Pro-diversity intervention improves Poles’ intergoup attitudes by increasing collective nostalgia for more open Polish society

Funding: This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant (#435-2019-0692) to Wohl and NCN Sonata bis grant (2017/26/E/HS6/00129).The content of group-based emotions like collective nostalgia (i.e., a sentimental longing for how one’s social group used to be) matters. Yet this has been distressingly overlooked despite the predictive utility that the content of a specific group-based emotion may yield. For instance, there is growing evidence that collective nostalgia for a society that is more homogenous heightens prejudice, while collective nostalgia for a society that is more open and tolerant society increases acceptance of outgroups. In an intervention-based longitudinal study with Polish adolescents (N = 476), we tested whether the content of collective nostalgia can be influenced by highlighting particular aspects of Polish history. The intervention highlighted a history of co-existence between ingroup and outgroup members. We predicted and found that the intervention increased openness-focused nostalgia, which in turn improved intergroup attitudes. Results suggest that community-based interventions can improve intergroup attitudes by eliciting nostalgia for a more open past.PostprintPeer reviewe

Cohort profile: seek, test, treat and retain United States criminal justice cohort

Abstract Background The STTR treatment cascade provides a framework for research aimed at improving the delivery of services, care and outcomes of PLWH. The development of effective approaches to increase HIV diagnoses and engage PLWH in subsequent steps of the treatment cascade could lead to earlier and sustained ART treatment resulting in viral suppression. There is an unmet need for research applying the treatment cascade to improve outcomes for those with criminal justice involvement. Methods The Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain (STTR) criminal justice (CJ) cohort combines data from 11 studies across the HIV treatment cascade that focused on persons involved in the criminal justice system, often but not exclusively for reasons related to substance use. The studies were conducted in a variety of CJ settings and collected information across 11 pre-selected domains: demographic characteristics, CJ involvement, HIV risk behaviors, HIV and/or Hepatitis C infections, laboratory measures of CD4 T-cell count (CD4) and HIV RNA viral load (VL), mental illness, health related quality of life (QoL), socioeconomic status, health care access, substance use, and social support. Results The STTR CJ cohort includes data on 11,070 individuals with and without HIV infection who range in age from 18 to 77 years, with a median age at baseline of 37 years. The cohort reflects racial, ethnic and gender distributions in the U.S. CJ system, and 64% of participants are African-American, 12% are Hispanic and 83% are men. Cohort members reported a wide range of HIV risk behaviors including history of injection drug use and, among those who reported on pre-incarceration sexual behaviors, the prevalence of unprotected sexual intercourse ranged across studies from 4% to 79%. Across all studies, 53% percent of the STTR CJ cohort reported recent polysubstance use. Conclusions The STTR CJ cohort is comprised of participants from a wide range of CJ settings including jail, prison, and community supervision who report considerable diversity in their characteristics and behavioral practices. We have developed harmonized measures, where feasible, to improve the integration of these studies together to answer questions that cannot otherwise be addressed

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.publishedVersio

The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior

Reprinted from Journal of Experimental Social Psychology with permission from Elsevier.Which person would be most likely to continue gambling? A person who has just experienced a big win or a person who has just experienced a big loss? The answer appears often to be whichever gambler feels personally luckier. Two experiments investigated how perceptions of luck, understood as a personal quality, are affected by near, but unrealized outcomes during a game of chance. In Experiment 1, a near big loss at a gambling game heightened perceptions of personal luck relative to a near big win, even though all participants actually won the same modest amount. In addition, participants who experienced a near big loss generated significantly more downward counterfactuals than did those participants in the near big win condition. Most importantly, differences in self-perceived luck influenced future gambling behavior. Participants who experienced a near big loss on a wheel-of-fortune wagered significantly more on the outcome of a subsequent game of roulette than did those participants who experienced a near big win. Experiment 2 extended these results by testing the possible influence of a different type of near outcome and by including a control group. The discussion focuses on the emerging picture of how people understand luck. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.The research was supported in part by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship (#752- 2000-1333) to the first author, a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#410-92-0464) to the second author, and a research grant from the Alberta Gaming Research Institute to both authors

Collective nostalgia as a balm for the distressed social identity

Group history provides the experiential building blocks that shape social identity. When contemporary events are perceived as having created (or creating) a discontinuity with that history, collective nostalgia is likely to be elicited. Importantly, collective nostalgia is functional—it consolidates social identity, motivating group members to support a return to the group's “true” state of existence. However, no group is a monolith. Factions within a group may have differing opinions on what aspects of the past best represent core features of the ingroup. Variations in the content of the collective nostalgia can cleavage members' responses. Herein, we review research demonstrating the powerful role collective nostalgia and its contents play in intra- and intergroup relations, especially in the socio-political domain

Pro-diversity intervention improves Poles’ intergoup attitudes by increasing collective nostalgia for more open Polish society

The content of group-based emotions like collective nostalgia (i.e., a sentimental longing for how one’s social group used to be) matters. Yet this has been distressingly overlooked despite the predictive utility that the content of a specific group-based emotion may yield. For instance, there is growing evidence that collective nostalgia for a society that is more homogenous heightens prejudice, while collective nostalgia for a society that is more open and tolerant society increases acceptance of outgroups. In an intervention-based longitudinal study with Polish adolescents (N = 476), we tested whether the content of collective nostalgia can be influenced by highlighting particular aspects of Polish history. The intervention highlighted a history of co-existence between ingroup and outgroup members. We predicted and found that the intervention increased openness-focused nostalgia, which in turn improved intergroup attitudes. Results suggest that community-based interventions can improve intergroup attitudes by eliciting nostalgia for a more open past

The utility of nostalgia for unhealthy populations: a systematic review and narrative analysis

Nostalgic reverie (i.e., sentimental longing) has received increased attention as a predictor of health and well-being, but only a handful of reviews have summarised this literature. The available reviews left a critical gap in explicating the function of nostalgia among people engaged in unhealthy behaviour. In the current systematic review and narrative analysis, we sought to answer whether and under what conditions the emotion serves to help or hinder people engaged in unhealthy behaviours in terms of taking action to change. We identified 14 studies and categorised them into two themes. In Theme I, nostalgising about a time in one’s life when one was healthier motivated both readiness to change and action to change unhealthy behaviour. In Theme II, nostalgising about the perceived benefits of engaging in the unhealthy behaviour (e.g., social connectedness related to drinking) was associated with continuance or acceleration of the unhealthy behaviour. This review highlights not only the presence of a link between nostalgia and unhealthy behaviour, but also that the content of one’s nostalgising matters for understanding whether the unhealthy behaviour is undermined or bolstered

Limit your time, gamble responsibly: setting a time limit (via pop-up message) on an electronic gamingmachine reduces time on device

In the current study, we assessed whether undergraduate electronic gaming machine (EGM) gamblers would be more apt to set a time limit and spend less time gambling when asked to consider setting an explicit time limit prior to their gambling session. To this end, participants (N ¼ 43) were randomly assigned to a time limit pop-up condition or control condition, both of which involved gambling on an EGM in a virtual reality (VR) casino. In the time limit pop-up condition, participants were asked (via pop-up message) to consider setting a time limit on play and entering that limit in an available text box prior to commencing play. In the no time limit pop-up condition, participants engaged in play immediately upon accessing the EGM in the VR casino (i. e. they were not exposed to a time limit pop-up message). As predicted, participants who were explicitly asked to consider setting a time limit on their EGM play were significantly more likely to do so and spent less time gambling than those who were not given such instructions. The results provide preliminary support for the contention that setting a time limit on EGM play is an effective responsible gambling strategy