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Majolo B, Maréchal L, Igali F, Van de Vyver J. Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK. Evol Hum Sci 2023; 5:e29. [PMID: 38027425 PMCID: PMC10643143 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
For cooperation to be beneficial, cooperators should be able to differentiate individuals who are willing to cooperate from free-riders. In the absence of kin or of familiar individuals, phenotypic similarity (e.g. in terms of language) can be used as a cue of how likely two or more individuals are to behave similarly (whether they will cooperate or free-ride). Thus, phenotypic similarity could affect cooperation. However, it is unclear whether humans respond to any type of phenotypic similarity or whether only salient phenotypic traits guide cooperation. We tested whether within-group, non-salient phenotypic similarity affects cooperation in 280, 3 to 10 year old children and in 76 young adults (mean 19.8 years old) in the UK. We experimentally manipulated the degree of phenotypic similarity in three computer-based experiments. We found no evidence of a preference for, or greater cooperation with, phenotypically similar individuals in children, even though children displayed ingroup preference. Conversely, young adults cooperated more with phenotypically similar than with phenotypically diverse individuals to themselves. Our results suggest that response to non-salient phenotypic similarity varies with age and that young adults may pay more attention to non-salient cues of diversity then children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bonaventura Majolo
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, LincolnLN5 7AT, UK
| | - Laëtitia Maréchal
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, LincolnLN5 7AT, UK
| | - Ferenc Igali
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, LincolnLN5 7AT, UK
| | - Julie Van de Vyver
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, LincolnLN5 7AT, UK
- Behavioural Insights and Research team, Magpie, Munro House, Duke St, Leeds, LS9 8AG, UK
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Upper Mountjoy, South road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
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Weick M, Couturier DL, Vasiljevic M, Ross P, Clark CJ, Crisp RJ, Leite AC, Marcinko AJ, Nguyen TVT, Van de Vyver J. Building bonds: A pre-registered secondary data analysis examining linear and curvilinear relations between socio-economic status and communal attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nisreen A Alwan
- University of Southampton
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
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Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that engagement in the arts may act as a catalyst that promotes prosocial cooperation. Using “Understanding Society” data (a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 30,476 people in the UK), we find that beyond major personality traits, demographic variables, wealth, education, and engagement in other social activity (sports), people’s greater engagement with the arts predicts greater prosociality (volunteering and charitable giving) over a period of 2 years. The predictive effect of prosociality on subsequent arts engagement is significantly weaker. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the arts provide an important vehicle for facilitating a cohesive and sustainable society. Fostering a society in which engagement in the arts is encouraged and accessible to all may provide an important counter to economic, cultural, and political fracture and division.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dominic Abrams
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
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Player A, Abrams D, Van de Vyver J, Meleady R, Leite AC, Randsley de Moura G, Hopthrow T. “We aren’t idlers”: Using subjective group dynamics to promote prosocial driver behavior at long-wait stops. J Appl Soc Psychol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Van de Vyver J, Leite AC, Abrams D, Palmer SB. Brexit or Bremain? A person and social analysis of voting decisions in the EU referendum. J Community Appl Soc Psychol 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/casp.2341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ana C. Leite
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology; University of Kent; Canterbury UK
- School of Psychology; University of Roehampton; London UK
| | - Dominic Abrams
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology; University of Kent; Canterbury UK
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Meleady R, Abrams D, Van de Vyver J, Hopthrow T, Mahmood L, Player A, Lamont R, Leite AC. Surveillance or Self-Surveillance? Behavioral Cues Can Increase the Rate of Drivers' Pro-Environmental Behavior at a Long Wait Stop. Environ Behav 2017; 49:1156-1172. [PMID: 29200472 PMCID: PMC5673009 DOI: 10.1177/0013916517691324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
By leaving their engines idling for long periods, drivers contribute unnecessarily to air pollution, waste fuel, and produce noise and fumes that harm the environment. Railway level crossings are sites where many cars idle, many times a day. In this research, testing two psychological theories of influence, we examine the potential to encourage drivers to switch off their ignition while waiting at rail crossings. Two field studies presented different signs at a busy rail crossing site with a 2-min average wait. Inducing public self-focus (via a "Watching Eyes" stimulus) was not effective, even when accompanied by a written behavioral instruction. Instead, cueing a private-self focus ("think of yourself") was more effective, doubling the level of behavioral compliance. These findings confirm the need to engage the self when trying to instigate self-regulatory action, but that cues evoking self-surveillance may sometimes be more effective than cues that imply external surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Van de Vyver
- School of Psychology; University of Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Peter John
- School of Public Policy; University College London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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Abstract
Two studies were designed to test whether moral elevation should be conceptualized as an approach-oriented emotion. The studies examined the relationship between moral elevation and the behavioral activation and inhibition systems. Study 1 (N = 80) showed that individual differences in moral elevation were associated with individual differences in behavioral activation but not inhibition. Study 2 (N = 78) showed that an elevation-inducing video promoted equally high levels of approach orientation as an anger-inducing video and significantly higher levels of approach orientation than a control video. Furthermore, the elevation-inducing stimulus (vs. the control condition) significantly promoted prosocial motivation and this effect was sequentially mediated by feelings of moral elevation followed by an approach-oriented state. Overall the results show unambiguous support for the proposal that moral elevation is an approach-oriented emotion. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Van de Vyver
