Scopus İndeksli Yayınlar Koleksiyonu / Scopus Indexed Publications Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11779/1926

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 70

Citation - WoS: 6
Citation - Scopus: 6
A 32-Society Investigation of the Influence of Perceived Economic Inequality on Social Class Stereotyping
(Wiley, 2022) Ashokkumar, Ashwini; Billet, Matthew; Becker, Maja; Peters, Kim; Jetten, Joland; Barry, Oumar; Tanjitpiyanond, Porntida; Peker, Müjde
There is a growing body of work suggesting that social class stereotypes are amplified when people perceive higher levels of economic inequality—that is, the wealthy are perceived as more competent and assertive and the poor as more incompetent and unassertive. The present study tested this prediction in 32 societies and also examines the role of wealth-based categorization in explaining this relationship. We found that people who perceived higher economic inequality were indeed more likely to consider wealth as a meaningful basis for categorization. Unexpectedly, however, higher levels of perceived inequality were associated with perceiving the wealthy as less competent and assertive and the poor as more competent and assertive. Unpacking this further, exploratory analyses showed that the observed tendency to stereotype the wealthy negatively only emerged in societies with lower social mobility and democracy and higher corruption. This points to the importance of understanding how socio-structural features that co-occur with economic inequality may shape perceptions of the wealthy and the poor. © 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 8
A Longitudinal Assessment of Variability in Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Psychosocial Correlates in a National United States Sample
(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2023) Shook, Natalie J.; Oosterhoff, Benjamin; Sevi, Barış
Recent evidence suggests that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is not static. In order to develop effective vaccine uptake interventions, we need to understand the extent to which vaccine hesitancy fluctuates and identify factors associated with both between- and within-person differences in vaccine hesitancy. The goals of the current study were to assess the extent to which COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy varied at an individual level across time and to determine whether disgust sensitivity and germ aversion were associated with between- and within-person differences in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. A national sample of U.S. adults (N = 1025; 516 woman; M-age = 46.34 years, SDage = 16.56, range: 18 to 85 years; 72.6 % White) completed six weekly online surveys (March 20 - May 3, 2020). Between-person mean COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy rates were relatively stable across the six-week period (range: 38-42 %). However, there was considerable within-person variability in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Approximately, 40 % of the sample changed their vaccine hesitancy at least once during the six weeks. There was a significant between-person effect for disgust sensitivity, such that greater disgust sensitivity was associated with a lower likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine hesitance. There was also a significant within-person effect for germ aversion. Participants who experienced greater germ aversion for a given week relative to their own six week average were less likely to be COVID-19 vaccine hesitant that week relative to their own six-week average. This study provides important information on rapidly changing individual variability in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy on a weekly basis, which should be taken into consideration with any efforts to decrease vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccine uptake. Further, these findings identify-two psychological factors (disgust sensitivity and germ aversion) with malleable components that could be leveraged in developing vaccine uptake interventions.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 3
A Meta-Analytic Review of the Association Between Theory of Mind and Aggression
(Elsevier, 2023) Imuta, Kana; Selçuk, Bilge; Yavuz-Müren, Melis; Turunç, Gamze; Ekerim-Akbulut, Müge
Although the association between theory of mind (ToM) and aggression has been theorized, empirical findings have not revealed a clear link between these constructs. In the current meta-analytic review, we integrated findings from 83 studies (141 effect sizes) involving 41,650 participants from 18 countries to elucidate the association between ToM and aggression in typically developing children, adolescents, and adults. We found a significant negative association between ToM and aggression overall (r = −0.15). Moreover, each type and function of aggression were negatively associated with Theory of Mind (ToM). Bullying—a distinct form of aggression—was not associated with ToM. The strength of the association between overall aggression and ToM varied as a function of methodological variables: First, studies that used self-report questionnaires to measure ToM and aggression yielded the strongest effect sizes, compared to those that used task-based assessments or questionnaires completed by others (parents, teachers, peers). Second, there was a difference in the ToM measurement with the measures examining ToM with non-false belief understanding tasks yielding a stronger mean effect than those that focused exclusively on false-belief understanding. Third, the magnitude of the negative association was found to increase with participants' age, though significant negative associations between ToM and aggression held across the lifespan. These results point to the critical link between ToM and aggressive tendencies and suggest the value in implementing interventions to improve mental state understanding across the age range to foster positive social interactions.
An Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Scale in Turkey: Implications for Other Non-Weird Countries
(Wiley, 2023) Selçuk, Bilge; Tuncay, İpek; Arikan, Kübra; Yavus-Muren, H. Melis; Ruffman, Ted
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a very widely used scale in which parents, teachers or the child rate various aspects of the child's well-being. It is widely used in the Western world and is translated into 80+ languages. It is also used in countries that do not classify as WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic). However, unlike WEIRD countries, some studies indicate that the psychometric properties of the SDQ when used in non-WEIRD countries are questionable. Therefore, we gave the SDQ to the mothers and teachers of 310 3- to 5-year-olds in urban centres of Turkey and examined its psychometric properties. Turkey is not a WEIRD country because it is not Western, although the participants in our study were well educated, living in an industrialized area, rich relative to others in Turkey (although poor relative to Westerners) and democratic. As such, it is not drastically different from WEIRD countries and our question was whether even relatively small deviations from standard WEIRD criteria could result in questionable psychometric properties for the SDQ.
An Intersectionality Perspective of Organizational Stereotypes and Interpersonal Dynamics
(Springer, 2024) İşiaçık, Serin; Turnalar Çetinkaya, Neslihan
People have overlapping identities that impact their experiences. It is, therefore, essential to examine relationships between social identities to understand stereotypes and their effects better. The primary objective of this study was to explore perceptions of sexual orientation, age, gender, ethnicity, and stereotypical attributes of warmth and competence in a Turkish organizational context. The secondary objective was to discern coworker and manager preferences based on the intersection of these categories. A sample of 451 university students rated hypothetical work profiles. Analysis showed that Turkishness was pivotal in shaping social perceptions and workplace relationship preferences. The integration of stigmatized group categories, such as Kurdish identity, with non-stigmatized categories showed adverse impacts on preferences. The research highlights the importance of studying the interplay among diverse identity categories when analyzing social dynamics. We propose practical and theoretical implications concerning workplace diversity and discrimination.
Citation - Scopus: 2
Brief Time Course of Trait Anxiety-Related Attentional Bias To Fearconditioned Stimuli: Evidence From the Dual-Rsvp Task
(Elsevier, 2016) Booth, Robert William
Background and objectives Attentional bias to threat is a much-studied feature of anxiety; it is typically assessed using response time (RT) tasks such as the dot probe. Findings regarding the time course of attentional bias have been inconsistent, possibly because RT tasks are sensitive to processes downstream of attention. Methods Attentional bias was assessed using an accuracy-based task in which participants detected a single digit in two simultaneous rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams of letters. Before the target, two coloured shapes were presented simultaneously, one in each RSVP stream; one shape had previously been associated with threat through Pavlovian fear conditioning. Attentional bias was indicated wherever participants identified targets in the threat’s RSVP stream more accurately than targets in the other RSVP stream. Results In 87 unselected undergraduates, trait anxiety only predicted attentional bias when the target was presented immediately following the shapes, i.e. 160 ms later; by 320 ms the bias had disappeared. This suggests attentional bias in anxiety can be extremely brief and transitory. Limitations This initial study utilised an analogue sample, and was unable to physiologically verify the efficacy of the conditioning. The next steps will be to verify these results in a sample of diagnosed anxious patients, and to use alternative threat stimuli. Conclusions The results of studies using response time to assess the time course of attentional bias may partially reflect later processes such as decision making and response preparation. This may limit the efficacy of therapies aiming to retrain attentional biases using response time tasks.
Citation - WoS: 89
Citation - Scopus: 97
Collective Narcissism Predicts Hypersensitivity To In-Group Insult and Direct and Indirect Retaliatory Intergroup Hostility
(Wiley, 2016) de Zavala, Agnieszka Golec; Baran, Tomazs; Guerra, Rita; Peker, Müjde
Results of five studies (N?=?1596) linked collective narcissism—a belief in in-group exaggerated greatness contingent on external validation—to direct and indirect, retaliatory hostility in response to situations that collective narcissists perceived as insulting to the in-group but which fell well beyond the definition of an insult. In Turkey, collective narcissists responded with schadenfreude to the European economic crisis after feeling humiliated by the Turkish wait to be admitted to the European Union (Study 1). In Portugal, they supported hostile actions towards Germans and rejoiced in the German economic crisis after perceiving Germany's position in the European Union as more important than the position of Portugal (Study 2). In Poland, they supported hostile actions towards the makers of a movie they found offensive to Poland (Studies 3 and 5) and responded with direct and indirect hostility towards a celebrity whose jokes about the Polish government they found offensive (Study 4). Comparisons with self-positivity and in-group positivity indices and predictors of intergroup hostility indicated that collective narcissism is the only systematic predictor of hypersensitivity to in-group insult followed by direct and indirect, retaliatory intergroup hostility.
