The role of positive and negative gossip in promoting prosocial behavior

Gossip can promote cooperation via reputational concern. However, the relative effectiveness of positive and negative gossip in fostering prosociality has not been examined. The present study explored the influence of positive and negative gossip on prosocial behavior, using an economic game. Supporting previous evidence, it was found that individuals were more prosocial when gossip of any kind was possible, compared to when their behavior was completely anonymous. However, there was no significant difference in the efficiency in promoting cooperation between positive and negative gossip, suggesting that it is reputational concern elicited by gossip per se, rather than its valence, that stimulates prosociality

Drinking in social groups. Does 'groupdrink' provide safety in numbers when deciding about risk?

AimsTo investigate the impact of alcohol consumption on risk decisions taken both individually and while part of a four- to six-person ad-hoc group.DesignA 2 (alcohol: consuming versus not consuming alcohol) x 2 (decision: individual, group) mixed-model design; decision was a repeated measure. The dependent variable was risk preference, measured using choice dilemmas.SettingOpportunity sampling in campus bars and a music event at a campus-based university in the United Kingdom.ParticipantsA total of 101 individuals were recruited from groups of four to six people who either were or were not consuming alcohol.MeasurementsParticipants privately opted for a level of risk in response to a choice dilemma and then, as a group, responded to a second choice dilemma. The choice dilemmas asked participants the level of accident risk at which they would recommend someone could drive while intoxicated.FindingsFive three-level multi-level models were specified in the software program HLM 7. Decisions made in groups were less risky than those made individually (B = -0.73, P < 0.001). Individual alcohol consumers opted for higher risk than non-consumers (B = 1.27, P = 0.025). A significant alcohol?×?decision interaction (B = -2.79, P = 0.001) showed that individual consumers privately opted for higher risk than non-consumers, whereas risk judgements made in groups of either consumers or non-consumers were lower. Decisions made by groups of consumers were less risky than those made by groups of non-consumers (B = 1.23, P < 0.001).ConclusionsModerate alcohol consumption appears to produce a propensity among individuals towards increased risk-taking in deciding to drive while intoxicated, which can be mitigated by group monitoring processes within small (four- to six-person) groups

Surveillance or self-surveillance? Behavioral cues can increase the rate of drivers' pro-environmental behavior at a long wait stop

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

Mental Simulation and The Individual Preference Effect

Purpose - The “Individual Preference Effect” (IPE: Faulmüller et al., 2010; Greitemeyer & Schulz-Hardt, 2003; Greitemeyer et al., 2003), a form of confirmation bias, is an important barrier to achieving improved group decision-making outcomes in Hidden Profile tasks. Group members remain committed to their individual preferences and are unable to disconfirm their initial suboptimal selection decisions, even when presented with full information enabling them to correct them, and even if the accompanying group processes are perfectly conducted. This paper examines whether a mental simulation can overcome the IPE. Design/Methodology/Approach – Two experimental studies examine the effect of a mental simulation intervention in attenuating the IPE and improving decision quality in an online individual Hidden Profile task. Findings – Individuals undertaking a mental simulation achieved higher decision quality than those in a Control condition and experienced a greater reduction in confidence in the Suboptimal solution. Originality – To the authors’ knowledge, no study has examined whether mental simulation can attenuate the IPE. Research limitations/implications – Results suggest a role for mental simulation in overcoming the IPE. The test environment is an online individual decision-making task and broader application to group decision-making is not tested. Practical Implications – Since mental simulation is something we all do, it should easily generalise to an organisational setting to improve decision outcomes

Intergroup Contact, Social Dominance and Environmental Concern: A Test of the Cognitive-Liberalization Hypothesis

