The anatomy of prejudice during pandemic lockdowns: Evidence from a national panel study.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a spike in the reporting of hate crimes (Human Rights Watch, 2020). However, the extent to which the pandemic affected prejudice across a general population-not merely among those disposed to hate crimes-remains unclear. Also unclear is the extent to which prejudice was restricted to specific minority groups associated with the virus, or whether prejudice spilled over to other minority groups. To address these questions, we use panel data collected from participants in a large national longitudinal (panel) study of New Zealanders before and during the early COVID-19 pandemic and systematically quantified social warmth ratings across a broad range of minority-groups (The New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, N = 30,327, years 2018-2020). We discover reduced warmth toward Chinese, Asians (broadly defined), immigrants, Muslims, refugees, Indians, and the mentally ill. In absolute terms, warmth towards Chinese decreased the most (0.11 SD). Notably, changes in warmth were not detected toward NZ Europeans, Maori, Pacific Islanders, the overweight, or the elderly. Overall, these findings suggest that in New Zealand, pandemic prejudice may spread beyond minority groups associated with the virus to other groups perceived as non-prototypical of national identity.

Being tolerated as a minority group member: an experimental study with virtual teams.

Research on the experience of being tolerated has focused on single events, ignoring the important question of whether the experience of being tolerated depends on previous experiences. We examined whether the experience of being tolerated has a negative impact on minority team members depending on whether they had previously been rejected or fully accepted. In a pre-registered study with 440 participants, we used a recently developed experimental paradigm to simulate workstyle minority status in virtual teams. These participants were randomly assigned to experience rejection or acceptance followed by being tolerated. Experiencing tolerance after rejection was strongly positive, reducing negative well-being, increasing positive future expectations about interactions with majority team members, and reducing people's intention to withdraw from their teams. By contrast, experiencing tolerance after acceptance was weakly but consistently negative, with increased negative well-being, increased negative future expectations, and increased withdrawal intentions. Lastly, despite tolerance being more harmful than acceptance, that harmfulness did not translate into greater willingness to raise one's voice and express discontent about not being valued.

Perceiving multiple truths: Does dialectical thinking harmonize colourblind and multicultural ideals?

Multicultural and colourblind approaches to managing diversity are often conceptualized to be antagonistic. However, in principle, both have underlying motives for social justice, making it important to understand how they may be psychologically reconciled. In the present research, we examined dialectical thinking as an individual characteristic or condition under which people may endorse them in a conciliatory way. Across five studies (three pre-registered; N = 1899), using well-established materials that have measured and experimentally manipulated dialectical thinking, we found that individual differences in dialectical thinking were a replicable factor that moderated the relationship between colourblind and multicultural ideals. By contrast, situational priming of dialectical thinking did not reliably impact this relationship. Therefore, people with a greater propensity to view issues from multiple perspectives and to reconcile seemingly contradictory information appear more likely to take a harmonized approach to endorsing colourblind and multicultural ideals. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Examining age, period and cohort effects in attitude change to childhood vaccinations in a representative New Zealand survey: a multiyear cohort-sequential growth modelling study.

OBJECTIVES: Vaccinations are an important preventative measure in reducing the spread of infectious diseases worldwide. However, concerns of undervaccination during childhood have become increasingly common. The current study aims to investigate changes in attitudes towards childhood vaccinations prior to the COVID-19 pandemic using a national sample from New Zealand. DESIGN: Age-based, period-based, and cohort-based changes were assessed using cohort-sequential latent growth modelling in 11 overlapping birth cohorts, which spanned the ages of 23-79 years. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Data were taken from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study where 58 654 adults completed at least one wave across a 7-year period (2013 and 2015-2019). RESULTS: The period-based and cohort-based models fit the data equally well (χ2(282)=8547.93, p<0.001, comparative fit index, CFI=0.894, root mean square error of approximation, (RMSEA)=0.074, standardised root mean square residual, SRMR=0.105; χ2(273)=8514.87, p<0.001, CFI=0.894, RMSEA=0.075, SRMR=0.105, respectively) suggesting societal factors contribute to childhood vaccination attitudes. Additionally, the findings suggest attitudes towards childhood vaccinations were becoming increasingly more positive in all birth cohorts (ps<0.001), with younger and older birth cohorts exhibiting even positive attitudes compared with middle-aged cohorts. CONCLUSION: Overall, both the cohort-based and period-based models reveal changes in vaccination attitudes suggesting that even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, societal influences had an impact on attitudes towards childhood vaccination.

