Faculty Database Psychology and Neuroscience Arts & Sciences Duke University |
||
HOME > Arts & Sciences > pn > Faculty | Search Help Login |
| Publications of Aaron C. Kay :chronological alphabetical by type listing:%% @article{fds371676, Author = {Stanley, ML and Huang, S and Marsh, EJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {The Role of Structure-Seeking in Moral Punishment}, Journal = {Social Justice Research}, Volume = {36}, Number = {4}, Pages = {410-431}, Year = {2023}, Month = {December}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11211-023-00416-8}, Abstract = {Four studies (total N = 1586) test the notion that people are motivated to punish moral rule violators because punishment offers a way to obtain structure and order in the world. First, in a correlational study, increased need for structure was associated with the stronger endorsement punishment for moral rule violators. This relationship between need for structure and punishment was not driven by political conservatism. Three experimental studies then tested, and corroborated, our main causal hypotheses: that threats to structure increase punitive judgments for moral rule violators (i.e., a compensatory mechanism; Study 2) and that a lack of punishment for wrongdoing (relative to punishment for wrongdoing) makes the world seem less structured in the moment (Studies 3 and 4). We compare and contrast our structure-based account of moral punishment to other theories and findings across the punishment literature.}, Doi = {10.1007/s11211-023-00416-8}, Key = {fds371676} } @article{fds373580, Author = {Tang, S and Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Morality's role in the Black Sheep Effect: When and why ingroup members are judged more harshly than outgroup members for the same transgression}, Journal = {European Journal of Social Psychology}, Volume = {53}, Number = {7}, Pages = {1605-1622}, Year = {2023}, Month = {December}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.3001}, Abstract = {When and why might someone judge an ingroup transgressor more harshly than an outgroup transgressor? Taking a social functionalist perspective, we argue that morality is central to this phenomenon–the Black Sheep Effect–and that it is driven by social cohesion concerns. Using mediation and moderation methods across our studies, we find that people judge ingroup (vs. outgroup) transgressors more harshly because of concerns regarding ingroup social cohesion (Studies 1a–4). We also find that ingroup derogation is stronger for moral transgressions than weak or non-moral transgressions (Studies 2 and 3). Throughout our studies, we address alternative explanations, including moral relativism, naïve realism, moral parochialism and belief in a just world. Our work speaks to the emerging contention around the reliability of the Black Sheep Effect by noting when and why it surfaces.}, Doi = {10.1002/ejsp.3001}, Key = {fds373580} } @article{fds370748, Author = {Kay, AC and Ponce de Leon and R and Ho, AK and Kteily, NS}, Title = {Motivated Egalitarianism}, Journal = {Current Directions in Psychological Science}, Volume = {32}, Number = {4}, Pages = {293-299}, Year = {2023}, Month = {August}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09637214231154810}, Abstract = {Much research has examined the link between (anti-)egalitarian ideology and motivated social cognition. However, this research is typically framed around anti-egalitarianism, with the other end of this ideological pole, egalitarianism, often ignored altogether or treated as merely the absence of anti-egalitarian-motivated cognition. We integrate long-standing ideas from social dominance theory with contemporary models of motivated social cognition and a recent wave of empirical findings to argue that egalitarian ideology also drives social cognition in meaningful ways. We discuss why pursuing this avenue of research is important and outline several unanswered questions for future research.}, Doi = {10.1177/09637214231154810}, Key = {fds370748} } @article{fds370323, Author = {Stanley, ML and Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Heroization and ironic funneling effects.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {125}, Number = {1}, Pages = {29-56}, Year = {2023}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000336}, Abstract = {In recent years, much of the American public has venerated military veterans as heroes. Despite overwhelmingly positive public attitudes toward veterans, veterans have experienced higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than their nonveteran peers. The current research leverages theory and research on positive stereotypes to shed light on this seeming inconsistency between the heroization of veterans and their heightened rates of unemployment and underemployment. We conceptualize the hero label as a pervasive positive stereotype, and we employ complementary methods and designs (correlational, quasi-experimental, experimental, and mediational) to investigate the consequences and implications of attaching this label to military veterans. We then extend our theorizing to other heroized groups (e.g., firefighters, paramedics, teachers, and social workers). The results across studies suggest that heroization leads the American public to funnel heroized individuals and groups into a limited set of lower paying jobs, organizations, and careers associated with selflessness. This research not only offers insights into an important real-world problem but also offers a first experimental investigation of the consequences and implications of labeling a group of people as heroes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/pspa0000336}, Key = {fds370323} } @article{fds376863, Author = {Jost, JT and Goya-Tocchetto, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {The Psychology of Left-Right Political Polarization; and an Experimental Intervention for Curbing Partisan Animosity and Support for Antidemocratic Violence}, Journal = {Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science}, Volume = {708}, Number = {1}, Pages = {46-63}, Year = {2023}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00027162241227778}, Abstract = {Healthy democratic polities feature competing visions of a good society. They also require tolerance, trust, and cooperation to avoid toxic polarization that puts democracy itself at risk. In the U.S., liberal-leftists and conservative-rightists differ in many attitudes, values, and personality traits, as well as tendencies to justify the unequal status quo and embrace authoritarian aggression and group-based dominance. Some of these differences imply that conflict between liberal-leftists and conservative-rightists is tantamount to a struggle for and against democratic ideals. However, these political and psychological differences between the left and the right do not necessarily mean that Americans are forever doomed to intergroup hatred and intractable political conflict. Some modest basis for optimism emerges from recent experimental interventions, including one that encourages people to identify with and justify the system of liberal democracy in the U.S.}, Doi = {10.1177/00027162241227778}, Key = {fds376863} } @article{fds367908, Author = {Ma, A and Savani, K and Liu, F and Tai, K and Kay, AC}, Title = {The mutual constitution of culture and psyche: The bidirectional relationship between individuals' perceived control and cultural tightness-looseness.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {124}, Number = {5}, Pages = {901-916}, Year = {2023}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000327}, Abstract = {According to the theory of mutual constitution of culture and psyche, just as culture shapes people, individuals' psychological states can influence culture. We build on compensatory control theory, which suggests that low personal control can lead people to prefer societal systems that impose order, to examine the mutual constitution of personal control and cultural tightness. Specifically, we tested whether individuals' lack of personal control increases their preference for tighter cultures as a means of restoring order and predictability, and whether tighter cultures in turn reduce people's feelings of personal control. Seven studies (five preregistered) with participants from the United States, Singapore, and China examine this cycle of mutual constitution. Specifically, documenting the correlational link between person and culture, we found that Americans lower on personal control preferred to live in tighter states (Study 1). Chinese employees lower on personal control also desired more structure and preferred a tighter organizational culture (Study 2). Employing an experimental causal chain design, Studies 3-5 provided causal evidence for our claim that lack of control increases desire for tighter cultures via the need for structure. Finally, tracing the link back from culture to person, Studies 6a and 6b found that whereas tighter cultures decreased perceptions of individual personal control, they increased people's sense of collective control. Overall, the findings document the process of mutual constitution of culture and psyche: lack of personal control leads people to seek more structured, tighter cultures, and that tighter cultures, in turn, decrease people's sense of personal control but increase their sense of collective control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/pspa0000327}, Key = {fds367908} } @article{fds368557, Author = {Gibbs, WC and Kim, HS and Kay, AC and Sherman, DK}, Title = {Who needs control? A cultural perspective on the process of compensatory control}, Journal = {Social and Personality Psychology Compass}, Volume = {17}, Number = {2}, Year = {2023}, Month = {February}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12722}, Abstract = {Compensatory control theory (CCT) provides a framework for understanding the mechanisms at play when one's personal control is challenged. The model suggests that believing the world is a structured and predictable place is fundamental, insofar as it provides the foundation upon which people can believe they are able to exert control over their environment and act agentically towards goals. Because of this, CCT suggests, when personal control is threatened people try to reaffirm the more foundational belief in structure/predictability in the world, so that they then have a strong foundation to reestablish feelings of personal control and pursue their goals. This review seeks to understand how the basic assumptions of these compensatory control processes unfold in different cultural contexts. Drawing on research and theorizing from cultural psychology, we propose that cultural models of self and agency, culturally prevalent modes of control, and culture-specific motivations all have implications for compensatory control processes. Culture determines, in part, whether or not personal control deprivation is experienced as a threat to perceiving an orderly world, how/whether individuals respond to low personal control, and the function that responses to restore a sense of order in the world serve. A theoretical model of compensatory control processes across cultures is proposed that has implications for how people cope with a wide range of personal and societal events that potentially threaten their personal control.}, Doi = {10.1111/spc3.12722}, Key = {fds368557} } @article{fds371526, Author = {Kenthirarajah, DT and Camp, NP and Walton, GM and Kay, AC and Cohen, GL}, Title = {Does "Jamal" receive a harsher sentence than "James"? First-name bias in the criminal sentencing of Black men.}, Journal = {Law and human behavior}, Volume = {47}, Number = {1}, Pages = {169-181}, Year = {2023}, Month = {February}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000498}, Abstract = {<h4>Objective</h4>Using archival and experimental methods, we tested the role that racial associations of first names play in criminal sentencing.<h4>Hypotheses</h4>We hypothesized that Black defendants with more stereotypically Black names (e.g., Jamal) would receive more punitive sentences than Black defendants with more stereotypically White names (e.g., James).<h4>Method</h4>In an archival study, we obtained a random sample of 296 real-world records of Black male prison inmates in Florida and asked participants to rate the extent to which each inmate's first name was stereotypically Black or stereotypically White. We then tested the extent to which racial stereotypicality was associated with sentence length, controlling for relevant legal features of each case (e.g., criminal record, severity of convicted offenses). In a follow-up experiment, participant judges assigned sentences in cases in which the Black male defendant was randomly assigned a more stereotypically Black or White name from our archival study.<h4>Results</h4>Controlling for a wide array of factors-including criminal record-we found that inmates with more stereotypically Black versus White first names received longer sentences β = 0.09, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) [0.01, 0.16]: 409 days longer for names 1 standard deviation above versus below the mean on racial stereotypicality. In our experiment, participant judges recommended significantly longer sentences to Black inmates with more stereotypically Black names above and beyond the severity of the charges or their criminal history, β = 0.07, 95% CI [0.02, 0.13].<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results identify how racial associations with first names can bias consequential sentencing decisions despite the impartial aims of the legal system. More broadly, our findings illustrate how racial biases manifest in distinctions made among members of historically marginalized groups, not just between members of different groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/lhb0000498}, Key = {fds371526} } @article{fds363672, Author = {Proudfoot, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {Communal expectations conflict with autonomy motives: The western drive for autonomy shapes women's negative responses to positive gender stereotypes.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {124}, Number = {1}, Pages = {1-21}, Year = {2023}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000311}, Abstract = {Western culture idealizes an autonomous self-a self that strives for independence and freedom from the influence and control of others. We explored how the value placed on autonomy in Western culture intersects with the normative trait expectations experienced by men and women. While trait expectations placed on men (i.e., to be confident and assertive) affirm an autonomous sense of self, trait expectations placed on women (i.e., to be caring and understanding) conflict with an autonomous sense of self. We theorized that this conflict contributes to women's resentment toward positive gender stereotypes that emphasize women's interdependent qualities. Six preregistered studies (<i>N</i> = 2,094) demonstrated that U.S. women experienced more anger in response to positive-gendered trait expectations and less motivation to comply with them compared to U.S. men. We found that these effects were partially attributable to stereotypically feminine communal expectations affirming autonomy less than stereotypically masculine agentic expectations. Cross-cultural comparisons between the U.S. (a Western context) and India (a non-Western context) further indicated that the conflict between communal expectations placed on women and Western prioritization of autonomy contributes to U.S. women's anger toward positive gender stereotypes: Although traits expected of women in both the U.S. and India oriented women away from feeling autonomous more than traits expected of men, this diminished sense of being autonomous only elicited anger in a U.S. context. For Western societies, findings illuminate the uniquely frustrating nature of stereotyped expectations that demand interdependence and thus the unequal psychological burden placed on those who must contend with them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/pspa0000311}, Key = {fds363672} } @article{fds362380, Author = {Stanley, ML and Kay, AC}, Title = {Belief in divine moral authority satisfies the psychological need for structure and increases in the face of perceived injustice}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {101}, Year = {2022}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104302}, Abstract = {Across eight studies, we investigated why so many people across different cultures and religious traditions ground morality and God, and why beliefs in God as a supreme moral authority increase in response to perceived injustices in the world. We found consistent correlational evidence that the dispositional need for structure in everyday life is positively related to belief in God as a moral authority (Studies 1, 2, 3a, 3b, and 6), especially among those individuals who are more certain that God is infallible (Studies 3a and 3b). While divine morality was consistently related to the need for structure, beliefs about other possible moral authorities (parents, the U.S. Constitution) were not (Study 2). Using experimental manipulations (Studies 4a, 4b, and 5), we found that grounding morality in God can serve a compensatory function in the face of perceived injustice, such that believing that God is a moral authority increases upon exposure to injustice. This particular supernatural belief may restore impressions of structure and order in the world (Study 5). We discuss the implications of our findings for psychological theories of structure-seeking, how people cope with injustice, and religious and moral beliefs more broadly.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104302}, Key = {fds362380} } @article{fds362182, Author = {Kay, AC and Gibbs, WC}, Title = {Inequality, Military Veteran Transitions, and Beyond: Compensatory Control Theory and Its Application to Real World Social Justice Problems.}, Journal = {Social justice research}, Volume = {35}, Number = {1}, Pages = {56-61}, Year = {2022}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11211-021-00385-w}, Doi = {10.1007/s11211-021-00385-w}, Key = {fds362182} } @article{fds362846, Author = {Goya-Tocchetto, D and Kay, AC and Vuletich, H and Vonasch, A and Payne, K}, Title = {The partisan trade-off bias: When political polarization meets policy trade-offs}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {98}, Year = {2022}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104231}, Abstract = {Liberals and conservatives currently struggle to reach political agreement on policy proposals. While political polarization is closely associated with this phenomenon, the precise psychological mechanisms via which polarization works to affect political compromise remain to be fully explored. Across five studies (N = 1236; 2126 total individual observations), we uncover one such mechanism by exploring a novel and robust bias that emerges at the crossroads of policy trade-offs and partisanship. We call it the Partisan Trade-off Bias. When interpreting policy trade-offs, both Democrats and Republicans view the unintended but unavoidable side effects of policies proposed by contrapartisans as wanted and intended. Yet they do not attribute intentionality to the very same types of side effects of policies proposed by copartisans. We provide evidence for this bias across four types of policy trade-offs, including taxes, environmental regulation, gun control, and voting rights. Importantly, we show that the partisan trade-off bias is a unique contributor to decreased willingness to accept policy deals from contrapartisans, thus reducing the chances of reaching political agreement. Our studies suggest that the partisan trade-off bias is a product of the lack of trust in contrapartisans. In an experimental study, we manipulate trust and decrease the magnitude of this bias, showing evidence for our proposed mechanism and revealing a potential intervention to foster political compromise.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104231}, Key = {fds362846} } @article{fds354249, Author = {Shepherd, S and Sherman, DK and MacLean, A and Kay, AC}, Title = {The Challenges of Military Veterans in Their Transition to the Workplace: A Call for Integrating Basic and Applied Psychological Science.}, Journal = {Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science}, Volume = {16}, Number = {3}, Pages = {590-613}, Year = {2021}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691620953096}, Abstract = {Long-standing structural features of the military have created a culture and society that is dramatically different and disconnected from civilian society. Thus, veterans transitioning to civilian society face a number of challenges related to fulfilling basic psychological needs (e.g., need for structure and order, belonging) and civilians' reliance on stereotypes to understand military veterans. In an attempt to enrich the understanding of these challenges, we integrate social psychological theories and insights with research from sociology, clinical psychology, military psychology, and organizational behavior. Theories of compensatory control, stereotype threat, and stereotyping are drawn on to help explain the psychological challenges that veterans may encounter during their transition to civilian society. We present recent research that leverages these theories to understand issues veterans face. This theoretical integration illustrates the opportunity and potential for psychological researchers to conduct basic and applied research in the context of veterans and for clinicians and managers to draw on basic theory to inform programs and interventions.}, Doi = {10.1177/1745691620953096}, Key = {fds354249} } @article{fds349935, Author = {Brown-Iannuzzi, JL and Lundberg, KB and Kay, AC and Payne, BK}, Title = {A Privileged Point of View: Effects of Subjective Socioeconomic Status on Naïve Realism and Political Division.}, Journal = {Personality & social psychology bulletin}, Volume = {47}, Number = {2}, Pages = {241-256}, Year = {2021}, Month = {February}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167220921043}, Abstract = {In the United States, both economic inequality and political conflict are on the rise. We investigated whether subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) may help explain why these dual patterns emerge. We hypothesized that higher SSS may increase naïve realism-the belief that one perceives the world as it is, rather than as interpreted through one's own knowledge and beliefs-regarding political issues. Using a representative sample of the American electorate, we found that higher SSS predicted more political naïve realism toward those from a different political party (Study 1). The remaining experiments examined the causal relationship between SSS and political naïve realism (Studies 2-5). We extended these findings by investigating whether SSS influenced participants' willingness to exclude those with contrary views from a vote (Studies 4 and 5). Together, these studies demonstrate that SSS enhances political naïve realism and can lead to the exclusion of others with contrary opinions.