In times of crisis, people are more prone to endorse conspiracy theories. Conspiracy thinking provides answers about the causes of an event, but it can also have harmful social consequences. Our ...research tested both the predictor and the consequences of two types of conspiracy beliefs related to the Covid-19 pandemic: (1) general conspiracy beliefs and (2) government-related conspiracy theories. In two studies in Poland (Ntotal = 2726), we found that a perceived lack of individual control predicted both types of conspiracy theories, while a sense of collective control was positively related to general conspiracy beliefs but negatively associated with government-related conspiracy theories. Moreover, general conspiracy theories were related to the acceptance of xenophobic policies and to a less favourable attitude towards outgroups whereas government-related conspiracy theories were not. Additionally, people who believed in conspiratorial governments less frequently indicated that they used prevention methods, such as social distancing and handwashing. Our research demonstrates the importance of considering the content of various conspiracy theories when studying their social effects and potential causes. Knowing which attitudes may be associated with the endorsement of specific conspiracy theories can contribute to counteracting their negative consequences during crises.
Digital goods are, in many cases, substantive innovations relative to their physical counterparts. Yet, in five experiments, people ascribed less value to digital than to physical versions of the ...same good. Research participants paid more for, were willing to pay more for, and were more likely to purchase physical goods than equivalent digital goods, including souvenir photographs, books (fiction and non-fiction), and films. Participants valued physical goods more than digital goods whether their value was elicited in an incentive compatible pay-what-you-want paradigm, with willingness to pay, or with purchase intention. Greater capacity for physical than digital goods to garner an association with the self (i.e., psychological ownership) underlies the greater value ascribed to physical goods. Differences in psychological ownership for physical and digital goods mediated the difference in their value. Experimentally manipulating antecedents and consequents of psychological ownership (i.e., expected ownership, identity relevance, perceived control) bounded this effect, and moderated the mediating role of psychological ownership. The findings show how features of objects influence their capacity to garner psychological ownership before they are acquired, and provide theoretical and practical insights for the marketing, psychology, and economics of digital and physical goods.
The theory of planned behavior (TPB—Ajzen, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1991, 50, 179–211; Ajzen, Handbook of theories of social psychology, 2012, 1, 438–459) has been widely ...applied to the prediction and change of behavior, including behavior related to the use of technology. This article provides a brief description of the theory and discusses a number of issues and questions that have been raised with respect to the TPB. Among the issues discussed are the difference between the TPB and the theory of reasoned action, perceived behavioral control versus self‐efficacy, the difference between perceived behavioral control and locus of control, the possibility of including additional predictors in the TPB, nonavailability of a standard TPB questionnaire, predicting behavior in a choice situation, the intention‐behavior gap, and a comparison of the technology acceptance model to the TPB.
People can extract and learn statistical regularities from various aspects of everyday life. The current study examined whether people have a mechanism to learn regularity based on time information ...and investigated whether sensitivity to time information is modulated by individual time management. In the familiarization phase, participants were required to observe a visual sequence of objects. Although the objects were presented in a random order, the amount of time for which the objects were presented was organized into successive triplets (e.g., 850-1,000-700 ms). In the subsequent test phase, two three-object sequences were presented. One sequence was a timing triplet that had temporal regularities. The other was a foil created from three different triplets. Participants were required to judge which sequence was more familiar based on the familiarization phase. The results showed that the triplets were successfully discriminated from the foils. These results were also observed for blank intervals. The current findings also revealed that although visual statistical learning was expressed when participants observed the temporal regularities of shapes tied to the corresponding durations during familiarization, this learning overshadowed them from indicating generic timing regularities when they were untied to objects. Furthermore, participants with high scores on the Time Management Scale showed a higher extent of visual statistical learning on object durations than those with low scores. These results suggest that people extract and learn regularities based on time information and that statistical learning based on time information is correlated with individual time management.
Stress and compromised parenting often place children at risk of abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment has generally been viewed as a highly individualistic problem by focusing on stressors and ...parenting behaviors that impact individual families. However, because of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), families across the world are experiencing a new range of stressors that threaten their health, safety, and economic well-being.
This study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to parental perceived stress and child abuse potential.
Participants included parents (N = 183) with a child under the age of 18 years in the western United States.
Tests of group differences and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed to assess the relationships among demographic characteristics, COVID-19 risk factors, mental health risk factors, protective factors, parental perceived stress, and child abuse potential.
Greater COVID-19 related stressors and high anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with higher parental perceived stress. Receipt of financial assistance and high anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with higher child abuse potential. Conversely, greater parental support and perceived control during the pandemic are associated with lower perceived stress and child abuse potential. Results also indicate racial and ethnic differences in COVID-19 related stressors, but not in mental health risk, protective factors, perceived stress, or child abuse potential.
Findings suggest that although families experience elevated stressors from COVID-19, providing parental support and increasing perceived control may be promising intervention targets.
The COVID-19 pandemic is creating unprecedented, sustained, and unavoidable stress for the entire population, and older people are facing particularly heightened risk of contracting the virus and ...suffering severe complications, including death. The present study was conducted when the pandemic was spreading exponentially in the United States. To address important theoretical questions about age differences in emotional experience in times of crisis, we surveyed a representative sample of 945 Americans between the ages of 18 and 76 years and assessed the frequency and intensity of a range of positive and negative emotions. We also assessed perceived risk of contagion and complications from the virus, as well as personality, health, and demographic characteristics. Age was associated with relatively greater emotional well-being both when analyses did and did not control for perceived risk and other covariates. The present findings extend previous research about age and emotion by demonstrating that older adults’ relatively better emotional well-being persists even in the face of prolonged stress.
While social commerce research has predominantly focused on how established brands attract consumers, very little is known about what motivates individuals to risk purchasing from shops owned by ...other individuals. The study investigates the underlying factors influencing Indonesian consumers’ intentions to purchase lifestyle goods on Instagram shops, despite the lack of financial safeguards against fraudulence. Extending the theory of motivated reasoning, the findings show that perceived constraints to purchase through other channels moderate the effects of key variables that influence trust and purchase intentions. Perceived ease and security of transactions on social media shops only correlate with trust for consumers who perceive they have unrestricted control over where to purchase. However, these relationships were not significant for consumers who perceive high constraints over alternate purchase channels. The findings extend the understanding on the boundary conditions of social media marketing, particularly in emerging economies.
The theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991, 2012), used widely for the prediction and modification of human actions, is behavior centered. According to the TPB, behavioral intentions, the ...immediate precursors of behavior, are determined by attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm with respect to the behavior, and perceived control over the behavior. In contrast, goal systems theory (GST; Kruglanski et al., 2002) is goal centered. It assumes that behavior typically serves as a means to an individual's goals. To extend the TPB's range of application and augment its explanatory and predictive power, we integrate these two theoretical perspectives in a proposed theory of reasoned goal pursuit. We conclude that the formation of a behavioral intention is determined by motivation to perform a behavior in light of alternative options and in the context of the individual's currently active goals.
Based on the Conservation of Resources theory, we propose a positive relationship between managerial latitude and salespeople’s adaptive-selling behavior. We also propose salesperson perceived ...control as a relevant mediator and salesperson work centrality as an important boundary condition. Using time-lagged (three rounds, two months apart) data from 321 sales manager-employee dyads, the present work shows that managerial latitude positively influences adaptive selling, both directly and indirectly, via salesperson perceived control. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that salesperson work centrality functions as a moderator of the direct association between managerial latitude and perceived control, as well as in the indirect link between managerial latitude and adaptive selling. The present study carries several important practical implications for organizations operating in different service and manufacturing sectors.
PDF
