I am interested in how values, identities and motivations organize social perception and evaluation, and the underlying neural mechanisms that mediate these processes. This work builds on some basic assumptions about the dynamic nature of human perception and evaluation that are different from the dual process models that permeate psychology. My primary line of research takes a multi-level approach to self-categorization and social identity, blending theory and methods from social psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Other lines of research explore the flexibility of moral judgment and the effects of social context and individual differences on social perception and evaluation. Address: Jay Van Bavel
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
New York University
6 Washington Place, room 752
New York, NY 10003
@vanbavellab
Recent research has shown that assigning participants to novel mixed-race groups can eliminate ra... more Recent research has shown that assigning participants to novel mixed-race groups can eliminate racial bias by shifting identity and affiliation goals to the novel in-group rather than racial group. People make judgments about other people based on the novel in-group ...
Extensive research has investigated societal and behavioral consequences of social group affiliat... more Extensive research has investigated societal and behavioral consequences of social group affiliation and identification but has been relatively silent on the role of perception in intergroup relations. We propose the perceptual model of intergroup relations to conceptualize how intergroup relations are grounded in perception. We review the growing literature on how intergroup dynamics shape perception across different sensory modalities and argue that these perceptual processes mediate intergroup relations. The model provides a starting point for social psychologists to study perception as a function of social group dynamics and for perception researchers to consider social influences. We highlight several gaps in the literature and outline areas for future research. Uncovering the role of perception in intergroup relations offers novel insights into the construction of shared reality and may help devise new and unique interventions targeted at the perceptual level.
According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to t... more According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to their most socially subordinate group membership. We investigated whether the tendency to apply this principle is related to political ideology. In three studies, participants categorized a series of morphed faces that varied in terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification motivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conservatism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination. (139/150 words)
00)00338-4) proposes that individual differences in heart rate variability (HRV)-an index of card... more 00)00338-4) proposes that individual differences in heart rate variability (HRV)-an index of cardiac vagal tone-are associated with attentional and emotional self-regulation. In this article, we demonstrate that individual differences in resting HRV predict the functioning of the inhibition of return (IOR), an inhibitory attentional mechanism highly adaptive to novelty search, in response to affectively significant face cues. As predicted, participants with lower HRV exhibited a smaller IOR effect to fearful versus neutral face cues than participants with higher HRV, which shows a failure to inhibit attention from affectively significant cues and instigate novelty search. In contrast, participants with higher HRV exhibited similar IOR effects to fearful and neutral face cues, which shows an ability to inhibit attention from cues and instigate novelty search. Their ability to inhibit attention was most pronounced to high spatial frequency fearful face cues, suggesting that this effect may be mediated by cortical mechanisms. The current research demonstrates that individual differences in HRV predict attentional inhibition and suggests that successful inhibition and novelty search may be mediated by cortical inhibitory mechanisms among people with high cardiac vagal tone.
Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sig... more Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sign in; Mobile. Home; Browse; Products; Redeem a voucher; Shortlist; Shopping Cart Cart. The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group content. Search. Advanced Search Within current journal Entire site. Home > List of Issues > Table of Contents > Volume 6, 2011, List of Reviewers. Browse journal. View all volumes and issues. Current issue. Forthcoming articles. Most read articles. Most cited articles. Authors and submissions. Call for papers. Instructions for authors ...
Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individua... more Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two factors: Dynamic Externality correlates with value measures tapping collectivism, hierarchy, and conservatism and with national indices indicative of lower social development. Societal Cynicism is less strongly and broadly correlated with previous values measures or other national indices and seems to define a novel cultural syndrome. Its national correlates suggest that it taps the cognitive component 550 JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY of a cultural constellation labeled maleficence, a cultural syndrome associated with a general mistrust of social systems and other people. Discussion focused on the meaning of these national level factors of beliefs and on their relationships with individual level factors of belief derived from the same data set.
Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fai... more Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fail to empathize with others, especially members of different social or cultural groups. In five experiments, we systematically explore how social identity, functional relations between groups, competitive threat, and perceived entitativity contribute to intergroup empathy bias: the tendency not only to empathize less with out-group relative to in-group members, but also to feel pleasure in response to their pain (and pain in response to their pleasure). When teams are set in direct competition, affective responses to competition irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-groupmembers, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Gluckschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
Organisms must constantly balance appetitive needs with vigilance for potential threats.
Recent... more Organisms must constantly balance appetitive needs with vigilance for potential threats.
Recent research suggests that the amygdala may play an important role in both of these
goals. Although the amygdala plays a role in processing motivationally relevant stimuli
that are positive or negative, negative information often appears to carry greater weight.
From a functional perspective, this may reflect the fact that threatening stimuli generally
require action, whereas appetitive stimuli can often be safely ignored. In the present
study, we examine whether amygdala activation to positive stimuli may be more sensitive
to task goals than negative stimuli—which are often related to self-preservation concerns.
During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants were presented with two
images that varied on valence and extremity and were instructed to focus on one of the
images. Results indicated that negative stimuli elicited greater amygdala activity
regardless of task-relevance. In contrast, positive stimuli only led to a relative increase in
amygdala activity when they were task-relevant. This suggests that the amygdala may be
more responsive to negative stimuli regardless of their relevance to immediate goals,
whereas positive stimuli may only elicit amygdala when they are relevant to the
perceivers’ goals. This pattern of valence asymmetry in the human amygdala may help
balance approach-related goal pursuit with chronic self-preservation goals
Classic psychology and economic studies argue that punishment is the standard response to
violati... more Classic psychology and economic studies argue that punishment is the standard response to violations of fairness norms. Typically, individuals are presented with the option to punish the transgressor or not. However, such a narrow choice set may fail to capture stronger alternative preferences for restoring justice. Here we show, in contrast to the majority of findings on social punishment, that other forms of justice restoration (for example, compensation to the victim) are strongly preferred to punitive measures. Furthermore, these alternative preferences for restoring justice depend on the perspective of the deciding agent. When people are the recipient of an unfair offer, they prefer to compensate themselves without seeking retribution, even when punishment is free. Yet when people observe a fairness violation targeted at another, they change their decision to the most punitive option. Together these findings indicate that humans prefer alternative forms of justice restoration to punishment alone.
We examined the relationship between tonic—a correlate of self-regulatory functioning—and phasic ... more We examined the relationship between tonic—a correlate of self-regulatory functioning—and phasic cardiac vagal activity (indexed by heart rate variability; HRV) during a selective attentional task with varying levels of load. Participants detected a target letter among letter strings superimposed on either fearful or neutral face distractors. Letter strings consisted of six target letters under low load and one target letter and five nontarget letters under high load. With fearful distractors, lower tonic HRV was associated with phasic HRV suppression, suggesting an autonomic stress response under both low and high load. In contrast, higher tonic HRV was associated with phasic HRV enhancement, suggesting greater self-regulatory effort under low load and an absence of phasic HRV suppression under high load. The current research suggests that tonic cardiac vagal tone is associated with the ability to flexibly adapt autonomic responses.
Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fai... more Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fail to empathize with others, especially members of different social or cultural groups. In five experiments, we systematically explore how social identity, functional relations between groups, competitive threat, and perceived entitativity contribute to intergroup empathy bias: the tendency not only to empathize less with out-group relative to in-group members, but also to feel pleasure in response to their pain (and pain in response to their pleasure). When teams are set in
direct competition, affective responses to competition-irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-group members, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Glückschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup
empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
Every day people perceive religious and moral iconography in ambiguous objects, ranging from gril... more Every day people perceive religious and moral iconography in ambiguous objects, ranging from grilled cheese to bird feces. In the current research, we examined whether moral concerns can shape awareness of perceptually ambiguous stimuli. In three experiments, we presented masked moral and non-moral words around the threshold for conscious awareness as part of a lexical decision task. Participants correctly identified moral words more frequently than non-moral words—a phenomenon we term the moral pop-out effect. The moral pop-out effect was only evident when stimuli were presented at durations that made them perceptually ambiguous, but not when the stimuli were presented too quickly to perceive or slowly enough to easily perceive. The moral pop-out effect was not moderated by exposure to harm and cannot be explained by differences in arousal, valence, or extremity. Although most models of moral psychology assume the initial perception of moral stimuli, our research suggests that moral beliefs and values may shape perceptual awareness.