Citation - WoS: 11
Citation - Scopus: 16
Consistency of Adults’ Earliest Memories Across Two Years
(Taylor & Francis, 2019) Gülgöz, Sami; Demiray, Burcu; Ece, Berivan
The consistency of earliest memories in content, dating, and memory qualities was investigated. A total of 84 (27 males; Mage = 24.93, SD = 1.36) adults reported earliest memories, estimated ages, and rated their recollections on memory qualities with a two-year time lag. At Time 2, their original reports at Time 1 were presented and they were asked to report whether the earliest memories they recalled at Time 2 were the same. Fifty-six per cent of the participants reported the same earliest memories and those remembering the same events had earlier memories than those remembering different ones. Although no significant differences were observed in estimated ages on the basis of mean ages, a predating bias of later memories and a tendency to postdate earlier memories were observed on the basis of a 48-month cut-off point. Thus, how the data is analysed is critical in detecting dating biases or errors affecting conclusions and interpretations about the dating consistency of earliest memories. Finally, memory qualities of earliest memories displayed a high level of consistency with a two-year time lag regardless of remembering the same versus different event.
Citation - WoS: 13
Citation - Scopus: 18
Crossing Boundaries: a Pilot Study of Maternal Attitudes About Child Maltreatment in Nine Countries
(Elsevier, 2020) Emmen, R; Soares, I; Wang, L; Alink, L; Mesman, J; Mels, C; Asanjarani, F.; Carcamo, R; Hsiao, C; Selcuk, B; Branger, M.a, Woudstra, M.-L; Yavuz, Melis; Van Ginkel, J
Background: Definitions of child maltreatment vary widely between studies, and even more so between different cultural contexts. Objective: In this pilot study, we examine between-country variations in maternal notions about what constitutes child maltreatment. Participants and setting: The sample consisted of 466 mothers recruited in Chile, China, Greece, Iran, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, and Uruguay. Methods: All mothers completed a new Q-sort measure, ranking 90 parenting behaviors linked to subtypes of maltreatment (emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and physical abuse) from least to most detrimental to child development. Results: Between-country agreement regarding the harmfulness of the parenting behaviors was high (r =.45), but there were different patterns of reported harmfulness of subtypes of maltreatment (although driven mostly by deviating patterns in the South African sample). Further, there were significant country effects on the number and type of behaviors labeled as maltreatment (p?2 =.15), and the number of items labeled as requiring intervention (p?2 =.19). Conclusions: Variations in conceptions of maltreatment need to be studied in larger more representative samples and taken into account in the assessment and treatment of child maltreatment across cultures.
Citation - WoS: 19
Citation - Scopus: 20
Culturally Shared and Unique Meanings and Expressions of Maternal Control Across Four Cultures
(American Psychological Association, 2021) Selçuk, Bilge; Cheah, Charissa S L; Şen, Hilal H.; Park, Seong-Yeon; Vu, Kathy T T; Cho, Hyun Su; Yavuz, H Melis
Maternal control is a major dimension of parenting and has different meanings, practices, and potential consequences across cultures. The present study aimed to identify and compare mothers' conceptualizations of parenting control across four cultures to reveal a more nuanced understanding regarding the meaning and practices of control: European American, Chinese immigrant, Korean immigrant, and Turkish. Using a semistructured open-ended interview, 100 European American, 102 U.S. Chinese immigrant, 103 U.S. Korean immigrant, and 109 Turkish mothers of preschool-aged children reported the ratings of importance, specific reasons, and strategies for exerting control over their children in daily life. Results revealed both shared and unique conceptualizations of maternal control across four cultures. Specifically, all mothers reported that it is important to express maternal control over their children in order to set behavioral norms/standards, maintain child safety, support social relations and respect for others, provide guidance, and guide moral development. Moreover, mothers discussed utilizing nonphysical punishment, setting and maintaining rules, reasoning/negotiating, consistency, physical punishment and verbal control, showing parents' serious/stern attitude, correction, and psychological control forms of control. However, the levels at which mothers emphasize the different reasons and strategies varied across cultures, reflecting culturally emphasized values. The findings of the present study further enrich our understanding of the complexities of maternal control across cultures. (PsycInfo Database Record
