Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 28 of 28

Full-Text Articles in Social Psychology

Relationship Status And Psychological Well-Being: Initial Evidence For The Moderating Effects Of Commitment Readiness, Kenneth Tan, Daniel Ho, Christopher R. Agnew Dec 2023

Relationship Status And Psychological Well-Being: Initial Evidence For The Moderating Effects Of Commitment Readiness, Kenneth Tan, Daniel Ho, Christopher R. Agnew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Past research has suggested that the association between romantic relationship status (i.e., single vs. coupled) and well-being can be dependent on different aspects of an individual's personal life. In the current research, we examined whether commitment readiness (i.e., the subjective sense that the current time is "right" to be in a committed romantic relationship) moderates the link between current relationship status and psychological well-being. With correlational data obtained from three independent samples (two from Singapore, one cross-cultural comparison between Singapore and USA), we found a significant moderating effect of commitment readiness. Coupled individuals higher in readiness reported greater levels of …


Human-Animal Interaction And Human Prosociality: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Experimental And Correlational Studies, Nicole Ruiying Chen, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Gloria J. Lai, Paye Shin Koh, Manmeet Kaur, K. T. A Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Zhi Yan Alycia Ho, Jose C. Yong, Andree Hartanto Dec 2023

Human-Animal Interaction And Human Prosociality: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Experimental And Correlational Studies, Nicole Ruiying Chen, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Gloria J. Lai, Paye Shin Koh, Manmeet Kaur, K. T. A Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Zhi Yan Alycia Ho, Jose C. Yong, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Pet ownership and interactions with animals confer various physiological and psychological benefits to humans. Although interactions with animals are commonplace, there is no consensus in the literature on the actual impact of animal exposure on prosociality. Hence, this meta-analysis investigated 20 eligible studies (n = 4,116, k = 48) and provided an extensive examination into the different potential moderators of the relationship between human–animal interaction (HAI) and prosociality, such as the distinction between empathy and prosocial behavior, HAI characteristics, and sample characteristics. Overall, a small positive effect size was found (d = 0.22), suggesting that human exposure to animals is …


The Role Of Humor Production And Perception In The Daily Life Of Couples: An Interest-Indicator Perspective, Kenneth Tan, Bryan Kwok Cheng Choy, Norman P. Li Oct 2023

The Role Of Humor Production And Perception In The Daily Life Of Couples: An Interest-Indicator Perspective, Kenneth Tan, Bryan Kwok Cheng Choy, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In established relationships, are couples who are funny more satisfied with each other, or are satisfied couples more able to see the funny side of their partners? Much research has examined the evolutionary function of humor in relationship initiation, but not in relationship maintenance. Using a dyadic daily-diary study composed of college students from Singapore, results showed that relationship quality was positively associated with same-day humor production and perception. Importantly, and consistent with an interest-indicator perspective in which humor exchanges communicate relationship interest, relationship quality was also positively associated with next-day humor production and perception, and across both sexes. Results …


Untangling The Additive And Multiplicative Relations Between Natural Scenery Exposure And Human-Animal Interaction On Affective Well-Being: Evidence From Daily Diary Studies, Adalia Yin Hui Goh, Shu Min Chia, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Nicole R.Y. Chen, Andree Hartanto Feb 2023

Untangling The Additive And Multiplicative Relations Between Natural Scenery Exposure And Human-Animal Interaction On Affective Well-Being: Evidence From Daily Diary Studies, Adalia Yin Hui Goh, Shu Min Chia, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Nicole R.Y. Chen, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Built nature spaces have been increasingly integrated into our urban environments in recent years with the aim of reaping their psychological benefits. However, despite numerous works of research on the relationship between nature exposure and well-being, most studies have looked into the benefits of well-being from the lens of isolated elements of nature, such as natural scenery or animal exposure. This study aims to fill in the gaps by examining the additive and multiplicative relationships between natural scenery exposure and human–animal interaction on affective well-being (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, and stress) through a daily diary study. Over seven days, …


Effects Of Economic Uncertainty And Socioeconomic Status On Reproductive Timing: A Life History Approach, Kenneth Tan, Norman P. Li, Andrea. M. Meltzer, Joel L. J. Chin, Kai Lin Lynn Tan, Amy J. Lim, Steven. L Neuberg, Mark Van Vugt Feb 2022