Headlines win elections: Mere exposure to fictitious news media alters voting behavior.

Repeatedly encountering a stimulus biases the observer's affective response and evaluation of the stimuli. Here we provide evidence for a causal link between mere exposure to fictitious news reports and subsequent voting behavior. In four pre-registered online experiments, participants browsed through newspaper webpages and were tacitly exposed to names of fictitious politicians. Exposure predicted voting behavior in a subsequent mock election, with a consistent preference for frequent over infrequent names, except when news items were decidedly negative. Follow-up analyses indicated that mere media presence fuels implicit personality theories regarding a candidate's vigor in political contexts. News outlets should therefore be mindful to cover political candidates as evenly as possible.

Long-term causal effects of far-right terrorism in New Zealand.

The Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019, committed by a radical right-wing extremist, resulted in the tragic loss of 51 lives. Following these events, there was a noticable rise in societal acceptance of Muslim minorities. Comparable transient reactions have been observed elsewhere. However, the critical questions remain: can these effects endure? Are enduring effects evident across the political spectrum? It is challenging to answer such questions because identifying long-term causal effects requires estimating unobserved attitudinal trajectories without the attacks. Here, we use six preattack waves of Muslim acceptance responses from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) to infer missing counterfactual trajectories (NZAVS cohort 2012, N=4,865; replicated in 2013 cohort, N=7,894). We find (1) the attacks initially boosted Muslim acceptance; (2) the magnitude of the initial Muslim acceptance boost was similar across the political spectrum; (3) no changes were observed in negative control groups; and (4) two- and three-year effects varied by baseline political orientation: liberal acceptance was stable, conservative acceptance grew relative to the counterfactual trend. Overall, the attacks added five years of growth in Muslim acceptance, with no regression to preattack levels over time. Continued growth among conservatives highlights the attack's failure to divide society. These results demonstrate the utility of combining methods for causal inference with national-scale panel data to answer psychological questions of basic human concern.

Does county-level implicit national exclusion predict political participation among Asian Americans?

OBJECTIVES: Asian Americans are often perceived as perpetual foreigners even when they are born and raised in the country. Such national exclusion is particularly evident when considering implicit biases that reveal American is more strongly associated with White than Asian identity. In the current research, we examined if living in a region where people implicitly associate American nationality more strongly with White over Asian identity predicts the political participation of Asian Americans living within the same region. METHOD: Data from 36,838 participants through Project Implicit between 2004 and 2008 provided context-level information on implicit and explicit national exclusion (i.e., American = White belief), while data from 3,748 Asian Americans through the 2008 National Asian American Survey provided an index of political participation. RESULTS: Using data from 61 U.S. counties, multilevel modeling revealed that in counties with higher levels of implicit national exclusion of Asian Americans, Asian Americans reported higher (not lower) political participation. This effect emerged even after controlling for several additional county-level variables. Similar analyses using an explicit measure of context-level national exclusion yielded convergent findings. CONCLUSIONS: Asian Americans reported greater political participation in counties with higher aggregate-levels of implicit and explicit American = White associations. Possible mechanisms accounting for the unexpected and counterintuitive relation between the national exclusion of Asian Americans and political participation among Asian Americans are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Impact of Relationship Context on Dissociation-Induced Shame Using Vignette Scenarios.

Research supports an association between dissociation and elevations in feelings of shame. Yet, some work suggests this connection may be influenced by interpersonal relationship context, with shame heightened when dissociation is experienced with a close friend compared to when alone or with an acquaintance. The current studies sought to further clarify the relational context in which dissociation appears to maximize shame activation. Participants read stories depicting either dissociation or sadness in different relationship contexts, and subsequently responded on measures of emotions, state shame, shame explanations, and perceived behavioral responses. Study 1 (N = 328) revealed that shame feelings were common responses to dissociation, but did not differ when dissociation occurred with an old or new therapist. In Study 2 (N = 345), shame was again elevated in response to dissociation. Additionally, single-item shame ratings were heightened following dissociative experiences with a close friend and doctor compared to when alone, and in these former two contexts showed increased shame with dissociation compared to sadness. Shame appears to follow the experience of dissociation, and this relationship may strengthen when in the presence of another, suggesting that social relationships may be an important variable in the relationship between shame and dissociation.

