) posits that members of low-status groups are more likely to see their social systems as legitimate than members of high-status groups because members of low-status groups experience a sense of dissonance between system motivations and self/group motivations (Jost, Pelham, Sheldon, & Sullivan, 2003). The author examined the status–legitimacy hypothesis using data from 3 representative sets of data from the United States (American National Election Studies and General Social Surveys) and throughout the world (World Values Survey; total N across studies = 151,794). Multilevel models revealed that the average effect across years in the United States and countries throughout the world was most often directly contrary to the status–legitimacy hypothesis or was practically zero. In short, the status–legitimacy effect is not a robust phenomenon. Two theoretically relevant moderator variables (inequality and civil liberties) were also tested, revealing weak evidence, null evidence, or contrary evidence to the dissonance-inspired status–legitimacy hypothesis. In sum, the status–legitimacy effect is not robust and is unlikely to be the result of dissonance. These results are used to discuss future directions for research, the current state of SJT, and the interpretation of theoretically relevant but contrary and null results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Perspective taking and automatic intergroup evaluation change: Testing an associative self-anchoring account.
The current research adopted a multipronged mediational approach to test an associative self-anchoring account of automatic intergroup evaluation change following perspective taking. We contend that actively contemplating outgroup members' perspectives strengthens associative links between that outgroup and the self, enabling a transfer of positive automatic self-evaluations to the group. A first set of experiments, using both measurement-of-mediation and experimental-causal-chain designs, supported a model in which strengthened self–outgroup associations underlie perspective taking's positive effects on automatic intergroup evaluations. Additional experiments, using a moderation-of-process design, found that the benefits of perspective taking were attenuated when measured or manipulated automatic self-evaluations were relatively negative, preventing positive associative transfer. A final experiment uncovered a practical downstream implication of our causal model, as perspective-taking-induced changes in automatic intergroup evaluations were still evident 1 day later. Overall, these findings supported our associative self-anchoring account; additional analyses found no support for an alternative, empathy-based account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Automatic effort mobilization and the principle of resource conservation: One can only prime the possible and justified.
Two experiments tested the idea that the principle of resource conservation moderates and limits automaticity effects on effort mobilization. Effort-related cardiovascular response was assessed in cognitive tasks with different levels of task difficulty (Experiment 1) and success incentive (Experiment 2) during which participants were exposed to suboptimally presented action versus inaction primes. As expected, implicit activation of the action concept resulted in stronger effort-related cardiovascular response than activation of the inaction concept—but only when the task was feasible and success incentive was sufficiently high. Effects on task performance were compatible with those on effort. The findings indicate that the automaticity effect of action/inaction primes on effort mobilization is situated, sensitive to task context, and limited by extreme task difficulty and low incentive. The findings facilitate a theoretical integration of automaticity in effort mobilization with the principle of resource conservation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Interpersonal and genetic origins of adult attachment styles: A longitudinal study from infancy to early adulthood.
One of the assumptions of attachment theory is that individual differences in adult attachment styles emerge from individuals' developmental histories. To examine this assumption empirically, the authors report data from an age 18 follow-up (Booth-LaForce & Roisman, 2012) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a longitudinal investigation that tracked a cohort of children and their parents from birth to age 15. Analyses indicate that individual differences in adult attachment can be traced to variations in the quality of individuals' caregiving environments, their emerging social competence, and the quality of their best friendship. Analyses also indicate that assessments of temperament and most of the specific genetic polymorphisms thus far examined in the literature on genetic correlates of attachment styles are essentially uncorrelated with adult attachment, with the exception of a polymorphism in the serotonin receptor gene (HTR2A rs6313), which modestly predicted higher attachment anxiety and which revealed a Gene × Environment interaction such that changes in maternal sensitivity across time predicted attachment-related avoidance. The implications of these data for contemporary perspectives and debates concerning adult attachment theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Simulating social dilemmas: Promoting cooperative behavior through imagined group discussion.
[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 104(5) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2013-13780-004). In the article there was an error in Table 6. The standard deviations listed under the Cooperative commitments heading are incorrect. The correct SD values are: 1.90 (6 person), 1.66 (12 person), and 0.86 (24 person).] A robust finding in social dilemmas research is that individual group members are more likely to act cooperatively if they are given the chance to discuss the dilemma with one another. The authors investigated whether imagining a group discussion may represent an effective means of increasing cooperative behavior in the absence of the opportunity for direct negotiation among decision makers. Five experiments, utilizing a range of task variants, tested this hypothesis. Participants engaged in a guided simulation of the progressive steps required to reach a cooperative consensus within a group discussion of a social dilemma. Results support the conclusion that imagined group discussion enables conscious processes that parallel those underlying the direct group discussion and is a strategy that can effectively elicit cooperative behavior. The applied potential of imagined group discussion techniques to encourage more socially responsible behavior is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Buffering attachment-related avoidance: Softening emotional and behavioral defenses during conflict discussions.
