The present research investigated how scientific authority increases the lethal use of animals in biomedical experimentation. In two behavioral studies (N = 151 and 150), participants were required ...to incrementally administer 12 doses of a toxic chemical to a 53-cm fish (in reality, a biomimetic robot) for research on animal learning. Consistent with the Engaged Followership Theory on obedience, participants placed in a pro-scientific mindset more severely harmed the laboratory animal. In a cross-sectional study (N = 351), participants in medical fields endorsed a more pro-scientific attitude than those in paramedical fields, which mediated their support for animal experimentation. Drawing on a representative European sample (N = 31,238), we also confirmed the specificity of this link by controlling for potential demographic and ideological confounds. In a final study (N = 1,598), instrumental harm was shown as mediating the link between a pro-scientific attitude and support for animal experimentation.
The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is a widely used measure of individual propensity to rely on analytic thinking. This measure is consistently related to decision-making tasks, beliefs and ...real-life decision outcomes and also inversely related to conformist and mindless decision making. Drawing from previous studies showing that food choices are related to cognitive style, we hypothesised that an analytic cognitive style would be inversely related to meat consumption and beliefs supporting meat eating. In two highly powered studies (total N = 7283), we investigated the relationship between the CRT and meat consumption and associated beliefs, controlling for relevant demographics. Our results showed that a higher CRT score predicted self-identification as vegetarian, exclusion of meat and fish from diet and lower belief that meat consumption is normal and necessary for health (study 1). This link remained when need for cognition and self-esteem were introduced as concurrent predictors (study 2). Despite a small observed effect size, these results confirm the relevance of the CRT for investigating consequential decision making and habits.
•More analytic thinkers engage in less mindless decision making.•Meat eating represents a majority and default eating behaviour.•We investigated relationships between cognitive reflection and diet.•Higher score on Cognitive Reflection Test related to less pro-meat beliefs and behaviours.
Despite caring for animals, most people use products tested on lab-animals daily, and rarely consider the implications of their choices for animal testing. We experimentally examined across four ...preregistered and high-powered online studies (total N = 3405) whether categorizing animals as being lab-subjects, in a context where people are also reminded of the implications of their own consumer choices, could lead to their mind denial. Findings confirmed that participants consistently denied mind to animals used for product testing compared to those same animals presented outside of this context. Manipulating the perceived suffering experienced by laboratory animals and the responsibility of individuals, however, did not affect the extent of mind denial. Our findings suggest, consistent with previous work, that categorizing animals as ‘furry test-tubes’ changes how we perceive them, in order to rationalize their use for testing the products we consume on a daily basis.
In two highly powered studies (total N = 1617), we showed that individuals estimated that they would stop earlier than others in a Milgram-like biomedical task leading to the death of an animal, ...confirming the relevance of the Better than Average Effect (BTAE) in a new research setting. However, this effect was not magnified among participants displaying high self-esteem. We also showed that participants who already knew obedience studies expected that others would be more obedient and would administer more damaging treatment to the target. However, knowledge of Milgram's studies was unrelated to a higher estimate of their own behavior (study 1), and was even linked to the prediction that they would stop earlier (study 2, preregistered). Despite the wide educational use of Milgram's studies to increase people's awareness of the risks inherent to blind obedience, it may be that this knowledge only serves to evaluate other's behaviors, and not oneself.
There is a large gender gap in support for animal experimentation, with men endorsing this practice more than women. However, little is known about the psychological factors associated with these ...differences. Drawing on a large and gender-balanced sample (n
women
= 551, n
men
= 454), we conducted a cross-sectional survey to examine whether gender differences in empathy, social dominance orientation (SDO), and speciesism mediate gender differences in attitudes toward animal experimentation. Our results indicate that gender differences in empathy and speciesism mediate the link between gender and support for animal experimentation, but SDO does not. An integrative model also confirmed the role of gender differences in dispositional empathy related directly to speciesist attitudes, which as a result were related to attitudes toward animal testing. This research brings new insights into gender differences in the acceptance of animal experimentation and may explain why women are more likely than men to be opposed to this practice.
Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) both predict generalized prejudice, dehumanization, intergroup discrimination, oppression, violence, right-wing political ...party preference, and generally punitive attitudes. Authoritarian attitudes have been theorized to involve maladaptive emotional, cognitive, and social self-regulation. However, there is no study of authoritarianism using the functioning of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) as a physiological index of self-regulation, thus leaving it unclear whether regulation is "impaired" with authoritarian attitudes per se. PNS functioning is commonly assessed by examining tonic and phasic heart rate variability (HRV). These two components are recognized to be important in terms of adaptation to stress. Decreased HRV has been associated with hypoactive prefrontal regulation, hyperactive subcortical structures, maladaptive self-regulation, hyper-vigilance, decreased prosocial tendencies, defensiveness, impulsive behaviors, and aggression. Previous research suggests that self-regulatory failure may favor hostile attitudes and prejudicial intergroup behaviors. In a first study, we found that high RWA was associated with lower tonic HRV at rest. In a second study, stress-induced autonomic reactivity and poststress autonomic recovery were examined as potential pathways linking authoritarian attitudes to self-regulation. We found that high RWA and high SDO were associated with (i) lower tonic HRV during stress, (ii) greater autonomic reactivity during stress, and (iii) lower autonomic recovery. Overall, our results suggest that autonomic dysregulation during and following stress is a plausible physiological pathway connecting RWA and SDO to self-regulation. Implications of such results for research on political attitudes are discussed.
Lack of sleep is common in adolescence, and represents an important threat to adolescents' well‐being, academic commitment, and general health. It also has significant behavioral consequences through ...an increased likelihood of interpersonal violence. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between aggressive behavior and lack of sleep, but the psychological mediators remain completely unexplored. Grounded in the General Aggression Model, we investigated the affective pathway as one of the potential mechanisms linking lack of sleep and aggression. We hypothesized and showed that psychological distress is an intermediary phenomenon linking lack of sleep and physical aggression. Based on a school sample of 11,912 participants (median age: 14.5), we observed that 23.7% of the young people admitted having been involved in physical fighting on one or more occasions, and that 25.81% were in sleep debt when referred for medical assessment. We analyzed the relationship between sleep duration and physical fighting and the mediating link of psychological distress by performing multiple regressions in the components' paths. The results showed that the adolescents' amount of sleep appeared to be a significant predictor of physical fighting, and that this relationship was partially mediated by psychological distress. These results are consistent with the General Aggression Model, and represent the first empirical confirmation that psychological distress symptoms partially mediate the connection between lack of sleep and physical aggression.
Registered Replication Report on Srull and Wyer Mccarthy, Randy; Skowronski, John; Verschuere, Bruno ...
Advances in methods and practices in psychological science,
07/2018, Volume:
1, Issue:
3
Journal Article
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