Conspiring under threats! An investigation of associations between COVID-19 health and economic threats and conspiracy beliefs in Italy and Argentina.

Theory and research suggest that threats aroused by a given crisis lead to conspiracy beliefs. Although crises involve the arise of multiple threats (e.g., economic, safety, etc.) diversely affecting various needs and outcomes (i.e., cognition, emotion and behaviour), no research has yet focused on specific relations that different threats may have with the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. In this study, we distinguished between health and economic threats aroused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we tested their associations with conspiracy beliefs. Findings from two correlational studies conducted in Italy and Argentina showed that while COVID-19's economic threat was positively and consistently related to conspiracy beliefs, the relationship between COVID-19's health threat and conspiracy beliefs was negative and significant in the Italian sample and non-significant in the Argentinian sample. Results are discussed within the context of the effects of multiple threats elicited by crises on conspiracy beliefs.

'You Treated Me Like an Object, I Don't Forgive You!': The Effect of Dehu- manization on Interpersonal Forgiveness from the Victim's Perspective.

Introduction: There is a gap in the literature on the impact of the perceptions of a victim of an offense upon their forgiveness towards the offender, particularly when those perceptions include dehumanization. Objectives: The present cross-sectional exploratory study aimed at examining whether the perceptions of being treated in a dehumanized fashion influences interpersonal forgiveness, avoidance, and revenge intentions of dehumanized victims towards the offender. Method: We recruited 149 individuals from the general population, who took part in an online task, consisting of remembering an offense they had been victim of and of a set of self-reported measures of dehumanization (uniqueness and nature), interpersonal forgiveness, avoidance, and revenge intentions. We used multiple linear regression to test the study's hypotheses. Results: The perceived denial of the victims' human uniqueness was not associated with the dependent variables, whereas the perceived denial of the victims' human nature was significantly and negatively associated with interpersonal forgiveness and positively with avoidance and revenge intentions, after controlling for the effects of a set of known covariates. Conclusions: The results revealed a role for dehumanization (nature) in predicting the victims' interpersonal forgiveness, avoidance, and revenge intentions. Implications for further research are discussed.

Introducción: En la literatura hay una laguna en la comprensión del impacto de las percepciones de la víctima de una ofensa sobre su perdón hacia el ofensor, particularmente cuando estas percepciones incluyen la deshumanización. Objetivos: Este estudio explorativo transversal tuvo como objetivo examinar si las percepciones de ser tratado de manera deshumanizada influyen en las intenciones de perdón interpersonal, evitación y venganza de las víctimas deshumanizadas hacia el agresor. Métodos: Reclutamos a 149 personas de la población general, quienes participaron en una tarea online que consistía en recordar una ofensa de la que habían sido víctima y de un conjunto de cuestionarios sobre la deshumanización (uniqueness y nature), el perdón interpersonal, la evitación, y las intenciones de venganza. Usamos la regresión lineal múltiple para probar las hipótesis del estudio. Resultados: La negación percibida de la singularidad humana de las víctimas no se asoció con las variables dependientes, mientras que la negación percibida de la naturaleza humana de las víctimas se asoció significativa y negativamente con el perdón interpersonal y positivamente con las intenciones de evitación y venganza, después de controlar los efectos de un conjunto de covariables conocidas. Conclusiones: Los resultados revelaron que la deshumanización (nature) tiene un rol en la predicción de las intenciones de perdón interpersonal, evitación y venganza de las víctimas. Se discuten en el artículo las implicaciones para las futuras investigaciones.

The Motivational Underpinnings of Intentions to Use Doping in Sport: A Sample of Young Non-Professional Athletes.

Doping use is considered as a deviant behavior in sport contexts, and it is necessary to recognize preventive factors to shut down the negative consequences. We proposed that athletes experiencing loss of personal significance would be more prone to doping use intentions. This pathway should occur through the effect of the enhanced predominance of obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion that such athletes experience concerning their sport activity, which, in turn, facilitates the adoption of moral disengagement strategies to find justifications for it, when they perceive that significant others approve their intention. The study relied on a cross-over design, with a convenience sample of 437 athletes recruited at four sports sciences Universities evenly distributed in Italy. Questionnaires administered contained a validated tool based on Kruglanski's theorizing on radical and deviant behavior (e.g., Loss of Significance, Obsessive, and Harmonious passion) and deriving from social cognitive theory (e.g., Moral disengagement). Results of the study tested a serial mediation moderated model, which links the different variables to explain the influence they have on the intentions to use doping. Overall, this research suggests a motivational dynamic that may be at the heart of illicit behaviors in sport, such as using drugs-enhancing performance potentially among athletes of all kinds.