We review emerging research on the psychological and biological factors that underlie social grou... more We review emerging research on the psychological and biological factors that underlie social group formation, cooperation, and conflict in humans. Our aim is to integrate the intergroup neuroscience literature with classic theories of group processes and intergroup relations in an effort to move beyond merely describing the effects of specific social out-groups on the brain and behavior. Instead, we emphasize the underlying psychological processes that govern intergroup interactions more generally: forming and updating our representations of “us” and “them” via social identification and functional relations between groups. This approach highlights the dynamic nature of social identity and the context dependent nature of intergroup relations. We argue that this theoretical integration can help reconcile seemingly discrepant findings in the literature, provide organizational principles for understanding the core elements of intergroup dynamics, and highlight several exciting directions for future research at the interface of intergroup relations and neuroscience.
"Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds a... more "Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds and mental states in others occupies a central role in social interaction. In the current research, we present evidence that the human propensity for mind perception is bound by social group membership. Specifically, we show how identification with different social groups influences the threshold for mind perception. In three experiments, participants assessed a continuum of face morphs that ranged from human to doll faces. These faces were described as in-group or outgroup members. Participants had higher (i.e., more stringent) thresholds for perceiving minds behind out-group faces, both in minimal (Experiment 1) and real-world groups (Experiment 2). In other words, out-group members required more humanness than in-group members to be perceived as having minds. This intergroup bias in mind perception was moderated by collective identification, such that highly identified group members had the highest threshold for perceiving minds behind out-group relative to in-group faces. In contrast, Democrats and Republicans who perceived the other party as threatening had lower thresholds for perceiving minds behind outgroup faces (Experiment 3). These experiments suggest that mind perception is a dynamic process in which relevant contextual information such as social identity and out-group threat change the interpretation of physical features that signal the presence of another mind. Implications for mind perception, dehumanization, and intergroup relations are discussed.
"
Humans evolved in social groups, and are adapted for group living. In this chapter, we review rec... more Humans evolved in social groups, and are adapted for group living. In this chapter, we review recent behavioral, physiological, and neuroscience research that provides the psychological and neural architecture for collectively shared representations of the world-the "group mind". We describe how collective identities structure a wide range of human cognitive processes, from rapid evaluation and face memory to mental state attribution and representations of physical distance. This research underscores how psychological and neural processes underlying human cognition are context-dependent, dynamic, and flexibly shaped by motivational states, rather than inevitable, reflexive, and fixed.
The emergence of political neuroscience-an interdisciplinary venture involving political science,... more The emergence of political neuroscience-an interdisciplinary venture involving political science, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience-has piqued the interests of scholars as well as the mass public. In this chapter, we review evidence pertaining to four areas of inquiry that have generated most of the research in political neuroscience to date: (1) racial prejudice and intergroup relations; (2) the existence of partisan bias and motivated political cognition; (3) the nature of left-right differences in political orientation; and (4) the dimensional structure of political attitudes. Although these topics are well-known to political psychologists, the application of models and methods from neuroscience has renewed interest in each of them and yielded novel insights. There is reason to believe that many other areas of political psychology await similarly promising renewals and that innovative methods will continue to advance our understanding of the physiological processes involved in political cognition, evaluation, judgment, and behavior. We address limitations, criticisms, and potential pitfalls of existing work-including the "chicken-and-egg problem"-and propose an ambitious agenda for the next generation of research in political neuroscience.
A masterful review by Hibbing and colleagues establishes close links between physiological and ps... more A masterful review by Hibbing and colleagues establishes close links between physiological and psychological responses and ideological preferences. However, existing research cannot resolve the “chicken-and-egg problem” in political neuroscience: which is cause and which is effect? We consider the possibility, which they reject, that general ideological postures, if consistently adopted, could shape psychological and physiological functioning.