Intergroup contact is among the most effective ways to improve intergroup attitudes. While it is now beyond any doubt that contact can reduce prejudice, in this paper we provide evidence that its benefits can extend beyond intergroup relations – a process referred to as cognitive liberalization (Hodson, Crisp, Meleady & Earle, 2018). We focus specifically on the impact of intergroup contact on environmentally-relevant attitudes and behavior. Recent studies suggest that support for an inequality-based ideology (Social Dominance Orientation) can predict both intergroup attitudes and broader environmental conduct. Individuals higher in SDO are more willing to exploit the environment in unsustainable ways because doing so aids the production and maintenance of hierarchical social structures. In four studies conducted with British adults we show that by promoting less hierarchical and more egalitarian viewpoints (reduced SDO), intergroup contact encourages more environmentally responsible attitudes and behavior. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data support this model. Effects are more strongly explained by reductions in an anti-egalitarian motive (SDO-E) than a dominance motive (SDO-D). We discuss how these findings help define an expanded vision for intergroup contact theory that moves beyond traditional conflict-related outcomes

Mindfulness reduces the correspondence bias

The correspondence bias (CB) refers to the idea that people sometimes give undue weight to dispositional rather than situational factors when explaining behaviours and attitudes. Three experiments examined whether mindfulness, a non-judgmental focus on the present moment, could reduce the CB. Participants engaged in a brief mindfulness exercise (the raisin task), a control task, or an attention to detail task before completing a typical CB measure involving an attitude-attribution paradigm. The results indicated that participants in the mindfulness condition experienced a significant reduction in the CB compared to participants in the control or attention to detail conditions. These results suggest that mindfulness training can play a unique role in reducing social biases related to person perception

The Effects of Alcohol Use on Economic Decision Making

It is notoriously hard to study the effect of alcohol on decision making, given the selection that takes place in who drinks alcohol and when they choose to do so. In a controlled laboratory experiment, we study the causal effect of alcohol on economic decision making. We examine the impact of alcohol on the following types of tasks: math and logic, uncertainty, overconfidence, strategic games, food choices, anchoring, and altruism. Our results indicate that alcohol consumption, as measured by the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), increases cooperation in strategic settings and altruism in Dictator games. We do not find any effects of alcohol on individual decision making tasks with the exception of anchoring. People with higher BAC did better in the anchoring task. The results suggest that the effects of alcohol are domain specific

Identifying the Lack of Energy-Conscious Behaviour in Clinical and Non-Clinical Settings: An NHS Case Study

The race against climate change has been a great challenge for years, and the UK govern- ment has taken serious steps towards achieving the net-zero carbon target by 2050. Technology is leading the way and innovation is believed to be a key solution. Nevertheless, tackling the issue, by attempting to limit the waste in energy, due to negative energy usage behaviour, has proven to be a successful approach that is capable of complementing other technology-based initiatives. The first step towards this is to promote energy-conscious behaviour and pinpoint where savings can be made. Thereby, this paper contributes to the existing literature, by presenting a new methodology to identify potential energy waste and negative energy usage behaviour in an NHS hospital. The paper presents an analysis of electricity consumption vs occupancy during minimal consumption periods (i.e, bank holidays and weekends) and it presents a log of equipment left switched on outside of working hours, in order to highlight the level of energy-conscious behaviour. The results revealed that the proposed technique is not only able to identify negative energy usage behaviour amongst the hospital staff but helps identify areas where immediate energy savings can be made, with potential savings of more than 30,000 pounds, if action is taken

Cleaning up our acts: Psychological interventions to reduce engine idling and improve air quality

A large-scale field experiment tested psychological interventions to reduce engine idling at long-wait stops. Messages based on theories of normative influence, outcome efficacy, and self-regulation were displayed approaching railway crossing on street poles. Observers coded whether drivers (N = 6049) turned off their engine while waiting at the railway crossings (only 27.2% did so at baseline). Automatic air quality monitors recorded levels of pollutants during barrier down times. To different degrees, the social norm and outcome efficacy messages successfully increased the proportion of drivers who turned off their engines (by 42% and 25%, respectively) and significantly reduced concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) 2 m above ground level. Thus, the environment was improved through behavior change. Moreover, of both practical and theoretical significance, there was an ‘accelerator effect’, in line with theories of normative influence whereby the social norm message was increasingly effective as the volume of traffic increased