Effects Of Economic Uncertainty And Socioeconomic Status On Reproductive Timing: A Life History Approach, Kenneth Tan, Norman P. Li, Andrea. M. Meltzer, Joel L. J. Chin, Kai Lin Lynn Tan, Amy J. Lim, Steven. L Neuberg, Mark Van Vugt

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Why do some people have children earlier compared to others who delay reproduction? Drawing from an evolutionary, life history theory perspective, we posited that reproductive timing could be influenced by economic uncertainty and childhood socioeconomic status (SES). For individuals lower in childhood SES, economic uncertainty influenced the desire to reproduce earlier compared to individuals higher in childhood SES. Furthermore, the decision regarding reproductive timing was influenced by tradeoffs between earlier reproduction or furthering one's education or career. Overall, economic uncertainty appears to shift individuals into different life history strategies as a function of childhood SES, suggesting how ecological factors and …


Subjective Social Class And Life Satisfaction: Role Of Class Consistency And Identity Uncertainty, Bek Wuay Tang, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan Jan 2022

Subjective Social Class And Life Satisfaction: Role Of Class Consistency And Identity Uncertainty, Bek Wuay Tang, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Drawing on a recent perspective that inconsistent class identities can negatively impact psychological outcomes, the current research explored if the relative benefit of higher subjective social class for life satisfaction would differ depending on whether it is consistent with one’s objective social class. In Study 1, across two independent samples from Singapore (n = 1,045) and the United States (n = 492), higher subjective social class predicted higher life satisfaction more strongly among those high in objective social class, but less strongly among those low in objective social class. In Study 2, these patterns were replicated in another large U.S. …


Old Minds, New Marketplaces: How Evolved Psychological Mechanisms Trigger Mismatched Food Preferences, Michal Folwarczny, Tobias Otterbring, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Lynn K. L. Tan, Norman P. Li Jan 2022

Old Minds, New Marketplaces: How Evolved Psychological Mechanisms Trigger Mismatched Food Preferences, Michal Folwarczny, Tobias Otterbring, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Lynn K. L. Tan, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Principally due to unhealthy food choices, almost half of adults worldwide are overweight or obese. Current food retail practices bear some responsibility for such public health issues. We argue that numerous attempts to promote healthy eating have been unsuccessful due to the failure to account for our outdated evolved food selection mechanisms. Building on the evolutionary mismatch hypothesis and contrasting ancestral versus present-day foraging environments, we discuss how marketing activities exploit evolutionarily old food preferences and elicit unhealthy food choices for profit maximization at the expense of public health in terms of food consumption. We conclude by explaining how to …


Distracted: Why Students Cannot Focus By James M. Lang, Joax Wong, Andree Hartanto Aug 2021

Distracted: Why Students Cannot Focus By James M. Lang, Joax Wong, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Humans are easily distracted creatures. Our attention seems to constantly waver, shifting every second to different objects, sounds or stimuli. As we transition into adolescence, we start to hear the all-too familiar phrase that technology – smartphones, laptops, televisions and gaming devices – is an obstacle preventing us from reaching full productivity and sapping our attention. In Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, James Lang describes the oftentimes complicated and false conceptions about distraction and the part that technology plays in it. Currently, society places extremely high demands on students and expects them to …


Social Psychology Of Climate Change In The Asian Context: Introduction To Special Issue, Kim-Pong Tam, Angela K. Y. Leung, Susan Clayton Jun 2021

Social Psychology Of Climate Change In The Asian Context: Introduction To Special Issue, Kim-Pong Tam, Angela K. Y. Leung, Susan Clayton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing many countries in the Asia Pacific. Asia as a whole is a primary contributor to carbon emissions. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, the Asia Pacific region alone accounts for more than half of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This represents an increase in consumption of oil, gas, and coal in Asia Pacific from 44.5% in 2009 to 50.5% in 2019. According to the review, compared to the rest of the world, Asia Pacific had the highest growth rate (2.7%) of carbon emissions between 2008 and …


The New Normal Of Social Psychology In The Face Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Insights And Advice From Leaders In The Field, Kim Pong Tam, Angela K. Y. Leung, Sammyh Khan Mar 2021