According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to t... more According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to their most socially subordinate group membership. We investigated whether the tendency to apply this principle is related to political ideology. In three studies, participants categorized a series of morphed faces that varied in
terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification motivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conservatism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination.
Recent research has shown that assigning participants to novel mixed-race groups can eliminate ra... more Recent research has shown that assigning participants to novel mixed-race groups can eliminate racial bias by shifting identity and affiliation goals to the novel in-group rather than racial group. People make judgments about other people based on the novel in-group ...
Extensive research has investigated societal and behavioral consequences of social group affiliat... more Extensive research has investigated societal and behavioral consequences of social group affiliation and identification but has been relatively silent on the role of perception in intergroup relations. We propose the perceptual model of intergroup relations to conceptualize how intergroup relations are grounded in perception. We review the growing literature on how intergroup dynamics shape perception across different sensory modalities and argue that these perceptual processes mediate intergroup relations. The model provides a starting point for social psychologists to study perception as a function of social group dynamics and for perception researchers to consider social influences. We highlight several gaps in the literature and outline areas for future research. Uncovering the role of perception in intergroup relations offers novel insights into the construction of shared reality and may help devise new and unique interventions targeted at the perceptual level.
According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to t... more According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to their most socially subordinate group membership. We investigated whether the tendency to apply this principle is related to political ideology. In three studies, participants categorized a series of morphed faces that varied in terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification motivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conservatism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination. (139/150 words)
00)00338-4) proposes that individual differences in heart rate variability (HRV)-an index of card... more 00)00338-4) proposes that individual differences in heart rate variability (HRV)-an index of cardiac vagal tone-are associated with attentional and emotional self-regulation. In this article, we demonstrate that individual differences in resting HRV predict the functioning of the inhibition of return (IOR), an inhibitory attentional mechanism highly adaptive to novelty search, in response to affectively significant face cues. As predicted, participants with lower HRV exhibited a smaller IOR effect to fearful versus neutral face cues than participants with higher HRV, which shows a failure to inhibit attention from affectively significant cues and instigate novelty search. In contrast, participants with higher HRV exhibited similar IOR effects to fearful and neutral face cues, which shows an ability to inhibit attention from cues and instigate novelty search. Their ability to inhibit attention was most pronounced to high spatial frequency fearful face cues, suggesting that this effect may be mediated by cortical mechanisms. The current research demonstrates that individual differences in HRV predict attentional inhibition and suggests that successful inhibition and novelty search may be mediated by cortical inhibitory mechanisms among people with high cardiac vagal tone.
Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sig... more Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sign in; Mobile. Home; Browse; Products; Redeem a voucher; Shortlist; Shopping Cart Cart. The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group content. Search. Advanced Search Within current journal Entire site. Home > List of Issues > Table of Contents > Volume 6, 2011, List of Reviewers. Browse journal. View all volumes and issues. Current issue. Forthcoming articles. Most read articles. Most cited articles. Authors and submissions. Call for papers. Instructions for authors ...
Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individua... more Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two factors: Dynamic Externality correlates with value measures tapping collectivism, hierarchy, and conservatism and with national indices indicative of lower social development. Societal Cynicism is less strongly and broadly correlated with previous values measures or other national indices and seems to define a novel cultural syndrome. Its national correlates suggest that it taps the cognitive component 550 JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY of a cultural constellation labeled maleficence, a cultural syndrome associated with a general mistrust of social systems and other people. Discussion focused on the meaning of these national level factors of beliefs and on their relationships with individual level factors of belief derived from the same data set.
Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fai... more Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fail to empathize with others, especially members of different social or cultural groups. In five experiments, we systematically explore how social identity, functional relations between groups, competitive threat, and perceived entitativity contribute to intergroup empathy bias: the tendency not only to empathize less with out-group relative to in-group members, but also to feel pleasure in response to their pain (and pain in response to their pleasure). When teams are set in direct competition, affective responses to competition irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-groupmembers, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Gluckschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
Organisms must constantly balance appetitive needs with vigilance for potential threats.
