Psychol Sci
· 2025 Nov · PMID 41196690
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What are the risky choices people face in our complex and fast-changing world? This article reports on a series of population surveys in Switzerland ( = 4,380) that collected those risky choices that are relevant in peop...What are the risky choices people face in our complex and fast-changing world? This article reports on a series of population surveys in Switzerland ( = 4,380) that collected those risky choices that are relevant in people's everyday lives. Using this empirical basis, we developed an inventory consisting of 100 unique real-life choices to address open questions regarding the structure, life domains, and stability of the current ecology of risk. Moreover, a follow-up study ( = 933) indicated some degree of generalizability of the construct of risk preference to the newly identified real-life choices. The five key insights that emerged from our analyses may be useful for researchers studying decision-making under risk and uncertainty (e.g., what criteria to use when developing novel measurement instruments) and policymaking in applied settings (e.g., addressing how swiftly the risks of modern life change).
In Eskreis-Winkler and Fishbach (2019), failure stymies learning: People learn less from failure than success. The commentary proposes that the failure to learn from failure could be due to a tendency to respond consiste...In Eskreis-Winkler and Fishbach (2019), failure stymies learning: People learn less from failure than success. The commentary proposes that the failure to learn from failure could be due to a tendency to respond consistently. Although a consistent response pattern explains why people struggle to learn from failure in some paradigms, we argue that it does not explain the results of the original paradigm. Certain consistency mechanisms require that people assume they should be consistent with their initial intuition instead of updating as they learn new information. This assumption does not apply to the original paradigm. We discuss how the commentary helps sharpen the criteria for assessing learning from failure and the role of consistency as one potential barrier to learning.
refers to the process of distinguishing between previously experienced and novel events. Apart from the objective quality of stored memories, recognition depends on the retrieval context produced by all items (foils) pre...refers to the process of distinguishing between previously experienced and novel events. Apart from the objective quality of stored memories, recognition depends on the retrieval context produced by all items (foils) presented together with actually memorized targets and causing confusion. Memory models often conceptualize target-foil confusability via distances in psychological spaces where greater confusability originates from shorter interitem distances. We tested whether recognition spaces change when other foils are added to the retrieval context or when target memory strength is changed ( = 1,311 adults). Using signal-detection modeling, we found that separately measured distances, 's, from each foil to the target provide a good linear prediction of those distances for all foils being presented together against that target. Those predictions stay accurate even when the absolute distances are scaled up or down because of a change in memory strength. This suggests strong metric invariance of spaces used for recognition decisions under variable retrieval contexts.
Most biased comments people experience are from friends. However, little is known about how people process experiences in which a friend expresses bias and how the relationship might be affected. The current research exa...Most biased comments people experience are from friends. However, little is known about how people process experiences in which a friend expresses bias and how the relationship might be affected. The current research examines the anticipated relational effects of confronting (vs. not confronting) a friend's bias, using adult participants in the United States. Asian participants who imagined confronting a White friend's biased comment (or a stranger's: see Study 1) anticipated higher friendship or relationship quality compared with those who imagined not having that confrontation. This effect remained regardless of whether bias was directed toward participants' in-group or toward an out-group (see Study 2). The closer people felt to their friend, the more confronting (vs. not confronting) elicited higher friendship quality. Experimentally testing for mechanism demonstrated that the effect of confronting is driven by greater anticipated understanding (see Study 3). This work reveals that Asian people expect that confronting a friend's bias will elicit greater understanding and buffer against negative interpersonal effects.[Box: see text].
This study examined the sequence and timing of sexual identity development (SID) milestones among Generation Z LGBTQ+ Australians, focusing on variations across subgroups and their relationship with minority stressors. T...This study examined the sequence and timing of sexual identity development (SID) milestones among Generation Z LGBTQ+ Australians, focusing on variations across subgroups and their relationship with minority stressors. The study included 490 Australian LGBTQ+ individuals aged 16 to 26, predominantly White ( = 389) and assigned female at birth ( = 402), with a balanced distribution between cisgender and gender-diverse participants. Demographic differences in the timing and achievement of SID milestones were found for sexual and gender identity. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct profiles, highlighting identity-centered and sex-centered sequences. Differences in rejection sensitivity, emotion dysregulation, and self-acceptance of sexual identity were noted across these profiles, but not for internalized homonegativity. Our findings indicate that SID trajectories do not strictly conform to discrete sexual or gender identity categories. The cross-sectional design limits causality inference, and findings are not generalizable to all LGBTQ+ young people or Generation Z more broadly.