Citation - Scopus: 9
Data From an International Multi-Centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the Smarvus Dataset)
(Web Portal Ubiquity Press, 2023) Sarfo, Jacob O.; Şen, Hilal Harma; Nagy, Tamás; Garrido-Vásquez, Patricia; Ross, Robert M.; Salgado, Mauricio; Terry, Jenny
This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N = 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 2
Dataseton Maternal Attitudes About Child Maltreatment in Nine Countries Using a Q-Sort Methodology
(Elsevier, 2020) Mels, Cindy; Alink, Lenneke; Branger, Marjolein; Carcamo, Rodrigo; Van Ginkel, Joost); Wang, Lamei; Yavuz Müren, Melis; Asanjarani, Faramarz; Soares, Isabel; Emmen, Rosanneke; Selcuk, Bilge; Hsiao, Celia; Woudstra, Mi-lan; Mesman, Judi
Analyses of the present data are reported in the article "Crossing Boundaries: A Pilot Study of Maternal Attitudes about Child Maltreatment in Nine Countries"[8]. Data were collected during home visits using the Maltreatment Q-Sort (MQS). A total of 466 mothers from nine different countries gave their opinion about child maltreatment by sorting 90 cards with parenting behaviors taken from the literature that reflect four types of child maltreatment, into 9 evenly distributed stacks (with 10 cards each) from least to most harmful for the child. This data article provides an overview of the content of the 90 items, which type of maltreatment they reflect, and the source of the items. The percentage of mothers labelling each of the MQS items as maltreatment is also presented. In addition, instructions are included about the administration of the MQS as well as data-entry and analyses of Q-sort data, accompanied by example datasets and syntaxes. This can serve as a manual for researchers interested in using Q-sort data.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
Developmental Differences in Children and Adults' Enforcement of Explore Versus Exploit Search Strategies in the United States and Turkey
(Wiley, 2024) Kiefer, Sarah L.; Aksu, Ece; Şen, Hilal H.; Lucca, Kelsey
Across development, as children acquire a deeper understanding of their environment, they explore less and take advantage, or "exploit," what they already know. Here, we test whether children also enforce exploration-oriented search behaviors onto others. Specifically, we ask whether children are more likely to encourage a search agent to explore versus exploit their environment, and whether this pattern varies across childhood (between 3 and 6 years). We also ask whether this pattern differs between children and adults, and generalizes across two different sociocultural contexts-Turkey and the United States-that differ on dimensions that might relate to children's decisions about exploration (e.g., curiosity-focused educational practices, attitudes toward uncertainty avoidance). Participants (N = 358) watched an agent search for rewards and were asked at various points whether the agent should "stay" (exploit) in their current location, or "go" (explore) to a new location. At all points in the experiment, children enforced exploration significantly more often than adults. Early in the agent's search, children in the US enforced exploration more often than children in Turkey; later in the search, younger children (from both sociocultural contexts) were more likely to continue enforcing exploration compared to older children. These findings highlight that children are not only highly exploratory themselves, but also enforce exploration onto others-underscoring the central role that exploration plays in driving early cognitive development across diverse sociocultural contexts.Research Highlights The current study examined developmental and cross-cultural differences in children and adults' enforcement of explore-exploit search strategies. Children in the US and Turkey enforced exploration more than adults, who enforced exploitation more often; results were generally consistent across cultures with small differences. Mirroring developmental changes in children's own search behavior; the tendency to enforce exploration decreased between 3- to 6-years of age. Findings underscore the central role of an "exploration mindset" in children's early decision-making-even when exploration has no direct benefits to the child themselves.
Citation - WoS: 12
Citation - Scopus: 14
Does Social Influence Affect Covid-19 Vaccination Intention Among the Unvaccinated?