The unintended consequences of tolerance: The experience and repercussions of being tolerated for minority group members.

Tolerance as forbearance implies the decision to not interfere when others engage in actions or beliefs that you disapprove of. This allows minorities to live the life that they want, despite the disapproval. However, the undercurrent of disapproval which comes with tolerance might carry unintended negative consequences for tolerated minorities. The present research utilizes a novel experimental method to give participants an experience of being tolerated to address two key questions: 1) what are the consequences of being tolerated on personal well-being? 2) how does the experience of being tolerated affect future expectations and willingness to raise one's voice? Across four studies with American and Dutch participants (N = 1,758), we find that being tolerated leads to less positive outcomes on well-being than being accepted (although more positive implications relative to being rejected). Further, being tolerated reduces the expectation of being valued in future encounters while simultaneously tamping down on people's willingness to raise their voice against those who begrudgingly include them.

Dissociation-Induced Shame in Those with a Dissociative Disorder: Assessing the Impact of Relationship context using Vignettes.

Some evidence in non-clinical groups suggests that the relationship context in which dissociation is experienced might moderate its association with shame. The current study used vignettes detailing either dissociative symptoms or the expression of sadness occurring in three different relationship contexts: with a friend, an acquaintance, or when alone. Ratings of emotional (e.g. shame, anxiety) and behavioral (e.g. leave, talk) reactions were made on single-item measures, and shame feelings were further assessed with the State Shame Scale. Participants were in treatment for either dissociative identity disorder (n = 31) or other specified dissociative disorder (n = 3; N = 34). Feelings of shame were elevated in the acquaintance condition compared to when with a close friend or alone regardless of whether dissociation or sadness was experienced. In the acquaintance context, participants exposed to dissociation or sadness reported feeling annoyed at themselves, having a greater desire to leave, and a lesser desire to talk compared to when these experiences happened with a close friend or alone. Results suggest those with a dissociative disorder appraise themselves as more vulnerable to shame if experiencing dissociation or sadness when with an acquaintance, potentially because the risk of not being understood and rejected is heightened.

Disclosure of Sexual Victimization: Effects of Invalidation and Shame on Re-Disclosure.

Research on disclosure of sexual victimization has consistently demonstrated that the act of disclosure and the disclosure recipient have a synergistic effect in facilitating either positive or negative post-assault outcomes. While negative judgments such as victim blame have been argued to serve a silencing function, experimental investigations of this claim are lacking. The current study investigated whether invalidating feedback in response to self-disclosure of a personally distressing event produced feelings of shame, and whether shame influenced subsequent decisions around re-disclosure. Feedback type (validating, invalidating, no feedback) was manipulated in a sample of 142 college students. Results partially supported the hypothesis that shame resulted from invalidation, however shame was better predicted by individual perceptions of invalidation than the experimental manipulation. Although few participants opted to make changes to the content of their narrative for re-disclosure, those who did had higher levels of state shame. Results suggest that shame may be the affective mechanism by which invalidating judgments silence victims of sexual violence. The present study also supports the distinction previously made between Restore and Protect motivations in managing this shame. This study provides experimental support for the notion that an aversion to being shamed, communicated via an individual's perception of emotional invalidation, features in judgments of re-disclosure. Perceptions of invalidation, however, vary individually. Professionals working with victims of sexual violence should be mindful of the importance of shame attenuation in facilitating and encouraging disclosure.

Intolerance of Transgressive Protest Actions: The Differential Roles of Deontological and Utilitarian Morality.