}, Doi = {10.1177/0146167220921043}, Key = {fds349935} } @article{fds352270, Author = {Ponce de Leon and R and Wingrove, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Scientific skepticism and inequality: Political and ideological roots}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {91}, Year = {2020}, Month = {November}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104045}, Abstract = {Despite the recent influx of studies suggesting the negative societal impact of inequality, many remain skeptical of these scientific findings. Across four studies, we explore how political affiliation and social dominance orientation (SDO) interactively shape attitudes toward the emerging science on the repercussions of social inequality. Acceptance of this science was consistently polarized based on partisanship, with Republicans exhibiting less acceptance of the findings than Democrats. Consistent with a solution aversion perspective, correlational studies showed that this gap in acceptance was related to Republicans' distaste for policies they presumed would be introduced to solve this problem, rather than a direct aversion to equality itself (Studies 1a and 1b). Supporting this interpretation, experimental studies that manipulated the content of likely policy solutions to inequality to be less inconsistent with Republican beliefs resulted in abated Republican skepticism of these same findings (Study 2 and Study 3). However, we also observed an important boundary condition to the solution aversion effect and evidence for another driver of this case of denial: social dominance orientation (Study 2 and Study 3). The value of testing and considering multiple individual differences when explaining motivated scientific (dis)belief is discussed.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104045}, Key = {fds352270} } @article{fds348819, Author = {Stanley, ML and Marsh, EJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {Structure-seeking as a psychological antecedent of beliefs about morality.}, Journal = {Journal of experimental psychology. General}, Volume = {149}, Number = {10}, Pages = {1908-1918}, Year = {2020}, Month = {October}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000752}, Abstract = {People differ in their beliefs about the objectivity of moral claims. We investigated a possible psychological antecedent that might be associated with people's beliefs about the objectivity of moral claims. More specifically, we examined the relationship between the endorsement of moral objectivism and one's need to see the world as structured, ordered, and predictable. By believing that the world comprises objective facts about morality, a simple, rigid, and unambiguous structure is imposed on the moral landscape that is invariant to the whims and preferences of any particular person or group. Our results suggest that those more in need of personal structure and order in their lives are indeed more likely to endorse moral objectivism. We discuss the implications of these results for psychological theories of control and structure-seeking, and for cooperation, prosociality, social orderliness, and social goal pursuit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/xge0000752}, Key = {fds348819} } @article{fds349217, Author = {Ponce de Leon and R and Kay, AC}, Title = {Political ideology and compensatory control mechanisms}, Journal = {Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences}, Volume = {34}, Pages = {112-117}, Year = {2020}, Month = {August}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.02.013}, Abstract = {People strive to feel in control. As such, under control threat, people defensively endorse ideologies that help compensate for diminished control. Although scholarly work has tended to focus on conservatism as a compensatory control mechanism, recent research suggests that conservatism is not always the most appealing means of restoring feelings of control. While conservatives are higher in the need for control — and conservative social ideologies often function as compensatory control tools — the endorsement of both liberal and normative ideologies can also serve as compensatory control mechanisms, under different circumstances. However, political groups are likely to differ in the ideologies they adopt under control threat. Factors related to the cognitive accessibility of ideologies and their propensity to combat the control threat at play help determine which set of ideological beliefs people embrace when they face control loss.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.02.013}, Key = {fds349217} } @article{fds350255, Author = {Axt, JR and Landau, MJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {The Psychological Appeal of Fake-News Attributions.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {31}, Number = {7}, Pages = {848-857}, Year = {2020}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797620922785}, Abstract = {The term <i>fake news</i> is increasingly used to discredit information from reputable news organizations. We tested the possibility that fake-news claims are appealing because they satisfy the need to see the world as structured. Believing that news organizations are involved in an orchestrated disinformation campaign implies a more orderly world than believing that the news is prone to random errors. Across six studies (<i>N</i> > 2,800), individuals with dispositionally high or situationally increased need for structure were more likely to attribute contested news stories to intentional deception than to journalistic incompetence. The effect persisted for stories that were ideologically consistent and ideologically inconsistent and after analyses controlled for strength of political identification. Political orientation showed a moderating effect; specifically, the link between need for structure and belief in intentional deception was stronger for Republican participants than for Democratic participants. This work helps to identify when, why, and for whom fake-news claims are persuasive.}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797620922785}, Key = {fds350255} } @article{fds342837, Author = {Kim, JY and Campbell, TH and Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Understanding contemporary forms of exploitation: Attributions of passion serve to legitimize the poor treatment of workers.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {118}, Number = {1}, Pages = {121-148}, Year = {2020}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000190}, Abstract = {The pursuit of passion in one's work is touted in contemporary discourse. Although passion may indeed be beneficial in many ways, we suggest that the modern cultural emphasis may also serve to facilitate the legitimization of unfair and demeaning management practices-a phenomenon we term the legitimization of passion exploitation. Across 7 studies and a meta-analysis, we show that people do in fact deem poor worker treatment (e.g., asking employees to do demeaning tasks that are irrelevant to their job description, asking employees to work extra hours without pay) as more legitimate when workers are presumed to be "passionate" about their work. Of importance, we demonstrate 2 mediating mechanisms by which this process of legitimization occurs: (a) assumptions that passionate workers would have volunteered for this work if given the chance (Studies 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8), and (b) beliefs that, for passionate workers, work itself is its own reward (Studies 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8). We also find support for the reverse direction of the legitimization process, in which people attribute passion to an exploited (vs. nonexploited) worker (Study 7). Finally, and consistent with the notion that this process is connected to justice motives, a test of moderated mediation shows this is most pronounced for participants high in belief in a just world (Study 8). Taken together, these studies suggest that although passion may seem like a positive attribute to assume in others, it can also license poor and exploitative worker treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/pspi0000190}, Key = {fds342837} } @misc{fds362844, Author = {Axt, JR and Landau, MJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {Fake news attributions as a source of nonspecific structure}, Pages = {220-234}, Booktitle = {The Psychology of Fake News: Accepting, Sharing, and Correcting Misinformation}, Year = {2020}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9781000179033}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429295379-15}, Abstract = {Although “fake news” often refers to forms of political disinformation, the term is also used as a means of discrediting stories from more credible sources. Specifically, “fake news” depicts the media as being intentionally deceptive, as opposed to merely incompetent. In this sense, a worldview that sees the news media as being deceptive provides more structure and predictability than one that views the news media as being sloppy or error prone. As a result, the belief that the news media is intentionally deceiving others may be especially appealing to individuals with a greater need for personal structure, and we review initial studies investigating this question. Such work may clarify an important contributor to rising distrust in the news media, and may in turn provide insight into why claims of fake news are effective and how belief in fake news can be reduced.}, Doi = {10.4324/9780429295379-15}, Key = {fds362844} } @misc{fds364242, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Politics and religion: commutable, conflicting, and collaborative systems for satisfying the need for order}, Pages = {421-434}, Booktitle = {The Science of Religion, Spirituality, and Existentialism}, Year = {2020}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780128172056}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817204-9.00030-5}, Abstract = {In this chapter, we outline a program of research that has sought to understand how sociopolitical and religious systems overlap in their satiation of psychological needs and suggest that this overlap helps one explain a range of sociocultural phenomenon regarding the complex relationship between these systems. Compensatory control theory (CCT) posits that people have a psychological need to see the world as orderly and nonrandom, and when a sense of personal control cannot satiate this need, people will turn to external systems of control and order, such as secular institutions (e.g., government) and religious institutions and beliefs (e.g., organized religion and belief in a controlling god). We summarize work showing that both the secular and the religious can be turned to in order to maintain a view of an orderly, nonrandom world. Due to this overlap, they are also substitutable, such that relying on one renders the other less necessary. Finally, symbolic (or literal) alignments between secular and religious systems can be incidentally or strategically leveraged to further maintain confidence in these systems to satiate concerns about disorder, randomness. We relate these findings to the broader literature on religious and political beliefs and ideology and use a CCT lens to explain a range of sociocultural phenomenon.}, Doi = {10.1016/B978-0-12-817204-9.00030-5}, Key = {fds364242} } @article{fds344887, Author = {Ma, A and Tang, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Psychological reactance as a function of thought versus behavioral control}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {84}, Year = {2019}, Month = {September}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103825}, Abstract = {How can people persuade and influence others? One option is to directly target others' behavior through rules and incentives. Another increasingly popular option, however, is to focus on modifying what others think rather than how they behave, and hoping behaviors will then change as a result. The assumption underlying this latter approach is that targeting thoughts and attitudes might be easier or more effective than targeting behaviors. Drawing from psychological reactance theory (Brehm, 1966), we investigate whether efforts targeted at controlling what people think, rather than how they behave, will indeed be met with differing levels of psychological reactance. Across four studies, we find that people experience greater psychological reactance towards efforts to control their thoughts compared to efforts to control their behaviors. Specifically, thought control, compared to behavioral control, led people to experience greater anger and negativity, and to report lowered motivation to engage in requested behaviors (Study 1). These effects occurred, at least in part, because people perceived that those who try to control their thoughts are likely to try to control their behaviors too, but not vice versa. As a result, thought control elicited greater reactance than behavioral control because the former was perceived as more restrictive than the latter (Studies 2 & 3). We also address other explanations for why thought control may elicit more reactance than behavioral control (Study 4).}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103825}, Key = {fds344887} } @article{fds344888, Author = {Ma, A and Axt, J and Kay, AC}, Title = {A control-based account of stereotyping}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {84}, Year = {2019}, Month = {September}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103819}, Abstract = {Drawing from compensatory control theory, we propose that because stereotypes provide psychological assurance that the world is orderly and predictable, stereotyping should increase among those lacking control. Four studies support this control-based account of stereotyping: lower personal control, both measured (Studies 1 and 3) and manipulated (Study 2a and 2b), was associated with greater gender (Studies 1, 2a, and 2b) and occupational stereotyping (Study 3). Furthermore, the association between control and stereotyping was mediated by need for structure (Studies 2a, 2b, and 3). We also explore the moderating role of interdependent self-construal (Studies 1 to 3). These findings have implications for our understanding of when, why and to what end people stereotype others.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103819}, Key = {fds344888} } @article{fds344722, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC and Gray, K}, Title = {Military veterans are morally typecast as agentic but unfeeling: Implications for veteran employment}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {153}, Pages = {75-88}, Year = {2019}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.06.003}, Abstract = {What kind of “mind” do people assume those in the military have? This question has important implications for military veterans and provides an opportunity to test moral typecasting as a critical element of the theory of dyadic morality (TDM: Gray & Wegner, 2009; 2011; Schein & Gray, 2017). Based on this theory, moral agents – even those we admire, such as veterans – will be seen as more agentic (ability to plan and act) but have less capacity for experience (ability feel emotion). Leveraging previous theorizing on mind perception, dehumanization, and career typology, the current research shows that veterans are seen as having a higher capacity for agency but less capacity for experience. As a result, veterans are seen as less (more) suited for careers that require a high (low) capacity for experience. Results are found across laypeople, managers, and employees. Implications for veteran well-being are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.06.003}, Key = {fds344722} } @article{fds340963, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {‘Jesus, take the wheel’: the appeal of spiritual products in satiating concerns about randomness}, Journal = {Journal of Marketing Management}, Volume = {35}, Number = {5-6}, Pages = {467-490}, Year = {2019}, Month = {March}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2018.1556225}, Abstract = {Why are consumers drawn to spiritual products? Leveraging theorising regarding the psychological need to perceive the world as orderly and non-random, we posit that products imbued with religious/spiritual significance help manage concerns about randomness and uncontrollability (e.g. when a product is unreliable or exposes the consumer to random uncontrollable processes). When randomness concerns were salient, religious consumers showed increased desire to attach religious significance to secular objects (e.g. having item blessed, physically attaching a religious symbol). For spiritual consumers, spiritual products (vs. non-spiritual physically equivalent products) were seen as having (i) non-material efficacy (i.e. efficacy not bound to the purely material world) and (ii) unfalsifiable efficacy (i.e. efficacy that is immune to contrary evidence). Evidence is found across a variety of religious and spiritual contexts.}, Doi = {10.1080/0267257X.2018.1556225}, Key = {fds340963} } @article{fds363336, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC and Landau, MJ}, Title = {Structure and Goal Pursuit: Individual and Cultural Differences}, Journal = {Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science}, Volume = {1}, Number = {4}, Pages = {491-494}, Year = {2018}, Month = {December}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2515245918797130}, Doi = {10.1177/2515245918797130}, Key = {fds363336} } @article{fds340501, Author = {Kim, JY and Fitzsimons, GM and Kay, AC}, Title = {Lean in messages increase attributions of women's responsibility for gender inequality.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {115}, Number = {6}, Pages = {974-1001}, Year = {2018}, Month = {December}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000129}, Abstract = {Although women's underrepresentation in senior-level positions in the workplace has multiple causes, women's self-improvement or "empowerment" at work has recently attracted cultural attention as a solution. For example, the bestselling book <i>Lean In</i> states that women can tackle gender inequality themselves by overcoming the "internal barriers" (e.g., lack of confidence and ambition) that prevent success. We sought to explore the consequences of this type of women's empowerment ideology. Study 1 found that perceptions of women's ability to solve inequality were associated with attributions of women's responsibility to do so. Studies 2, 3, 5a, and 5b experimentally manipulated exposure to women's empowerment messages, finding that while such messages increase perceptions that women are empowered to solve workplace gender inequality, they also lead to attributions that women are more responsible both for creating and solving the problem. Study 4 found a similar pattern in the context of a specific workplace problem, and found that such messages also lead to a preference for interventions focused on changing women rather than changing the system. Studies 5a and 5b sought to replicate prior studies and document the weakened effects of messages that explicitly explain that women's "internal barriers" are the products of "external barriers" obstructing women's progress. This research suggests that self-improvement messages intended to empower women to take charge of gender inequality may also yield potentially harmful societal beliefs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).}, Doi = {10.1037/pspa0000129}, Key = {fds340501} } @article{fds339668, Author = {Fath, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {“If hierarchical, then corrupt”: Exploring people's tendency to associate hierarchy with corruption in organizations}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {149}, Pages = {145-164}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2018}, Month = {November}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.10.004}, Abstract = {We propose that people associate organizational hierarchy with corruption. Nine studies (N = 1896) provide triangulating evidence for this tendency and its underlying mechanism. We find that people expect more corruption to manifest among the employees of relatively more hierarchical organizations, and judge an organization with a history of corruption more likely to be hierarchical than one without. Furthermore, we show that the lay belief that hierarchy and corruption are connected is driven by two related assumptions: (i) that the more hierarchical an organization is, the more likely it is that its employees are competitive with each other, and (ii) that the more competitive employees are with each other, the more likely they are to be corrupt. Finally, we connect these lay beliefs to behavioral outcomes involved in trusting people who work for very hierarchical organizations and those organizations themselves. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.10.004}, Key = {fds339668} } @article{fds347214, Author = {Hoogeveen, S and Wagenmakers, EJ and Kay, AC and Van Elk, M}, Title = {Compensatory control and religious beliefs: a registered replication report across two countries}, Journal = {Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology}, Volume = {3}, Number = {3}, Pages = {240-265}, Year = {2018}, Month = {September}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23743603.2019.1684821}, Abstract = {Compensatory Control Theory (CCT) suggests that religious belief systems provide an external source of control that can substitute a perceived lack of personal control. In a seminal paper, it was experimentally demonstrated that a threat to personal control increases endorsement of the existence of a controlling God. In the current registered report, we conducted a high-powered (N = 829) direct replication of this effect, using samples from the Netherlands and the United States (US). Our results show moderate to strong evidence for the absence of an experimental effect across both countries: belief in a controlling God did not increase after a threat compared to an affirmation of personal control. In a complementary preregistered analysis, an inverse relation between general feelings of personal control and belief in a controlling God was found in the US, but not in the Netherlands. We discuss potential reasons for the replication failure of the experimental effect and cultural mechanisms explaining the cross-country difference in the correlational effect. Together, our findings suggest that experimental manipulations of control may be ineffective in shifting belief in God, but that individual differences in the experience of control may be related to religious beliefs in a way that is consistent with CCT.}, Doi = {10.1080/23743603.2019.1684821}, Key = {fds347214} } @article{fds338574, Author = {Friesen, JP and Laurin, K and Shepherd, S and Gaucher, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {System justification: Experimental evidence, its contextual nature, and implications for social change.}, Journal = {The British journal of social psychology}, Year = {2018}, Month = {September}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12278}, Abstract = {We review conceptual and empirical contributions to system justification theory over the last fifteen years, emphasizing the importance of an experimental approach and consideration of context. First, we review the indirect evidence of the system justification motive via complimentary stereotyping. Second, we describe injunctification as direct evidence of a tendency to view the extant status quo (the way things are) as the way things should be. Third, we elaborate on system justification's contextual nature and the circumstances, such as threat, dependence, inescapability, and system confidence, which are likely to elicit defensive bolstering of the status quo and motivated ignorance of critical social issues. Fourth, we describe how system justification theory can increase our understanding of both resistance to and acceptance of social change, as a change moves from proposed, to imminent, to established. Finally, we discuss how threatened systems shore up their authority by co-opting legitimacy from other sources, such as governments that draw on religious concepts, and the role of institutional-level factors in perpetuating the status quo.