(Cambridge University Press, 2022) Bozyel, Gizem; Uysal, Mete Sefa; Akpınar, Ege; Aksu, Ayça; Salalı, Gül Deniz
Conformist social influence is a double-edged sword when it comes to vaccine promotion. On the one hand, social influence may increase vaccine uptake by reassuring the hesitant about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine; on the other, people may forgo the cost of vaccination when the majority is already vaccinated - giving rise to a public goods dilemma. Here, we examine whether available information on the percentage of double-vaccinated people affects COVID-19 vaccination intention among unvaccinated people in Turkey. In an online experiment, we divided participants (n = 1013) into low, intermediate, and high social influence conditions, reflecting the government's vaccine promotion messages. We found that social influence did not predict COVID-19 vaccination intention, but psychological reactance and collectivism did. People with higher reactance (intolerance of others telling one what to do and being sceptical of consensus views) had lower vaccination intention, whilst people with higher collectivism (how much a person considers group benefits over individual success) had higher vaccination intention. Our findings suggest that advertising the percentage of double-vaccinated people is not sufficient to trigger a cascade of others getting themselves vaccinated. Diverse promotion strategies reflecting the heterogeneity of individual attitudes could be more effective.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
Estimated Probabilities of Positive, Vs. Negative, Events Show Separable Correlations With Covid-19 Preventive Behaviours
(Elsevier, 2022) Aksu, Ayça; Booth, Robert W.; Yavuz, Burak Baran; Peker, Müjde
Research has associated optimism with better health-protective behaviours, but few studies have measured optimism or pessimism directly, by asking participants to estimate probabilities of events. We used these probability estimates to examine how optimism and/or pessimism relate to protecting oneself from COVID-19. When COVID-19 first reached Turkey, we asked a snowball sample of 494 Istanbul adults how much they engaged in various COVID-protective behaviours. They also estimated the probabilities of their catching COVID-19, and of other positive and negative events happening to them. Estimated probability of general positive events (optimism) correlated positively with officially-recommended helpful behaviours (e.g. wearing masks), but not with less-helpful behaviours (e.g. sharing ‘alternative’ COVID-related information online). Estimated probabilities of general negative events (pessimism), or of catching COVID, did not correlate significantly with helpful COVID-related behaviours; but they did correlate with psychopathological symptoms, as did less-helpful COVID-related behaviours. This shows important nuances can be revealed by measuring optimism and pessimism, as separate variables, using probability estimates.
Examining the Indirect Role of Perceived Normativeness in the Association Between Collectivistic Values and Psychological Control of Turkish Mothers
(Wiley, 2023) Yavuz, Hatice Melis; Tuncay, İpek; Ruffman, Ted; Selçuk, Bilge
Parental psychological control has previously been related to negative developmental outcomes. However, fewer studies examined the cultural factors associated with parental psychological control. Several studies suggested that psychological control is used more by mothers in collectivistic (as compared to individualistic) cultures yet did not examine the mother's personal endorsement of the cultural values. This approach ignores the widely reported findings showing within country heterogeneity. In this study, we examined maternal adherence to collectivistic values and their psychologically controlling behaviour directed towards their preschool children. We also examined the indirect role of perceived normativeness of the psychologically controlling behaviour in the association between adherence to collectivistic values and using psychologically controlling behaviours. We hypothesized that mothers who endorsed collectivistic values more would perceive psychologically controlling parenting as more normative and in turn would display more psychological control. To test our research question, we collected data from 318 Turkish mothers, who had at least one preschool-aged child (child Mage = 59.46 months, SD = 9.23; range = 34-80 months; 160 males). The descriptive analyses are planned to be run in SPSS and path analyses in mplus are planned for examining the hypothesized mediational model.
Examining the Role of Dark and Light Triad Traits on Sociosexuality
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2025) Urganci, Betul; Sevi, Baris; Dogruyol, Burak; Sakman, Ezgi
Sociosexual orientation-the tendency toward casual sex, is associated with dispositional components of personality such as higher scores of Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy). Yet, it remains unknown which specific Dark Triad traits and Light Triad traits (Kantianism, Humanism, and Faith in Humanity) predict sociosexuality and its dimensions while controlling for the others. In the current study, using an online community sample (N = 308), we examined the links between Dark Triad traits, Light Triad traits, overall sociosexuality, and sociosexuality dimensions (attitude, behavior, desire). Using hierarchical regression, we found that only psychopathy emerged as the predictor of behavior, desire, attitude dimensions, and sociosexuality total score. This effect held when controlling for age, sex, relationship status, the other two Dark personality traits, and the Light Triad. Results suggest that individuals high on psychopathy have a greater tendency toward uncommitted relationships.
