scholarly journals Postprint "Who believes in the storybook image of the scientist?" accepted for publication in Accountability in Research

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coosje Lisabet Sterre Veldkamp ◽  
Chris Hubertus Joseph Hartgerink ◽  
Marcel A. L. M. van Assen ◽  
Jelte M. Wicherts
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Total N ◽  
Strong Belief ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Willingness To Adopt ◽  
Human Tendency ◽  
Error Bias ◽  
Female Scientists

Do lay people and scientists themselves recognize that scientists are human and therefore prone to human fallibilities such as error, bias, and even dishonesty? In a series of three experimental studies and one correlational study (total N = 3,278) we found that the ‘storybook image of the scientist’ is pervasive: American lay people and scientists from over 60 countries attributed considerably more objectivity, rationality, open-mindedness, intelligence, integrity, and communality to scientists than other highly-educated people. Moreover, scientists perceived even larger differences than lay people did. Some groups of scientists also differentiated between different categories of scientists: established scientists attributed higher levels of the scientific traits to established scientists than to early-career scientists and PhD students, and higher levels to PhD students than to early-career scientists. Female scientists attributed considerably higher levels of the scientific traits to female scientists than to male scientists. A strong belief in the storybook image and the (human) tendency to attribute higher levels of desirable traits to people in one’s own group than to people in other groups may decrease scientists’ willingness to adopt recently proposed practices to reduce error, bias and dishonesty in science.

Non-stigmatising alternatives to anti-obesity public health messages: Consequences for health behaviour and well-being

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532199970
Author(s):  
Joanne A Rathbone ◽  
Tegan Cruwys ◽  
Jolanda Jetten
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Weight Loss ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Messages ◽  
Total N ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Public Health Messages ◽  
Size Acceptance

This project investigated how alternative non-stigmatising public health messages influence people’s health behaviours and well-being, relative to traditional stigmatising weight-loss messages. We conducted three experimental studies (total N = 1281) that compared traditional weight-loss messages to weight-neutral messages (Study 1), weight-inclusive messages (Study 2) and size acceptance messages (Study 3). Results revealed that public health messages have differential effects on health behaviours and well-being, depending on the audience’s BMI or perceived weight. However, campaigns that challenge weight stigma and promote body positivity have positive effects on some psychological indicators of health and well-being for people of all body sizes.

scholarly journals A chip off the (im)moral block? Lay beliefs about genetic heritability predicts whether family members’ actions affect self-judgments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Peetz ◽  
Michael Jeremy Adam Wohl ◽  
Anne E Wilson ◽  
Andrew Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Moral Self ◽  
Total N ◽  
Lay Beliefs ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Related Family ◽  
Genetic Heritability

The idea of heritability may have consequences for individuals’ sense of self by connecting identity to the actions of others who happen to share genetic ties. Across seven experimental studies (total N=2,628), recalling morally bad or good actions by family members influenced individuals’ moral self among those who endorse a lay belief that moral character is genetically heritable, but not among those who did not endorse this belief (Study 1-5). In contrast, recalling actions by unrelated individuals had no effect, regardless of lay beliefs (Study 2, 5), the endorsement of other relevant lay beliefs did not moderate the effect of parent’s actions on self-judgments (Study 3). Individuals who endorsed heritability beliefs also chose less helpful responses to hypothetical helping scenarios if they had recalled unhelpful (vs. helpful) acts by a genetically-related family member (Study 5). Taken together, these studies suggest that lay beliefs in the role of genetics are important for self-perceptions.

scholarly journals An inch away from being mentally tough: Performance bias in ratings of mental toughness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. I. Schellenberg ◽  
Patrick Gaudreau
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Mental Toughness ◽  
Basketball Player ◽  
Sports Fans ◽  
Total N ◽  
Linear Pattern ◽  
Bias In Ratings ◽  
Sport Psychologist ◽  
Single Moment ◽  
Performance Bias