}, Doi = {10.1111/bjso.12278}, Key = {fds338574} } @article{fds333552, Author = {Proudfoot, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {How perceptions of one's organization can affect perceptions of the self: Membership in a stable organization can sustain individuals' sense of control}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {76}, Pages = {104-115}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2018}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.01.004}, Abstract = {Building on contemporary perspectives regarding the role that group identification can play in sustaining control motives, we propose that being a member of a stable organization—one experienced as predictable and consistent rather than changing and in flux—can maintain individuals' sense of control. Four studies test this prediction. We observe that higher social identification as an organizational member (as compared to lower identification) is associated with an increased generalized sense of personal efficacy in life specifically when one's organization is experienced as relatively stable (Study 1 and Study 2). Further, the perceived stability of one's organization moderates the extent to which those who recently experienced a threat to personal control—and are thereby motivated to reestablish feelings of control—seek increased social identification as an organizational member (Study 3 and Study 4). Results suggest that membership in a stable organization can provide a psychological buffer against threats to personal control encountered in daily life outside work. Contributions to understanding the ways in which people maintain feelings of personal control in the social world are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2018.01.004}, Key = {fds333552} } @article{fds332999, Author = {Landau, MJ and Khenfer, J and Keefer, LA and Swanson, TJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {When and why does belief in a controlling God strengthen goal commitment?}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {75}, Pages = {71-82}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2018}, Month = {March}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.11.012}, Abstract = {The perception that God controls one's life can bolster motivation to pursue personal goals, but it can also have no impact and even squelch motivation. To better understand how religious beliefs impact self-regulation, the current research built on Compensatory Control Theory's claim that perceiving the environment as predictable (vs. unpredictable) strengthens commitment to long-term goals. Perceiving God's intervention as following an understandable logic, which implies a predictable environment, increased self-reported and behavioral commitment to save money (Studies 1–3), excel academically (Study 4), and improve physical health (Study 5). In contrast, perceiving God as intervening in mysterious ways, which implies that worldly affairs are under control yet unpredictable, did not increase goal commitment. Exploratory mediational analyses focused on self-efficacy, response efficacy, and confidence in God's control. A meta-analysis (Study 6) yielded a reliable effect whereby belief in divine control supports goal pursuit specifically when it signals the predictability of one's environment.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2017.11.012}, Key = {fds332999} } @article{fds333000, Author = {Tang, S and King, M and Kay, AC}, Title = {Fate as a motivated (and de-motivating) belief: Evidence for a link from task importance to belief in fate to effort}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {144}, Pages = {74-84}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2018}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.08.003}, Abstract = {The perception of whether one has personal control over a specific task or goal has been shown to be a crucial predictor of effort and persistence. Given this, one might expect people to perceive high personal control over tasks that are very important. However, drawing on emerging theories of motivated ideological belief, we suggest that, in some circumstances, the more a task or goal is perceived as important, the more likely people may be to believe that the outcome is “fated” – that the outcome of an event is predetermined and meant to be. Across four studies, employing diverse samples and contexts, we provide evidence for this basic phenomenon and the negative repercussions it can hold for effort expenditure. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.08.003}, Key = {fds333000} } @article{fds352423, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Guns as a source of order and chaos: Compensatory control and the psychological (dis)utility of guns for liberals and conservatives}, Journal = {Journal of the Association for Consumer Research}, Volume = {3}, Number = {1}, Pages = {16-26}, Year = {2018}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/695761}, Abstract = {Firearms are one the most contentious consumer products in the United States, with opinions on guns being strongly divided along liberal versus conservative lines. The current research leverages compensatory control theory (CCT; Kay et al. 2008) to show how the same underlying need to see the world as orderly and nonrandom can help explain both sides of this divide, with liberals (conservatives) seeing guns as a source of disorder (order) in the world. Across three experiments we find that when imagining holding a gun (vs. not), liberals report less personal control and in turn more negative emotion compared to conservatives. We also find that in situations that are inherently chaotic and disorderly (i.e., shootings), liberals see the introduction of another firearm (i.e., an armed citizen) as introducing more disorder into the situation, whereas conservatives see armed citizens as providing more order to the situation.}, Doi = {10.1086/695761}, Key = {fds352423} } @article{fds333001, Author = {Fath, S and Proudfoot, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {Effective to a fault: Organizational structure predicts attitudes toward minority organizations}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {73}, Pages = {290-297}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2017}, Month = {November}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.003}, Abstract = {We consider how the structure of groups seeking collective action on behalf of minorities impacts attitudes toward them. We predicted that hierarchical minority organizations are perceived as more effective social agents than non-hierarchical minority organizations and thus are particularly unlikely to be supported by those who prefer to maintain inequality. In a pretest, a hierarchical organization was judged more efficacious than a non-hierarchical organization. In two experiments (N = 814; N = 809), organizational structure (hierarchical vs. non-hierarchical) and membership (baseline vs. minority) were manipulated. Stronger preference for maintaining inequality was associated with increased desire to limit a minority organization's access to power, specifically when that organization was hierarchical. Findings suggest structure may signal the extent to which minority organizations pose a threat to the dominant social order and thus can drive responses to them. That is, minorities who organize may face unique pushback from those invested in maintaining inequality.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.003}, Key = {fds333001} } @article{fds323320, Author = {Shepherd, S and Eibach, RP and Kay, AC}, Title = {“One Nation Under God”: The System-Justifying Function of Symbolically Aligning God and Government}, Journal = {Political Psychology}, Volume = {38}, Number = {5}, Pages = {703-720}, Publisher = {WILEY}, Year = {2017}, Month = {October}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pops.12353}, Abstract = {Do references to God in political discourse increase confidence in the U.S. sociopolitical system? Using a system justification framework (Jost & Banaji,), five studies provide evidence that, (1) increasingly governments symbolically associate the nation with God when public confidence in the social system may be threatened and (2) associating the nation with God serves a system-justifying function by increasing public confidence in the system. In an analysis of U.S. presidential speeches, presidents were more likely to symbolically associate the nation with God during threatening times (Study 1). Among religious individuals, referencing God in political rhetoric increased the perceived trustworthiness of politicians, compared to patriotic secular rhetoric (Study 2) or simply priming the concept of God (Study 3). These effects were also unique to politicians from one's own sociopolitical system (Study 4). Finally, believing God has a plan for the United States attenuates the deleterious effect that perceptions of national decline have on system confidence (Study 5). Implications for the system-justifying function of religion are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1111/pops.12353}, Key = {fds323320} } @article{fds328086, Author = {Ma, A and Landau, MJ and Narayanan, J and Kay, AC}, Title = {Thought-control difficulty motivates structure seeking.}, Journal = {Journal of experimental psychology. General}, Volume = {146}, Number = {8}, Pages = {1067-1072}, Year = {2017}, Month = {August}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000282}, Abstract = {Struggling to control one's mind can change how the world appears. In prior studies testing the compensatory control theory, reduced control over the external environment motivated the search for perceptual patterns and other forms of structured knowledge, even in remote domains. Going further, the current studies test whether difficulty controlling thoughts similarly predicts structure seeking. As hypothesized, thought-control difficulty positively predicted perceptions of causal connections between remote events (Study 1a) and nonexistent objects in visual noise (Study 1b). This effect was mediated by aversive arousal (Study 2) and caused specifically by thought-control difficulty as distinct from general difficulty (Study 3). Study 4 replicated the effect with a sample of meditators learning to control their thoughts, showing that thought-control difficulty was a powerful predictor of structure seeking. These findings reveal a novel form of motivated perception. (PsycINFO Database Record}, Doi = {10.1037/xge0000282}, Key = {fds328086} } @article{fds326633, Author = {Ma, A and Kay, AC}, Title = {Compensatory control and ambiguity intolerance}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {140}, Pages = {46-61}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2017}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.04.001}, Abstract = {When do people find ambiguity intolerable, and how might this manifest in the workplace where roles, guidelines and expectations can be made to be more or less ambiguous? Compensatory Control Theory (CCT; Kay, Gaucher, Napier, Callan, & Laurin, 2008) suggests a potential driver: perceived control. Recent CCT theory (Landau, Kay, & Whitson, 2015) has posited that people with chronically lower levels of perceived control may be especially likely to seek coherent and structured environments. Given that ambiguous workplace situations – such as flexible roles and titles, or loose guidelines and expectations – necessarily represent a lack of structure, these types of situations may therefore be especially aversive to those lower in perceived control. Four studies support this prediction. Specifically, we observe that low perceived control (both measured or manipulated) predicts greater ambiguity intolerance as well as greater negative attitudes towards ambiguous situations (Studies 1, 2 and 3), but not other types of problematic workplace situations (Study 1), and that this process can exert important downstream consequences, ranging from behavioral intentions to perceived self-efficacy (Study 4).}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.04.001}, Key = {fds326633} } @article{fds329823, Author = {Khenfer, J and Laurin, K and Tafani, E and Roux, E and Kay, AC}, Title = {Interventionist external agents make specific advice less demotivating}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {73}, Pages = {189-196}, Year = {2017}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.07.003}, Abstract = {Across four experiments, we explored how reminders of powerful external agents—interventionist Gods and reliable corporate institutions—influence people's motivation in the realm of financial goals. We found evidence that when people receive specific financial advice, they feel demotivated by the overwhelming flow of concrete instructions for achieving success. We found further that, under these circumstances specifically, reminders of interventionist agents bolster motivation, but that these same agents under different circumstances (i.e., when people receive vague advice) instead undermine motivation. Our findings shed light on the effects of specific (versus vague) goal focus, and on the dynamics of compensatory control in consumer settings.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2017.07.003}, Key = {fds329823} } @article{fds327057, Author = {Leander, NP and Kay, AC and Chartrand, TL and Payne, BK}, Title = {An affect misattribution pathway to perceptions of Intrinsic reward}, Journal = {Social Cognition}, Volume = {35}, Number = {2}, Pages = {163-180}, Publisher = {Guilford Publications}, Year = {2017}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/soco.2017.35.2.163}, Abstract = {Intrinsic rewards are typically thought to stem from an activity's inherent properties and not from separable rewards one receives from it. Yet, people may not consciously notice or remember all the subtle external rewards that correspond with an activity and may misattribute some directly to the activity itself. We propose that perceptions of intrinsic reward can often be byproducts of misattributed causal inference, and present some initial evidence that perceptions of intrinsic reward can in fact increase when words pertaining to an activity are subtly paired with pleasant context cues. Importantly, these effects follow classic boundary conditions of both misattribution and intrinsic motivation, insofar as they were extinguished when participants could make a proper source attribution and/or when the activity became associated with a blatant external reward. We further propose a distinction can be made between authentically "intrinsic" rewards and the illusion of intrinsic rewards caused by misattributed positive affect.}, Doi = {10.1521/soco.2017.35.2.163}, Key = {fds327057} } @article{fds326064, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC}, Title = {The Motivational Underpinnings of Belief in God}, Volume = {56}, Pages = {201-257}, Publisher = {Elsevier}, Year = {2017}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2017.02.004}, Abstract = {Beliefs in powerful Gods are prevalent across time and across societies. In this chapter, we explore the motivated underpinnings of this phenomenon. After describing two popular theories that help account for some of this prevalence—one focused on byproducts of normal human cognition and the other focused on the cultural benefit conferred by shared belief in powerful Gods—we propose that a third perspective may be needed to fully explain why so many people believe: that believing in God is one mechanism through which people fulfill their need to perceive the world as structured, orderly, and nonrandom. We then describe a model that outlines the causes and consequences of perceptions of structure, and leverage this model to organize the evidence connecting belief in God to people's need for structure. We then note the ways in which belief in a powerful God, though not the only form of belief that can satisfy the need for structure, may hold an advantage over most alternatives. Finally, we conclude by discussing the implications of this perspective for understanding the ongoing evolution of religious belief.}, Doi = {10.1016/bs.aesp.2017.02.004}, Key = {fds326064} } @misc{fds328087, Author = {Rutjens, BT and Kay, AC}, Title = {Compensatory control theory and the psychological importance of perceiving order}, Pages = {83-96}, Booktitle = {Coping with Lack of Control in a Social World}, Publisher = {Routledge}, Year = {2016}, Month = {November}, ISBN = {9781138957923}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315661452}, Doi = {10.4324/9781315661452}, Key = {fds328087} } @article{fds323318, Author = {Kay, AC and Brandt, MJ}, Title = {Ideology and intergroup inequality: emerging directions and trends}, Journal = {Current Opinion in Psychology}, Volume = {11}, Pages = {110-114}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2016}, Month = {October}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.07.007}, Abstract = {The authors propose that two guiding frameworks characterize psychological research on the relation between ideology and inequality. The first, called the product approach, focuses on ideologies directly concerned with intergroup relations, in which beliefs about inequality can be considered a direct product of the relevant belief system. These ideologies focus on topics that are clearly and explicitly connected to inequality, such as hierarchy, dominance, the supremacy of the ingroup, or beliefs about the optimal social and/or economic order. The second approach focuses on the ways in which perceptions of inequality can be a byproduct of ideologies or worldviews that are not directly concerned with inequality, but can impact intergroup relations nonetheless. These ideologies tend to involve more abstract, epistemic content that can be applied broadly, but often manifest in beliefs that are relevant to intergroup relations and inequality. Examples are used to illustrate this distinction, and emerging areas are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.07.007}, Key = {fds323318} } @article{fds323319, Author = {Rahinel, R and Amaral, NB and Clarkson, JJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {On incidental catalysts of elaboration: Reminders of environmental structure promote effortful thought}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {64}, Pages = {1-7}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2016}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2016.01.001}, Abstract = {Life is filled with situations in which cognitive elaboration can powerfully sway outcomes, and yet our understanding of the contextual factors that impact elaboration are greatly limited to those entwined with the focal evaluation, judgment, or decision. In response, this research tests whether a more fundamental, incidental feature of the environment-structure-might influence the extent to which individuals engage in elaboration. Three studies demonstrate that incidental reminders of structure increase elaboration (Experiment 1), which in turn impacts individuals' confidence in their choice (Experiment 2) as well as the choice itself (Experiment 3). Collectively, the findings offer novel insight into the role of structure in promoting elaboration, and suggest that structure-seeking may be functional in part because it leads to more thoughtful, considered judgments and decisions.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2016.01.001}, Key = {fds323319} } @article{fds323321, Author = {Proudfoot, D and Kay, AC and Koval, CZ}, Title = {A Gender Bias in the Attribution of Creativity: Archival and Experimental Evidence for the Perceived Association Between Masculinity and Creative Thinking.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {26}, Number = {11}, Pages = {1751-1761}, Year = {2015}, Month = {November}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797615598739}, Abstract = {We propose that the propensity to think creatively tends to be associated with independence and self-direction-qualities generally ascribed to men-so that men are often perceived to be more creative than women. In two experiments, we found that "outside the box" creativity is more strongly associated with stereotypically masculine characteristics (e.g., daring and self-reliance) than with stereotypically feminine characteristics (e.g., cooperativeness and supportiveness; Study 1) and that a man is ascribed more creativity than a woman when they produce identical output (Study 2). Analyzing archival data, we found that men's ideas are evaluated as more ingenious than women's ideas (Study 3) and that female executives are stereotyped as less innovative than their male counterparts when evaluated by their supervisors (Study 4). Finally, we observed that stereotypically masculine behavior enhances a man's perceived creativity, whereas identical behavior does not enhance a woman's perceived creativity (Study 5). This boost in men's perceived creativity is mediated by attributions of agency, not competence, and predicts perceptions of reward deservingness.}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797615598739}, Key = {fds323321} } @article{fds323322, Author = {Proudfoot, D and Kay, AC and Mann, H}, Title = {Motivated employee blindness: The impact of labor market instability on judgment of organizational inefficiencies}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {130}, Pages = {108-122}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2015}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.06.008}, Abstract = {While employees might be expected to be especially vigilant to problems within their organization during times of economic instability, we build on motivational perspectives put forth by System Justification Theory to propose the opposite effect, namely that economic instability enhances employees' tendency to defensively ignore and diminish organizational problems. We experimentally manipulated perceptions of labor market trends and asked participants to report on problems within their own actual organization. As predicted, an ostensibly weak external labor market led employees to perceive their organization as less inefficient (Study 1), identify fewer organizational efficiency problems (Study 2), downplay the impact of organizational inefficiencies (Study 3), and generate a greater ratio of pros to cons regarding how their organization is run (Study 4), compared to employees exposed to relatively favorable labor market information. Results suggest an enhanced motivation to deny the existence of organizational flaws when employment alternatives are perceived to be scarce.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.06.008}, Key = {fds323322} } @article{fds323323, Author = {Czopp, AM and Kay, AC and Cheryan, S}, Title = {Positive Stereotypes Are Pervasive and Powerful.