Citation - WoS: 16
Citation - Scopus: 17
Executive Function and Theory of Mind as Predictors of Socially Withdrawn Behavior in Institutionalized Children
(Wiley, 2017) Yavuz, H. Melis; Selçuk, Bilge; Harma, Mehmet; Etel, Evren; Ruffman, Ted
False-belief understanding and executive functions are two main sociocognitive abilities reliably linked to child social competence. Although institution-reared children are especially at risk for behavioral problems and cognitive delays, the role that executive function and false-belief understanding might play in the social withdrawal of institutionalized children has not been examined. The current study used two-wave data to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal relations of social withdrawal with executive function and false-belief understanding in institutionalized children; it also allowed investigation of the directionality between executive function and false-belief understanding. Data were collected from 66 Turkish children (T1 M 5 = 57.83 months, SD = 9.20; T2 M = 69.58 months, SD = 8.45) residing in institutions, at two time points, approximately 1 year apart. We measured false-belief understanding and executive function via individual assessments, and social withdrawal via care provider reports at both time points. Results showed that both executive function and false-belief understanding increased between T1 and T2, while social withdrawal did not show a significant change. Path analysis revealed that when T1 age and language were controlled, T1 executive function predicted T2 executive function, and in turn, T2 executive function predicted lessened social withdrawal at T2. In addition, T1 executive function predicted T2 false-belief understanding. T1 false-belief understanding was not related to T2 false-belief understanding, executive function, or social withdrawal. Findings suggested that executive function is an important predictor of social withdrawal in high-risk populations.
Citation - WoS: 11
Citation - Scopus: 18
Explaining Illness With Evil: Pathogen Prevalence Fosters Moral Vitalism
(Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2019) Sachkova, Marianna; Kuppens, Peter; Crespo, Carla; Bain, Paul; Leknes, Siri; Tong, Jennifer; Fischer, Ronald; Eastwick, Paul W; Pelay, Cesar; M. Guerra, Valeschka; Guevara, José Luis Castellanos; Pina, Afroditi; Swann, William B; Yeung, Victoria Wai-lan; Hooper, Nic; Karasawa, Minoru; Vauclair, Christin-Melanie; Ashokkumar, Ashwini; Friese, Malte; Huang, Li-Li; Saguy, Tamar; Silfver-Kuhalampi, Mia; Loughnan, Steve; Bastian, Brock; Becker, Maja; Duffy, Jacob; Bilewicz, Michał; Sortheix, Florencia; Collier-Baker, Emma; Hanke, Katja; Peker, Müjde; Gómez, Ángel; Junqi, Shi
Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conservative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease.
Citation - WoS: 4
Citation - Scopus: 6
Exploring Individual Differences in Infants' Looking Preferences for Impossible Events: the Early Multidimensional Curiosity Scale
(Frontiers Media Sa, 2023) Sen, Hilal H. H.; Lucca, Kelsey; Lazaro, Vanessa; Lee, Nayen; Wang, Jinjing Jenny
Infants are drawn to events that violate their expectations about the world: they look longer at physically impossible events, such as when a car passes through a wall. Here, we examined whether individual differences in infants' visual preferences for physically impossible events reflect an early form of curiosity, and asked whether caregivers' behaviors, parenting styles, and everyday routines relate to these differences. In Study 1, we presented infants (N = 47, M-age = 16.83 months, range = 10.29-24.59 months) with events that violated physical principles and closely matched possible events. We measured infants' everyday curiosity and related experiences (i.e., caregiver curiosity-promoting activities) through a newly developed curiosity scale, The Early Multidimensional Curiosity Scale (EMCS). Infants' looking preferences for physically impossible events were positively associated with their score on the EMCS, but not their temperament, vocabulary, or caregiver trait curiosity. In Study 2A, we set out to better understand the relation between the EMCS and infants' looking preferences for physically impossible events by assessing the underlying structure of the EMCS with a larger sample of children (N = 211, M-age = 47.63 months, range = 10.29-78.97 months). An exploratory factor analysis revealed that children's curiosity was comprised four factors: Social Curiosity, Broad Exploration, Persistence, and Information-Seeking. Relatedly, caregiver curiosity-promoting activities were composed of five factors: Flexible Problem-Solving, Cognitive Stimulation, Diverse Daily Activities, Child-Directed Play, and Awe-Inducing Activities. In Study 2B (N = 42 infants from Study 1), we examined which aspects of infant curiosity and caregiver behavior predicted infants' looking preferences using the factor structures of the EMCS. Findings revealed that infants' looking preferences were uniquely related to infants' Broad Exploration and caregivers' Awe-Inducing Activities (e.g., nature walks with infants, museum outings). These exploratory findings indicate that infants' visual preferences for physically impossible events may reflect an early form of curiosity, which is related to the curiosity-stimulating environments provided by caregivers. Moreover, this work offers a new comprehensive tool, the Early Multidimensional Curiosity Scale, that can be used to measure both curiosity and factors related to its development, starting in infancy and extending into childhood.