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Graphs have become an increasingly important means of representing data, for instance, when communicating data on climate change. However, graph characteristics might significantly affect graph comprehension. The goal of the present work was to test whether the marking forms usually depicted on line-graphs, can have an impact on graph evaluation. As past work suggests that triangular forms might be related to threat, we compared the effect of triangular marking forms with other symbols (triangles, circles, squares, rhombi, and asterisks) on subjective assessments. Participants in Study 1 (N = 314) received 5 different line-graphs about climate change, each of them using one out of 5 marking forms. In Study 1, the threat and arousal ratings of the graphs with triangular marking shapes were not higher than those with the other marking symbols. Participants in Study 2 (N = 279) received the same graphs, yet without labels and indeed rated the graphs with triangle point markers as more threatening. Testing whether local rather than global spatial attention would lead to an impact of marker shape in climate graphs, Study 3 (N = 307) documented that a task demanding to process a specific data-point on the graph (rather than just the line graph as a whole) did not lead to an effect either. These results suggest that marking symbols can principally affect threat and arousal ratings but not in the context of climate change. Hence, in graphs on climate change, choice of point markers does not have to take potential side-effects on threat and arousal into account. These seem to be restricted to the processing of graphs where form aspects face less competition from the content domain on judgments., Author(s): Mariam Katsarava [sup.1] , Helen Landmann [sup.1] , Robert Gaschler [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.31730.36, 0000 0001 1534 0348, Department of Psychology, FernUniversität in Hagen, , Universitätsstraße 33, 58097, [...]

People can be moved and touched by exceptional closeness between people or by outstanding willpower. We investigated the causal effect of these feelings on motivations. We based our research on the previously identified phenomenon that feelings of being moved are stronger in unfavourable circumstances (e.g. psychological closeness after conflict, high achievement against all odds). In two studies in the US (N1 = 136) and in Germany (N2 = 161), we independently varied context (love vs. willpower) and circumstances (favourable vs. unfavourable) in short stories and assessed feelings of being moved as well as the motivation to show love and the motivation to show willpower after each story. In both contexts and consistent across the two studies, unfavourable circumstances elicited stronger motivations to show love as well as stronger motivations to show willpower. Multilevel mediation modelling revealed that these effects were mediated by feelings of being moved. This indicates that feelings of being moved enhance pro-social as well as achievement-related motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral foundation theory posits that specific moral transgressions elicit specific moral emotions. To test this claim, participants (N = 195) were asked to rate their emotions in response to moral violation vignettes. We found that compassion and disgust were associated with care and purity respectively as predicted by moral foundation theory. However, anger, rage, contempt, resentment and fear were not associated to any single moral transgression. Thus, even though the type of moral violation matters for the type of emotion that is elicited, the link between moral foundations and moral emotions seems more complex than moral foundation theory suggests. Rather, the findings suggest that there are both emotion-specific foundations (i.e. care and purity) and emotion-unspecific foundations (i.e. fairness, authority and loyalty).

Fifty years after Feagin's pioneering 1972 study, we present a systematic review of the measurement of attributions for poverty and economic inequality. We conducted a search for articles published from 1972 to 2023 in APA PsycArticles, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, APA PsycInfo, PSYNDEX Literature with PSYNDEX Tests, and Google Scholar. We used the following English keywords: "poor", "poverty", "inequality", "attribution", and "attributions" and their equivalents in Spanish. Applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria led to a final sample of 74 articles. We report three main findings. First, the majority of studies classify attributions on the dimensions of individualistic vs. structural. Second, there is a clear tendency to measure attributions for domestic poverty without considering supranational factors or poverty as a global challenge. Third, studies focus almost exclusively on poverty rather than (economic) inequality. We identify potential for future development within the literature, namely, from a domestic to a global perspective, from locus to controllability, and from poverty to inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two preregistered experiments investigated the role of perceived group superiority in third-party territory ownership attributions (i.e., regarding a group as the possessor of a land) in intergroup contexts. Experiment 1 (N = 288) tested the effect of different versus same-time arrival to a territory on territory ownership attributions. The first-arriver group to a territory was more likely to be perceived as physically powerful, morally strong, and the owner of the territory than a newcomer (in within-subject comparisons) and a same-time arrival group (in between-subject comparisons), whereas a newcomer group was more likely to be perceived as more threatening than first-arriver (in within-subject comparisons) and same-time arrival (in between-subject comparisons) groups. Path analysis partially confirmed the proposed serial mediation model with perceptions of relative power, relative threat, and relative social distance as serial mediators of the association between arriving first at a territory and relative ownership attribution. Experiment 2 (N = 279) tested whether perceived group