}, Journal = {Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science}, Volume = {10}, Number = {4}, Pages = {451-463}, Year = {2015}, Month = {July}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691615588091}, Abstract = {Stereotypes and their associated category-based processes have traditionally been considered largely within the context of the negativity of their content and consequences, both among the general public and the scientific community. This review summarizes and integrates extant research on positive stereotypes, which are subjectively favorable beliefs about social groups, and examines their implications for individuals and groups directly targeted by such stereotypes. Furthermore, we examine the beneficial and adverse implications of positive stereotypes for interpersonal and intergroup relations, as well as the ways in which positive stereotypes, more so than negative stereotypes, may contribute to and perpetuate systemic differences in power and privilege.}, Doi = {10.1177/1745691615588091}, Key = {fds323323} } @article{fds273218, Author = {Landau, MJ and Kay, AC and Whitson, JA}, Title = {Compensatory control and the appeal of a structured world.}, Journal = {Psychological bulletin}, Volume = {141}, Number = {3}, Pages = {694-722}, Year = {2015}, Month = {May}, ISSN = {0033-2909}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038703}, Abstract = {People are motivated to perceive themselves as having control over their lives. Consequently, they respond to events and cognitions that reduce control with compensatory strategies for restoring perceived control to baseline levels. Prior theory and research have documented 3 such strategies: bolstering personal agency, affiliating with external systems perceived to be acting on the self's behalf, and affirming clear contingencies between actions and outcomes within the context of reduced control (here termed specific structure). We propose a 4th strategy: affirming nonspecific structure, or seeking out and preferring simple, clear, and consistent interpretations of the social and physical environments. Formulating this claim suggests that people will respond to reduced control by affirming structured interpretations that are unrelated to the control-reducing condition, and even those that entail otherwise adverse outcomes (e.g., pessimistic health prospects). Section 1 lays the conceptual foundation for our review, situating the proposed phenomenon in the literatures on control motivation and threat-compensation mechanisms. Section 2 reviews studies that have demonstrated that trait and state variations in perceived control predict a wide range of epistemic structuring tendencies, including pattern recognition and causal reasoning. We posit that these tendencies reflect a common desire for a structured understanding of one's environment. Accordingly, a new meta-analysis spanning the reviewed studies (k = 55) revealed that control reduction predicts nonspecific structure affirmation with a moderate effect size (r = .25). Section 3 reviews research on individual differences and situational moderators of this effect. The discussion addresses the interplay of compensatory control strategies and practical implications.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0038703}, Key = {fds273218} } @article{fds273238, Author = {Tullett, AM and Kay, AC and Inzlicht, M}, Title = {Randomness increases self-reported anxiety and neurophysiological correlates of performance monitoring.}, Journal = {Social cognitive and affective neuroscience}, Volume = {10}, Number = {5}, Pages = {628-635}, Year = {2015}, Month = {May}, ISSN = {1749-5016}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu097}, Abstract = {Several prominent theories spanning clinical, social and developmental psychology suggest that people are motivated to see the world as a sensible orderly place. These theories presuppose that randomness is aversive because it is associated with unpredictability. If this is the case, thinking that the world is random should lead to increased anxiety and heightened monitoring of one's actions and their consequences. Here, we conduct experimental tests of both of these ideas. Participants read one of three passages: (i) comprehensible order, (ii) incomprehensible order and (iii) randomness. In Study 1, we examined the effects of these passages on self-reported anxiety. In Study 2, we examined the effects of the same manipulation on the error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related brain potential associated with performance monitoring. We found that messages about randomness increased self-reported anxiety and ERN amplitude relative to comprehensible order, whereas incomprehensible order had intermediate effects. These results lend support to the theoretically important idea that randomness is unsettling because it implies that the world is unpredictable.}, Doi = {10.1093/scan/nsu097}, Key = {fds273238} } @article{fds273220, Author = {Friesen, JP and Campbell, TH and Kay, AC}, Title = {The psychological advantage of unfalsifiability: the appeal of untestable religious and political ideologies.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {108}, Number = {3}, Pages = {515-529}, Year = {2015}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000018}, Abstract = {We propose that people may gain certain "offensive" and "defensive" advantages for their cherished belief systems (e.g., religious and political views) by including aspects of unfalsifiability in those belief systems, such that some aspects of the beliefs cannot be tested empirically and conclusively refuted. This may seem peculiar, irrational, or at least undesirable to many people because it is assumed that the primary purpose of a belief is to know objective truth. However, past research suggests that accuracy is only one psychological motivation among many, and falsifiability or testability may be less important when the purpose of a belief serves other psychological motives (e.g., to maintain one's worldviews, serve an identity). In Experiments 1 and 2 we demonstrate the "offensive" function of unfalsifiability: that it allows religious adherents to hold their beliefs with more conviction and political partisans to polarize and criticize their opponents more extremely. Next we demonstrate unfalsifiability's "defensive" function: When facts threaten their worldviews, religious participants frame specific reasons for their beliefs in more unfalsifiable terms (Experiment 3) and political partisans construe political issues as more unfalsifiable ("moral opinion") instead of falsifiable ("a matter of facts"; Experiment 4). We conclude by discussing how in a world where beliefs and ideas are becoming more easily testable by data, unfalsifiability might be an attractive aspect to include in one's belief systems, and how unfalsifiability may contribute to polarization, intractability, and the marginalization of science in public discourse.}, Doi = {10.1037/pspp0000018}, Key = {fds273220} } @article{fds273219, Author = {van der Toorn, J and Feinberg, M and Jost, JT and Kay, AC and Tyler, TR and Willer, R and Wilmuth, C}, Title = {A sense of powerlessness fosters system justification: Implications for the legitimation of authority, hierarchy, and government}, Journal = {Political Psychology}, Volume = {36}, Number = {1}, Pages = {93-110}, Year = {2015}, Month = {February}, ISSN = {0162-895X}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pops.12183}, Abstract = {In an attempt to explain the stability of hierarchy, we focus on the perspective of the powerless and how a subjective sense of dependence leads them to imbue the system and its authorities with legitimacy. In Study 1, we found in a nationally representative sample of U.S. employees that financial dependence on one's job was positively associated with the perceived legitimacy of one's supervisor. In Study 2, we observed that a general sense of powerlessness was positively correlated with the perceived legitimacy of the economic system. In Studies 3 and 4, priming experimental participants with feelings of powerlessness increased their justification of the social system, even when they were presented with system-challenging explanations for race, class, and gender disparities. In Study 5, we demonstrated that the experience of powerlessness increased legitimation of governmental authorities (relative to baseline conditions). The processes we identify are likely to perpetuate inequality insofar as the powerless justify rather than strive to change the hierarchical structures that disadvantage them.}, Doi = {10.1111/pops.12183}, Key = {fds273219} } @article{fds273236, Author = {Whitson, JA and Galinsky, AD and Kay, A}, Title = {The emotional roots of conspiratorial perceptions, system justification, and belief in the paranormal}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {56}, Pages = {89-95}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2015}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2014.09.002}, Abstract = {We predicted that experiencing emotions that reflect uncertainty about the world (e.g., worry, surprise, fear, hope), compared to certain emotions (e.g., anger, happiness, disgust, contentment), would activate the need to imbue the world with order and structure across a wide range of compensatory measures. To test this hypothesis, three experiments orthogonally manipulated the uncertainty and the valence of emotions. Experiencing uncertain emotions increased defense of government (Experiment 1) and led people to embrace conspiracies and the paranormal (Experiment 2). Self-affirmation eliminated the effects of uncertain emotions on compensatory control (Experiment 3). Across all experiments, the valence of the emotions had no main effects on compensatory control and never interacted with the uncertainty of emotions. These studies establish a link between the experience of emotions and the desire for structure.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2014.09.002}, Key = {fds273236} } @article{fds291328, Author = {Kay, A and Napier, J}, Title = {The justice motive as a driver of religious experience}, Journal = {Religion, Brain and Behavior}, Volume = {5}, Number = {3}, Pages = {238-240}, Publisher = {Informa UK Limited}, Year = {2015}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {2153-599X}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2014.910262}, Doi = {10.1080/2153599X.2014.910262}, Key = {fds291328} } @article{fds326502, Author = {Brown-Iannuzzi, JL and Lundberg, KB and Kay, AC and Payne, BK}, Title = {Subjective status shapes political preferences.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {26}, Number = {1}, Pages = {15-26}, Year = {2015}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797614553947}, Abstract = {Economic inequality in America is at historically high levels. Although most Americans indicate that they would prefer greater equality, redistributive policies aimed at reducing inequality are frequently unpopular. Traditional accounts posit that attitudes toward redistribution are driven by economic self-interest or ideological principles. From a social psychological perspective, however, we expected that subjective comparisons with other people may be a more relevant basis for self-interest than is material wealth. We hypothesized that participants would support redistribution more when they felt low than when they felt high in subjective status, even when actual resources and self-interest were held constant. Moreover, we predicted that people would legitimize these shifts in policy attitudes by appealing selectively to ideological principles concerning fairness. In four studies, we found correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Studies 2-4) evidence that subjective status motivates shifts in support for redistributive policies along with the ideological principles that justify them.}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797614553947}, Key = {fds326502} } @misc{fds371544, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC and Eibach, RP}, Title = {ACHIEVING EXISTENTIAL SECURITY THROUGH SYMBOLICALLY FUSING SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS SOURCES OF CONTROL AND ORDER}, Pages = {241-256}, Booktitle = {Handbook of Personal Security}, Year = {2015}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9781848726758}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315713595-23}, Abstract = {The sociopolitical effects of modernization and the sophisticated technological innovations of the consumer-driven marketplace have been credited with enhancing the average person’s security and control across many domains of their lives. These aspects of sociopolitical structure and economic developments buffer people from many of the threats to well-being and livelihood that have impacted individuals’ lives throughout most of history.}, Doi = {10.4324/9781315713595-23}, Key = {fds371544} } @article{fds273237, Author = {Campbell, T and Kay, A}, Title = {Solution Aversion: On the Relation Between Ideology and Motivated Disbelief}, Journal = {Journal of Personality and Social Psychology}, Volume = {107}, Number = {5}, Pages = {809-824}, Publisher = {American Psychological Association}, Year = {2014}, Month = {November}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037963}, Abstract = {There is often a curious distinction between what the scientific community and the general population believe to be true of dire scientific issues, and this skepticism tends to vary markedly across groups. For instance, in the case of climate change, Republicans (conservatives) are especially skeptical of the relevant science, particularly when they are compared with Democrats (liberals). What causes such radical group differences? We suggest, as have previous accounts, that this phenomenon is often motivated. However, the source of this motivation is not necessarily an aversion to the problem, per se, but an aversion to the solutions associated with the problem. This difference in underlying process holds important implications for understanding, predicting, and influencing motivated skepticism. In 4 studies, we tested this solution aversion explanation for why people are often so divided over evidence and why this divide often occurs so saliently across political party lines. Studies 1, 2, and 3— using correlational and experimental methodologies— demonstrated that Republicans’ increased skepticism toward environmental sciences may be partly attributable to a conflict between specific ideological values and the most popularly discussed environmental solutions. Study 4 found that, in a different domain (crime), those holding a more liberal ideology (support for gun control) also show skepticism motivated by solution aversion.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0037963}, Key = {fds273237} } @article{fds273240, Author = {Callan, MJ and Kay, AC and Dawtry, RJ}, Title = {Making sense of misfortune: deservingness, self-esteem, and patterns of self-defeat.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {107}, Number = {1}, Pages = {142-162}, Year = {2014}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036640}, Abstract = {Drawing on theorizing and research suggesting that people are motivated to view their world as an orderly and predictable place in which people get what they deserve, the authors proposed that (a) random and uncontrollable bad outcomes will lower self-esteem and (b) this, in turn, will lead to the adoption of self-defeating beliefs and behaviors. Four experiments demonstrated that participants who experienced or recalled bad (vs. good) breaks devalued their self-esteem (Studies 1a and 1b), and that decrements in self-esteem (whether arrived at through misfortune or failure experience) increase beliefs about deserving bad outcomes (Studies 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b). Five studies (Studies 3-7) extended these findings by showing that this, in turn, can engender a wide array of self-defeating beliefs and behaviors, including claimed self-handicapping ahead of an ability test (Study 3), the preference for others to view the self less favorably (Studies 4-5), chronic self-handicapping and thoughts of physical self-harm (Study 6), and choosing to receive negative feedback during an ability test (Study 7). The current findings highlight the important role that concerns about deservingness play in the link between lower self-esteem and patterns of self-defeating beliefs and behaviors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0036640}, Key = {fds273240} } @article{fds273243, Author = {Tang, S and Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Do difficult decisions motivate belief in fate? A test in the context of the 2012 U.S. presidential election.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {25}, Number = {4}, Pages = {1046-1048}, Year = {2014}, Month = {April}, ISSN = {0956-7976}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797613519448}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797613519448}, Key = {fds273243} } @article{fds273244, Author = {Kay, AC and Jost, JT}, Title = {Theoretical integration in motivational science: System justification as one of many "autonomous motivational structures".}, Journal = {The Behavioral and brain sciences}, Volume = {37}, Number = {2}, Pages = {146-147}, Year = {2014}, Month = {April}, ISSN = {0140-525X}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x13002057}, Abstract = {Recognizing that there is a multiplicity of motives - and that the accessibility and strength of each one varies chronically and temporarily - is essential if motivational scientists are to achieve genuine theoretical and empirical integration. We agree that system justification is a case of nonconscious goal pursuit and discuss implications of the fact that it conflicts with many other psychological goals.}, Doi = {10.1017/s0140525x13002057}, Key = {fds273244} } @article{fds273246, Author = {Kay, AC and Laurin, K and Fitzsimons, GM and Landau, MJ}, Title = {A functional basis for structure-seeking: exposure to structure promotes willingness to engage in motivated action.}, Journal = {Journal of experimental psychology. General}, Volume = {143}, Number = {2}, Pages = {486-491}, Year = {2014}, Month = {April}, ISSN = {0096-3445}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0034462}, Abstract = {A recurring observation of experimental psychologists is that people prefer, seek out, and even selectively "see" structure in their social and natural environments. Structure-seeking has been observed across a wide range of phenomena--from the detection of patterns in random arrays to affinities for order-providing political, religious, social, and scientific worldviews--and is exacerbated under psychological threat. Why are people motivated for structure? An intriguing, but untested, explanation holds that perceiving structure, even in domains unrelated to one's current behavioral context, can facilitate willingness to take goal-directed actions. Supporting this, in 5 studies, reminders of structure in nature or society increase willingness to engage in goal pursuit.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0034462}, Key = {fds273246} } @article{fds273247, Author = {Friesen, JP and Kay, AC and Eibach, RP and Galinsky, AD}, Title = {Seeking structure in social organization: compensatory control and the psychological advantages of hierarchy.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {106}, Number = {4}, Pages = {590-609}, Year = {2014}, Month = {April}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0035620}, Abstract = {Hierarchies are a ubiquitous form of human social organization. We hypothesized that 1 reason for the prevalence of hierarchies is that they offer structure and therefore satisfy the core motivational needs for order and control relative to less structured forms of social organization. This hypothesis is rooted in compensatory control theory, which posits that (a) individuals have a basic need to perceive the world as orderly and structured, and (b) personal and external sources of control are capable of satisfying this need because both serve the comforting belief that the world operates in an orderly fashion. Our first 2 studies confirmed that hierarchies were perceived as more structured and orderly relative to egalitarian arrangements (Study 1) and that working in a hierarchical workplace promotes a feeling of self-efficacy (Study 2). We threatened participants' sense of personal control and measured perceptions of and preferences for hierarchy in 5 subsequent experiments. Participants who lacked control perceived more hierarchy occurring in ambiguous social situations (Study 3) and preferred hierarchy more strongly in workplace contexts (Studies 4-5). We also provide evidence that hierarchies are indeed appealing because of their structure: Preference for hierarchy was higher among individuals high in Personal Need for Structure and a control threat increased preference for hierarchy even among participants low in Personal Need for Structure (Study 5). Framing a hierarchy as unstructured reversed the effect of control threat on hierarchy (Study 6). Finally, hierarchy-enhancing jobs were more appealing after control threat, even when they were low in power and status (Study 7).}, Doi = {10.1037/a0035620}, Key = {fds273247} } @article{fds273235, Author = {Proudfoot, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {System justification in organizational contexts: How a Motivated preference for the status quo can affect organizational attitudes and behaviors}, Journal = {Research in Organizational Behavior}, Volume = {34}, Pages = {173-187}, Year = {2014}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0191-3085}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2014.03.001}, Abstract = {In this chapter, we put forth the premise that people's motivated tendency to justify and defend their external systems has important, and largely unexplored, implications for the field of organizational behavior. Drawing on recent theoretical and empirical work emerging from System Justification Theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994), we propose that people's desire to view prevailing structural arrangements in a positive light may uniquely contribute to our understanding of the psychology of people in organizational settings. We begin by specifically highlighting System Justification Theory's implications for: organizational change, employee citizenship behaviors, and integration of a diverse workforce. We then review empirical work on the situations in which people's system-justification motive is likely to be particularly pronounced and discuss how these situations may manifest in organizational contexts. Following this, we describe several streams of research on the consequences of the system-justification motive, with a focus on the implications of these findings for organizational members' perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors in the workplace.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.riob.2014.03.001}, Key = {fds273235} } @article{fds273239, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {When government confidence undermines public involvement in modern disasters}, Journal = {Social Cognition}, Volume = {32}, Number = {3}, Pages = {206-216}, Publisher = {Guilford Publications}, Year = {2014}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0278-016X}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/soco.2014.32.3.206}, Abstract = {As our global community increases in complexity, crises and disasters-such as global financial meltdowns and natural disasters-increasingly have the ability to impact millions of lives. Because of the scale and complexity of these issues, they are seemingly beyond comprehension and personal control. As such, people may rely on the government as a psychological crutch, thus undermining their own engagement with and understanding of crises and disasters. In the context of the present economic crisis (Study 1) and the 2010 BP oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico (Study 2) the current research provides evidence for the idea that when perceptions of government competency and agency are high, people become less inclined to learn about and become engaged in crises and disasters. © 2014 Guilford Publications, Inc.