Retrieval-Induced Forgetting as Motivated Cognition.

Recalling information from a particular category can reduce one's memory capability for related, non-retrieved information. This is known as the retrieval-induced forgetting effect (RIF; Anderson et al., 1994). The present paper reviews studies that show that the RIF effect is motivated. More specifically, we describe research showing that the need for closure (NFC; the motivation to attain epistemic certainty; Kruglanski and Webster, 1996) generally enhances the RIF, because this prevents uncertainty and confusion from the intrusion of unwanted memories during selective-retrieval. However, when the content of the to-be-forgotten information serves the retriever's goals, NFC reduces RIF. Overall, the present findings are consistent with the view that motivation can affect the magnitude of RIF effects which, in turn, can serve as a mechanism for reaching preferred conclusions.

Motivated Shield From Chronic Noise Environment: Moderation of the Relationship Between Noise Sensitivity and Work Wellbeing by Need for Closure.

Several studies have underlined how chronic exposure to environmental noise may have negative effects on performance, wellbeing, and social relations. The present study (N = 90 employees of a motor factory who are chronically exposed to environmental noise) investigated whether the negative effects of chronic exposure of noise-sensitive individuals to noise in the workplace may be moderated by the need for cognitive closure (i.e., an epistemic tendency to reduce uncertainty; NFCC, Kruglanski, 2004). As NFCC has been shown to enhance protection of the focal goal by reducing interference (Kossowska, 2007; Pica et al., 2013), we hypothesized that people with high NFCC should be able to manage the interference coming from environmental noise and concentrate on their tasks more than their low-NFCC counterparts. The results confirm that the negative effects of noise sensitivity on job satisfaction, state anxiety, and turnover intent were higher among low (vs. high)-NFCC individuals.

"Keeping in mind the gender stereotype": the role of need for closure in the retrieval-induced forgetting of female managers' qualities.

The present research addressed the question of whether need for closure (NFC; Kruglanski in The psychology of closed mindedness, Psychology Press, New York, 2004) biases individuals' memory of female leaders. Merging research on role congruity theory of leadership (Koenig et al. in Psychol Bull 4:616-642, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023557 ) and research on retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF, Anderson et al. in J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cognit 20:1063-1087, 1994. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.65.5.861 ), we hypothesized and found that high-NFC participants show (1) a higher RIF of dimensions commonly associated with the leadership prototype (agentic/masculine) ascribed to female manager targets, when selectively retrieved dimensions commonly associated with the female prototype (communal/feminine) were ascribed to the same target; and (2) a lessened RIF of female stereotypical dimensions ascribed to female manager targets, when selectively retrieved prototypical leadership dimensions were ascribed to the same target. Overall, the present findings suggest that when faced with women leaders, high NfC enhances the accessibility of gender stereotype-congruent memories and reduces the accessibility of prototypical leadership ones, thus reducing the RIF of communal/feminine memories.

"Letting myself go forward past wrongs": How regulatory modes affect self-forgiveness.

The present research addresses the question of whether regulatory-mode orientations affect self-forgiveness. We expected that people with a strong locomotion orientation would be more inclined to self-forgiveness because of their tendencies toward movement and change, which focus them on the future, whereas people with a strong assessment orientation would refrain from self-forgiveness due to their evaluative tendencies which focus them on the past. These hypotheses were supported by the results in four studies that tested the relation between regulatory modes and self-forgiveness by measuring (Studies 1, 3 and 4) and manipulating (Study 2) regulatory-mode-orientations. Finally, in Study 4 we examined more closely our hypothesis that the relation between self-forgiveness and regulatory modes is mediated by past and future temporal foci. The implications of the results for regulatory mode theory are also discussed.

The relationship between thought suppression and retrieval-induced forgetting: an analysis of witness memories.