Research on interpersonal relationships frequently relies on accurate self-reporting across various relationship facets (e.g., conflict, trust, appreciation). Yet shared method biases-which may greatly inflate associatio...Research on interpersonal relationships frequently relies on accurate self-reporting across various relationship facets (e.g., conflict, trust, appreciation). Yet shared method biases-which may greatly inflate associations between measures-are rarely accounted for during measurement validation or hypothesis testing. To examine how method biases can affect relationship research, we embarked on the ironic exploration of a new construct--comprised of irrelevant relationship evaluations (e.g., "My relationship has very good Saturn"). Pseudo was moderately associated with common relationship measures (e.g., satisfaction, commitment) and predicted those measures 3 weeks later. Results of a dyadic longitudinal study suggested that Pseudo taps into method biases, particularly (i.e., people's tendency to project their global relationship sentiments onto every relationship evaluation). We conclude that psychometric standards must be sufficiently rigorous to distinguish genuine constructs and associations from methodological artifacts that can otherwise pose a serious validity threat.
Assortative mating-the tendency to choose partners similar to oneself-is a ubiquitous phenomenon in mate choice. Despite numerous proposed explanations, a parsimonious mechanism has been overlooked: When individuals choo...Assortative mating-the tendency to choose partners similar to oneself-is a ubiquitous phenomenon in mate choice. Despite numerous proposed explanations, a parsimonious mechanism has been overlooked: When individuals choose mates on the basis of heritable traits and preferences, offspring inherit a trait and the corresponding preference from each parent, creating genetic correlations that link having a trait to preferring that same trait. We evaluated this mechanism with an agent-based model simulating 100 generations in which agents, with traits and preferences each uniquely determined by 40 loci, chose reproductive partners based on preferences. Genetic correlations formed between preferences and preferred traits, as well as between partner traits (i.e., assortative mating), demonstrating that heritable variation in preferences and preferred traits is sufficient to drive assortative mating. We presented a toy model here, so we cannot speak to the robustness of such genetic correlations or to the relative explanatory power of this mechanism over others.
Effective learning involves not only the ability to quickly acquire knowledge and skills, but also the capacity to accurately monitor one's ongoing learning progress. The present research probed the relation between lear...Effective learning involves not only the ability to quickly acquire knowledge and skills, but also the capacity to accurately monitor one's ongoing learning progress. The present research probed the relation between learning ability and monitoring accuracy. A meta-analysis (Study 1, = 2,406) counterintuitively found that individuals with superior learning ability exhibited slightly poorer monitoring accuracy (measured as the resolution of judgments of learning). Study 2 reanalyzed the meta-analysis data and observed that expert learners remembered more items they erroneously believed they would not remember, and this underconfidence in expert learners led to a negative association between learning ability and monitoring accuracy. Studies 3 ( = 102, adults aged 18-23) and 4 ( = 481, adults aged 18-59) conceptually replicated the findings of Studies 1 and 2 in controlled experiments. These findings challenge the conventional wisdom that good learners are also good monitors, suggesting instead that expert learners are actually the ones with monitoring deficits.
Overconfidence is thought to be a fundamental cognitive bias, but it is typically studied in environments where people lack accurate information about their abilities. We conducted a preregistered survey experiment and r...Overconfidence is thought to be a fundamental cognitive bias, but it is typically studied in environments where people lack accurate information about their abilities. We conducted a preregistered survey experiment and replication to learn whether overconfidence persists among tournament chess players who receive objective, precise, and public feedback about their skill. Our combined sample comprised 3,388 rated players aged 5 to 88 years from 22 countries with an average of 18.8 years of tournament experience. On average, participants asserted that their ability was 89 Elo rating points higher than their observed ratings indicated-expecting to outscore an equally rated opponent by nearly 2 to 1. One year later, only 11.3% of overconfident players achieved their asserted ability rating. Low-rated players overestimated their skill the most, and top-rated players were calibrated. Patterns consistent with overconfidence emerged in every sociodemographic subgroup we studied. We conclude that overconfidence persists in tournament chess, a real-world information environment that should be inhospitable to it.
Scholars have extolled the virtues of rationality for centuries while also debating what rationality is and who is rational. Advancing these debates, we used word embeddings trained on 840 billion words of internet text-...Scholars have extolled the virtues of rationality for centuries while also debating what rationality is and who is rational. Advancing these debates, we used word embeddings trained on 840 billion words of internet text-and validated with Prolific workers in the United States-to uncover the representation, group stereotypes, and occupational correlates of rationality at scale in naturalistic language. Four results emerged. First, rather than being synonymous with competence, representations of rationality included both an analytic/logic component and an interpersonal/trust component. Second, irrationality was not merely the opposite of rationality but contained its own unique subcomponents (volatility and unfairness). Third, rationality was consistently ascribed to high-power targets across 66 social groups. Last, rationality (especially its analytic component) was consistently associated with both earnings and wage gaps across 101 occupations. Associations with demographic representation were less consistent. Complementing normative approaches, these descriptive findings advance canonical debates about rationality, extending understanding of its components, stereotypes, and correlates.