Are assessments of an athlete’s mental toughness influenced by how that athlete performs in a single moment in a game? We conducted three experimental studies to address this question and conclude that the answer is yes. In each study, sports fans (total N = 1,097) read vignettes that depicted a mentally tough basketball player, either by describing the player as having many mentally tough attributes (Study 1), or by stating that the player had been identified as being mentally tough by an expert sport psychologist (Studies 2 and 3). Participants then read that the player was about to take a championship-winning shot and were randomly assigned to learn that the shot had been either successful or unsuccessful. Moreover, in Studies 1 and 2 participants learned that the outcome had been either decisive (i.e., a “perfect swish” or an “air ball”) or indecisive (i.e., the ball hitting the backboard, then the rim and, eventually, either going or not going into the basket). In each study, despite learning that the athlete was very mentally tough, participants’ mental toughness ratings depended on whether or not the shot was successful. Ratings were also sensitive to the way in which an outcome was attained: ratings decreased in a linear pattern with the highest ratings after a decisive success, followed by an indecisive success, an indecisive failure, and the lowest ratings after a decisive failure. This research supports the criticism that evaluations of mental toughness are distorted by how an athlete performs in a single moment.

scholarly journals Late, But Not Too Late? Postponement of First Birth Among Highly Educated US Women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Nitsche ◽  
Hannah Brückner
Keyword(s):  
Family Formation ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
College Education ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
First Birth ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Postponement

AbstractWe examine the link between the postponement of parenthood and fertility outcomes among highly educated women in the USA born in 1920–1986, using data from the CPS June Supplement 1979–2016. We argue that the postponement–low fertility nexus noted in demographic and biomedical research is especially relevant for women who pursue postgraduate education because of the potential overlap of education completion, early career stages, and family formation. The results show that women with postgraduate education differ from women with college education in terms of the timing of the first birth, childlessness, and completed fertility. While the postponement trend, which began with the cohorts born in the 1940s, has continued among highly educated women in the USA, its associations with childlessness and completed parity have changed considerably over subsequent cohorts. We delineate five distinct postponement phases over the 80-year observation window, consistent with variation over time in the prevalence of strategies for combining tertiary education and employment with family formation.

scholarly journals Gender inequality and not female mentors hinder female scientists career outcomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas ◽  
Thamara S Almeida ◽  
Iris Amati-Martins ◽  
Christine D. Bacon ◽  
Cibele de Cassia Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Women In Science ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Female Scientists ◽  
Opposite Gender

Studies on gender disparity in academia generate constructive discussions to promote equality. In a recently published study, AlShebli et al. 2020 analyzed the role of informal mentorship in supporting early-career scientists and how gender may shape scientific careers. Besides presenting methodological flaws, the study culminates in the authors' conclusion that mentoring quality is determined by the mentor's gender, suggesting that female protégés reap more benefits when mentored by males rather than equally-impactful females. Despite acknowledging that possible causal factors were not considered in their analyses, they attest that the success of female scientists' careers relies on opposite-gender mentorships in terms of publication and impact. Although the authors state that these findings add a new perspective to the policy debate on the best ways to elevate the women in science, their conclusions reinforce the traditional patriarchal, biased scientific structure that stimulates a poorly diversified hierarchical chain in STEM. Here we highlight the study's methodological weaknesses and major issues that must be addressed to avoid the perpetuation of gender disparity in science.

Communicating Personal Goals: Consequences for Person Perception in the Work and Family Domains

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Salmela-Aro ◽  
Bettina S. Wiese
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Person Perception ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Personal Goals ◽  
Total N ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Goal System

Based on a set of three experimental studies (total N = 608), we examined how people appraise another person’s well-being and motivation in the work and family domains on the basis of knowledge of this other person’s goal system. Participants were introduced to the life situation of either a woman or a man belonging to a successful dual-career couple. This target person reported pursuing only work-related personal goals (work priority), only family-related personal goals (family priority) or both work- and family-related goals (balanced goal system). Participants were asked to appraise the target person’s life satisfaction as well as a number of work- and family-related attributes. Overall, as expected, target persons with a focus on work goals were perceived as higher on positive work-related attributes than the other groups, whereas the family-priority group was perceived as higher on positive family-related attributes. In addition, at least when judged by working adults, greater life satisfaction was attributed to persons with a balanced goal system than to those with a goal system focusing on either work or family goals.

