When Focusing on Differences Leads to Similar Perspectives: A Replication Study of Todd, Hanko, Galinsky, and Mussweiler (2011)

Todd et al., (2011) found support for the hypothesis that participants primed with a difference mind-set were more likely to spontaneously adopt an other-oriented visual perspective than participants primed with a similarity mind-set or participants in a control condition. The current study was an attempt to directly replicate this finding using American and German samples collected via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The project utilized the ‘Replication Recipe’ (Brandt et. al, 2014) to facilitate the replication process and set the conditions necessary for replication access. The replication was deemed inconclusive; possible explanations are discussed

In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries

The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., "If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others") or potential gains (e.g., "If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others")? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

The Effects of Race on Spatial Perspective Taking

This study investigates spatial perspective taking in conjuncture with race. Four hundred participants recruited on Amazon’s MechanicalTurk took part in the study. Spatial perspective taking ability was measured through the use of photographs featuring both white and black males in different poses of embodiment, in an attempt to partially replicate the study of Tversky and Hard (2009). Both racism and empathy were also measured using the Modern Racism Scale (MRS) and the Empathy Quotient for Adults (EQ), respectively. Results revealed a relationship between embodiment and spatial perspective taking ability, supporting the findings of Tversky and Hard (2009). Results for race reveal participants were most likely to take the perspective of a black male posed to take action on an object. A clear positive relationship was also found between empathy scores and racism scores, falling in line with the findings of past research. The results of the study are indicative of the influence that race can have on one’s perspective-taking ability and the need for additional research in this area of social psychology

The Effects of Race on Spatial Perspective Taking

This work investigates the effect of race on spatial perspective taking in two studies, one using participants recruited on Amazon’s MechanicalTurk and another at Eastern Kentucky University. Spatial perspective taking ability was measured through the use of photographs featuring black and white males in different poses of embodiment, in an attempt to partially replicate the Tversky and Hard (2009). Racism and empathy were measured using the Modern Racism Scale (MRS) and the Empathy Quotient for Adults (EQ), respectively. Between the two studies, results revealed no significant relationship between embodiment and race on spatial perspective taking ability, nor an interaction. The racial attitudes and empathy level of the participants also did not affect perspective taking. The results of the study are important in examining the relationship between race and perspective-taking ability point to the need for additional research.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_graduategallery/1028/thumbnail.jp

Supplemental Materials

This document contains additional information related to power analysis, exploratory results, and additional discussion points. </p

Using Software to Increase Perspective Taking and Reduce Implicit Prejudice

Perspective taking has been shown to reduce implicit prejudice in previous research. Todd, Bodenhausen, Richeson, & Galinsky (2011) found that IAT scores were reduced after participants wrote stories about a typical day in the life of an African American, if they were told to take the perspective of the target person when writing the story. We partially replicated this finding. We also introduced a computer-based game designed to increase perspective-taking ability. Participants who played the game and were told to take the perspective of the target person when writing the story demonstrated less implicit prejudice than participants who wrote stories from an objective perspective or played a control game. These results bolster research on the power of perspective taking to reduce prejudice and demonstrate the efficacy of the perspective-taking training game