Valuing the welfare of others is a fundamental aspect of empathy and prosocial behavior. How do people develop this valuation? Theories of associative learning suggest that people can associate social cues, such as smile...Valuing the welfare of others is a fundamental aspect of empathy and prosocial behavior. How do people develop this valuation? Theories of associative learning suggest that people can associate social cues, such as smiles, with personal reward, thus feeling good when others thrive. Yet people often display concern for others' welfare, regardless of the specific cues present. We propose that Pavlovian conditioning allows people to associate reward directly with others' abstract mental states, learning that another's happiness predicts their own reward. In four online experiments with 1,500 U.S.-based adults recruited from CloudResearch, participants' monetary outcomes were congruently or incongruently predicted by a target's mental states. Participants who experienced congruent learning reported more empathic feelings toward the target in novel situations. The values attached to mental states further influenced participants' prosocial choices. These results demonstrate how associative learning of abstract mental states can give rise to generalizable empathy and influence moral behavior.
In seven studies, we investigated how reporting partial vote counts influences perceptions of election legitimacy. Beliefs in election fraud, as in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, may be fueled by the (CRB), which...In seven studies, we investigated how reporting partial vote counts influences perceptions of election legitimacy. Beliefs in election fraud, as in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, may be fueled by the (CRB), which skews perceptions toward early leaders in partial vote counts. In line with this prediction, participants (Prolific adult participants from the United States and the United Kingdom) consistently rated early leaders more favorably and were more likely to suspect fraud when the eventual winner gained a late lead. This effect persisted across simulated elections (Studies 1-3) and real-world vote counts from the 2020 election in Georgia (Study 4). It is important to note that fraud suspicions already arose before the count was completed (Study 5) and persisted despite explanatory interventions (Study 6). Partisanship did not eliminate the CRB's influence on fraud beliefs (Study 7). Our findings suggest that the sequential reporting of vote counts may amplify false perceptions of election fraud and could be mitigated by revising how results are communicated.
Although over 8 million Native peoples live in the United States, American culture is infused with representations depicting them as people of the past (i.e., the Native-past stereotype). Four studies (total = 38,009 no...Although over 8 million Native peoples live in the United States, American culture is infused with representations depicting them as people of the past (i.e., the Native-past stereotype). Four studies (total = 38,009 non-Native American adults who voluntarily visited the Project Implicit website) examined the prevalence of the implicit Native-past stereotype among non-Native individuals and whether this stereotype predicted lower support for Native equity. We developed a Native-past Implicit Association Test to index the implicit Native-past stereotype and document the extent to which people associate Native peoples (vs. White Americans) with the past (vs. the present). Results showed that over two-thirds of non-Native participants demonstrated at least slight implicit Native-past associations (Cohen's s > 0.41). Moreover, stronger Native-past associations predicted greater minimization of contemporary Native racism and, subsequently, lower support for policies designed to advance Native equity. This work suggests that the prevalent Native-past stereotype may harm many aspects of contemporary Native peoples' lived experiences.
Petkus AJ, Reynolds CA, Catts VS
… +6 more, Christensen K, Finkel D, Nygaard M, Sachdev PS, Pedersen NL, Gatz M
Psychol Sci
· 2025 Aug · PMID 40663634
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In later older adulthood, individuals report increased depressive symptoms, whereas gender differences in depressive symptoms narrow. We evaluated whether terminal decline (i.e., accelerated worsening in proximity to dea...In later older adulthood, individuals report increased depressive symptoms, whereas gender differences in depressive symptoms narrow. We evaluated whether terminal decline (i.e., accelerated worsening in proximity to death) explained these patterns. We examined the longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms in 2,411 participants (baseline age: 29-95 years) from the Interplay of Genes and Environments Across Multiple Studies consortium representing three countries (Sweden, Denmark, and Australia). Joint modeling revealed that individuals reporting larger annual increases in depressive symptoms after age 70 were at increased risk of death. Piecewise linear multilevel models with random changepoints revealed accelerated increases in depressive symptoms approximately 4 years before death. Co-twin control analyses with 98 twin pairs found that the deceased twin had significantly larger accelerations in depressive symptoms compared with the surviving twin. Men experienced more severe mortality-related increases compared with women. Terminal decline partially explains the increase in depressive symptoms in later older adulthood.
