Psychology Research Digest
British Journal of Social Psychology
The British Journal of Social Psychology is an international journal that publishes impactful basic and applied social psychological research from all parts of the world. Our aim is to showcase research at the forefront of theoretical and methodological innovation that contributes to informing psychological perspectives of social-contextual challenges and audiences beyond academia. We value diverse perspectives and are committed to robust and transparent research practices.
Correction to ‘Digitizing fear: Identity, threat and collective mobilization through social media posts during the 2021 election campaigns in West Bengal, India’
British Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 65, Issue 3, July 2026.
Publication date: Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:17:48 -0700 Access the article >>The role of moral identity in ideological obsession and violent extremism
This research examines how ideological passion shapes moral identity and support for political violence, drawing on the Dualistic Model of Passion to distinguish between obsessive (OP) and harmonious passion (HP). Across six studies with diverse ideological groups, OP consistently predicted the adoption of a villainous moral identity, whereas HP predicted a heroic identity. Studies 1A (N = 202; Democrats) and 1B (N = 232; Republicans) showed that OP was associated with villain identity, which mediated support for political violence. Study 2 (N = 315; environmentalists) experimentally manipulated passion, demonstrating that an OP mindset increased villain identification and violent endorsement. Study 3 (N = 179; Black Lives Matter supporters) manipulated moral identity directly, revealing that adopting a villain role amplified support for political violence. Studies 4 (N = 277; U.S. Muslims) and 5 (N = 294; Republicans, preregistered) examined mechanisms of appeal, showing that OP individuals perceived villains as warm, which reinforced villain identification. Finally, Study 6 (N = 236; environmentalists) showed that villain identity was tied to a coherent pattern of moral inversion—villains recast as justified and not harmful, heroes as harmful—which in turn predicted support for political violence.
Publication date: Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:14:12 -0700 Access the article >>‘Far right just means anyone who wants to support British values’: Mobilizing ‘British values’ talk in discussions of the August 2024 UK race riots
Social psychological research has shown how far-right leaders mobilize people by claiming that majority populations are threatened or silenced. This paper builds on this work to examine a related process in naturalistic interactions: how riotous actions are explained and justified through appeals to ‘British values’ in online forums. Using discursive psychology, we analyse talk surrounding the riots that followed the stabbing of three young girls in Southport, England—the UK race riots of August 2024. We show that invoking British or English values serves two key functions: it renders rioters' actions self-explanatory and offers a competing account of rioters as the more authentic representation of Britishness and the British people than the government. This reframing of ‘British values’ offers up a challenge to those attributing riots to ‘far right’ motivations and instead portrays the riots as effortful and even ideal expressions of British citizenship. Thus, British values operate not merely as symbols but as rhetorical tools that can sanitize the ‘far-right’ label linking the riots, immigration, state policy and national identity.
Publication date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:21:00 -0700 Access the article >>Managing acculturation threats with tailored self‐affirmation interventions: A mixed‐methods study with Syrian forced migrants
Self-affirmation interventions can protect individuals from perceived threats and enhance well-being. However, previous studies highlight the need to adapt these interventions to specific populations, particularly non-WEIRD ones, to achieve effective results. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use a mixed-methods participatory approach to develop self-affirmation techniques tailored to the threats Syrian forced migrants face during acculturation in European host societies. In the first qualitative study, 30 in-depth interviews explored threats encountered during acculturation, their negative effects and spontaneous self-affirmation mechanisms used to preserve well-being and self-image. A second experimental study assessed the effectiveness of tailored self-affirmation interventions. Three hundred and thirteen participants reported their acculturation orientations, read a threat-inducing text and were then assigned to one of three self-affirmation conditions (host-domain, heritage-domain or individual) or a control condition. We then measured hedonic well-being, self-esteem and a challenged sense of belonging. Contrast analysis showed that combined self-affirmation interventions enhanced hedonic well-being compared to control, particularly when aligned with individuals' acculturation orientations. Our studies contribute to the literature by developing culturally grounded interventions for a specific underrepresented population using mixed methods. Future research should test their effectiveness with similar forced migrant populations and continue adapting interventions to fit diverse cultural contexts and interindividual differences.