Recent... more Organisms must constantly balance appetitive needs with vigilance for potential threats.
Recent research suggests that the amygdala may play an important role in both of these
goals. Although the amygdala plays a role in processing motivationally relevant stimuli
that are positive or negative, negative information often appears to carry greater weight.
From a functional perspective, this may reflect the fact that threatening stimuli generally
require action, whereas appetitive stimuli can often be safely ignored. In the present
study, we examine whether amygdala activation to positive stimuli may be more sensitive
to task goals than negative stimuli—which are often related to self-preservation concerns.
During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants were presented with two
images that varied on valence and extremity and were instructed to focus on one of the
images. Results indicated that negative stimuli elicited greater amygdala activity
regardless of task-relevance. In contrast, positive stimuli only led to a relative increase in
amygdala activity when they were task-relevant. This suggests that the amygdala may be
more responsive to negative stimuli regardless of their relevance to immediate goals,
whereas positive stimuli may only elicit amygdala when they are relevant to the
perceivers’ goals. This pattern of valence asymmetry in the human amygdala may help
balance approach-related goal pursuit with chronic self-preservation goals
Classic psychology and economic studies argue that punishment is the standard response to
violati... more Classic psychology and economic studies argue that punishment is the standard response to violations of fairness norms. Typically, individuals are presented with the option to punish the transgressor or not. However, such a narrow choice set may fail to capture stronger alternative preferences for restoring justice. Here we show, in contrast to the majority of findings on social punishment, that other forms of justice restoration (for example, compensation to the victim) are strongly preferred to punitive measures. Furthermore, these alternative preferences for restoring justice depend on the perspective of the deciding agent. When people are the recipient of an unfair offer, they prefer to compensate themselves without seeking retribution, even when punishment is free. Yet when people observe a fairness violation targeted at another, they change their decision to the most punitive option. Together these findings indicate that humans prefer alternative forms of justice restoration to punishment alone.
We examined the relationship between tonic—a correlate of self-regulatory functioning—and phasic ... more We examined the relationship between tonic—a correlate of self-regulatory functioning—and phasic cardiac vagal activity (indexed by heart rate variability; HRV) during a selective attentional task with varying levels of load. Participants detected a target letter among letter strings superimposed on either fearful or neutral face distractors. Letter strings consisted of six target letters under low load and one target letter and five nontarget letters under high load. With fearful distractors, lower tonic HRV was associated with phasic HRV suppression, suggesting an autonomic stress response under both low and high load. In contrast, higher tonic HRV was associated with phasic HRV enhancement, suggesting greater self-regulatory effort under low load and an absence of phasic HRV suppression under high load. The current research suggests that tonic cardiac vagal tone is associated with the ability to flexibly adapt autonomic responses.
Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fai... more Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fail to empathize with others, especially members of different social or cultural groups. In five experiments, we systematically explore how social identity, functional relations between groups, competitive threat, and perceived entitativity contribute to intergroup empathy bias: the tendency not only to empathize less with out-group relative to in-group members, but also to feel pleasure in response to their pain (and pain in response to their pleasure). When teams are set in
direct competition, affective responses to competition-irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-group members, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Glückschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup
empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
Every day people perceive religious and moral iconography in ambiguous objects, ranging from gril... more Every day people perceive religious and moral iconography in ambiguous objects, ranging from grilled cheese to bird feces. In the current research, we examined whether moral concerns can shape awareness of perceptually ambiguous stimuli. In three experiments, we presented masked moral and non-moral words around the threshold for conscious awareness as part of a lexical decision task. Participants correctly identified moral words more frequently than non-moral words—a phenomenon we term the moral pop-out effect. The moral pop-out effect was only evident when stimuli were presented at durations that made them perceptually ambiguous, but not when the stimuli were presented too quickly to perceive or slowly enough to easily perceive. The moral pop-out effect was not moderated by exposure to harm and cannot be explained by differences in arousal, valence, or extremity. Although most models of moral psychology assume the initial perception of moral stimuli, our research suggests that moral beliefs and values may shape perceptual awareness.