The New Normal Of Social Psychology In The Face Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Insights And Advice From Leaders In The Field, Kim Pong Tam, Angela K. Y. Leung, Sammyh Khan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Revisiting the history of social psychology, one noticeable trend is that the agenda of social psychologists is interwoven with events that happen in society and the world (Ross et al., 2010). For example, the Holocaust during World War II stimulated social psychologists’ interest in ethnocentrism, aggression, and obedience, just as increasing globalization became one of the impetuses for investigations into the role of culture in human behaviour, and hence the emergence of cultural and cross‐cultural psychology. Considering its immensity, we believe that the COVID‐19 pandemic will likely be a trigger for profound and consequential changes in social psychology (Khazaie & …


Subjective Social Status And Inflammation: The Role Of Culture And Anger Control, Jose C. Yong, Andree Hartanto, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan Jan 2021

Subjective Social Status And Inflammation: The Role Of Culture And Anger Control, Jose C. Yong, Andree Hartanto, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Objective: Research on subjective social status (SSS) and inflammation risk suffers from a lack of cross-cultural data as well as inconsistent findings between SSS and the biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP). The current study addressed these issues by examining possible cultural differences in the SSS-CRP link with anger control as an underlying mechanism while controlling for potential confounds such as wealth, education, and health factors. Method: Participants comprised 1,435 adults from the Biomarker Project of the MIDUS (American) and MIDJA (Japanese) studies. Participants’ SSS and tendency to control anger were assessed through surveys, and their CRP levels were measured through fasting …


The Association Between Objective And Subjective Socioeconomic Standing And Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Nichelle C. Carpenter, Nancy E. Adler Nov 2020

The Association Between Objective And Subjective Socioeconomic Standing And Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Nichelle C. Carpenter, Nancy E. Adler

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This meta-analysis tested if the links between socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective well-being (SWB) differ by whether SES is assessed objectively or subjectively. The associations between measures of objective SES (i.e., income and educational attainment), subjective SES (i.e., the MacArthur ladder SES and perceived SES), and SWB (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction) were synthesized across 357 studies, totaling 2,352,095 participants. Overall, the objective SES and subjective SES measures were moderately associated (r = .32). The subjective SES-SWB association (r = .22) was larger than the objective SES-SWB association (r = .16). The income-SWB association (r = .23) was comparable with …


How Much Money Can Buy You Happiness, And Can Happiness Be Engineered?, Chandran Kukathas Oct 2020

How Much Money Can Buy You Happiness, And Can Happiness Be Engineered?, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There may be a lot of misery in the world, opines Chandran Kukathas, but for many, ‘there’s gold in them thar hills’. But can happiness be engineered?


Foster Positivity Amid Covid-19 Challenges, David Chan Aug 2020

Foster Positivity Amid Covid-19 Challenges, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many behaviours have encouraged positivity during the pandemic. More can be done to create communities that nurture positive attitudes and experiences


A Toolkit To Deal With Negative Reactions In The Covid-19 Crisis, David Chan Apr 2020

A Toolkit To Deal With Negative Reactions In The Covid-19 Crisis, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Understanding our own and others’ biases helps us respond better to difficult situations. Adopt what I call the 3Rs approach - refrain, reflect and resolve, to deal with negative events and manage our negative gut emotions and reactions.


Mood-Creativity Relationship In Groups: The Role Of Equality In Idea Contribution In Temporal Mood Effects, Angela K. Y. Leung, Shynan Liou, Ming-Hong Tsai, Brandon Koh Mar 2020

Mood-Creativity Relationship In Groups: The Role Of Equality In Idea Contribution In Temporal Mood Effects, Angela K. Y. Leung, Shynan Liou, Ming-Hong Tsai, Brandon Koh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As people working in groups might fare better in solving complex problems than those working alone (e.g., Laughlin, Hatch, Silver, & Boh, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 2006 and 644), organizations have increasingly assigned creative projects to groups. Group members contribute their collective efforts over time until the creative project has come to fruition. Although mood is identified as an important antecedent to creativity, little is known about the temporal pattern of how group mood enhances or inhibits group creativity, as well as the underpinning group process that explains the mood—creativity link in groups. We set out to …


Partner Commitment In Close Relationships Mitigates Social-Class Differences In Subjective Well-Being, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Emily A. Impett, Dacher Keltner Jan 2020

Partner Commitment In Close Relationships Mitigates Social-Class Differences In Subjective Well-Being, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus, Emily A. Impett, Dacher Keltner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present exploratory research examined the possibility that commitment in close relationships among lower class individuals, despite greater strains on those relationships, buffers them from poorer subjective well-being (SWB). In two samples of close relationship dyads, we found that when partners reported high commitment to the relationship, the typical deficits in relatively lower class individuals’ well-being compared to their upper-class counterparts, assessed as life satisfaction among romantic couples (Study 1) and negative affect linked to depression among ethnically diverse close friendships (Study 2), were mitigated. Conversely, when partners reported low commitment to the relationship, relatively lower class individuals reported poorer …