superiority affects ownership attributions. Physically (high wealth) and morally (high righteousness) superior groups as well as morally inferior groups (low righteousness) were more likely to be perceived as the owner of the territory than the groups who were physically and morally equivalent with other groups in the environment (control group). Implications of the present work for immigration attitudes and intergroup conflicts are discussed. Public Significance Statement: Dividing groups into first-comers and newcomers of a territory can lead to the perception that these groups are in competition. The increase in the perceived intergroup distance caused by the threat of power differences may increase the perception that first-arriver groups own the territory. Reducing the (perceived) differences between groups' strengths may reduce the exclusionary perception of ownership that fuels conflicts. In particular, the findings of this study suggest that increasing the perceived economic equality and the perceived moral equality between groups may decrease asymmetric territory ownership perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract To investigate the specific events and processes that contribute to volunteering in refugee aid, we conducted a qualitative study with volunteers in Germany (N = 220). Participants described in their own words critical incidents that motivated them to volunteer. Content analysis revealed contact with refugees (spatial closeness or conversation), contact with non-refugees (volunteers or xenophobic persons), media experiences (reports about refugees or calls for action), and biographical incidents (own migration or major life changes) as key experiences. The results provide valuable insights into experiences that motivate people to volunteer in refugee aid, which supports integration processes of refugees and asylum-seekers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of social cure, sense of community, and social identity suggest that feelings of connectedness affect how we have coped with the COVID‐19 pandemic. Although people can feel connected to a variety of different groups, such as their family, friends, co‐workers, neighbours, nation, or all humanity, previous research has focused on connectedness to only a subset of these groups. To examine the relative importance of connectedness to and contact with specific groups for well‐being, stress, and work‐life balance during the pandemic, we conducted a longitudinal experience sampling study (N = 578) during the first 8 weeks of the Spring 2020 COVID‐19 lockdown in Germany. Feeling connected to family members most strongly predicted psychological well‐being (positively) and perceived stress (negatively) during the lockdown, followed by a sense of connectedness with friends and neighbours. Sense of connectedness to other groups did not predict well‐being, stress, or work‐life balance when controlling for the respective other groups. Hence, it not only matters whether or not a person feels connected to a group but also to which specific group he or she feels connected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research differentiated between emotional loneliness (perceived lack of emotional connection with others) and social loneliness (perceived lack of a broader social network). We argue that physical loneliness (perceived lack of physical contact) constitutes a third dimension of loneliness that is particularly relevant in times of physical distancing. We conducted a longitudinal experience sampling study (N = 578) during the first 8 weeks of the COVID‐19 lockdown in Germany to test this claim. The results indicate that loneliness has a three‐dimensional structure encompassing emotional, social and physical loneliness. Each loneliness dimension explained a unique variance in perceived stress and psychological well‐being. However, the three loneliness dimensions differed in their prevalence during the contact restrictions and their associations with age and personality. Physical loneliness was higher during the contact restrictions whereas emotional and social loneliness remained on a normal level. Age was positively associated with social loneliness but negatively associated with physical loneliness. Extraversion was negatively associated with emotional and social loneliness but positively associated with physical loneliness. These findings expand loneliness models, enhance loneliness assessment and improve the prediction of vulnerability to loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People often get angry when they perceive an injustice that affects others but not themselves. In two studies, we investigated the elicitation of third-party anger by varying moral violation and others’ outcome presented in newspaper articles. We found that anger was highly contingent on the moral violation. Others’ outcome, although relevant for compassion, were not significantly relevant for anger (Study 1 and Study 2a) or less relevant for anger than for compassion (Study 2b). This indicates that people can be morally outraged: anger can be elicited by a perceived violation of moral values alone, independent of the harm done. A severe negative consequence for others is not necessary to elicit anger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research tested the notion that emotion expression and context perception are bidirectionally related. Specifically, in two studies focusing on moral violations (N = 288) and positive moral deviations (N = 245) respectively, we presented participants with short vignettes describing behaviours that were either (im)moral, (in)polite or unusual together with a picture of the emotional reaction of a person who supposedly had been a witness to the event. Participants rated both the emotional reactions observed and their own moral appraisal of the situation described. In both studies, we found that situational context influenced how emotional reactions to this context were rated and in turn, the emotional expression shown in reaction to a situation influenced the appraisal of the situation. That is, neither the moral events nor the emotion expressions were judged in an absolute fashion. Rather, the perception of one also depended on the other.