Antecedents and Consequences of System Justification among Iranian Migrants in Western Europe

Social decision makin

Social creativity: reviving a social identity approach to social stability

Social Identity Theory (SIT) is commonly applied to explain social change. We aim to revive interest in the concept of social creativity in order to provide a SIT perspective on bolstering and challenging social stability. Social creativity allows people to maintain or achieve a positive social identity through re-interpreting intergroup relations. Despite this crucial role in shaping intergroup comparisons, the causes and effects of social creativity are largely unknown. To understand how social creativity can contribute to social stability, we argue for a return to SIT's dynamic nature of constantly renegotiating intergroup relations, involving both higher- and lower-status groups. Within these dynamics, we propose that social creativity can play the roles of coping with, promoting, and questioning social stability. Additionally, we outline a research agenda for future research on social creativity and discuss the impact that social stability can have in societies.Social decision makin

Trust in scientific information mediates associations between conservatism and coronavirus responses in the U.S., but few other nations

U.S.-based research suggests conservatism is linked with less concern about contracting coronavirus and less preventative behaviors to avoid infection. Here, we investigate whether these tendencies are partly attributable to distrust in scientific information, and evaluate whether they generalize outside the U.S., using public data and recruited representative samples across three studies (Ntotal = 34,710). In Studies 1 and 2, we examine these relationships in the U.S., yielding converging evidence for a sequential indirect effect of conservatism on compliance through scientific (dis)trust and infection concern. In Study 3, we compare these relationships across 19 distinct countries. Although the relationships between trust in scientific information about the coronavirus, concern about coronavirus infection, and compliance are consistent cross-nationally, the relationships between conservatism and trust in scientific information are not. These relationships are strongest in North America. Consequently, the indirect effects observed in Studies 1–2 only replicate in North America (the U.S. and Canada) and in Indonesia. Study 3 also found parallel direct and indirect effects on support for lockdown restrictions. These associations suggest not only that relationships between conservatism and compliance are not universal, but localized to particular countries where conservatism is more strongly related to trust in scientific information about the coronavirus pandemic

Barley sodium content is regulated by natural variants of the Na+ transporter HvHKT1;5

During plant growth, sodium (Na+) in the soil is transported via the xylem from the root to the shoot. While excess Na+ is toxic to most plants, non-toxic concentrations have been shown to improve crop yields under certain conditions, such as when soil K+ is low. We quantified grain Na+ across a barley genome-wide association study panel grown under non-saline conditions and identified variants of a Class 1 HIGH-AFFINITY-POTASSIUM-TRANSPORTER (HvHKT1;5)-encoding gene responsible for Na+ content variation under these conditions. A leucine to proline substitution at position 189 (L189P) in HvHKT1;5 disturbs its characteristic plasma membrane localisation and disrupts Na+ transport. Under low and moderate soil Na+, genotypes containing HvHKT1:5P189 accumulate high concentrations of Na+ but exhibit no evidence of toxicity. As the frequency of HvHKT1:5P189 increases significantly in cultivated European germplasm, we cautiously speculate that this non-functional variant may enhance yield potential in non-saline environments, possibly by offsetting limitations of low available K+