The current research examines intolerance of protest actions by focusing on two major questions: (a) How intolerant are people of transgressive protest actions of their least-liked versus most-liked groups? and (b) how do individual differences in deontological and utilitarian moral predisposition relate to intolerance of transgressive protest actions by these two groups? In two survey-embedded experiments using nationally representative samples from two West European countries (Germany, Netherlands), we found that people were overwhelmingly intolerant of morally transgressive protest actions by both their most-liked and least-liked groups, although slightly less so for the former. In addition, deontological moral predisposition was related to increased intolerance of protest actions regardless of whether it was committed by a most-liked or least-liked group. Individual difference in utilitarian moral predisposition was related to increased acceptance of protest actions regardless of group, but especially when the actions were perceived as serving the greater good.

Deliberative thinking increases tolerance of minority group practices: Testing a dual-process model of tolerance.

Tolerance of minority beliefs and practices is typically considered a critical ingredient for an equal and diverse society. Psychologically, people can use both intuitive and deliberative cognitive sources to make tolerance judgments. Following dual-process theories, this research uses survey experiments to manipulate intuitive versus deliberative thinking to examine whether deliberative thinking increases tolerance of minority practices. Across three studies using nationally representative samples of Dutch majority members (N = 1,811), we find that deliberative thinking increases tolerance, regardless of whether people deliberate over pragmatic or principled reasons for accepting contested minority practices and social changes. These findings are similar across a range of minority practices and robust across gender, age, educational level, and political orientation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Distinguishing Active and Passive Outgroup Tolerance: Understanding Its Prevalence and the Role of Moral Concern.

Tolerance, the acceptance of disapproved conduct of others, is considered an indispensable feature of diverse societies. Yet tolerance can be expressed in one of two distinct ways, which is not reflected in the literature. In one way, tolerance is passive and involves suppressing the inclination to interfere with the disapproved conduct of others. In the other way, tolerance is active and involves endorsing the ability of others to engage in a disapproved practice. Using two nationally representative samples of Dutch majority members and eight scenarios involving real-world debates about the accommodation of Muslim minority practices, we find that while a significant minority of people engage in passive tolerance toward disapproved outgroup practices, very few people are willing to engage in active tolerance by proactively supporting disapproved practices. Furthermore, we also find that people who have stronger moral concerns about particular minority practices are less willing to engage in either active or passive tolerance. These results emerged both in contexts where Muslim minority practices had a direct impact on one's personal life as well as those that impacted on society as a whole. Collectively, these results illustrate two different forms of tolerance and the influence of moral concern in tolerance.

Examining how framing obesity as disease vs. food addiction influences stigma among fitness practitioners.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if framing the etiology of obesity as a disease, food addiction, or caloric imbalance would increase or decrease anti-fat attitudes (AFA) and challenge the belief that obesity is caused by a lack of personal responsibility or willpower. METHODS: Two hundred and forty-nine fitness practitioners (Mage = 37.49 years) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions and asked to read a short article describing obesity as either: (a) food addiction, (b) disease, or (c) caloric imbalance, while a control group read an unrelated article. All practitioners then completed a measure of AFA. RESULTS: Practitioners in the food addiction condition recorded significantly lower AFA than practitioners in the disease condition, specifically on the subscale relating to the belief that obesity is a matter of personal responsibility and willpower, or lack thereof. The differing etiologies of obesity had no impact on fitness practitioners' dislike for people with obesity or their personal fears about gaining weight CONCLUSION: Presenting the etiology of obesity as a food addiction may be more effective than the disease or caloric imbalance etiologies at reducing obesity stigma relating to the belief that obesity results from a lack of willpower. Such an understanding can help reduce obesity stigma and may encourage governments to implement obesity reduction policies as recommended by organisations such as the WHO.

Change in weight-based bias over a decade: A longitudinal nationally representative survey.

Background: Globally, the prevalence of obesity has almost tripled in the last 45 years, and almost 2 billion adults are considered overweight or obese. Such individuals have been shown to experience bias and stigma in their everyday life. While some prior research suggests that there has been an increase in weight-based bias over time, there have also been active efforts to counteract weight-based bias over the past decade. The current study uses cohort-sequential growth curve modelling on a nationally representative survey to examine change in weight-based bias over the last decade. The study also investigates whether changes in weight-based bias reflect developmental changes that occur with age, or whether there are cohort-based differences in such bias. The current study also examines whether there are gender differences in weight-based bias over the past decade. Methods: We used data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey (NZAVS). The NZAVS is an ongoing study that has been conducting an annual longitudinal panel survey of adult New Zealanders since 2009. There were 61,051 participants who responded to at least 1 out of the 11 waves available from the NZAVS. We used a feeling thermometer measure to assess attitudes toward people who are overweight over eleven years. Findings: We found that weight-based bias has remained relatively stable over the last decade. Small cohort-based differences occurred for women within four younger birth cohorts (those born 1990-1986; 1980-1976; 1975-1971; and 1970-1966) revealing a small increase in warmth towards people who are overweight. Both men and women showed a slight gradual increase in warmth toward people who are overweight, which peaked in middle age. Interpretation: Weight-based bias appears relatively stable over the past decade. These small changes do not appear to reflect developmental changes as a function of ageing. However, small decreases in weight-based bias among younger birth cohorts of women may reflect shifting societal norms about the acceptability of weight-based bias, although future work is needed to better understand this. Funding: Collection of the NZAVS data analysed in this paper was supported by a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust (TRT0196) awarded to the last author.

Tolerance as forbearance: Overcoming intuitive versus deliberative objections to cultural, religious, and ideological differences.

Tolerance is widely considered to be a key response to the challenge of managing diversity in pluralistic societies. However, tolerance comes in a number of different forms with distinct psychological profiles and societal implications. Drawing on research from political science, philosophy, sociology, and several subdisciplines within psychology, we discuss tolerance as a process of forbearance, which has received little attention in psychology. We propose a dual-process model of moral reasoning to differentiate between two distinct forms of tolerance and intolerance: intuitive and deliberative. Specifically, intuitive tolerance results from gut-level objection toward difference that is overridden (or not, in the case of intolerance) by more careful processing of the reasons to tolerate. By contrast, deliberative tolerance involves reflective thinking in which there is a weighing of one's reasonable objection to dissenting conduct against reasons to nevertheless tolerate, leading either to tolerance or intolerance. We further consider individual differences and situational factors that influence threat versus adjustment responses to living with diversity. Finally, we consider cultural differences involved in tolerance before exploring the implications of different meanings of tolerance and intolerance for living with cultural, religious, and ideological diversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychological impact of far-right terrorism against Muslim minorities on national distress, community, and wellbeing.

The Christchurch mosque shootings on March 15th, 2019 was the deadliest incident of mass violence in New Zealand for over a century. The present study investigated the psychological impact of these terrorist attacks targeting a specific minority community on the psychological functioning of the wider New Zealand population by examining changes in terrorism anxiety, sense of community, psychological distress, and wellbeing. Data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey (N = 47,951; age range 18-99 years, M = 48.59, SD = 13.86; 62% female) collected across a year, including approximately 6 months following the terrorist attack, was used. Regression discontinuity analyses found a statistically significant increase in terrorism anxiety and sense of community following the attacks, yet counterintuitively, no significant change in psychological distress or wellbeing. These findings provide unique insight into the psychological implications of politically motivated violence for the wider population when terrorism is directed toward a specific minority group.

With rhyme and reason: Recognizing reasons for disliked practices increases tolerance.

Disapproval of others' beliefs and practices is an inevitable consequence of living with diversity, and the ability to tolerate, or put up with, these differences is crucial to maintain a functional society. Considering reasons to condone what one disapproves of is considered a key aspect of tolerance. Across three national samples (N = 1,708), the current research examines how recognizing arguments to support practices that one disapproves of increases tolerance. Studies 1-2 demonstrate that when participants generate arguments to support Muslim minority practices (Study 1) and Orthodox Protestant minority practices (Study 2), they disapprove of, they show increased tolerance towards such practices in society. In Study 3, the importance of considerations is experimentally extended by demonstrating that perceiving objectionable behaviour as more reasonable increases tolerance. Collectively, these studies demonstrate the importance of engaging in and perceiving reasonable considerations to enhance tolerance of dissenting beliefs or practices.