Goal setting is only somewhat more common than the failure to follow through on one's goals. Recognizing the challenge of long-term behavior change, we asked what best predicts long-term goal adherence: extrinsic motivat...Goal setting is only somewhat more common than the failure to follow through on one's goals. Recognizing the challenge of long-term behavior change, we asked what best predicts long-term goal adherence: extrinsic motivation (the extent to which goal pursuit is experienced as a means to an end) or intrinsic motivation (the extent to which the same goal pursuit is experienced as an end in itself). In a year-long longitudinal study, U.S. adults set extrinsic New Year's resolutions, but intrinsic motivation predicted adherence to these goals more than extrinsic motivation (Study 1). These findings emerged among adults in China (Study 2) and when measuring goal adherence objectively using the number of steps U.S. adults walked over 2 weeks (Study 3). Understanding how intrinsic motivation affects long-term persistence critically informs interventions that promote goal pursuit. Indeed, increasing intrinsic (vs. extrinsic) motivation increased U.S. adults' goal adherence (Study 4). Overall, intrinsic motivation both predicted and causally increased goal adherence.
Gender differences in occupational interests are often assumed to reflect sex differences in empathizing or systemizing preferences. Do such essentialized explanations lead people to provide gender-biased learning afford...Gender differences in occupational interests are often assumed to reflect sex differences in empathizing or systemizing preferences. Do such essentialized explanations lead people to provide gender-biased learning affordances that constrain women's career interests? In Study 1 ( = 292), North American STEM professionals endorsing a biologically essentialized (vs. sociocultural) explanation for gender differences in occupational interests provided women (men) with more empathizing (systemizing) learning affordances in a mock management task. Study 2 replicated these gendered affordances by experimentally manipulating essentialized explanations ( = 379; participants were North American men with management experience in male-dominated fields). In Study 3, North American undergraduate women ( = 300) who received gendered learning affordances reported greater interest in, and possible alignment with, empathizing work assignments, whereas those who received countergendered affordances reported greater interest in, and possible alignment with, systemizing assignments. These results reveal that gender-essentialist beliefs can foster self-fulfilling gender gaps in occupational interests.
Psychol Sci
· 2025 Aug · PMID 40658911
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With more opportunities for diverse interactions, little is known about how social interactions involving people of different socioeconomic status (SES) may unfold. We investigated social-attunement patterns in dyadic in...With more opportunities for diverse interactions, little is known about how social interactions involving people of different socioeconomic status (SES) may unfold. We investigated social-attunement patterns in dyadic interactions involving SES. Unacquainted adults recruited from a community in the United States interacted with similar-or-different-SES partners in the lab ( = 130 dyads). Attunement was assessed throughout the interaction by examining -how much a person's physiological change is predicted by another's physiological change over time. Overall, low-SES participants showed stronger physiological linkage-indicating greater attunement-to partners across SES. Participants also appeared more comfortable when interacting with low-SES partners. There were no SES differences in dominance during the conversation. After the interaction, participants reported liking similar-SES partners more than different-SES partners. These patterns suggest that during interactions, lower-SES individuals are more other-focused than high-SES individuals, and in-group preference prevails. We note limitations in the racial representation of our sample.
Biased media content shapes children's social concepts and identities. We examined gender bias in a large corpus of scripts from 98 children's television programs from the United States spanning the years 1960 to 2018 (6...Biased media content shapes children's social concepts and identities. We examined gender bias in a large corpus of scripts from 98 children's television programs from the United States spanning the years 1960 to 2018 (6,600 episodes, ~2.7 million sentences, ~16 million words). We focused on agency and communion, the fundamental psychological dimensions underlying gender stereotypes. At the syntactic level, words referring to men or boys (vs. women or girls) appear more often in the agent (vs. patient) role. This syntactic bias remained stable between 1960 and 2018. At the semantic level, words referring to men or boys (vs. women or girls) co-occurred more often with words denoting agency. Words denoting communion showed both stereotypical and counterstereotypical associations. Some semantic gender biases have remained unchanged or have weakened over time; others have grown. These findings suggest that gender stereotypes are built into the core of children's stories. Whether we are closer today to gender equality in children's media depends on where one looks.
Fraemke D, Willems YE, Okbay A
… +9 more, Lindenberger U, Zinn S, Wagner G, Richter D, Harden KP, Tucker-Drob EM, Hertwig R, Koellinger P, Raffington L
Psychol Sci
· 2025 Jul · PMID 40633062
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Using a DNA-based polygenic index, we explored geographical and historical differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment in East and West Germany around the time of reunification. This index was deriv...Using a DNA-based polygenic index, we explored geographical and historical differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment in East and West Germany around the time of reunification. This index was derived from a prior genome-wide association study on educational attainment in democratic countries. In 1,930 individuals aged 25 to 85 years from the SOEP-G[ene] cohort, the magnitude of polygenic associations with educational attainment did not differ between East and West Germany before reunification but increased in East Germany thereafter. This gene-environment interaction remained robust when we probed for variance dispersion. A control analysis using a polygenic index of height suggests that this interaction is unlikely to reflect a general trend toward greater genetic associations in East Germany after reunification. The observed amplification of education-genetic associations aligns with theories suggesting heightened genetic influences on educational attainment during periods of greater social and educational opportunity. We emphasize the need for replication in larger German genetic data sets.