}, Doi = {10.1521/soco.2014.32.3.206}, Key = {fds273239} } @article{fds312702, Author = {Yeung, AWY and Kay, AC and Peach, JM}, Title = {Anti-feminist backlash: The role of system justification in the rejection of feminism}, Journal = {Group Processes & Intergroup Relations}, Volume = {17}, Number = {4}, Pages = {474-484}, Publisher = {SAGE Publications}, Year = {2014}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {1368-4302}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430213514121}, Abstract = {System justification theory (SJT) posits that people are motivated to believe that the social system they live in is fair, desirable, and how it should be, especially in contexts that heighten the system justification motive. Past researchers have suggested that opposition to feminists may be motivated by the threat that feminism presents to the legitimacy of the status quo, but this hypothesis has not been tested empirically. In this article, we present three studies that directly test the idea that antifeminist backlash can be motivated by system justification. Studies 1 and 2 experimentally manipulated the SJ motive and a female target's feminist identification (feminist vs. nonfeminist). Study 3 tested the hypothesis by measuring participants’ SJ motivation via an individual difference measure. Participants disagreed more with identical statements about gender issues made by the feminist target than the nonfeminist target, but only when the system justification motive was heightened (Study 2) or chronically high (Study 3). © 2013, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1177/1368430213514121}, Key = {fds312702} } @misc{fds273229, Author = {Kay, AC and Anderson, JE and Fitzsimons, GM}, Title = {The motivated process of making meaning from negative experiences}, Booktitle = {The Psychology of Meaning}, Publisher = {American Psychological Association}, Year = {2014}, Key = {fds273229} } @misc{fds273230, Author = {Kay, AC and Landau, MJ and Sullivan, DL}, Title = {Agency and Control}, Booktitle = {APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition}, Publisher = {American Psychological Association}, Editor = {Bargh, J and Borgida, E}, Year = {2014}, Key = {fds273230} } @article{fds312701, Author = {Kay, AC and Proudfoot, D}, Title = {Reactance of Rationalization? Predicting Public Responses to Government Policy}, Journal = {Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences}, Volume = {1}, Number = {1}, Pages = {256-262}, Editor = {Fiske, ST}, Year = {2014}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2372732214550489}, Abstract = {The public’s attitudes toward new governmental laws and regulations are frequently at the forefront of public policy debates. Will the public react negatively to a newly implemented public safety regulation or embrace the change? Does the public’s initial favorability toward a proposed environmental policy indicate public opinion and compliance if such a law passed? Social psychological research directly explores these questions and provides insight into how specific policy designs and implementations can shape public response to new regulations. People may exhibit one of two contrasting responses to policies: reactance or rationalization. When a rule is imposed, individuals often display reactance—exaggerating the value of the behavior being banned or restricted. However, individuals also frequently show an opposite, perhaps less conspicuous, tendency—They rationalize government policy; that is, they diminish alternatives and actively justify why the imposed regulations are favorable. In experiments, two factors—individuals’ attentional focus and a policy’s apparent absoluteness—determine whether people react against or rationalize policies that seek to restrict their behavior. In other evidence, people’s motivation to defend the status quo may hinder—but also facilitate—support for public policy changes. The implications can guide public policy design and implementation.}, Doi = {10.1177/2372732214550489}, Key = {fds312701} } @article{fds273248, Author = {Kugler, MB and Funk, F and Braun, J and Gollwitzer, M and Kay, AC and Darley, JM}, Title = {Differences in punitiveness across three cultures: A test of American exceptionalism in justice attitudes}, Journal = {Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology}, Volume = {103}, Number = {4}, Pages = {1071-1114}, Year = {2013}, Month = {December}, ISSN = {0091-4169}, url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000327673500002&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=47d3190e77e5a3a53558812f597b0b92}, Abstract = {The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and a more punitive approach to criminal justice issues than comparable Western democracies. One potential explanation for this distinctiveness is that Americans, as individuals, are uniquely punitive toward criminals. The present study explores the possibility of cultural differences in punitive attitudes. Census-representative samples of Americans, Canadians, and Germans were asked to assign sentences to a variety of people who had committed different offenses. Even though Canada has much more lenient sentencing policies than the United States in practice, Americans and Canadians generally did not differ from each other in sentencing attitudes. Both assigned slightly longer sentences than did Germans, however. Americans, therefore, do not appear to be uniquely punitive at the individual level. Also, people from all three cultures were in agreement about the moral wrongfulness of most baseline crimes, indicating that enhanced American and Canadian punitiveness is not due to an increased sense of moral outrage. Institutional explanations for American Exceptionalism in policies are discussed. © 2013 by Northwestern University School of Law.}, Key = {fds273248} } @article{fds273250, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC and Proudfoot, D and Fitzsimons, GJ}, Title = {Response to restrictive policies: Reconciling system justification and psychological reactance}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {122}, Number = {2}, Pages = {152-162}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2013}, Month = {November}, ISSN = {0749-5978}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.06.004}, Abstract = {Here we propose a dual process model to reconcile two contradictory predictions about how people respond to restrictive policies imposed upon them by organizations and systems within which they operate. When participants' attention was not drawn to the restrictive nature of the policy, or when it was, but their cognitive resources were restricted, we found evidence supporting a prediction based on System Justification Theory: Participants reacted favorably to restrictive policies, endorsing them and downplaying the importance of the restricted freedom. Only when we cued participants to focus their undivided attention on the restrictive nature of the policy did we find evidence supporting a prediction based on psychological reactance: Only then did participants display reactance and respond negatively to the policies. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.06.004}, Key = {fds273250} } @article{fds273249, Author = {Kay, AC and Eibach, RP}, Title = {Compensatory Control and Its Implications for Ideological Extremism}, Journal = {Journal of Social Issues}, Volume = {69}, Number = {3}, Pages = {564-585}, Publisher = {WILEY}, Year = {2013}, Month = {September}, ISSN = {0022-4537}, url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000324059700009&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=47d3190e77e5a3a53558812f597b0b92}, Abstract = {This article outlines and reviews evidence for a model of compensatory control designed to account for the motivated belief in personal and external sources of control. In doing so, we attempt to shed light on the content and strength of ideologies, including extreme libertarian, nationalist, socialist, and religious fundamentalist ideologies. We suggest that although these ideologies differ in their content they commonly function to provide people with a sense of control over otherwise random events. We propose that extreme ideologies of personal control (e.g., libertarianism) and external control (e.g., socialism, religious fundamentalism) are equifinal means of meeting a universal need to believe that things, in general, are under control-that is, that events do not unfold randomly or haphazardly. We use this model to explain how the adoption and strength of ideologies of personal and external control may vary across temporal and sociocultural contexts. © 2013 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.}, Doi = {10.1111/josi.12029}, Key = {fds273249} } @article{fds273253, Author = {Zhu, LL and Kay, AC and Eibach, RP}, Title = {A test of the flexible ideology hypothesis: System justification motives interact with ideological cueing to predict political judgments}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {49}, Number = {4}, Pages = {755-758}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2013}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.03.007}, Abstract = {We hypothesize that the system justification motive increases individuals' susceptibility to ideological priming effects. We tested this hypothesis in a sample of 308 participants in which system justification, accessibility of meritocratic or egalitarian ideology, and judgment of a meritocratic or equal funding system were manipulated. As predicted, when the system justifying motive was activated, participants primed with meritocracy (egalitarianism) judged a meritocratic (equal) funding system as relatively more fair. The same pattern was not found when system justification motives were not activated. Theoretical implications are discussed. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2013.03.007}, Key = {fds273253} } @article{fds273251, Author = {Laurin, K and Gaucher, D and Kay, A}, Title = {Stability and the justification of social inequality}, Journal = {European Journal of Social Psychology}, Volume = {43}, Number = {4}, Pages = {246-254}, Publisher = {WILEY}, Year = {2013}, Month = {June}, ISSN = {0046-2772}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.1949}, Abstract = {Modern society is rife with inequality. People's interpretations of these inequalities, however, vary considerably: Different people can interpret, for example, the existing gender gap in wages as being the result of systemic discrimination, or as being the fair and natural result of genuine differences between men and women. Here, we examine one factor that may help explain differing interpretations of existing social inequalities: perceptions of system stability. System justification theory proposes that people are often motivated to rationalize and justify the systems within which they operate, legitimizing whatever social inequalities are present within them. We draw on theories and evidence of rationalization more broadly to predict that people should be most likely to legitimize inequalities in their systems when they perceive those systems as stable and unchanging. In one study, participants who witnessed stability, rather than change, in the domain of gender equality in business subsequently reported less willingness to support programs designed to redress inequalities in completely unrelated domains. In a second study, exposure to the mere concept of stability, via a standard priming procedure, led participants to spontaneously produce legitimizing, rather than blaming, explanations for existing gender inequality in their country. This effect, however, emerged only among politically liberal participants. These findings contribute to an emerging body of research that aims to identify the conditions that promote, and those which prevent, system-justifying tendencies. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.}, Doi = {10.1002/ejsp.1949}, Key = {fds273251} } @article{fds273290, Author = {Kay, AC and Day, MV and Zanna, MP and Nussbaum, AD}, Title = {The insidious (and ironic) effects of positive stereotypes}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {49}, Number = {2}, Pages = {287-291}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2013}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.11.003}, Abstract = {The present research demonstrates that positive stereotypes - though often treated as harmless, flattering and innocuous - may represent an especially insidious means of promoting antiquated beliefs about social groups. Specifically, across four studies (and one replication), the authors demonstrate that exposure to positive stereotypes towards African Americans (i.e., they are superior athletes) are at once both especially unlikely to arouse skepticism and emotional vigilance while also especially likely to produce antiquated and harmful beliefs towards members of the target group (compared to both baseline conditions and exposure to negative stereotypes), including beliefs in the biological (or "natural") underpinnings of group differences and, ironically, the application of negative stereotypes. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2012.11.003}, Key = {fds273290} } @misc{fds273234, Author = {Banfield, JC and Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Consequences of system defense motivations for individuals’ willingness to act sustainably}, Pages = {111-124}, Booktitle = {Encouraging Sustainable Behavior: Psychology and the Environment}, Publisher = {PSYCHOLOGY PRESS}, Year = {2013}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780203141182}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203141182}, Doi = {10.4324/9780203141182}, Key = {fds273234} } @misc{fds273228, Author = {Kay, AC and Sullivan, DL}, Title = {Cultural unity and diversity in compensatory control}, Booktitle = {Advances in Culture and Psychology}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press}, Editor = {Gelfand, M and Yue, C and Hong, Y}, Year = {2013}, Key = {fds273228} } @article{fds273254, Author = {Sullivan, D and Landau, MJ and Kay, AC and Rothschild, ZK}, Title = {Collectivism and the meaning of suffering.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {103}, Number = {6}, Pages = {1023-1039}, Year = {2012}, Month = {December}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000311769800008&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=47d3190e77e5a3a53558812f597b0b92}, Abstract = {People need to understand why an instance of suffering occurred and what purpose it might have. One widespread account of suffering is a repressive suffering construal (RSC): interpreting suffering as occurring because people deviate from social norms and as having the purpose of reinforcing the social order. Based on the theorizing of Emile Durkheim and others, we propose that RSC is associated with social morality-the belief that society dictates morality-and is encouraged by collectivist (as opposed to individualist) sentiments. Study 1 showed that dispositional collectivism predicts both social morality and RSC. Studies 2-4 showed that priming collectivist (vs. individualist) self-construal increases RSC of various types of suffering and that this effect is mediated by increased social morality (Study 4). Study 5 examined behavioral intentions, demonstrating that parents primed with a collectivist self-construal interpreted children's suffering more repressively and showed greater support for corporal punishment of children.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0030382}, Key = {fds273254} } @article{fds273255, Author = {Sullivan, D and Landau, MJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {Toward a comprehensive understanding of existential threat: Insights from paul tillich}, Journal = {Social Cognition}, Volume = {30}, Number = {6}, Pages = {734-757}, Publisher = {Guilford Publications}, Year = {2012}, Month = {December}, ISSN = {0278-016X}, url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000312571100006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=47d3190e77e5a3a53558812f597b0b92}, Abstract = {Experimental existential psychology (XXP) empirically investigates how people's motives for meaning and personal value influence their lives, and how symbolic self-awareness undergirds these motives and experienced threats to their fulfillment. The authors attempt to synthesize the insights that have already accumulated from XXP, and simultaneously point to a new direction for this field. Researchers have debated whether there is a "core threat" in human experience, but the authors propose that a more fruitful direction for research is to examine the simultaneous independence and interdependence of different existential threats. Paul Tillich's (1952) theory of existential threat is put forward as one model for understanding how a core threat to non-being (mortality) can nevertheless be experienced in proximally different forms, in terms of anxieties about meaninglessness or condemnation of the self. In addition to presenting Tillich's theory, the authors make several concrete suggestions for how future research in XXP should proceed. © 2012 Guilford Publications, Inc.}, Doi = {10.1521/soco.2012.30.6.734}, Key = {fds273255} } @article{fds273289, Author = {Laurin, K and Shariff, AF and Henrich, J and Kay, AC}, Title = {Outsourcing punishment to God: beliefs in divine control reduce earthly punishment.}, Journal = {Proceedings. Biological sciences}, Volume = {279}, Number = {1741}, Pages = {3272-3281}, Year = {2012}, Month = {August}, ISSN = {0962-8452}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0615}, Abstract = {The sanctioning of norm-transgressors is a necessary--though often costly--task for maintaining a well-functioning society. Prior to effective and reliable secular institutions for punishment, large-scale societies depended on individuals engaging in 'altruistic punishment'--bearing the costs of punishment individually, for the benefit of society. Evolutionary approaches to religion suggest that beliefs in powerful, moralizing Gods, who can distribute rewards and punishments, emerged as a way to augment earthly punishment in large societies that could not effectively monitor norm violations. In five studies, we investigate whether such beliefs in God can replace people's motivation to engage in altruistic punishment, and their support for state-sponsored punishment. Results show that, although religiosity generally predicts higher levels of punishment, the specific belief in powerful, intervening Gods reduces altruistic punishment and support for state-sponsored punishment. Moreover, these effects are specifically owing to differences in people's perceptions that humans are responsible for punishing wrongdoers.}, Doi = {10.1098/rspb.2012.0615}, Key = {fds273289} } @article{fds273288, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {On the perpetuation of ignorance: system dependence, system justification, and the motivated avoidance of sociopolitical information.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {102}, Number = {2}, Pages = {264-280}, Year = {2012}, Month = {February}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026272}, Abstract = {How do people cope when they feel uninformed or unable to understand important social issues, such as the environment, energy concerns, or the economy? Do they seek out information, or do they simply ignore the threatening issue at hand? One would intuitively expect that a lack of knowledge would motivate an increased, unbiased search for information, thereby facilitating participation and engagement in these issues-especially when they are consequential, pressing, and self-relevant. However, there appears to be a discrepancy between the importance/self-relevance of social issues and people's willingness to engage with and learn about them. Leveraging the literature on system justification theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994), the authors hypothesized that, rather than motivating an increased search for information, a lack of knowledge about a specific sociopolitical issue will (a) foster feelings of dependence on the government, which will (b) increase system justification and government trust, which will (c) increase desires to avoid learning about the relevant issue when information is negative or when information valence is unknown. In other words, the authors suggest that ignorance-as a function of the system justifying tendencies it may activate-may, ironically, breed more ignorance. In the contexts of energy, environmental, and economic issues, the authors present 5 studies that (a) provide evidence for this specific psychological chain (i.e., ignorance about an issue → dependence → government trust → avoidance of information about that issue); (b) shed light on the role of threat and motivation in driving the second and third links in this chain; and (c) illustrate the unfortunate consequences of this process for individual action in those contexts that may need it most.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0026272}, Key = {fds273288} } @article{fds273297, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC and Fitzsimons, GJ}, Title = {Reactance versus rationalization: divergent responses to policies that constrain freedom.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {23}, Number = {2}, Pages = {205-209}, Year = {2012}, Month = {February}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22241813}, Abstract = {How do people respond to government policies and work environments that place restrictions on their personal freedoms? The psychological literature offers two contradictory answers to this question. Here, we attempt to resolve this apparent discrepancy. Specifically, we identify the absoluteness of a restriction as one factor that determines how people respond to it. Across two studies, participants responded to absolute restrictions (i.e., restrictions that were sure to come into effect) with rationalization: They viewed the restrictions more favorably, and valued the restricted freedoms less, compared with control participants. Participants responded in the opposite way to identical restrictions that were described as nonabsolute (i.e., as having a small chance of not coming into effect): In this case, participants displayed reactance, viewing the restrictions less favorably, and valuing the restricted freedoms more, compared with control participants. We end by discussing future research directions.}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797611429468}, Key = {fds273297} } @misc{fds273233, Author = {Jost, JT and Kay, AC}, Title = {System justification as an obstacle to the attainment of social justice}, Pages = {277-296}, Booktitle = {Social Thinking and Interpersonal Behavior}, Publisher = {PSYCHOLOGY PRESS}, Year = {2012}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780203139677}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203139677}, Doi = {10.4324/9780203139677}, Key = {fds273233} } @article{fds273294, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC and Fitzsimons, GM}, Title = {Divergent effects of activating thoughts of God on self-regulation.