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology, University of Kent , Canterbury , UK
| | - Dominic Abrams
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology, University of Kent , Canterbury , UK
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Abrams D, Palmer SB, Van de Vyver J, Hayes D, Delaney K, Guarella S, Purewal K. Adolescents' Judgments of Doubly Deviant Peers: Implications of Intergroup and Intragroup Dynamics for Disloyal and Overweight Group Members. Soc Dev 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Van de Vyver J, Houston DM, Abrams D, Vasiljevic M. Boosting Belligerence: How the July 7, 2005, London Bombings Affected Liberals' Moral Foundations and Prejudice. Psychol Sci 2015; 27:169-77. [PMID: 26674127 PMCID: PMC4750069 DOI: 10.1177/0956797615615584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Major terrorist events, such as the recent attacks in Ankara, Sinai, and Paris, can have profound effects on a nation's values, attitudes, and prejudices. Yet psychological evidence testing the impact of such events via data collected immediately before and after an attack is understandably rare. In the present research, we tested the independent and joint effects of threat (the July 7, 2005, London bombings) and political ideology on endorsement of moral foundations and prejudices among two nationally representative samples (combined N = 2,031) about 6 weeks before and 1 month after the London bombings. After the bombings, there was greater endorsement of the in-group foundation, lower endorsement of the fairness-reciprocity foundation, and stronger prejudices toward Muslims and immigrants. The differences in both the endorsement of the foundations and the prejudices were larger among people with a liberal orientation than among those with a conservative orientation. Furthermore, the changes in endorsement of moral foundations among liberals explained their increases in prejudice. The results highlight the value of psychological theory and research for understanding societal changes in attitudes and prejudices after major terrorist events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Van de Vyver
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology, University of Kent
| | - Diane M Houston
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology, University of Kent
| | - Dominic Abrams
- Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology, University of Kent
| | - Milica Vasiljevic
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge
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Van de Vyver J, Abrams D. Testing the prosocial effectiveness of the prototypical moral emotions: Elevation increases benevolent behaviors and outrage increases justice behaviors. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2014.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Abrams D, Van de Vyver J, Pelletier J, Cameron L. Children's prosocial behavioural intentions towards outgroup members. Br J Dev Psychol 2015; 33:277-94. [PMID: 25773274 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2014] [Revised: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
When will children decide to help outgroup peers? We examined how intergroup competition, social perspective taking (SPT), and empathy influence children's (5-10 years, N = 287) prosocial intentions towards outgroup members. Study 1 showed that, in a minimal group situation, prosociality was lower in an intergroup competitive than in a non-competitive or interpersonal context. Study 2 revealed that, in a real groups situation involving intergroup competition, prosociality was associated with higher empathy and lower competitive motivation. In a subsequent non-competitive context, there were age differences in the impact of SPT and competitive motivation. With age, relationships strengthened between SPT and prosociality (positively) and between competitiveness and prosociality (negatively). Among older children, there was a carry-over effect whereby feelings of intergroup competitiveness aroused by the intergroup competitive context suppressed outgroup prosociality in the following non-competitive context. Theoretical and practical implications for improving children's intergroup relationships are discussed.
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Abrams D, Houston DM, Van de Vyver J, Vasiljevic M. Equality Hypocrisy, Inconsistency, and Prejudice: The Unequal Application of the Universal Human Right to Equality. Peace Confl 2015; 21:28-46. [PMID: 25914516 PMCID: PMC4404755 DOI: 10.1037/pac0000084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
In Western culture, there appears to be widespread endorsement of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which stresses equality and freedom). But do people really apply their equality values equally, or are their principles and application systematically discrepant, resulting in equality hypocrisy? The present study, conducted with a representative national sample of adults in the United Kingdom (N = 2,895), provides the first societal test of whether people apply their value of "equality for all" similarly across multiple types of status minority (women, disabled people, people aged over 70, Blacks, Muslims, and gay people). Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and stereotyping we examined, relation to each of these groups, respondents' judgments of how important it is to satisfy their particular wishes, whether there should be greater or reduced equality of employment opportunities, and feelings of social distance. The data revealed a clear gap between general equality values and responses to these specific measures. Respondents prioritized equality more for "paternalized" groups (targets of benevolent prejudice: women, disabled, over 70) than others (Black people, Muslims, and homosexual people), demonstrating significant inconsistency. Respondents who valued equality more, or who expressed higher internal or external motivation to control prejudice, showed greater consistency in applying equality. However, even respondents who valued equality highly showed significant divergence in their responses to paternalized versus nonpaternalized groups, revealing a degree of hypocrisy. Implications for strategies to promote equality and challenge prejudice are discussed.
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Abrams D, Palmer SB, Rutland A, Cameron L, Van de Vyver J. Evaluations of and reasoning about normative and deviant ingroup and outgroup members: Development of the black sheep effect. Dev Psychol 2014; 50:258-70. [DOI: 10.1037/a0032461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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