This study examined whether partners can soften the defenses associated with attachment-related avoidance. Heterosexual couples (N = 180) were video-recorded having 2 discussions in which 1 partner (the agent of influence) wanted the other partner (the target of influence) to change in some way. After rating how successful the discussion was in producing change, agents and targets reviewed their discussions. At the end of every 30 s of the interaction, they reported how angry they were during that portion of the discussion. For each 30-s interval, objective coders rated the extent to which targets of influence exhibited withdrawal and agents of influence (partners) softened their influence by being sensitive to targets' autonomy needs and by conveying that targets were valued. As predicted, avoidant targets showed greater anger and withdrawal when they were the target of their partner's influence, and these defensive reactions were associated with less successful discussions. However, analyzing within-person changes in emotions and behavior across the discussion revealed that avoidant targets' anger and withdrawal were attenuated at points during the discussion when their partners exhibited higher levels of softening communication. Between-person analyses comparing average levels of anger and partner softening across dyads also revealed that avoidant targets whose partners engaged in more softening experienced less anger and, in turn, couples' discussions were more successful. These results highlight the importance of dyadic processes in understanding the impact of attachment insecurity on relationships, and indicate that partners can buffer avoidant defenses by down-regulating anger and circumventing withdrawal during conflict discussions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Does life seem better on a sunny day? Examining the association between daily weather conditions and life satisfaction judgments.
Weather conditions have been shown to affect a broad range of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The current study examines whether these effects extend to life satisfaction judgments. We examine the association between daily weather conditions and life satisfaction in a representative sample of over 1 million Americans from all 50 states who were assessed (in a cross-sectional design) over a 5-year period. Most daily weather conditions were unrelated to life satisfaction judgments, and those effects that were significant reflect very small effects that were only detectable because of the extremely high power of these analyses. These results show that weather does not reliably affect judgments of life satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Intellect: A theoretical framework for personality traits related to intellectual achievements.
The present article develops a theoretical framework for the structure of personality traits related to intellectual achievements. We postulate a 2-dimensional model, differentiating between 2 processes (Seek and Conquer) and 3 operations (Think, Learn, and Create). The framework was operationalized by a newly developed measure, which was validated based on 2 samples. Subsequently, in 3 studies (overall N = 1,478), the 2-dimensional structure of the Intellect framework was generally supported. Additionally, subdimensions of the Intellect framework specifically predicted conceptually related criteria, including scholastic performance, vocational interest, and leisure activities. Furthermore, results from multidimensional scaling and higher order confirmatory factor analyses show that the framework allows for the incorporation of several constructs that have been proposed on different theoretical backgrounds, such as need for cognition, typical intellectual engagement, curiosity, intrinsic motivation, goal orientation, and openness to ideas. It is concluded that based on the Intellect framework, these constructs, which have been researched separately in the literature, can be meaningfully integrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Neuroticism as distancing: Perceptual sources of evidence.
Several theories and self-reported sources of data link individual differences in negative affectivity to avoidance motivation. Chronic avoidance motivation, through repeated practice, may result in a relatively cognitive distance-enhancing dynamic whereby events and stimuli are perceived as further away from the self, even when they are not threatening. Such predictions are novel but follow from cybernetic theories of self-regulation. In 5 studies (total N = 463), relations of this type were investigated. Study 1 presented participants with phrases that were ambiguous and found that trait negative affect predicted phrase interpretation in a distance-enhancing temporal direction. Study 2 replicated this effect across a systematic manipulation of event valence. Study 3 asked individuals to estimate the size of words and found that individuals higher in neuroticism generally perceived words to be smaller than did individuals lower in neuroticism. In Study 4, people high (but not low) in neuroticism perceived words to be shrinking faster than they were growing. In Study 5, greater perceptual distancing, in a font size estimation task, predicted more adverse reactions to negative events in daily life. Although normative effects varied across studies, consistent support for a chronic distancing perspective of individual differences in negative affectivity was found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Isms dimensions: Toward a more comprehensive and integrative model of belief-system components.
Psychological research on beliefs, values, worldview, and ideology has been limited by inadequate structural models to organize the plethora of constructs. The present studies investigate the potential of a dimensional model based on lexical, dictionary-represented -ism concepts to form an organizing structural model. Four isms factors found previously in college samples are shown to replicate in community-sample data with better controls for acquiescent responding. But analyses also reveal a 5th factor involving egalitarianism and inequality-aversion, increasing the comprehensiveness of the structural model. Relations of frequently used constructs (values, authoritarianism, social dominance orientation) to the isms dimensions are detailed, demonstrating both the integrative and value-adding potentials of the model. The possibility of potential additional nonlexical factors (Trust in Government, Ethnocentrism, Xenophobia, and Nativism) is evaluated. Factors identified in these studies are demonstrated to show interesting relations with political-party preference, subjective well-being, and change over time in the Big Five personality dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
Correction to Meleady, Hopthrow, and Crisp (2012).
Reports an error in "Simulating Social Dilemmas: Promoting Cooperative Behavior Through Imagined Group Discussion" by Rose Meleady, Tim Hopthrow and Richard J. Crisp (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Dec 31, 2012, np). In the article there was an error in Table 6. The standard deviations listed under the Cooperative commitments heading are incorrect. The correct SD values are: 1.90 (6 person), 1.66 (12 person), and 0.86 (24 person). (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2012-34997-001.) A robust finding in social dilemmas research is that individual group members are more likely to act cooperatively if they are given the chance to discuss the dilemma with one another. The authors investigated whether imagining a group discussion may represent an effective means of increasing cooperative behavior in the absence of the opportunity for direct negotiation among decision makers. Five experiments, utilizing a range of task variants, tested this hypothesis. Participants engaged in a guided simulation of the progressive steps required to reach a cooperative consensus within a group discussion of a social dilemma. Results support the conclusion that imagined group discussion enables conscious processes that parallel those underlying the direct group discussion and is a strategy that can effectively elicit cooperative behavior. The applied potential of imagined group discussion techniques to encourage more socially responsible behavior is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology - Vol 104, Iss 5