We review emerging research on the psychological and biological factors that underlie social grou... more We review emerging research on the psychological and biological factors that underlie social group formation, cooperation, and conflict in humans. Our aim is to integrate the intergroup neuroscience literature with classic theories of group processes and intergroup relations in an effort to move beyond merely describing the effects of specific social out-groups on the brain and behavior. Instead, we emphasize the underlying psychological processes that govern intergroup interactions more generally: forming and updating our representations of “us” and “them” via social identification and functional relations between groups. This approach highlights the dynamic nature of social identity and the context dependent nature of intergroup relations. We argue that this theoretical integration can help reconcile seemingly discrepant findings in the literature, provide organizational principles for understanding the core elements of intergroup dynamics, and highlight several exciting directions for future research at the interface of intergroup relations and neuroscience.
"Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds a... more "Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds and mental states in others occupies a central role in social interaction. In the current research, we present evidence that the human propensity for mind perception is bound by social group membership. Specifically, we show how identification with different social groups influences the threshold for mind perception. In three experiments, participants assessed a continuum of face morphs that ranged from human to doll faces. These faces were described as in-group or outgroup members. Participants had higher (i.e., more stringent) thresholds for perceiving minds behind out-group faces, both in minimal (Experiment 1) and real-world groups (Experiment 2). In other words, out-group members required more humanness than in-group members to be perceived as having minds. This intergroup bias in mind perception was moderated by collective identification, such that highly identified group members had the highest threshold for perceiving minds behind out-group relative to in-group faces. In contrast, Democrats and Republicans who perceived the other party as threatening had lower thresholds for perceiving minds behind outgroup faces (Experiment 3). These experiments suggest that mind perception is a dynamic process in which relevant contextual information such as social identity and out-group threat change the interpretation of physical features that signal the presence of another mind. Implications for mind perception, dehumanization, and intergroup relations are discussed.
"
Humans evolved in social groups, and are adapted for group living. In this chapter, we review rec... more Humans evolved in social groups, and are adapted for group living. In this chapter, we review recent behavioral, physiological, and neuroscience research that provides the psychological and neural architecture for collectively shared representations of the world-the "group mind". We describe how collective identities structure a wide range of human cognitive processes, from rapid evaluation and face memory to mental state attribution and representations of physical distance. This research underscores how psychological and neural processes underlying human cognition are context-dependent, dynamic, and flexibly shaped by motivational states, rather than inevitable, reflexive, and fixed.
The emergence of political neuroscience-an interdisciplinary venture involving political science,... more The emergence of political neuroscience-an interdisciplinary venture involving political science, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience-has piqued the interests of scholars as well as the mass public. In this chapter, we review evidence pertaining to four areas of inquiry that have generated most of the research in political neuroscience to date: (1) racial prejudice and intergroup relations; (2) the existence of partisan bias and motivated political cognition; (3) the nature of left-right differences in political orientation; and (4) the dimensional structure of political attitudes. Although these topics are well-known to political psychologists, the application of models and methods from neuroscience has renewed interest in each of them and yielded novel insights. There is reason to believe that many other areas of political psychology await similarly promising renewals and that innovative methods will continue to advance our understanding of the physiological processes involved in political cognition, evaluation, judgment, and behavior. We address limitations, criticisms, and potential pitfalls of existing work-including the "chicken-and-egg problem"-and propose an ambitious agenda for the next generation of research in political neuroscience.
A masterful review by Hibbing and colleagues establishes close links between physiological and ps... more A masterful review by Hibbing and colleagues establishes close links between physiological and psychological responses and ideological preferences. However, existing research cannot resolve the “chicken-and-egg problem” in political neuroscience: which is cause and which is effect? We consider the possibility, which they reject, that general ideological postures, if consistently adopted, could shape psychological and physiological functioning.