The aim of the present research was to examine the relationship between individual differences in thought suppression and retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) in witness-like situations. We predicted that people who are more prone to suppress undesired thoughts and memories would demonstrate a stronger RIF effect. Consistent with findings obtained in a US sample (Blumberg in Personal Individ Differ 29:943-950, 2000), results of a preliminary study (Study 1) confirmed the three-factor structure of the white bear suppression inventory (WBSI): the tendency to rely on thought suppression (suppression dimension), the frequency of experiencing intrusive thoughts (intrusion dimension), and the frequency of using self-distraction to avoid undesired thoughts (self-distraction dimension). Consistent with our hypotheses, Study 2 found that only the suppression sub-dimension of the WBSI was positively and significantly related to RIF. Theoretical expectations of these findings and implications for witness research are discussed.

Regulatory modes and time management: how locomotors and assessors plan and perceive time.

This research investigated the relationship between regulatory mode orientations (locomotion and assessment), time management behaviours and the perceived control of time. "Locomotion" refers to the aspect of self-regulation involving the movement from state to state, whereas "assessment" is the comparative aspect of self-regulation that refers to the critical evaluation of alternative goals and the means for achieving them. The Italian versions of the Time Management Behavior Scale and the Perceived Control of Time Scale, as well as the Locomotion and Assessment Regulatory Modes Scales were administered to 339 Italian participants (249 students and 90 employees). The results supported the notion that locomotors and assessors differ in the ways they perceive the control of time. Locomotion was found to be positively related to perceived control of time. In contrast, assessment was negatively related to perceived control of time. Furthermore, the two time management dimensions of setting goals and priorities and preference for organisation were shown to mediate the relationship between locomotion and perceived control of time, whereas assessment proved to be unrelated to all time management behaviours. These findings highlight the importance of regulatory modes for human behaviour regarding time management and perceived control of time.

Effect of circadian rhythms on retrieval-induced forgetting.

This study investigated the effects of natural circadian rhythms on retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF; Anderson et al. in J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 20:1063-1087, 1994). Individuals tested at optimal times (i.e., morning persons tested in the morning and evening persons tested in the evening) showed a significantly greater RIF effect than individuals tested at non-optimal times (i.e., morning persons tested in the evening and evening persons tested in the morning). Thus, the limited quantity of resources available to allocate in the inhibitory activity during non-optimal times produced a significant decrement in RIF. These findings are compatible with the inhibitory account of RIF and with the notion of a resource-demanding process underlying this memory phenomenon.

The motivational dynamics of retrieval-induced forgetting: a test of cognitive energetics theory.

Two experiments addressed the phenomenon of retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) from the standpoint of cognitive energetics theory (CET). Consistent with the inhibitory account of RIF and with the notion that inhibition can be demanding and resource dependent, we found that where the inhibitory activity was difficult (vs. easy), defining a high restraining force according to the CET, RIF occurred only in the presence of a high driving force combining an elevated motivation to inhibit with the availability of high resources. Overall, the current work highlights the crucial role of motivation in producing the RIF and the way in which this phenomenon abides by the general principles of motivated cognition.

Persuading drivers to refrain from speeding: Effects of message sidedness and regulatory fit.

Building on regulatory fit theory (Higgins, 2000, 2005), we tested whether two-sided ads were more effective than one-sided ads in changing intentions toward driving behavior when message recipients were high in assessment orientation rather than locomotion orientation. In one study either a locomotion or an assessment orientation were situationally induced (Study 1) and in another study these different orientations were chronic predispositions (Study 2). As predicted, both studies found that for participants high in assessment, two-sided ads were more effective than one-sided ads, as reflected in stronger engagement with the persuasive message and stronger intentions to reduce driving speed. In contrast, for participants high in locomotion, one-sided ads were more effective than two-sided ads. There was also evidence that the fit effect on intentions to comply was mediated by strength of engagement with the message. Implications for persuasion concerning driving behaviors are discussed.

On the psychology of time in action: regulatory mode orientations and procrastination.

Six studies explored the relations of the regulatory modes of locomotion and assessment to individuals' tendency toward procrastination. Across academic and organizational contexts, and a variety of ways of assessing procrastination, the authors found assessment to be positively related to procrastination and locomotion to be negatively related to procrastination. Discussion considered implications of these findings to task environments that may instill the tendencies toward locomotion or assessment and to task requirements where timeliness and punctuality are (or are not) prioritized.