Two dimensions of interpersonal attitudes: Liking depends on communion, respect depends on agency

Can agentic messages help? Linguistic strategies to counteract voice-based sexual orientation discrimination

Gay men who believe to sound 'gay' expect to be discriminated against because of their voices and gay-sounding men are discriminated against in the hiring process. We examined whether uttering an agency-based message decreased discrimination expectancy and enactment. In Study 1a (N = 256; gay and bisexual men) and Study 1b (N = 216; gay men), speakers uttered agentic (vs. neutral) messages. We assessed their self-perception as gay sounding, agency self-attribution and discrimination expectancy. Uttering agentic (vs. neutral) messages made the speakers self-perceive as more agentic and this decreased discrimination expectancy. Additionally, self-perception as gay sounding predicted discrimination expectancy. In Study 2 (N = 466), heterosexual participants listened to gay- and straight-sounding speakers uttering either neutral or agentic messages and rated them in terms of agency and employability. Gay-sounding speakers uttering agentic messages were less likely to be discriminated against than when uttering neutral messages. Results show the positive impact of linguistic strategies involving agentic messages to reduce discrimination expectancy and hiring biases.

Agency effects on the binding of event elements in episodic memory

Representing events in episodic memory in a coherent manner requires that their constituent elements are bound together. So far, only few moderators of these binding processes have been identified. Here we investigate whether the presence of an agentic element in an event facilitates binding. The results from six experiments provided no evidence for a facilitating effect of agency on the binding of event elements. In addition, binding effects were only found when event elements were presented simultaneously, but not when they were presented sequentially pairwise, contrary to previous findings. The results suggest that the presence of an agentic element in an event does not, or only to a very limited extent, contribute to the formation of coherent memory representations and that additional processes may be required when binding event elements across temporarily divided encoding episodes. These findings add to a growing body of research regarding moderators and processes relevant for the binding of event elements in episodic memory. Explanations of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Differential Behavioral Pathways Linking Personality to Leadership Emergence and Effectiveness in Groups

This study integrates leadership process models with process models of personality and behavioral personality science to examine the behavioral-perceptual pathways that explain interpersonal personality traits' divergent relation to group leadership evaluations. We applied data from an online group interaction study (N = 364) alternately assigning participants as leaders conducting brief tasks. We used four variable types to build the pathways in multiple mediator models: (a) Self-reported personality traits, (b) video recordings of expressed interpersonal behaviors coded by 6 trained raters, (c) interpersonal impressions, and (d) mutual evaluations of leadership emergence/effectiveness. We find interpersonal big five traits to differently relate to the two leadership outcomes via the behavioral-perceptual pathways: Extraversion was more important to leadership emergence due to impressions of assertiveness evoked by task-focused behavior being strongly valued. Agreeableness/emotional stability were more important to leadership effectiveness due to impressions of trustworthiness/calmness evoked by member-focused/calm behavior being stronger valued.

Forming Evaluations of Moral Character: How Are Multiple Pieces of Information Prioritized and Integrated?

Evaluating other people's moral character is a crucial social cognitive task. However, the cognitive processes by which people seek out, prioritize, and integrate multiple pieces of character-relevant information have not been studied empirically. The first aim of this research was to examine which character traits are considered most important when forming an impression of a person's overall moral character. The second aim was to understand how differing levels of trait expression affect overall character judgments. Four preregistered studies and one supplemental study (total N = 720), using five different measures of importance and sampling undergraduates, online workers, and community members, found that our participants placed the most importance on the traits honest, helpful, compassionate, loyal, and responsible. Also, when integrating the information that they have learned, our participants seemed to engage in a simple averaging process in which all available, relevant information is combined in a linear fashion to form an overall evaluation of moral character. This research provides new insights into the cognitive processes by which evaluations of moral character are formed.

A test of the Morality-Agency-Communion (MAC) model of respect and liking across positive and negative traits

The Morality-Agency-Communion (MAC) model of respect and liking suggests that traits linked with morality are important for respect and liking; traits related to competence or assertiveness are important for respect and traits related to warmth are important for liking. However, tests of this model have tended not to consider traits related to immorality, incompetence, lack of assertiveness or coldness. This study addressed this issue by utilizing a within-subjects design in which participants were required to rate their respect and liking for individuals with specific trait types across four categories (moral; competence; assertiveness; and warmth) at three levels (positive, negative and neutral). The central tenets of the MAC model were supported for 'positive' traits (morality, competence, assertiveness and warmth). However, for 'negative' traits (immorality, incompetence and lack of assertiveness), individuals were similarly not liked and not respected. Individuals who were cold were respected more than liked. The findings of this study extend the MAC model by indicating that the amount that individuals are respected versus liked depends not only on trait type but also whether a trait is positive or negative.