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {102}, Number = {1}, Pages = {4-21}, Year = {2012}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025971}, Abstract = {Despite the cultural ubiquity of ideas and images related to God, relatively little is known about the effects of exposure to God representations on behavior. Specific depictions of God differ across religions, but common to most is that God is (a) an omnipotent, controlling force and (b) an omniscient, all-knowing being. Given these 2 characteristic features, how might exposure to the concept of God influence behavior? Leveraging classic and recent theorizing on self-regulation and social cognition, we predict and test for 2 divergent effects of exposure to notions of God on self-regulatory processes. Specifically, we show that participants reminded of God (vs. neutral or positive concepts) demonstrate both decreased active goal pursuit (Studies 1, 2, and 5) and increased temptation resistance (Studies 3, 4, and 5). These findings provide the first experimental evidence that exposure to God influences goal pursuit and suggest that the ever-present cultural reminders of God can be both burden and benefit for self-regulation.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0025971}, Key = {fds273294} } @misc{fds329824, Author = {Kay, AC and Eibach, RP}, Title = {The ideological toolbox: Ideologies as tools of motivated social cognition}, Pages = {495-515}, Booktitle = {The SAGE Handbook of Social Cognition}, Publisher = {SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD}, Year = {2012}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780857024817}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446247631.n25}, Doi = {10.4135/9781446247631.n25}, Key = {fds329824} } @misc{fds273226, Author = {Kay, AC and Callan, MJ}, Title = {Associations between law, competitiveness, and the pursuit of self-interest}, Pages = {193-218}, Booktitle = {Psychology, Ideology, and Law}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press (OUP)}, Editor = {Hanson, J}, Year = {2012}, ISBN = {9780199737512}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737512.003.0007}, Abstract = {This chapter will discuss and provide evidence for the idea that the law's existence shapes social reality by implicitly fostering the sense that people are, and perhaps should be, competitive and untrustworthy. Drawing on research from social cognition and legal studies, it will argue that people tend to associate the law with self-interestedness due to their encounter with the legal system. Through legal socialization-the acquisition of legal knowledge through direct instruction, experience and popular media-people come to mentally associate the law with competitiveness. This chapter will argue that this is precisely due to the way the legal system operates, at least in societies adopting an adversarial legal system.}, Doi = {10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737512.003.0007}, Key = {fds273226} } @misc{fds273227, Author = {Kay, AC and Eibach, RP}, Title = {Ideological Processes}, Booktitle = {The Handbook of Social Cognition}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press}, Editor = {Fiske, S and MaCrae, N}, Year = {2012}, Key = {fds273227} } @article{fds273287, Author = {Kay, AC and Friesen, J}, Title = {On social stability and social change: Understanding when system justification does and does not occur}, Journal = {Current Directions in Psychological Science}, Volume = {20}, Number = {6}, Pages = {360-364}, Publisher = {SAGE Publications}, Year = {2011}, Month = {December}, ISSN = {0963-7214}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963721411422059}, Abstract = {More than a decade of research from the perspective of system-justification theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994) has demonstrated that people engage in motivated psychological processes that bolster and support the status quo. We propose that this motive is highly contextual: People do not justify their social systems at all times but are more likely to do so under certain circumstances. We describe four contexts in which people are prone to engage in system-justifying processes: (a) system threat, (b) system dependence, (c) system inescapability, and (d) low personal control. We describe how and why, in these contexts, people who wish to promote social change might expect resistance. © Association for Psychological Science 2011.}, Doi = {10.1177/0963721411422059}, Key = {fds273287} } @article{fds273284, Author = {Shepherd, S and Kay, AC and Landau, MJ and Keefer, LA}, Title = {Evidence for the specificity of control motivations in worldview defense: Distinguishing compensatory control from uncertainty management and terror management processes}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {47}, Number = {5}, Pages = {949-958}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2011}, Month = {September}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.026}, Abstract = {Research inspired by the compensatory control model (CCM) shows that people compensate for personal control threats by bolstering aspects of the cultural worldview that afford external control. According to the CCM these effects stem from the motivation to maintain perceived order, but it is alternatively possible that they represent indirect efforts to bolster distally related psychological structures described by uncertainty management theory (self-relevant certainty) and terror management theory (death-transcendence). To assess whether compensatory control processes play a unique role in worldview defense, we hypothesized that personal control threats would increase affirmation of cultural constructs that specifically bolster order more so than constructs that bolster distally related structures. The results of 5 studies provide converging support for this hypothesis in the context of attitudes toward diverse cultural constructs (Study 1: national culture; Studies 2 and 3: consumer products; Studies 4a and 4b: political candidates). Also supporting hypotheses, uncertainty salience and mortality salience elicited greater affirmation of identity- and immortality-conferring targets, respectively, compared to order-conferring constructs. Discussion focuses on the value of different perspectives on existential motivation for predicting specific forms of worldview defense. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.026}, Key = {fds273284} } @article{fds273285, Author = {Day, MV and Kay, AC and Holmes, JG and Napier, JL}, Title = {System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {101}, Number = {2}, Pages = {291-306}, Year = {2011}, Month = {August}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023197}, Abstract = {A consequential ideology in Western society is the uncontested belief that a committed relationship is the most important adult relationship and that almost all people want to marry or seriously couple (DePaulo & Morris, 2005). In the present article, we investigated the extent to which the system justification motive may contribute to the adoption of this ideology. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined whether a heightened motive to maintain the status quo would increase defense of committed relationship values. In Study 3, we examined the reverse association, that is, whether a threat to committed relationship ideology would also affect sociopolitical system endorsement. As past research has found that the justification of political systems depends upon how much these systems are perceived as controlling, in Study 4 we tested whether the defense of the system of committed relationships would also increase when framed as controlling. Results from Studies 1-4 were consistent with our hypotheses, but only for men. In Study 5, using cross-cultural data, we sought to replicate these findings correlationally and probe for a cause of the gender effect. Results from more than 33,000 respondents indicated a relationship (for men) between defense of the sociopolitical system and defense of marriage in countries where the traditional advantages of men over women were most threatened. In Studies 6 and 7, we investigated when this gender difference disappears. Results revealed that when we measured (Study 6) or manipulated (Study 7) personal relationship identity rather than relationship ideology, effects also emerge for women.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0023197}, Key = {fds273285} } @article{fds273282, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC and Shepherd, S}, Title = {Self-stereotyping as a route to system justification}, Journal = {Social Cognition}, Volume = {29}, Number = {3}, Pages = {360-375}, Publisher = {Guilford Publications}, Year = {2011}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0278-016X}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/soco.2011.29.3.360}, Abstract = {Endorsing complementary stereotypes about others (i.e., stereotypes consisting of a balance of positive and negative characteristics) can function to satisfy the need to perceive one's social system as fair and balanced. To what extent might this also apply to self-perception, or self-stereotyping? The present research aimed to investigate the links between perceiving oneself in terms of a complementary stereotype, and the system justification motivation. In one study, we experimentally activated this motivation by threatening men's and women's perceptions of the fairness of gender relations and examined the impact on complementary self-stereotyping. In a second study, we manipulated men's and women's self-perceptions either in the direction of or away from their gender's complementary stereotype, and examined the impact of these self-perceptions on their beliefs about system fairness. Results support the notion that self-stereotyping is a viable strategy for satisfying the system justification goal. Implications for theories of the self-concept and the maintenance of intergroup inequalities are discussed © 2011 Guilford Publications, Inc.}, Doi = {10.1521/soco.2011.29.3.360}, Key = {fds273282} } @article{fds273283, Author = {Wheeler, SC and Smeesters, D and Kay, AC}, Title = {Culture modifies the operation of prime-to-behavior effects}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {47}, Number = {4}, Pages = {824-829}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2011}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.02.018}, Abstract = {Culture affects the extent to which people focus on other people or on the situation in drawing inferences. Building on recent research showing that perceptions of others and situations can mediate prime-to-behavior effects, we tested whether culture would modify both the mechanism and the outcome of primed constructs on behavior. Easterners and Westerners were primed with competitiveness or cooperativeness before playing a social dilemma game with an ambiguously or unambiguously competitive player. Results indicated that the primes had different effects on the social dilemma decisions of Easterners and Westerners and that these effects were due to the different consequences the primes had for Easterners' and Westerners' perceptions of the other player and construals of the situation. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2011.02.018}, Key = {fds273283} } @article{fds273286, Author = {Gaucher, D and Friesen, J and Kay, AC}, Title = {Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {101}, Number = {1}, Pages = {109-128}, Year = {2011}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022530}, Abstract = {Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) contends that institutional-level mechanisms exist that reinforce and perpetuate existing group-based inequalities, but very few such mechanisms have been empirically demonstrated. We propose that gendered wording (i.e., masculine- and feminine-themed words, such as those associated with gender stereotypes) may be a heretofore unacknowledged, institutional-level mechanism of inequality maintenance. Employing both archival and experimental analyses, the present research demonstrates that gendered wording commonly employed in job recruitment materials can maintain gender inequality in traditionally male-dominated occupations. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated the existence of subtle but systematic wording differences within a randomly sampled set of job advertisements. Results indicated that job advertisements for male-dominated areas employed greater masculine wording (i.e., words associated with male stereotypes, such as leader, competitive, dominant) than advertisements within female-dominated areas. No difference in the presence of feminine wording (i.e., words associated with female stereotypes, such as support, understand, interpersonal) emerged across male- and female-dominated areas. Next, the consequences of highly masculine wording were tested across 3 experimental studies. When job advertisements were constructed to include more masculine than feminine wording, participants perceived more men within these occupations (Study 3), and importantly, women found these jobs less appealing (Studies 4 and 5). Results confirmed that perceptions of belongingness (but not perceived skills) mediated the effect of gendered wording on job appeal (Study 5). The function of gendered wording in maintaining traditional gender divisions, implications for gender parity, and theoretical models of inequality are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0022530}, Key = {fds273286} } @article{fds273296, Author = {Cutright, KM and Wu, EC and Banfield, JC and Kay, AC and Fitzsimons, GJ}, Title = {When your world must be defended: Choosing products to justify the system}, Journal = {Journal of Consumer Research}, Volume = {38}, Number = {1}, Pages = {62-77}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press (OUP)}, Year = {2011}, Month = {June}, ISSN = {0093-5301}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/658469}, Abstract = {Consumers are often strongly motivated to view themselves as part of a legitimate and fair external system. Our research focuses on how individuals adopt distinct ways of defending their system when it is threatened and, in particular, how this is revealed in their consumption choices. We find that although individuals differ in how confident they are in the legitimacy of their system, they do not differ in their motivation to defend the system when it is threatened. Instead, they simply adopt different methods of defense. Specifically, when an important system is (verbally) attacked, individuals who are the least confident in the legitimacy of the system seek and appreciate consumption choices that allow them to indirectly and subtly defend the system. Conversely, individuals who are highly confident in the system reject indirect opportunities of defense and seek consumption choices that allow them to defend the system in direct and explicit ways. © 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.}, Doi = {10.1086/658469}, Key = {fds273296} } @article{fds273295, Author = {Banfield, JC and Kay, AC and Cutright, KM and Wu, EC and Fitzsimons, GJ}, Title = {A person by situation account of motivated system defense}, Journal = {Social Psychological and Personality Science}, Volume = {2}, Number = {2}, Pages = {212-219}, Publisher = {SAGE Publications}, Year = {2011}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {1948-5506}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1948550610386809}, Abstract = {Three studies demonstrate how individual differences in confidence in the sociopolitical system interact with threats that engage the system justification motive to produce system defense. Following threat, participants low, but not high, in system confidence increasingly defended the system, by rejecting system change (Study 1) and preferring domestic over international products (Studies 2 and 3). These findings contribute to the literature on system justification theory in two ways: First, they expand scholars' understanding of when and for whom system-level threats instigate motivational processes of system defense, and, second, they demonstrate that the system justification motive is not merely another example of worldview verification phenomena but instead involves a specific goal to defend the status quo. © The Author(s) 2011.}, Doi = {10.1177/1948550610386809}, Key = {fds273295} } @book{fds273217, Author = {Gaucher, D and Kay, AC and Laurin, K}, Title = {The Power of the status quo: Consequences for maintaining and perpetuating inequality}, Pages = {151-172}, Publisher = {PSYCHOLOGY PRESS}, Year = {2011}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780203837658}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203837658}, Doi = {10.4324/9780203837658}, Key = {fds273217} } @book{fds273232, Author = {Ramona Bobocel and D and Kay, AC and Zanna, MP and Olson, JM}, Title = {The psychology of justice and legitimacy: The Ontario symposium}, Volume = {11}, Pages = {1-350}, Year = {2011}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780203837658}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203837658}, Abstract = {In response to the international turmoil, violence, and increasing ideological polarization, social psychological interest in the topics of legitimacy and social justice has blossomed considerably. Social psychologists have explored the psychological underpinnings of people’s reactions to injustice and illegitimacy, including the behavioral and psychological consequences of the motivation to view individual outcomes and governmental systems as just and legitimate.}, Doi = {10.4324/9780203837658}, Key = {fds273232} } @article{fds273293, Author = {Laurin, K and Fitzsimons, GM and Kay, AC}, Title = {Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {100}, Number = {1}, Pages = {149-171}, Year = {2011}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0021343}, Abstract = {Five studies support the hypothesis that beliefs in societal fairness offer a self-regulatory benefit for members of socially disadvantaged groups. Specifically, members of disadvantaged groups are more likely than members of advantaged groups to calibrate their pursuit of long-term goals to their beliefs about societal fairness. In Study 1, low socioeconomic status (SES) undergraduate students who believed more strongly in societal fairness showed greater intentions to persist in the face of poor performance on a midterm examination. In Study 2, low SES participants who believed more strongly in fairness reported more willingness to invest time and effort to achieve desirable career outcomes. In Study 3, ethnic minority participants exposed to a manipulation suggesting that fairness conditions in their country were improving reported more willingness to invest resources in pursuit of long-term goals, relative to ethnic minority participants in a control condition. Study 4 replicated Study 3 using an implicit priming procedure, demonstrating that perceptions of the personal relevance of societal fairness mediate these effects. Across these 4 studies, no link between fairness beliefs and self-regulation emerged for members of advantaged (high SES, ethnic majority) groups. Study 5 contributed evidence from the World Values Survey and a representative sample (Inglehart, Basañez, Diez-Medrano, Halman, & Luijkx, 2004). Respondents reported more motivation to work hard to the extent that they believed that rewards were distributed fairly; this effect emerged more strongly for members of lower SES groups than for members of higher SES groups, as indicated by both self-identified social class and ethnicity.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0021343}, Key = {fds273293} } @misc{fds322760, Author = {Ramona Bobocel and D and Kay, AC and Zanna, MP and Olson, JM}, Title = {Preface}, Pages = {vii-xiv}, Year = {2011}, Month = {January}, ISBN = {9780203837658}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203837658}, Doi = {10.4324/9780203837658}, Key = {fds322760} } @article{fds273216, Author = {Bobocel, DR and Kay, AC and Zanna, MP and Olson, JM}, Title = {The psychology of justice and legitimacy: The Ontario symposium}, Journal = {The Psychology of Justice and Legitimacy}, Volume = {11}, Pages = {1-350}, Year = {2011}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203837658}, Abstract = {© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.In response to the international turmoil, violence, and increasing ideological polarization, social psychological interest in the topics of legitimacy and social justice has blossomed considerably. Social psychologists have explored the psychological underpinnings of people’s reactions to injustice and illegitimacy, including the behavioral and psychological consequences of the motivation to view individual outcomes and governmental systems as just and legitimate.Although injustice and illegitimacy are clearly related at conceptual and theoretical levels, these two rich literatures are rarely integrated. Social justice researchers have focused on how people make sense of particular instances of injustice, whereas legitimacy researchers have tended to focus primarily on people’s reactions to unfair systems of intergroup relations.This 11th volume of the Ontario Symposium series brings together the work of leading researchers in fields of social justice and legitimacy to facilitate the cross-pollination and integration of these fields. The contributions address broad theoretical issues and cutting-edge empirical advances, while illustrating the diversity and richness of research in the two fields. By uniting these two domains, this volume will stimulate new directions in theory and research that seek to explain how and why people make sense of injustice at all levels of analysis.}, Doi = {10.4324/9780203837658}, Key = {fds273216} } @article{fds273281, Author = {Kay, AC and Shepherd, S and Blatz, CW and Chua, SN and Galinsky, AD}, Title = {For God (or) country: the hydraulic relation between government instability and belief in religious sources of control.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {99}, Number = {5}, Pages = {725-739}, Year = {2010}, Month = {November}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20954784}, Abstract = {It has been recently proposed that people can flexibly rely on sources of control that are both internal and external to the self to satisfy the need to believe that their world is under control (i.e., that events do not unfold randomly or haphazardly). Consistent with this, past research demonstrates that, when personal control is threatened, people defend external systems of control, such as God and government. This theoretical perspective also suggests that belief in God and support for governmental systems, although seemingly disparate, will exhibit a hydraulic relationship with one another. Using both experimental and longitudinal designs in Eastern and Western cultures, the authors demonstrate that experimental manipulations or naturally occurring events (e.g., electoral instability) that lower faith in one of these external systems (e.g., the government) lead to subsequent increases in faith in the other (e.g., God). In addition, mediation and moderation analyses suggest that specific concerns with order and structure underlie these hydraulic effects. Implications for the psychological, sociocultural, and sociopolitical underpinnings of religious faith, as well as system justification theory, are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0021140}, Key = {fds273281} } @article{fds273292, Author = {Anderson, JE and Kay, AC and Fitzsimons, GM}, Title = {In search of the silver lining: the justice motive fosters perceptions of benefits in the later lives of tragedy victims.