Seeking And Ensuring Interdependence: Commitment Desirability And The Initiation And Maintenance Of Close Relationships, Kenneth Tan, Christopher R. Agnew, Benjamin W. Hadden May 2019

Seeking And Ensuring Interdependence: Commitment Desirability And The Initiation And Maintenance Of Close Relationships, Kenneth Tan, Christopher R. Agnew, Benjamin W. Hadden

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The current research offers and examines the concept of commitment desirability, defined as the subjective desire to be involvedin a committed romantic relationship at a given time. In pursuing their desire for a committed romance, how do individualshigh in commitment desirability strategically ensure success? We suggest that high perceived partner commitment is soughtby individuals who themselves desire to be involved in a committed relationship. In three studies involving individuals bothcurrently involved and not involved in a relationship, we found support for the hypothesized interactive effect of commitmentdesirability and perceived partner commitment, such that greater commitment desirability was associated with more …


Well-Being Concepts And Components, William Tov Jan 2018

Well-Being Concepts And Components, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Well-being is a broad, multifaceted construct. This chapter reviews different ways of defining and measuring well-being and the implications this has for understanding the correlates and causes of well-being. Hedonic well-being (HWB), eudaimonic well-being (EWB), and other conceptions of well-being are discussed. Specific components and aspects of HWB are elaborated on. These include the distinction between affective and cognitive well-being. Major aspects of affective well-being include valence, frequency versus intensity, arousal, and interpersonal engagement. Major aspects of cognitive well-being include life satisfaction, life evaluation, and domain satisfaction. Processes underlying the structure of cognitive well-being are discussed including top-down versus bottom-up …


Tackling The Health Gap: The Role Of Psychosocial Processes, Nancy E. Adler, Jacinth J. X. Tan Sep 2017

Tackling The Health Gap: The Role Of Psychosocial Processes, Nancy E. Adler, Jacinth J. X. Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In The Health Gap, Michael Marmot describes how, starting even before birth, social conditions set individuals on trajectories that eventuate in inequities in health and longevity. In addition to race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status linked to income and education plays a major role in determining health trajectories. The effects emerge not only at the very bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum, but across the whole range.1 The fact that health effects persist at levels where resources are more than adequate to fulfill material needs suggests that the health gap is not due only to material privation associated with poverty, but also …


Signs Of Social Class: The Experience Of Economic Inequality In Everyday Life, Michael W. Kraus, Jun Won Park, Jacinth J. X. Tan May 2017

Signs Of Social Class: The Experience Of Economic Inequality In Everyday Life, Michael W. Kraus, Jun Won Park, Jacinth J. X. Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

By some accounts, global economic inequality is at its highest point on record. The pernicious effects of this broad societal trend are striking: Rising inequality is linked to poorer health and well-being across countries, continents, and cultures. The economic and psychological forces that perpetuate inequality continue to be studied, and in this theoretical review, we examine the role of daily experiences of economic inequality—the communication of social class signals between interaction partners—in this process. We theorize that social class signals activate social comparison processes that strengthen group boundaries between the haves and have nots in society. In particular, we argue …


Violation Of Long-Term Mate Preferences, M. L. W. Long, Norman P. Li Dec 2016

Violation Of Long-Term Mate Preferences, M. L. W. Long, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Violations of short-term mate preferences refer to instances in which a person in a short-term, casual sexual relationship has mate preferences that were in place when the relationship commenced but subsequently are not being met.


Ease Of Retrieval Effects On Relationship Commitment: The Role Of Future Plans, Kenneth Tan, Christopher Agnew Feb 2016

Ease Of Retrieval Effects On Relationship Commitment: The Role Of Future Plans, Kenneth Tan, Christopher Agnew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How do perceptions of future romantic plans affect close relationships? In three studies, we examined the effects of ease of retrieval of future plans on romantic relationship commitment. We hypothesized that greater ease of retrieval would be associated with greater relationship commitment among those who were high in need for cognition. Study 1 participants listed either two or 10 future plans and completed a measure assessing need for cognition. Results showed that high need for cognition individuals asked to list two instead of 10 future plans reported greater commitment, but those low in need for cognition showed the opposite pattern. …