According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to t... more According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to their most socially subordinate group membership. We investigated whether the tendency to apply this principle is related to political ideology. In three studies, participants categorized a series of morphed faces that varied in
terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification motivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conservatism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination.
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toward out-group relative to in-groupmembers, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Gluckschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
Recent research suggests that the amygdala may play an important role in both of these
goals. Although the amygdala plays a role in processing motivationally relevant stimuli
that are positive or negative, negative information often appears to carry greater weight.
From a functional perspective, this may reflect the fact that threatening stimuli generally
require action, whereas appetitive stimuli can often be safely ignored. In the present
study, we examine whether amygdala activation to positive stimuli may be more sensitive
to task goals than negative stimuli—which are often related to self-preservation concerns.
During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants were presented with two
images that varied on valence and extremity and were instructed to focus on one of the
images. Results indicated that negative stimuli elicited greater amygdala activity
regardless of task-relevance. In contrast, positive stimuli only led to a relative increase in
amygdala activity when they were task-relevant. This suggests that the amygdala may be
more responsive to negative stimuli regardless of their relevance to immediate goals,
whereas positive stimuli may only elicit amygdala when they are relevant to the
perceivers’ goals. This pattern of valence asymmetry in the human amygdala may help
balance approach-related goal pursuit with chronic self-preservation goals
violations of fairness norms. Typically, individuals are presented with the option to punish
the transgressor or not. However, such a narrow choice set may fail to capture stronger
alternative preferences for restoring justice. Here we show, in contrast to the majority
of findings on social punishment, that other forms of justice restoration (for example,
compensation to the victim) are strongly preferred to punitive measures. Furthermore, these
alternative preferences for restoring justice depend on the perspective of the deciding agent.
When people are the recipient of an unfair offer, they prefer to compensate themselves
without seeking retribution, even when punishment is free. Yet when people observe a
fairness violation targeted at another, they change their decision to the most punitive option.
Together these findings indicate that humans prefer alternative forms of justice restoration to
punishment alone.
direct competition, affective responses to competition-irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-group members, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Glückschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup
empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
"
terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification motivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conservatism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination.
toward out-group relative to in-groupmembers, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Gluckschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
Recent research suggests that the amygdala may play an important role in both of these
goals. Although the amygdala plays a role in processing motivationally relevant stimuli
that are positive or negative, negative information often appears to carry greater weight.
From a functional perspective, this may reflect the fact that threatening stimuli generally
require action, whereas appetitive stimuli can often be safely ignored. In the present
study, we examine whether amygdala activation to positive stimuli may be more sensitive
to task goals than negative stimuli—which are often related to self-preservation concerns.
During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants were presented with two
images that varied on valence and extremity and were instructed to focus on one of the
images. Results indicated that negative stimuli elicited greater amygdala activity
regardless of task-relevance. In contrast, positive stimuli only led to a relative increase in
amygdala activity when they were task-relevant. This suggests that the amygdala may be
more responsive to negative stimuli regardless of their relevance to immediate goals,
whereas positive stimuli may only elicit amygdala when they are relevant to the
perceivers’ goals. This pattern of valence asymmetry in the human amygdala may help
balance approach-related goal pursuit with chronic self-preservation goals
violations of fairness norms. Typically, individuals are presented with the option to punish
the transgressor or not. However, such a narrow choice set may fail to capture stronger
alternative preferences for restoring justice. Here we show, in contrast to the majority
of findings on social punishment, that other forms of justice restoration (for example,
compensation to the victim) are strongly preferred to punitive measures. Furthermore, these
alternative preferences for restoring justice depend on the perspective of the deciding agent.
When people are the recipient of an unfair offer, they prefer to compensate themselves
without seeking retribution, even when punishment is free. Yet when people observe a
fairness violation targeted at another, they change their decision to the most punitive option.
Together these findings indicate that humans prefer alternative forms of justice restoration to
punishment alone.
direct competition, affective responses to competition-irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-group members, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Glückschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We also find that intergroup
empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing—feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.
"
terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification motivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conservatism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination.