Reputation is multidimensional, with some traits being more relevant than others in particular contexts. Can people selectively respond to reputational cues relevant to the task at hand? Across three studies, we examined how people weigh cues about helpfulness and competence when forming expectations about strangers' behavior. Using adapted investment games, we varied whether a stranger's helpfulness or competence predicted participants' future payoffs. We found that when helpfulness is task-relevant (Experiments 1 and 2), participants correctly use this cue in investment decisions. When competence matters most (Experiment 3), participants use it as the primary cue. Overall, a high reputation for outcome-irrelevant characteristics did not compensate for a low reputation for the outcome-relevant reputational cue. However, we also find an asymmetric spillover: Decision-makers prefer cooperating with others who are highly competent and highly helpful, regardless of task demands. We discuss our results within the theoretical framework of person perception and theories of reputation.

This study examined the use of machine learning in detecting deception among 210 individuals reporting homicides or missing persons to 911. The sample included an equal number of false allegation callers (FAC) and true report callers (TRC) identified through case adjudication. Independent coders, unaware of callers' deception, analyzed each 911 call using 86 behavioral cues. Using the random forest model with k-fold cross-validation and repeated sampling, the study achieved an accuracy rate of 68.2% for all 911 calls, with sensitivity and specificity at 68.7% and 67.7%, respectively. For homicide reports, accuracy was higher at 71.2%, with a sensitivity of 77.3% but slightly lower specificity at 65.0%. In contrast, accuracy decreased to 61.4% for missing person reports, with a sensitivity of 49.1% and notably higher specificity at 73.6%. Beyond accuracy, key cues distinguishing FACs from TRCs were identified and included cues like "Blames others," "Is self-dramatizing," and "Is uncertain and insecure."

Increasing honesty is critical in modern society. Moral Disengagement Tactics (MDTs) enable individuals to engage in unethical behavior while avoiding self-criticism, making MDTs a form of self-persuasion. One way to prevent persuasion is inoculation. Across three experiments ( = 972), two preregistered, we randomly assigned individuals to a code of ethics versus inoculation to MDTs condition. Study 1 ( = 443) found that those high in narcissism reported increased ethical intentions in the inoculation condition. Study 2 ( = 224) replicated and extended this effect, finding that individuals high in narcissism were more likely to behave honestly in the inoculation condition. Study 3 ( = 305) was a longitudinal study finding that inoculating those high in narcissism led to fewer lies over the past week's inoculation. None of these interaction patterns emerged for Machiavellianism or psychopathy. Thus, inoculation to MDTs appears effective in reducing dishonesty among those high in narcissism.

Although there is a tendency to think all forms of essentialism-the belief that characteristics are inherent and unchangeable-are similar, some theories suggest different foundations and outcomes. We investigated if belief systems about the stability of political ideology (trait essentialism) and the fundamental nature of partisans (social essentialism) predict prejudice in opposite ways and if they do so via differential relations with blame. Across six studies ( = 2,231), we found that the more people believe the trait of political ideology is fixed (trait essentialism), the more they think that Republicans and Democrats are inherently different (social essentialism). Crucially, despite this positive correlation, trait essentialism was negatively linked to partisan prejudice and social essentialism was positively linked. The essentialism to prejudice links were driven, in part, by differential associations with blame attributions. Media messaging robustly influenced both types of essentialist thinking, with implications for prejudice.

We investigate why individuals commonly perceive time as passing quickly when reflecting on past periods of their lives. A traditional cognitive account proposes that routine experienced during a period decreases the number of memorable events, making that period appear short in retrospect. A motivational account derived from self-determination theory proposes that a period remembered as lacking self-determined growth feels unsatisfying or wasted, and thus seems to pass quickly. Two exploratory studies ( = 999) did not consistently support these accounts, although in Study 2 remembered routine predicted faster perceived pace, as hypothesized. Contrary to our motivational account, remembered growth positively, rather than negatively, predicted pace. Interpreting this unexpected finding, we conducted two pre-registered studies ( = 965) exploring how satisfaction with, and nostalgic longing for, periods of growth contribute to the perception of time passing quickly. Our findings have implications for encouraging productive responses to the subjective pace of life.

This research demonstrates that people distance themselves not just from out-group partisans or policies but also from completely neutral and apolitical consumer products that have been "contaminated" simply by being preferred by the political out-group. Using large representative samples of Swedish adults, we investigated how aesthetic judgments of clothes (Study 1), evaluations of chocolate bars (Study 2), and allocations to charitable organizations (Study 3) were influenced by a randomly assigned association between these products and the leader or supporters of the participant's least- or most-liked political party. Products liked by the least-liked party became less attractive in all studies; the results were mixed for products liked by the most-liked party. Study 4 found that the presence of in-group-observers increased distancing from products liked by the least-liked party, indicating that self-presentational concerns bolster political distancing. These results suggest that affective political polarization influences our lives more subtly and profoundly than previously known.

How do individuals behave after the sting of social exclusion on social media? Previous theorizing predicts that, after experiencing exclusion, individuals either engage in activities that reconnect them with others, or, they withdraw from the context. We analyzed data from Twitter ( = 47,399 posts; = 2,000 users) and Reddit ( = 58,442 posts; = 2,000 users), using relative (un)popularity of users' own posts (i.e., receiving fewer Likes/upvotes than usual) as an indicator of social exclusion. Both studies found no general increase or decrease in posting latency following exclusion. However, the latency of behaviors aimed at connecting with decreased (i.e., posting again quickly), and the latency of behaviors aimed at connecting with increased (i.e., commenting or mentioning others less quickly). Our findings speak in favor of acknowledgment-seeking behavior as a reaction to social exclusion that may be specific to social media contexts.

Prior research finds that hierarchical representation-the vertical distribution of minorities across a hierarchy-can influence team attractiveness. Extending these findings, we offer a novel account for why these perceptions arise: teams with minorities clustered in low-ranking positions are perceived as less diverse and more conflict-prone than equally diverse teams with hierarchical representation. Across five studies (N = 2946), participants perceived teams with low hierarchical representation as less attractive than teams with hierarchical representation, regardless of participant race. Teams with low hierarchical representation were considered just as unattractive as teams with lower numerical diversity (Study 2). Individuals also underestimated the percentage of Black employees present in teams with low hierarchical representation, signaling a "diversity deflation" effect (Study 3). Conversely, teams with hierarchical representation were considered as attractive as diverse teams with flatter hierarchies (Study 4). The effect of hierarchical representation on attractiveness weakens for teams portrayed as conflict-laden (Study 5).

Gossip is ubiquitous. People gossip for several reasons. Beyond well-studied explanations, we propose an underexplored reason: tellers overestimate the extent to which gossiping encourages listeners' self-disclosure. This overestimation is observed for gossip but not for nongossip, and for self-disclosure but not for disclosing information unrelated to oneself. We also document that tellers' overestimation arises because tellers (vs. listeners) focus more on the trust that they convey to listeners by gossiping, whereas listeners (vs. tellers) focus more on their concerns about being the target of gossip in the future. This study identifies a novel misprediction and contributes to the literature on gossip by revealing a new motivation underlying gossiping. Practically, it provides an effective debiasing approach to mitigate tellers' overestimation and consequently manage gossip.

Emotion regulation research has routinely pitted the antecedent-focused strategy of cognitive reappraisal against the response-focused strategy of expressive suppression. This research has largely yielded that reappraisal is an effective strategy by which to change emotional experience, but implications of expressive suppression are not as clear. This may be due to variations in experimental methodologies, which have not consistently evaluated suppression against a within-subject control condition, as well as conceptual limitations that have muddled the implications of significant findings. Across two high-powered, within-subject paradigms, the present study demonstrates that expressive suppression induces significant decreases in negative emotion relative to one's general attempts to downregulate negative emotion (Study 1) and respond naturally (Study 2). Our findings add to a growing body of literature that demonstrate that suppression may facilitate emotion regulation at both the expressive and experiential levels, and underscore the importance of incorporating flexibility and goal-focused frameworks in future research.

"Forbidden knowledge" claims are central to conspiracy theories, yet they have received little systematic study. Forbidden knowledge claims imply that information is censored or suppressed. Theoretically, forbidden knowledge could be alluring alarming, depending on alignment with recipients' political worldviews. In three studies ( = 2363, two preregistered), we examined censorship claims about (conservative-aligned) controversial COVID-19 topics. In Studies 1a and 2 participants read COVID-19 claims framed as censored or not. Conservatives reported more attraction to and belief in the claims, regardless of censorship condition, while liberals showed interest and belief when information was presented as censored. Study 1b revealed divergent interpretations of suppression motives: liberals assumed censored information was harmful or false, whereas conservatives deemed it valuable and true. In Study 2, conservatives made more critical thinking errors in a vaccine risk reasoning task when information was framed as censored. Findings reveal the polarizing effects of forbidden knowledge frames.

The current research examined implications of primal world beliefs-beliefs about the world's basic character-for the maintenance of satisfying and mutually responsive relationships. In a dyadic daily diary study of romantic couples with a 1-year follow-up ( = 236 couples and 6,411 days), those who saw the world as and were more satisfied with their relationships and responsive to their partners in everyday life, they had partners who were more satisfied and responsive, and they reported greater motivation for responsiveness over the year. These findings were corroborated by partner and informant reports of responsiveness, and they were mediated by approach relationship goals. Those who saw the world as and pursued rewarding experiences in their relationships, which predicted greater satisfaction and responsiveness of both partners. Results suggest that, by shaping goal pursuit, positive world beliefs may promote satisfying communal relationships that confirm those beliefs.

Little attention has been given to self-objectification, which refers to viewing oneself as an instrument or object rather than a full human, in an educational context. To address this gap, the current research aims to test self-objectification among students, and we hypothesized that a performance goal orientation would result in self-objectification (H1), which would further predict reduced authenticity (H2). Six studies (N = 1,716) confirmed our hypotheses. Studies 1-2, employing cross-sectional and 2-wave designs, found a positive association between a performance goal orientation and self-objectification among college students. Study 3 further showed the link among middle school students (i.e., adolescents). Studies 4-5b employed experimental methodologies to demonstrate the causal relationship between the performance goal orientation and self-objectification. In addition, increased self-objectification triggered by the performance goal orientation was further related to reduced authenticity (Studies 3-5b). This work advances the understanding of self-objectification in the educational domain.

Public reactions to algorithmic decisions often diverge. While high-profile media coverage suggests that the use of AI in organizational decision-making is viewed as unfair and received negatively, recent survey results suggest that such use of AI is perceived as fair and received positively. Drawing on fairness heuristic theory, the current research reconciles this apparent contradiction by examining the roles of decision outcome and fairness perception on individuals' attitudinal (Studies 1-3, 5) and behavioral (Study 4) reactions to algorithmic (vs. human) decisions. Results from six experiments (N = 2,794) showed that when the decision was unfavorable, AI was perceived as fairer than human, leading to a less negative reaction. This heightened fairness perception toward AI is shaped by its perceived unemotionality. Furthermore, reminders about the potential biases of AI in decision-making attenuate the differential fairness perception between AI and human. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The present study investigated spousal interdependencies in well-being and the sources of these interdependencies among Americans and Japanese. We collected high-powered three-wave longitudinal and cross-sectional data from a wide age range of participants (s = 3,012 American couples aged 26-96 and 2,307 Japanese couples aged 24-76) and assessed a variety of well-being measures. Study 1 replicated previous findings that American spouses' well-being was positively associated with each other. Studies 2a and 2b generalized the findings of Study 1 to Japanese spouses. Both Studies 1 and 2b showed conflicting results: There were effects of mutual influence and shared environmental factors' influences on American and Japanese spouses' well-being in a longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model when using the cross-lagged panel model, but not when using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model. These findings illustrate that the interdependent nature of well-being is an essential feature of American and Japanese married couples.

Sacrificing a target to save a group violates deontological ethics against harm but upholds utilitarian ethics to maximize outcomes. Although theorists examine many factors that influence dilemma decisions, we examined justice concerns: We manipulated the moral character of sacrificial targets, then measured participants' dilemma responses and just world beliefs. Across four studies (=1116), participants considering guilty versus innocent targets scored lower on harm-rejection (deontological) responding, but not outcome-maximizing (utilitarian) responding assessed via process dissociation. Just world beliefs (both personal and general) predicted lower utilitarian and somewhat lower deontological responding, but these effects disappeared when accounting for shared variance with psychopathy. Results suggest that dilemma decisions partly reflect the moral status of sacrificial targets and concerns about the fairness implications of sacrificing innocent targets to save innocent groups.

The process model of patience attempts to reconcile disparate approaches to understanding patience. This investigation provides an initial test of the tenets of this new theoretical model, which positions impatience as a discrete emotion and patience as a targeted form of emotion regulation. In three studies with diverse samples ( = 1,401; data collected 2022-2023), participants responded to hypothetical scenarios designed to tap into familiar experiences of impatience. Regarding impatience, findings support our claim that impatience arises in response to the perception that a delay is unreasonable or unfair, and situational and intrapersonal characteristics emerged as predictors of impatience. Regarding patience, findings were consistent with the conceptualization of patience as driven more by intrapersonal than situational factors and revealed a set of individual differences that predicted patience. This investigation lends support to the process model of patience as a viable approach, generative of testable research questions, with implications for well-being.

Progress toward racial equality over the course of U.S. history has not been linear, and reductions in racial inequalities have historically been met with racist backlash. In the current research, we examine whether shifts in racial inequalities in key structural areas in recent decades can be used to predict implicit and explicit racial attitudes among White U.S. residents ( = 222,203). Consistent with the hypothesis that increasing racial equality is threatening, the majority of the statistically significant effects we observed indicated increased pro-White attitudes among White residents of states where racial inequalities decreased over time. State-level reductions in racial inequalities related to government assistance and employment-which have both been highly politicized-were predictive of greater pro-White attitudes among White U.S. residents. Overall, the current findings provide suggestive evidence that reductions in state-level racial inequalities may threaten the status quo, heightening pro-White attitudes among White U.S. residents.

Despite much research on improving intergroup relations, the evidence for long-term effects in real-world settings is mixed. We used the social marketing approach to create an "Inclusivity Page" that could be added to course syllabi. The page contained three targeted pro-diversity messages based on social norms, personal benefits, and concrete behavioral recommendations. We tested our intervention in a large randomized controlled trial in university classrooms ( = 1,799). We obtained students' course grades and overall college GPAs several years later. A subset of students also completed an outcome survey three months after the intervention. Students from underrepresented racial groups exposed to the intervention early in college had better course grades and GPAs. We also observed an enhanced sense of belonging and better emotional and physical health among students from all marginalized groups. Our research demonstrates the utility of employing a targeted approach to improve experiences of members of marginalized groups.

People hold different beliefs about the changeability of happiness. Some believe that happiness is biologically predetermined and thus unchangeable (essentialist beliefs), while others believe that it is malleable and can be changed (non-essentialist beliefs). Do these beliefs have a tangible impact on how individuals actually experience well-being? Here, we predict and empirically demonstrate that endorsing essentialist beliefs about happiness (EBH) can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy that buffers the changes in subjective well-being (SWB) following life events. Through a series of four studies utilizing diverse methodologies (total = 7,364), we provide converging evidence that happiness essentialists, compared to non-essentialists, experience relatively stable levels of SWB following life events, particularly negative ones. We find that this pattern also emerges when people recall past events or anticipate hypothetical or impending future events. Together, happiness essentialism extends beyond mere belief and has real-world implications for how individuals experience fluctuations in SWB.