Enriching The Perceived Norms Perspective Of Intergenerational Cultural Transmission: The Roles Of Norm Reference Groups And Norm Adherence/Deviance Motive, Angela K. Y. Leung Nov 2015

Enriching The Perceived Norms Perspective Of Intergenerational Cultural Transmission: The Roles Of Norm Reference Groups And Norm Adherence/Deviance Motive, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this article, I seek to apply Morris and Liu (2015)’s functionalist account of subjective norms to enrich Tam’s (2015) perceived norms perspective of intergenerational cultural transmission. This enriched approach recognizes parents’ choice to construct their transmission preferences that include norms of a nonmainstream reference group and that support a norm deviance motive. In this light, I review empirical evidence examining some factors that affect whether parents reference on peer or elite groups or they tend toward norm adherence or deviance in the transmission process. Acknowledging these variants allows the bridge of value transmission and value change studies that are …


A Conclusion, Yet An Opening To Enriching The Normative Approach Of Culture, Chi-Yue Chiu, M. J. Gelfand, J. R. Harrington, Angela K. Y. Leung, Zhi Liu, M. W. Morris, Yan Mu, G. Shteynberg, Kim-Pong Tam, Ching Wan, Xi Zou Nov 2015

A Conclusion, Yet An Opening To Enriching The Normative Approach Of Culture, Chi-Yue Chiu, M. J. Gelfand, J. R. Harrington, Angela K. Y. Leung, Zhi Liu, M. W. Morris, Yan Mu, G. Shteynberg, Kim-Pong Tam, Ching Wan, Xi Zou

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We compile in this article the target article authors’ thoughtful responses to the commentaries. Their responses identify some common threads across the rich contents of the commentary pieces, interlink the observation and theoretical propositions in the commentaries with broader streams of research, present new perspectives inspired by the commentary contributors, and pose provocative questions to further ignite research efforts on the normative analysis of culture.


Being Environmentally Responsible: Cosmopolitan Orientation Predicts Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Angela K. Y. Leung, Kelly Koh, Kim-Pong Tam Sep 2015

Being Environmentally Responsible: Cosmopolitan Orientation Predicts Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Angela K. Y. Leung, Kelly Koh, Kim-Pong Tam

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Much research has examined individuals' values and beliefs as antecedents or correlates of pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). We approach this question from the novel perspective of individuals' cosmopolitan orientation (CO). We define CO as made up of three essential qualities. First, cultural openness captures individuals' receptiveness to immerse in and learn from other cultures. Second, global prosociality denotes a sense of collective moral obligation to universally respect and promote basic human rights. Third, respect for cultural diversity concerns high tolerance of and appreciation for cultural differences. Across two studies, we validated the Cosmopolitan Orientation Scale (COS) with theoretically related criterion measures …


Lay Theories About Social Class Buffer Lower-Class Individuals Against Poor Self-Rated Health And Negative Affect, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus Mar 2015

Lay Theories About Social Class Buffer Lower-Class Individuals Against Poor Self-Rated Health And Negative Affect, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The economic conditions of one’s life can profoundly and systematically influence health outcomes over the life course. Our present research demonstrates that rejecting the notion that social class categories are biologically determined—a nonessentialist belief—buffers lower-class individuals from poor self-rated health and negative affect, whereas conceiving of social class categories as rooted in biology—an essentialist belief—does not. In Study 1, lower-class individuals self-reported poorer health than upper-class individuals when they endorsed essentialist beliefs but showed no such difference when they rejected such beliefs. Exposure to essentialist theories of social class also led lower-class individuals to report greater feelings of negative self-conscious …


The Social Ladder: A Rank-Based Perspective On Social Class, Michael W. Kraus, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Melanie B. Tannenbaum Jun 2013

The Social Ladder: A Rank-Based Perspective On Social Class, Michael W. Kraus, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Melanie B. Tannenbaum

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Scholars across the social sciences have studied social class for centuries. In this review, we suggest that social class is a fundamental means by which individuals are ranked on the social ladder of society. A rank-based perspective on social class shines light on several future areas of research: Specifically, understanding how social class ranks individuals vis-à-vis others leads to predictions about how class is signaled in interactions, influences social cognition and health, is shaped by global economic inequality trends, and changes across the life course. Importantly, our theory highlights the potential of experimental manipulations of social class rank for testing …