Linguistic Concreteness of True and False Intentions: A Mega-Analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Calderon ◽  
Erik Mac Giolla ◽  
Timothy John Luke ◽  
Lara Warmelink ◽  
Karl Ask ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Deception Detection ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Total N ◽  
Mental Construal ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Verbal Content ◽  
Concrete Language ◽  
Verbal Analysis

Our aim was to examine how people communicate their true and false intentions. Based on construal level theory (Trope & Liberman, 2010), we predicted that statements of true intentions would be more concretely phrased than statements of false intentions. True intentions refer to more likely future events than false intentions, they should be mentally represented at a lower level of mental construal. This should be mirrored in more concrete language use. Transcripts of truthful and deceptive statements about intentions from six previous experimental studies (total N = 528) were analyzed using two automated verbal content analysis approaches: a folk-conceptual measure of concreteness (Brysbaert, Warriner, and Kuperman, 2014) and linguistic category model scoring (Seih, Beier, & Pennebaker, 2017). Contrary to our hypotheses, veracity did not predict statements’ concreteness scores, suggesting that automated verbal analysis of linguistic concreteness is not a viable deception-detection technique for intentions.

scholarly journals Climate Adaptation and Climate Mitigation Do Not Undermine Each Other: A Cross‐Cultural Test in Four Countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Urban ◽  
Davina Vačkářová ◽  
Tomas Badura
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Total N ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Adaptation and mitigation are both essential components of strategies that aim to decrease risks associated with climate change. A number of existing studies, however, suggest that the two might be negatively affecting each other – climate adaptation might decrease mitigation efforts and vice versa. We have examined these effects in five experimental studies carried out in four countries (total N = 4,800) and have used Bayesian analysis to evaluate the strength of empirical support for such effects. We did not find any evidence that compensation between climate mitigation and adaptation takes place. On the contrary, we found some evidence, albeit rather weak, that prior focus on adaptation measures increases the subsequent tendency to engage in mitigation behavior; this effect is likely to be driven by an increase in worry about the impacts of climate change that results from a prior focus on climate adaptation. If anything, offering adaptation options may increase the tendency to mitigate climate change.

scholarly journals Does growth mindset improve children’s IQ, educational attainment or response to setbacks? Active-control interventions and data on children’s own mindsets

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Li ◽  
Timothy Charles Bates
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Reverse Direction ◽  
Total N ◽  
School Grades ◽  
School Year ◽  
Basic Ability ◽  
Ability Beliefs

Mindset theory predicts that children’s IQ and school grades are positively linked to their belief that basic ability is malleable rather than fixed. We test this prediction in three experimental studies (total n = 624 individually-tested 10-12-year-olds). Two studies included active-control conditions to test effects of fixed-ability beliefs independent of motivation. In addition, we tested whether children’s own mindsets relate to real-life IQ, educational attainment in longitudinal analyses of school grades. Praise for intelligence had no significant effect on cognitive performance. Nor were any effects of mindset were found for challenging material. Active-control data showed that occasional apparent effects of praise for hard work on easy outcome measures reflected motivational confounds rather than effects of implicit beliefs about the malleability of intelligence (study 3, active control condition). Children’s own mindsets showed no relationship to IQ, school grades, or change in grades across the school year, with the only significant result being in the reverse direction to prediction (better performance in children holding a fixed mindset). Fixed beliefs about basic ability appear to be unrelated to ability, and we found no support for mindset-effects on cognitive ability, response to challenge, or educational progress.

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