This work examined the power of live music events to enhance wellbeing through collective effervescence (CE)-the sense of sacredness and connection felt when in large groups. Four studies ( = 789) using both university and community samples examined the relationship between live music events and CE and how this relationship contributes to positive, lasting outcomes. Results suggest that CE is highly related to positive outcomes associated with attending live music events. CE uniquely predicted meaning in life and enjoyment during the event above and beyond related constructs. Feeling CE was also related to greater meaning in life during the event and continued happiness a week after live music events. Further, CE mediated effects between various elements of live music events (e.g., parasocial bonds with the artist) and positive lasting outcomes. In summary, CE plays a key role in the lasting wellbeing that follows live music events.

Individuals may consider socioeconomic status (SES) change from an absolute or relative standpoint. Across five studies and supplementary analyses of secondary data, we found that individuals who perceive SES as being unlikely to change (i.e., low perceived social mobility) tend to consider SES change from a relative standpoint-i.e., one person's gain in SES occurs at the expense of another's loss in SES-reflecting that they harbor zero-sum beliefs regarding social hierarchies. In other words, the to which individuals believe that society is mobile predicts how they consider the of social mobility. This relationship is mediated by a scarcity mindset and further predicts the tendency for aggression. The findings held when we controlled for variables such as perceived economic inequality, income, and education.

In six studies, we examined two foundational questions about moral praise. First, what makes an action praiseworthy? In Study 1, participants reported that actions that exceed duties (compared with dutiful actions) deserve greater praise and are perceived as less likely to happen. Second, what do observers infer from praise? Praise may communicate information about local norms. In Study 2, we found that-in general-participants expect praise to increase the likelihood of a behavior. However, in Studies 3-6, participants inferred that moral behavior that receives praise is less common and is less required and expected of people. These inferences led individuals to judge that someone would be likely to perform a behavior that was praised. These studies provide insight into the lay beliefs and communicative function of moral praise.

Humanity's long-term welfare may lie in the hands of those who are presently living, raising the question of whether people today hold the generations of tomorrow in their moral circles. Five studies (N = 1652; Prolific) reveal present-oriented bias in the moral standing of future generations, with greater perceived moral obligation, moral concern, and prosocial intentions for proximal relative to distal future targets. Yet, present-oriented bias appears stronger for socially close compared with socially distant targets and for human targets relative to non-human animals and entities in nature. Individual differences, including longtermism beliefs and subjective imaginative vividness, predict greater concern for and obligation to the future. Likewise, concern and obligation predict greater future-oriented generosity. Our studies are among the first to explore moral considerations for targets across deep temporal expanses, reconcile conflicting evidence in the extant literature on moral judgment and future-thinking, and offer practical implications for bettering the shared societal future.

How can leaders effectively navigate challenges and drive positive change in the workplace? This research introduces reflective conversations as a powerful catalyst for leaders' change-oriented initiatives. Integrating transformative learning theory and hope theory, we suggest that reflective conversations improve leaders' sense of hope and subsequently facilitate their transformational leadership and creative behaviors. We further introduce hardships (Study 1) and relationship quality (Studies 2 and 3) as key boundary conditions. We conducted a content validation study to validate our measure of reflection conversation and further conducted two experience sampling studies and one online experiment to test the transformational power of daily reflective conversations. The results reveal that when leaders experience hardships or have high-quality relationships with others, reflective conversations can be a powerful force in terms of fueling their sense of hope and inspiring them to exercise transformational leadership and creative behaviors.