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {21}, Number = {11}, Pages = {1599-1604}, Year = {2010}, Month = {November}, ISSN = {1467-9280}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797610386620}, Abstract = {Past research has demonstrated that people's need to perceive the world as fair and just leads them to blame and derogate victims of tragedy. The research reported here shows that a positive reaction--bestowing additional meaning on the lives of individuals who have suffered--can also serve people's need to believe that the world is just. In two studies, participants whose justice motive was temporarily heightened or who strongly endorsed the belief that reward and punishment are fairly distributed in the world perceived more meaning and enjoyment in the life of someone who had experienced a tragedy than in the life of someone who had not experienced tragedy, but this pattern was not found for participants whose justice motive was not heightened or who did not strongly endorse a justice belief. These results suggest that being motivated to see the world as just--a motivation traditionally associated with victim derogation--also leads people to perceive a "silver lining" to tragic events.}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797610386620}, Key = {fds273292} } @article{fds273280, Author = {Laurin, K and Shepherd, S and Kay, AC}, Title = {Restricted emigration, system inescapability, and defense of the status quo: system-justifying consequences of restricted exit opportunities.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {21}, Number = {8}, Pages = {1075-1082}, Year = {2010}, Month = {August}, ISSN = {0956-7976}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797610375448}, Abstract = {The freedom to emigrate at will from a geographic location is an internationally recognized human right. However, this right is systematically violated by restrictive migration policies. In three experiments, we explored the psychological consequences of violating the right to mobility. Our results suggest that, ironically, restricted freedom of movement can lead to increased system justification (i.e., increased support of the status quo). In Study 1, we found that participants who read that their country was difficult to leave became stronger defenders of their system's legitimacy than before, even in domains unrelated to emigration policy (e.g., gender relations). In Study 2, we demonstrated that this increased system defense was the result of a motivated process. In Study 3, we broadened the scope of this psychological phenomenon by conceptually replicating it using a different system (participants' university) and measure of system defense. The importance of these two findings-the first experimental demonstration of the psychological consequences of restrictive emigration policies and the introduction of a novel psychological phenomenon-is discussed.}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797610375448}, Key = {fds273280} } @article{fds273279, Author = {Callan, MJ and Kay, AC and Olson, JM and Brar, N and Whitefield, N}, Title = {The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {46}, Number = {2}, Pages = {325-335}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2010}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.005}, Abstract = {Socio-legal scholars have suggested that, as a ubiquitous social system, law shapes social reality and provides interpretive frameworks for social relations. Across five studies, we tested the idea that the law shapes social reality by fostering the assumptions that people are self-interested, untrustworthy, and competitive. In Studies 1 and 2, we found that people implicitly associated legal concepts with competitiveness. Studies 3-5 showed that these associations had implications for social perceptions, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior. After being primed with constructs related to the law, participants perceived social actors as less trustworthy and the situation as more competitive (Study 3), became more against a political issue when it conflicted with their normative self-interest (Study 4), and made more competitive choices during a prisoner's dilemma game when they believed that social relations were basically zero-sum in nature (Study 5). The implications and applications of these results are discussed. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.005}, Key = {fds273279} } @article{fds273277, Author = {Kay, AC and Moscovitch, DA and Laurin, K}, Title = {Randomness, attributions of arousal, and belief in god.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {21}, Number = {2}, Pages = {216-218}, Year = {2010}, Month = {February}, ISSN = {0956-7976}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797609357750}, Doi = {10.1177/0956797609357750}, Key = {fds273277} } @article{fds273278, Author = {Kay, AC and Gaucher, D and McGregor, I and Nash, K}, Title = {Religious belief as compensatory control.}, Journal = {Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc}, Volume = {14}, Number = {1}, Pages = {37-48}, Year = {2010}, Month = {February}, ISSN = {1088-8683}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1088868309353750}, Abstract = {The authors review experimental evidence that religious conviction can be a defensive source of compensatory control when personal or external sources of control are low. They show evidence that (a) belief in religious deities and secular institutions can serve as external forms of control that can compensate for manipulations that lower personal control and (b) religious conviction can also serve as compensatory personal control after experimental manipulations that lower other forms of personal or external control. The authors review dispositional factors that differentially orient individuals toward external or personal varieties of compensatory control and conclude that compensatory religious conviction can be a flexible source of personal and external control for relief from the anxiety associated with random and uncertain experiences.}, Doi = {10.1177/1088868309353750}, Key = {fds273278} } @article{fds273275, Author = {Gaucher, D and Hafer, CL and Kay, AC and Davidenko, N}, Title = {Compensatory rationalizations and the resolution of everyday undeserved outcomes.}, Journal = {Personality & social psychology bulletin}, Volume = {36}, Number = {1}, Pages = {109-118}, Year = {2010}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0146-1672}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167209351701}, Abstract = {People prefer to perceive the world as just; however, the everyday experience of undeserved events challenges this perception.The authors suggest that one way people rationalize these daily experiences of unfairness is by means of a compensatory bias. People make undeserved events more palatable by endorsing the notion that outcomes naturally balance out in the end--good, yet undeserved, outcomes will balance out bad outcomes, and bad undeserved outcomes will balance out good outcomes.The authors propose that compensatory biases manifest in people's interpretive processes (Study 1) and memory (Study 2). Furthermore, they provide evidence that people have a natural tendency to anticipate compensatory outcomes in the future, which, ironically, might lead them to perceive a current situation as relatively more fair (Study 3).These studies highlight an understudied means of justifying unfairness and elucidate the justice motive's power to affect people's construal of their social world.}, Doi = {10.1177/0146167209351701}, Key = {fds273275} } @article{fds273276, Author = {Smeesters, D and Wheeler, SC and Kay, AC}, Title = {Chapter Five: Indirect prime-to-behavior effects: The role of perceptions of the self, others, and situations in connecting primed constructs to social behavior}, Journal = {Advances in Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {42}, Pages = {259-317}, Publisher = {Elsevier}, Year = {2010}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0065-2601}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(10)42005-5}, Abstract = {For more than a decade, researchers have convincingly shown that people's social behavior can be affected by primed constructs without people having any awareness of their influence. Earlier research proposed direct priming accounts for these effects, suggesting that primed constructs exert their effect on behavior in a relatively direct fashion without an intervening role for perceptual processes. In this chapter, we review evidence in favor of an indirect priming account for behavioral priming effects. In these indirect priming effects, a primed construct affects behavior via shifts in perceptions of a perceptual target. We review three types of indirect priming mechanisms: a self-perception, person-perception, and situation-perception mechanism. We also present various moderators that affect the direction and magnitude of each of the indirect priming effects. In addition, we identify factors, related to the attentional focus of the prime recipient, that indicate when each of the different mechanisms operates. Understanding the role of perceptual processes in the prime-to-behavior pathway can unravel more mysteries about the rich and complex nature of social behavior. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.}, Doi = {10.1016/S0065-2601(10)42005-5}, Key = {fds273276} } @misc{fds273223, Author = {Kay, AC and Jost, JT}, Title = {Social Justice: History, Theory, and Research}, Booktitle = {Handbook of Social Psychology}, Publisher = {John Wiley and Sons}, Year = {2010}, Key = {fds273223} } @misc{fds273224, Author = {Kay, AC and Gaucher, D and Laurin, K}, Title = {The power of the status quo: Consequences for maintaining and perpetuating inequality}, Pages = {109-118}, Booktitle = {The Psychology of Justice and Legitimacy: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 11)}, Publisher = {Psychology Press}, Editor = {Bobocel, R and Kay, M and Zanna, P and Olson, JM}, Year = {2010}, Key = {fds273224} } @misc{fds273225, Author = {Kay, AC and Banfield, J and Laurin, K}, Title = {Ideology and power}, Booktitle = {The Social Psychology of Power}, Publisher = {Guilford Press}, Editor = {Vescio, T and Guinote, A}, Year = {2010}, Key = {fds273225} } @article{fds273268, Author = {Kay, AC and Whitson, JA and Gaucher, D and Galinsky, AD}, Title = {Compensatory control: Achieving order through the mind, our institutions, and the heavens}, Journal = {Current Directions in Psychological Science}, Volume = {18}, Number = {5}, Pages = {264-268}, Publisher = {SAGE Publications}, Year = {2009}, Month = {December}, ISSN = {0963-7214}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01649.x}, Abstract = {We propose that people protect the belief in a controlled, nonrandom world by imbuing their social, physical, and metaphysical environments with order and structure when their sense of personal control is threatened. We demonstrate that when personal control is threatened, people can preserve a sense of order by (a) perceiving patterns in noise or adhering to superstitions and conspiracies, (b) defending the legitimacy of the sociopolitical institutions that offer control, or (c) believing in an interventionist God. We also present evidence that these processes of compensatory control help people cope with the anxiety and discomfort that lacking personal control fuels, that it is lack of personal control specifically and not general threat or negativity that drives these processes, and that these various forms of compensatory control are ultimately substitutable for one another. Our model of compensatory control offers insight into a wide variety of phenomena, from prejudice to the idiosyncratic rituals of professional athletes to societal rituals around weddings, graduations, and funerals. © 2009 Association for Psychological Science.}, Doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01649.x}, Key = {fds273268} } @article{fds273273, Author = {Kay, AC and Gaucher, D and Peach, JM and Laurin, K and Friesen, J and Zanna, MP and Spencer, SJ}, Title = {Inequality, discrimination, and the power of the status quo: Direct evidence for a motivation to see the way things are as the way they should be.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {97}, Number = {3}, Pages = {421-434}, Year = {2009}, Month = {September}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015997}, Abstract = {How powerful is the status quo in determining people's social ideals? The authors propose (a) that people engage in injunctification, that is, a motivated tendency to construe the current status quo as the most desirable and reasonable state of affairs (i.e., as the most representative of how things should be); (b) that this tendency is driven, at least in part, by people's desire to justify their sociopolitical systems; and (c) that injunctification has profound implications for the maintenance of inequality and societal change. Four studies, across a variety of domains, provided supportive evidence. When the motivation to justify the sociopolitical system was experimentally heightened, participants injunctified extant (a) political power (Study 1), (b) public funding policies (Study 2), and (c) unequal gender demographics in the political and business spheres (Studies 3 and 4, respectively). It was also demonstrated that this motivated phenomenon increased derogation of those who act counter to the status quo (Study 4). Theoretical implications for system justification theory, stereotype formation, affirmative action, and the maintenance of inequality are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0015997}, Key = {fds273273} } @article{fds273272, Author = {Callan, MJ and Kay, AC and Davidenko, N and Ellard, JH}, Title = {The effects of justice motivation on memory for self- and other-relevant events}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {45}, Number = {4}, Pages = {614-623}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2009}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.02.013}, Abstract = {We examined whether people might distort and selectively remember the past in ways that enable them to sustain a belief in a just world (BJW; Lerner, M. J. (1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. New York: Plenum Press). In Study 1, recall of a lottery prize reflected participants' justice concerns, such that the average lottery amount recalled was lowest when a "bad" versus "good" person won. In Study 2, an unrelated experience of just world threat (versus affirmation) enhanced biased recall of the lottery prize when the winner was undeserving. In Study 3, participants who experienced a fortuitous bad break selectively remembered more bad deeds from their recent past, whereas participants who experienced a good break selectively remembered more good deeds. Study 4 demonstrates that such selective memory biases specifically serve to portray chance outcomes as more fair. Taken together, these findings offer support for the notion that reconstructing and selectively recalling the past can serve to sustain a BJW. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2009.02.013}, Key = {fds273272} } @article{fds273274, Author = {Bryan, CJ and Dweck, CS and Ross, L and Kay, AC and Mislavsky, NO}, Title = {Political mindset: Effects of schema priming on liberal-conservative political positions}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {45}, Number = {4}, Pages = {890-895}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2009}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.007}, Abstract = {Although stable factors play an important role in determining people's political positions, most Americans also hold a mix of values and beliefs some congruent with political conservatism and some congruent with political liberalism. To investigate this more dynamic component of political thinking, two studies manipulated the relative salience of schemas about personal merit vs. good fortune as explanations for success in life. In Study 1, students at a highly selective university were asked to explain their academic success focusing either on the role of hard work, self-discipline and wise decision-making (Personal Merit condition) or that of chance, opportunity, and help from others (Good Fortune condition). In Study 2, personal merit vs. good fortune was primed through prior exposure to relevant questionnaire items. In both studies, participants in the Good Fortune condition subsequently indicated more support for liberal policies than did those in the Personal Merit condition. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.007}, Key = {fds273274} } @article{fds273214, Author = {Jost, JT and Kay, AC and Thorisdottir, H}, Title = {Social and Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification}, Journal = {Social and Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification}, Pages = {1-552}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press}, Year = {2009}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.001.0001}, Abstract = {This volume both reflects and exemplifies the recent resurgence of interest in the social and psychological characteristics and processes that give rise to ideological forms. Ideology is an elusive, multifaceted construct that can usefully be analyzed in terms of "top-down" processes related to the social construction and dissemination of ideology, as well as to "bottom-up" processes, including dispositional and situational factors, that make certain ideological outcomes more likely than others. The twenty chapters of this volume focus on the cognitive and motivational antecedents and consequences of adopting specific ideologies, the functions served by those ideologies, and the myriad ways in which people accept and justify (versus reject) aspects of the social and political worlds they inhabit. Current challenges and future directions for the study of ideology and system justification are also discussed in several chapters. The volume represents a wide variety of research traditions bearing on the social and psychological bases of ideology and system justification. These traditions include (a) the study of attitudes, social cognition, and information processing at both conscious and nonconscious levels of awareness, (b) theories of motivated reasoning and goal-directed cognition, (c) research on personality and dispositional correlates of political orientation, (d) work on social justice and the origins of moral values, (e) the myriad ways in which social and political opinions are shaped by local situations and environments, and (f) studies of stereotyping, prejudice, and the ideological correlates of intergroup attitudes.}, Doi = {10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.001.0001}, Key = {fds273214} } @article{fds273215, Author = {Kay, AC and Zanna, MP}, Title = {A Contextual Analysis of the System Justification Motive and Its Societal Consequences}, Pages = {158-182}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press}, Year = {2009}, Month = {May}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.003.007}, Abstract = {This chapter reviews recent theory and empirical evidence demonstrating the effects of the system justification motive on consequential social and psychological phenomena, as well as the conditions under which these effects are likely to be most pronounced. A review is presented of the theory and evidence demonstrating three conditions that increase the activation of the system justification motive: system threat, perceived system inevitability, and perceptions of personal and system control. A description is made of how, in these conditions, the system justification motive manifests itself in processes of explicit system defense, interpersonal and intergroup perception, and resistance to social change. Throughout, the emphasis is on the contextual nature of these effects, as well as their consequences for the maintenance of social inequality.}, Doi = {10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.003.007}, Key = {fds273215} } @book{fds273231, Author = {Thorisdottir, H and Jost, JT and Kay, AC}, Title = {On the Social and Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification}, Pages = {3-24}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press}, Year = {2009}, Month = {May}, ISBN = {9780195320916}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.003.001}, Abstract = {This chapter summarizes research that both reflects and exemplifies the recent resurgence of interest in the social and psychological characteristics and processes that give rise to ideological forms. Ideology is an elusive, multifaceted construct that can usefully be analyzed in terms of "top-down" processes related to the social construction and dissemination of ideology as well as "bottom-up" processes, including dispositional and situational factors, that make certain ideological outcomes more likely than others. The chapter briefly summarizes the contents of this volume, focusing especially on the cognitive and motivational antecedents and consequences of adopting specific ideologies, the functions served by those ideologies, and the myriad ways in which people accept and justify (versus reject) aspects of the social and political worlds they inhabit. Current challenges and future directions for the study of ideology and system justification are also discussed.}, Doi = {10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320916.003.001}, Key = {fds273231} } @article{fds273271, Author = {Kay, AC and Czapliński, S and Jost, JT}, Title = {Left-right ideological differences in system Justification following exposure to complementary versus noncomplementary stereotype exemplars}, Journal = {European Journal of Social Psychology}, Volume = {39}, Number = {2}, Pages = {290-298}, Publisher = {WILEY}, Year = {2009}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0046-2772}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.500}, Abstract = {The capacity for victim-derogating stereotypes and attributions to justify social inequality and maintain the status quo is well known among social scientists and other observers. Research conducted from the perspective of system justification theory suggests that an alternative to derogation is to justify inequality through the use of complementary stereotypes that ascribe compensating benefits and burdens to disadvantaged and advantaged groups, respectively. In two experimental studies conducted in Poland we investigated the hypothesis that preferences for these two routes to system justification would depend upon one's political orientation. That is, we predicted that the system-justifying potential of complementary versus noncomplementary stereotype exemplars would be moderated by individual differences in left-right ideology, such that left-wingers would exhibit stronger support for the societal status quo following exposure to complementary (e.g., "poor but happy," "rich but miserable") representations, whereas right-wingers would exhibit stronger support for the status quo following exposure to noncomplementary (e.g., "poor and dishonest," "rich and honest") representations. Results were supportive of these predictions. Implications for theory and practice concerning stereotyping, ideology, and system justification are discussed. ©2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.