Servant versus directive leadership and promotability: does leader gender matter?

Are leaders more promotable when they show servant or directive leadership - and does this hold for women and men alike? Servant leaders are likely seen as more effective, likable, and thus promotable but less prototypical than directive leaders. We argue that differing degrees of communion (i.e., warmth, morality) and agency (i.e., competence, dominance) underlie the relationship of servant and directive leadership with leaders' promotability. Based on expectancy-violation theory, we assume that men benefit more from servant leadership and women benefit more from directive leadership. Servant leadership aligns more with communion and stereotypes about women. In contrast, directive leadership aligns more with agency and stereotypes about men. These differences may result in gender-biased evaluations threatening fairness in leadership promotions. In a pre-study, servant leadership was more expected of women leaders than of men leaders. However, directive leadership was equally expected of women leaders and men leaders. An experimental vignette study (N = 454) revealed that servant leaders were seen as more effective, likable, and promotable than directive leaders, regardless of gender. Perceived leader warmth, morality, and competence were positively, and dominance was negatively, related to leader effectiveness and leader liking, which were positively related to leader promotability. We also investigated whether raters' gender role beliefs influenced the evaluations, which they did not (as reported in the Supplementary material). Concluding, women and men profit equally from exhibiting servant compared to directive leadership.

"Old" Does Not Always Mean "Incompetent": The Implication of Respect in the Perception of Older People Subtypes

Building on the Stereotype Content Model, the present work examined the heterogeneity of the stereotypes about older people. We aimed to broaden the range of perceived predictors of competence in older people and included respect in addition to status. Seventeen subtypes were selected in a pilot study (n = 77). The main study was conducted on a French sample (n = 212) that took part in a self-reported survey. Cluster analysis showed that specific older people subtypes appear in three combinations of warmth and competence. Correlation and regression analyses showed that competition negatively predicts warmth, and that status positively predicts competence. In a substantial number of target groups, respect played a more important role than status in the perception of group competence. To sum up, this study suggests that the perceived competence of older people is not only related to perceived socio-economic status but also to the amount of respect they receive.

Personal values and people's attitudes toward older adults

BACKGROUND

We examine the relationship between people's personal values and their attitudes toward older adults. In addition to the two conventionally-used measures of personal values (agency subdimension and communion subdimension), we distinguish across 10 different value types and explore how each impacts attitude.

METHODS

We use data from the World Values Survey for three aging Asian societies, namely Japan (N = 2448), Singapore (N = 1972), and Hong Kong PRC (N = 1000). For each sample, we perform regression-based analyses to assess the relative importance of the 10 value types in explaining people's attitudes towards older adults. Results are then compared against regressions based on the two aggregate value measures.

RESULTS

In all three economies, the agency subdimension was a more consistent predictor of unfavorable attitudes toward older adults, as compared to the communion subdimension. Our disaggregated analysis reveals two additional insights. First, the positive association between agentic values and attitudes was driven predominantly by the power (wealth) and stimulation (excitement) value types. Second, the lack of association between the communion subdimension and attitudes must be interpreted with caution since certain value types within this subdimension may act in opposite directions causing effects to cancel each other out at the aggregate level.

CONCLUSIONS

Disaggregating personal value types provides greater prognostic power than the two aggregate measures, as well as insights on ways to improve people's attitudes toward older adults. Interventions aimed at reducing ageist attitudes in aging societies can target individuals with agentic traits by emphasizing notions of power (e.g., older adults' economic success) and stimulation (e.g., positive images of older adults learning new things).

What Ratio of Warmth to Competence Is Ideal for Likable Friends?

The current study aimed to test the perceivers' ratings of likability and their willingness to become friends with targets who have different ratios of warmth to competence. In Study 1, we recruited 106 females and 61 males. The results of Study 1 showed that perceivers were reluctant to become friends with targets that had extreme ratios of warmth to competence (0:5 or 5:0). In Study 2, we recruited 137 males and 164 females. The results of Study 2 showed that male perceivers were willing to become friends with a female target whose ratio of warmth to competence was 5:0 and unwilling to become friends with a male target whose ratio was 0:5. Female perceivers were unwilling to become friends with a female target whose ratio was 0:5. Moreover, participants were unwilling to choose targets with a ratio of 5:0 as partners in a competition context. These results could help researchers understand how the process of impression formation works when considering different ratios of warmth to competence.

Science for Others or the Self? Presumed Motives for Science Shape Public Trust in Science

Science can improve life around the world, but public trust in science is at risk. Understanding the presumed motives of scientists and science can inform the social psychological underpinnings of public trust in science. Across five independent datasets, perceiving the motives of science and scientists as prosocial promoted public trust in science. In Studies 1 and 2, perceptions that science was more prosocially oriented were associated with greater trust in science. Studies 3 and 4a & 4b employed experimental methods to establish that perceiving other-oriented motives, versus self-oriented motives, enhanced public trust in science. Respondents recommend greater funding allocations for science subdomains described as prosocially oriented versus power-oriented. Emphasizing the prosocial aspects of science can build stronger foundations of public trust in science.

Smile Back at Me, But Only Once: Social Norms of Appropriate Nonverbal Intensity and Reciprocity Apply to Emoji Use

In computer-mediated communication, small graphical icons (emojis) can be used to compensate for the lack of nonverbal cues such as facial expressions or hand gestures. Accordingly, literature suggests that the use of emojis may also be subject to social norms—similar to nonverbal behavior in face-to-face interactions. However, actual empirical investigations into this assumption remain lacking. To remedy this research gap, I explored whether traditional norms of appropriate emotional intensity and reciprocity also apply to emoji usage. A first online experiment (N = 188) revealed that excessive emoji use in a first-contact scenario leads to diminished interpersonal outcomes, corresponding to the drawbacks of overly intense nonverbal displays in natural interactions. Proceeding to a different communicative stage, Experiment 2 (N = 242) explored nonverbal reciprocity with acquainted interaction partners. Inviting participants to reply to fictitious text messages (at varying levels of interpersonal intimacy), it was observed that stimulus messages containing more emojis also evoke stronger emoji use in return—indicating that principles of nonverbal attunement are in full effect during text-based online interactions.

On How to Be Liked in First Encounters: The Effects of Agentic and Communal Behaviors on Popularity and Unique Liking

When meeting other people for the first time, how should one behave in order to be liked? We investigated the effects of agentic and communal behaviors on two forms of being liked: popularity (being generally liked by others) and unique liking (being uniquely liked by specific interaction partners). In a round-robin study, 139 unacquainted German adults had dyadic conversations and provided liking ratings afterward. The conversations were recorded on video, and four agentic behaviors (leading, dominant, confident, boastful) and four communal behaviors (polite, benevolent, warm, friendly) were each rated by trained observers. Participants who generally showed agentic and communal behavior were also generally liked (popularity). When participants' level of communal, but not agentic, behavior exceeded their personal standards during an interaction, they were particularly well-liked by the respective interaction partner (unique liking). The behavioral predictors of being liked thus differ, depending on whether one focuses on popularity or unique liking.

Same Question, Different Answers?

Abstract: Psychological scientists increasingly study web data, such as user ratings or social media postings. However, whether research relying on such web data leads to the same conclusions as research based on traditional data is largely unknown. To test this, we (re)analyzed three data sets, thereby comparing web data with laboratory and online survey data. We calculated correlations across these different data sets (Study 1) and investigated identical, illustrative research questions in each data set (Studies 2–4). Our results suggest that web and traditional data are not fundamentally different and usually lead to similar conclusions, but also that it is important to consider differences between data types such as populations and research settings. Web data can be a valuable tool for psychologists when accounting for such differences, as it allows for testing established research findings in new contexts, complementing them with insights from novel data sources.

Incorporating rivalry in reinforcement learning for a competitive game

Recent advances in reinforcement learning with social agents have allowed such models to achieve human-level performance on certain interaction tasks. However, most interactive scenarios do not have performance alone as an end-goal; instead, the social impact of these agents when interacting with humans is as important and largely unexplored. In this regard, this work proposes a novel reinforcement learning mechanism based on the social impact of rivalry behavior. Our proposed model aggregates objective and social perception mechanisms to derive a rivalry score that is used to modulate the learning of artificial agents. To investigate our proposed model, we design an interactive game scenario, using the Chef’s Hat Card Game, and examine how the rivalry modulation changes the agent’s playing style, and how this impacts the experience of human players on the game. Our results show that humans can detect specific social characteristics when playing against rival agents when compared to common agents, which affects directly the performance of the human players in subsequent games. We conclude our work by discussing how the different social and objective features that compose the artificial rivalry score contribute to our results.

Agency and communion as fundamental dimensions of social judgment – and Bogdan Wojciszke’s brilliant idea on perspective