Using data from Project Implicit collected between 2005 and 2020, comprising 1,489,721 observations in 111 countries, we find that implicit and explicit gender stereotypes about career and family are more pronounced in more economically developed countries. Besides, these gender stereotypes are strongly correlated at the country level with gender differences in values (such as family values), self-reported personality traits (such as agreeableness or dependence), and occupational preferences (such as health-related occupations), and may account for the fact that these gender imbalances are "paradoxically" stronger in more economically developed countries (the so-called "gender equality paradox").In line with social role theory, our findings suggest that there are in developed countries strong gender stereotypes about career and family, which may at least partly explain the persistence or even the "paradoxical worsening" of a number of gender differences in these countries, despite generally high levels of gender equality in other areas.

Does residential mobility change cultures, or is it merely a downstream indicator for other forces? Using large-scale surveys of citizens of 18 industrialized nations, we find that increased rates of residential mobility predict living in a more dynamic society at least 10 years in the future: one in which residents are more satisfied with their lives, have greater optimism, endorse more individualistic concepts, are more open to new ideas, have a greater sense of freedom of action, feel able to make friends more easily, express a more cosmopolitan identity, believe that their society rewards merit, and hold their community to a higher standard for treatment of minorities. These findings are echoed in the experience of Americans who have themselves recently moved, where we find that having successfully moved predicts a future sense of personal thriving, optimism, and a belief that merit is rewarded.

Is anti-Black discrimination concentrated among a discriminatory few, or widespread across many decision-makers? The handful of studies that have addressed this question have reached divergent conclusions, with some suggesting that discrimination follows the 80/20 rule (i.e., a Pareto distribution) and others suggesting that discrimination is normally distributed. This paper explores the distribution of discrimination in hiring, housing, and judicial decisions. Study 1 examined the distribution of anti-Black discrimination in judges' repeated sentencing decisions. The distribution of discrimination was more consistent with a normal distribution than a Pareto distribution. In Study 2, meta-analyses of hiring and housing field experiments revealed anti-Black discrimination in more than 80% of studies. Simulations of widespread discrimination using a normal distribution were more consistent with these experimental data than were simulations of concentrated discrimination using a Pareto distribution. These findings suggest that discrimination is not concentrated in the behaviors of a few highly biased individuals.

Two implicit propositional measures designed to detect faking in personality-related scales were tested across four experimental studies. Study 1 (n = 116) included the Deception Relational Responding Task and Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire as the faking-detector and target scale, respectively. Respondents were randomly assigned to faking or no-faking conditions. Faking respondents were instructed to appear opposite to their narcissistic profile, while no-faking had to respond honestly. In Study 2 (n = 133), the faking-detector was the Deception Implicit Association Test (Dec-aIAT), while the target scale and faking/no-faking instructions remained the same. In Studies 3 (n = 74) and 4 (n = 111), the faking-detector was again the Dec-aIAT, while the target scale was the Big Five Questionnaire-2. Faking respondents had to adhere to a desirable target profile (Study 3; faking-good) or its opposite (Study 4; faking-bad) while no-faking should respond honestly. Overall, the implicit measures showed adequate-to-excellent reliability, discriminating power, and classification accuracy.

Sexual need fulfillment is central to well-being in romantic relationships. Self-determination theory suggests that perceiving a romantic partner as autonomously supportive is linked with greater well-being through supporting the fulfillment of basic psychological needs. The current research examines whether there are unique associations with need fulfillment and sexual and relationship satisfaction when people perceive their partner as autonomously supportive in the sexual domain. Across three multi-method studies ( = 786), we developed a measure of perceived partner sexual autonomy support and demonstrated that perceiving sexual autonomy support from a partner in general, during sex, and over time were associated with greater sexual need fulfillment as well as sexual and relationship satisfaction for both partners over and above the association with general perceived autonomy support and perceived partner responsiveness during sex. Sexual need fulfillment also accounted for the positive associations between perceived partner sexual autonomy support and satisfaction across studies.