}, Doi = {10.1002/ejsp.500}, Key = {fds273271} } @article{fds273270, Author = {Smeesters, D and Wheeler, SC and Kay, AC}, Title = {The role of interpersonal perceptions in the prime-to-behavior pathway.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {96}, Number = {2}, Pages = {395-414}, Year = {2009}, Month = {February}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0012959}, Abstract = {The present research suggests that biased interpersonal perceptions can mediate prime-to-behavior effects and introduces a new moderator for when such mediation will occur. Across 5 experiments, the authors provide evidence that priming effects on behavior in interpersonal contexts are mediated by social perceptions, but only when participants are focused on the other person. These effects occur when other-focus is primed (Experiment 1), when other-focus is high owing to the decision-making situation (Experiment 2), and when other-focus is dispositionally high (Experiment 3). Experiments 4 and 5 bring additional support for a biased perception account by ruling out an alternative behavior-perception link and showing that other-focus can moderate not only the mediating mechanism of prime-to-behavior effects but also the behavioral effects themselves. The implications of these results for increasing understanding of behavioral priming effects in rich social contexts are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1037/a0012959}, Key = {fds273270} } @misc{fds273222, Author = {Kay, AC and Zanna, MP}, Title = {A contextual analysis of the social and psychological consequences of system justification}, Booktitle = {Social & Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification}, Publisher = {Oxford University Press}, Editor = {Jost, JT and Thoristtodor, H}, Year = {2009}, Key = {fds273222} } @article{fds273269, Author = {Laurin, K and Kay, AC and Moscovitch, DA}, Title = {On the belief in God: Towards an understanding of the emotional substrates of compensatory control}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {44}, Number = {6}, Pages = {1559-1562}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2008}, Month = {November}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.07.007}, Abstract = {We suggest that beliefs in a controlling God originate, at least in part, from the desire to avoid the emotionally uncomfortable experience of perceiving the world as random and chaotic. Forty-seven participants engaged in an anxiety-provoking visualization procedure. For half, the procedure included a manipulation designed to temporarily lower beliefs in personal control. As predicted, it was only among those participants whose sense of personal control was threatened-i.e., participants in need of an alternate means for protecting their belief in a non-random world-that subjective anxiety led to increased subsequent beliefs in the existence of a controlling God. Wide-ranging implications are discussed. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2008.07.007}, Key = {fds273269} } @article{fds273267, Author = {Kay, AC and Gaucher, D and Napier, JL and Callan, MJ and Laurin, K}, Title = {God and the government: testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {95}, Number = {1}, Pages = {18-35}, Year = {2008}, Month = {July}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.18}, Abstract = {The authors propose that the high levels of support often observed for governmental and religious systems can be explained, in part, as a means of coping with the threat posed by chronically or situationally fluctuating levels of perceived personal control. Three experiments demonstrated a causal relation between lowered perceptions of personal control and the defense of external systems, including increased beliefs in the existence of a controlling God (Studies 1 and 2) and defense of the overarching socio-political system (Study 4). A 4th experiment (Study 5) showed the converse to be true: A challenge to the usefulness of external systems of control led to increased illusory perceptions of personal control. In addition, a cross-national data set demonstrated that lower levels of personal control are associated with higher support for governmental control (across 67 nations; Study 3). Each study identified theoretically consistent moderators and mediators of these effects. The implications of these results for understanding why a high percentage of the population believes in the existence of God, and why people so often endorse and justify their socio-political systems, are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.18}, Key = {fds273267} } @article{fds273266, Author = {Kay, AC and Wheeler, SC and Smeesters, D}, Title = {The situated person: Effects of construct accessibility on situation construals and interpersonal perception}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {44}, Number = {2}, Pages = {275-291}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2008}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0022-1031}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2007.05.005}, Abstract = {Three studies examined the interrelationship between primed constructs, situation construal, and person perception. Previous research on priming and person perception has generally neglected the situational context. We predicted that when rich situational information is included, primed constructs can lead to assimilation effects on situation construals, which can in turn lead to contrast effects in person perceptions. Study 1 demonstrated that when situation information is included in the experimental context, primes lead to contrast in person perceptions. Study 2, employing a subliminal methodology, demonstrated that these effects could not be accounted for via previous explanations of contrast effects, such as correction-based mechanisms, that require overt recognition of the priming stimuli by the participants. Study 3 demonstrated that the contrastive effects of the priming stimuli on person perception obtained in Studies 1 and 2 are in fact due to the intervening assimilative effects of the priming stimuli on situation construal-that is, the primed constructs led to contrast effects on perceptions of the actor via their assimilative effects on perceptions of the situation in which that actor was embedded. Additionally, moderator variables demonstrated that this effect is most pronounced when the target actor's behavior is described as relatively unambiguous or situation focus is increased. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.jesp.2007.05.005}, Key = {fds273266} } @article{fds273265, Author = {Lau, GP and Kay, AC and Spencer, SJ}, Title = {Loving those who justify inequality: the effects of system threat on attraction to women who embody benevolent sexist ideals.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {19}, Number = {1}, Pages = {20-21}, Year = {2008}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0956-7976}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02040.x}, Doi = {10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02040.x}, Key = {fds273265} } @article{fds273264, Author = {Kay, AC and Jost, JT and Mandisodza, AN and Sherman, SJ and Petrocelli, JV and Johnson, AL}, Title = {Panglossian Ideology In The Service Of System Justification: How Complementary Stereotypes Help Us To Rationalize Inequality}, Journal = {Advances in Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {39}, Pages = {305-358}, Publisher = {Elsevier}, Year = {2007}, Month = {April}, ISSN = {0065-2601}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)39006-5}, Abstract = {According to system justification theory, there is a general social psychological tendency to rationalize the status quo, that is, to see it as good, fair, legitimate, and desirable. This tendency is reminiscent of the dispositional outlook of Voltaire's famous character, Dr. Pangloss, who believed that he was "living in the best of all possible worlds." One of the means by which people idealize existing social arrangements is by relying on complementary (or compensatory) stereotypes, which ascribe compensating virtues to the disadvantaged and corresponding vices to the advantaged, thereby creating an "illusion of equality." In this chapter, we summarize a program of research demonstrating that (1) incidental exposure to complementary gender and status stereotypes leads people to show enhanced ideological support for the status quo and (2) when the legitimacy or stability of the system is threatened, people often respond by using complementary stereotypes to bolster the system. We also show that (noncomplementary) victim-blaming and (complementary) victim-enhancement represent alternate routes to system justification. In addition, we consider a number of situational and dispositional moderating variables that affect the use and effectiveness of complementary and noncomplementary representations, and we discuss the broader implications of stereotyping and other forms of rationalization that are adopted in the service of system justification. From time to time, Pangloss would say to Candide:There is a chain of events in this best of all possible worlds; for if you had not been turned out of a beautiful mansion at the point of a jackboot for love of Lady Cunégonde, if you had not been clamped into the Inquisition, if you had not wandered about America on foot, and had not struck the Baron with your sword, and lost all those sheep you brought from Eldorado, you would not be here eating candied fruit and pistachio nuts. "That's true enough," said Candide; "but we must go and work in the garden."-Voltaire, 1758/1947, Candide or Optimism, p. 144. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/S0065-2601(06)39006-5}, Key = {fds273264} } @article{fds273262, Author = {Jost, JT and Kay, AC}, Title = {Exposure to benevolent sexism and complementary gender stereotypes: consequences for specific and diffuse forms of system justification.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {88}, Number = {3}, Pages = {498-509}, Year = {2005}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0022-3514}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.498}, Abstract = {Many have suggested that complementary gender stereotypes of men as agentic (but not communal) and women as communal (but not agentic) serve to increase system justification, but direct experimental support has been lacking. The authors exposed people to specific types of gender-related beliefs and subsequently asked them to complete measures of gender-specific or diffuse system justification. In Studies 1 and 2, activating (a) communal or complementary (communal + agentic) gender stereotypes or (b) benevolent or complementary (benevolent + hostile) sexist items increased support for the status quo among women. In Study 3, activating stereotypes of men as agentic also increased system justification among men and women, but only when women's characteristics were associated with higher status. Results suggest that complementary stereotypes psychologically offset the one-sided advantage of any single group and contribute to an image of society in which everyone benefits through a balanced dispersion of benefits.}, Doi = {10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.498}, Key = {fds273262} } @article{fds273263, Author = {Kay, AC and Jost, JT and Young, S}, Title = {Victim derogation and victim enhancement as alternate routes to system justification.}, Journal = {Psychological science}, Volume = {16}, Number = {3}, Pages = {240-246}, Year = {2005}, Month = {March}, ISSN = {0956-7976}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00810.x}, Abstract = {Abstract-Numerous studies have documented the potential for victim-blaming attributions to justify the status quo. Recent work suggests that complementary, victim-enhancing stereotypes may also increase support for existing social arrangements. We seek to reconcile these seemingly contradictory findings by proposing that victim derogation and victim enhancement are alternate routes to system justification, with the preferred route depending on the perception of a causal link between trait and outcome. Derogating "losers" (and lionizing "winners") on traits (e.g., intelligence) that are causally related to outcomes (e.g., wealth vs. poverty) serves to increase system justification, as does compensating "losers" (and downgrading "winners") on traits (e.g., physical attractiveness) that are causally unrelated to those outcomes. We provide converging evidence using system-threat and stereotype-activation paradigms.}, Doi = {10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00810.x}, Key = {fds273263} } @article{fds273261, Author = {Kay, AC and Wheeler, SC and Bargh, JA and Ross, L}, Title = {Material priming: The influence of mundane physical objects on situational construal and competitive behavioral choice}, Journal = {Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes}, Volume = {95}, Number = {1}, Pages = {83-96}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2004}, Month = {September}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2004.06.003}, Abstract = {Inspired by potential theoretical linkages between nonconscious priming work in psychology and the anthropological emphasis on the impact of material culture, five studies were conducted to investigate the role of implicitly presented material objects and automatic processes in interpersonal and organizational contexts. These studies showed that exposure to objects common to the domain of business (e.g., boardroom tables and briefcases) increased the cognitive accessibility of the construct of competition (Study 1), the likelihood that an ambiguous social interaction would be perceived as less cooperative (Study 2), and the amount of money that participants proposed to retain for themselves in the "Ultimatum Game" (Studies 3 and 4). A fifth study, in which the ambiguity of the governing social situation was manipulated, demonstrated that these types of effects are most likely to occur in contexts that are ambiguous and/or lacking in explicit normative demands. The importance of these situation-specific "material priming" effects (all of which occurred without the participants' awareness of the relevant influence) to judgment and behavioral choice in specific contexts, as well as to the fostering of less competitive organizational settings, is discussed. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/j.obhdp.2004.06.003}, Key = {fds273261} } @article{fds273291, Author = {Fitzsimons, GM and Kay, AC}, Title = {Language and interpersonal cognition: causal effects of variations in pronoun usage on perceptions of closeness.}, Journal = {Personality & social psychology bulletin}, Volume = {30}, Number = {5}, Pages = {547-557}, Year = {2004}, Month = {May}, ISSN = {0146-1672}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167203262852}, Abstract = {Four studies examined the hypothesis that subtle language variations can have a causal impact on perceptions of relationships. In interpersonal interactions, language can function implicitly to reflect, perpetuate, and communicate relationship perceptions. Previous research has shown that interpersonal closeness and plural pronoun use are correlated; the current research demonstrates that manipulating pronoun use can lead people to perceive their own and other relationships as closer and higher in quality. In Study 1, participants who read about a relationship that was described using the pronoun we versus she and I perceived the relationship to be closer and of higher quality. Study 2 showed that pronoun variations similarly affected perceptions of participants' own ongoing relationships; Study 3 showed similar effects for perceptions of an actual interpersonal interaction. Study 4 examined potential mechanisms of this effect.}, Doi = {10.1177/0146167203262852}, Key = {fds273291} } @misc{fds273221, Author = {Kay, AC and Jost, JT and Fitzsimons, GM}, Title = {The Ideological Animal: On the Epistemic and Existential Bases of System Justification}, Booktitle = {Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology}, Publisher = {Guilford Press}, Editor = {Greenberg, J and Koole, SL and Pyszczynsk, T}, Year = {2004}, Key = {fds273221} } @article{fds273260, Author = {Kay, AC and Jost, JT}, Title = {Complementary justice: effects of "poor but happy" and "poor but honest" stereotype exemplars on system justification and implicit activation of the justice motive.}, Journal = {Journal of personality and social psychology}, Volume = {85}, Number = {5}, Pages = {823-837}, Year = {2003}, Month = {November}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.823}, Abstract = {It was hypothesized that exposure to complementary representations of the poor as happier and more honest than the rich would lead to increased support for the status quo. In Study 1, exposure to "poor but happy" and "rich but miserable" stereotype exemplars led people to score higher on a general measure of system justification, compared with people who were exposed to noncomplementary exemplars. Study 2 replicated this effect with "poor but honest" and "rich but dishonest" complementary stereotypes. In Studies 3 and 4, exposure to noncomplementary stereotype exemplars implicitly activated justice concerns, as indicated by faster reaction times to justice-related than neutral words in a lexical decision task. Evidence also suggested that the Protestant work ethic may moderate the effects of stereotype exposure on explicit system justification (but not implicit activation).}, Doi = {10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.823}, Key = {fds273260} } @article{fds273259, Author = {Baldwin, MW and Kay, AC}, Title = {Adult attachment and the inhibition of rejection}, Journal = {Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology}, Volume = {22}, Number = {3}, Pages = {275-293}, Publisher = {Guilford Publications}, Year = {2003}, Month = {June}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/jscp.22.3.275.22890}, Abstract = {Recent research has identified the inhibition of negative interpersonal information as a critical social cognitive mechanism associated with adult attachment orientations. Sixty undergraduate participants were conditioned to associate one computer tone with interpersonal rejection, and another with acceptance. The tones were played again while the participants performed a lexical decision task that assessed the activation of rejection information. To the extent that individuals were low on attachment anxiety, the conditioned tones led to slower reaction times to rejection target words, indicating the inhibition of rejection expectations. The implications of such inhibitory processing are discussed.}, Doi = {10.1521/jscp.22.3.275.22890}, Key = {fds273259} } @article{fds273256, Author = {Mendelson, MJ and Kay, AC}, Title = {Positive feelings in friendship: Does imbalance in the relationship matter?}, Journal = {Journal of Social and Personal Relationships}, Volume = {20}, Number = {1}, Pages = {101-116}, Publisher = {SAGE Publications}, Year = {2003}, Month = {February}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0265407503020001190}, Abstract = {We examined predictors of positive feelings in friendship. Pairs of same-sex (female - female) and cross-sex (female - male) friends completed questionnaires about each other. Positive feelings covaried directly with friendship level (e.g., best versus good) and with benefits from the relationship (i.e., the degree to which friendship functions were fulfilled); but various measures of imbalance in the relationship - net benefit, unsigned net benefit, and inequality - did not improve prediction. Nonetheless, there was limited evidence that, independent of other predictors, positive feelings covaried inversely with inequity (i.e., with the degree to which the net benefit-to-contribution ratios of the two friends differed). Because positive feelings mainly reflect the degree to which friendship functions are fulfilled, the data support a functional view of friendship. However, if imbalance in a friendship is at all important, it appears to be imbalance measured in terms of inequity.}, Doi = {10.1177/0265407503020001190}, Key = {fds273256} } @article{fds273258, Author = {Kay, AC and Ross, L}, Title = {The perceptual push: The interplay of implicit cues and explicit situational construals on behavioral intentions in the prisoner's dilemma}, Journal = {Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}, Volume = {39}, Number = {6}, Pages = {634-643}, Publisher = {Elsevier BV}, Year = {2003}, Month = {January}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00057-X}, Abstract = {Although it is clear that nonconscious primes can affect behavioral decisions, the extent to which the prime-to-behavior link is mediated by intervening interpretative processes is still unknown. The present research examined the mediational role of "situational construals" by assessing the effects of cooperative versus competitive primes on participants' construals of, and responses to, the prisoner's dilemma. As predicted, this priming manipulation influenced participants' construals of the game (assessed by the participants' ratings of the appropriateness of different "names for the game" and their estimates of how random others would play), and their own expressed willingness to cooperate versus defect. Most crucially, a mediational analysis and a manipulation of the order in which these dependent variables were measured established that the prime-to-behavior link can be strengthened by an intervening task calling for explicit construal of the situation. The interplay of situational construal and implicit primes in producing deliberative behavior is discussed. © 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.}, Doi = {10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00057-X}, Key = {fds273258} } @article{fds273257, Author = {Kay, AC and Jimenez, MC and Jost, JT}, Title = {Sour grapes, sweet lemons, and the anticipatory rationalization of the status quo}, Journal = {Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin}, Volume = {28}, Number = {9}, Pages = {1300-1312}, Publisher = {SAGE Publications}, Year = {2002}, Month = {January}, ISSN = {0146-1672}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01461672022812014}, Abstract = {Integrating theories of cognitive dissonance, system justification, and dynamic thought systems, the authors hypothesized that people would engage in anticipatory rationalization of sociopolitical outcomes for which they were not responsible. In two studies, the authors found that people adjusted their judgments of the desirability of a future event to make them congruent with its perceived likelihood, but only when the event triggered motivational involvement. In Study 1, a political survey administered to 288 Democrats, Republicans, and nonpartisans prior to the Bush-Gore presidential election manipulated the perceived likelihood that each candidate would win and measured the subjective desirability of each outcome. In Study 2, 203 undergraduate students rated the desirability of a large or small tuition increase or decrease that was low, medium, or high in likelihood. Under conditions evoking high motivational involvement, unfavorable as well as favorable outcomes were judged to be more desirable as their perceived likelihood increased. © 2002 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.}, Doi = {10.1177/01461672022812014}, Key = {fds273257} } | |
Duke University * Arts & Sciences * Faculty * Staff * Grad * Postdocs * Reload * Login |