Publication date: Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:21:53 -0700 Access the article >>Sharing for the common good: Children's levels of social inclusion within the group and their sharing decisions in a public goods game
Across two studies, this research explored the relationship between levels of social inclusion within a group and cooperative sharing decisions among children, using the public goods game (PGG). In Study 1 (10–12 years old, N = 165), participants' social inclusion was experimentally manipulated using a modified version of the Cyberball paradigm that varied the number of ball tosses, after which they were asked about their willingness to contribute resources to the common pool in the PGG. In Study 2 (10–11 years old, N = 249), social inclusion was measured in a naturalistic context by assessing children's interactions with peers in their class and their actual contributions in the PGG at two time points, 1 week apart. In both studies, children who experienced higher levels of social inclusion within the group were more willing to contribute to the group, even at a personal cost, compared with children experiencing lower levels of social inclusion. Together, these findings deepen our understanding of how social inclusion within the group shapes prosocial behaviour during middle childhood—a pivotal period in social development.
Publication date: Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:16:10 -0700 Access the article >>Digitizing fear: Identity, threat and collective mobilization through social media posts during the 2021 election campaigns in West Bengal, India
Political campaigns widely use fear speech to appraise historically salient identity-based differences and mobilize voters. Despite ample literature to support fear speech's effectiveness in mobilizing collective violence, empirical evidence exploring its nuances and mechanisms in electoral contexts is limited. The current study examines online fear speech used by competing political candidates in the pre-electoral period during the 2021 State Assembly Elections in West Bengal, India. Using qualitative content analysis, we coded 391 publicly available Facebook posts on the group and personal accounts of the candidates, during the 3 weeks leading up to the elections. The analysis focused on the types and intensity of fear speech, its use across constituencies and party candidates, and how existing communal and partisan threats were appraised using fear speech. Findings highlight the strategic use of violent vs. non-violent fear speech representing the socio-political history of the context and the cultural values represented by each party, and the affordances of social media as a platform for political and electoral campaigning and collective mobilization.
Publication date: Wed, 03 Jun 2026 00:00:00 -0700 Access the article >>Belief strength and the attitudinal and behavioural correlates of conspiracy beliefs
Even though conspiracy beliefs have been linked to behaviours such as vaccination and voting, the association is weak and heterogeneous. To shed light on this matter, we examined belief qualities associated with stronger correlations of beliefs with attitudes and behaviour. Across three studies—the first being pre-registered, two utilizing large, probability US samples and the last measuring behaviour prospectively—we analysed associations with prejudice (Study 1 N = 1959), vaccination behaviour (Study 2 N = 2572) and political behaviour (Study 3 N = 1551; total N = 6082). We found consistent evidence that conspiracy beliefs are linked to attitudes, and attitudes are related to behaviours. As hypothesized, this pathway is stronger when the beliefs are perceived as more certain or important, a tendency that is amplified when they are also perceived as more actionable. These findings have implications for addressing the most dangerous conspiracy beliefs and for understanding the belief–behaviour associations in other domains.
Publication date: Sun, 31 May 2026 21:50:19 -0700 Access the article >>Correction to ‘“They’re eating our pets!’: When disgust and perceived cruelty combine to heighten prejudice”
British Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 65, Issue 3, July 2026.
Publication date: Thu, 28 May 2026 04:50:29 -0700 Access the article >>Conceptions of national identity and interreligious contact avoidance in differing domains: A multigroup analysis of majority and minority religious groups in India
The current research examined how inclusive versus exclusive conceptions of national identity were associated with interreligious contact avoidance across relatively public (neighbours) versus private (marriage) domains among majority and minority religious groups. Using data from a large national sample (N ~ 30,000) of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists in the rarely studied context of India, we found that an inclusive and tolerant conception of Indian national identity was strongly endorsed among all groups, while an exclusive Hindu national identity was more strongly endorsed by the Hindu majority than religious minorities. Interreligious contact avoidance was consistently higher among all groups in the context of marriage than neighbours. Multigroup path analysis revealed that an inclusive national identity was associated with less interreligious avoidance as neighbours among majority and minority groups (except Buddhists), but it was unrelated to interreligious avoidance in the domain of marriage among all (except Sikhs). By contrast, an exclusive national identity was associated with more contact avoidance both as neighbours and through marriage among majority and minority religious groups (except Muslims). Collectively, these findings reveal that inclusive versus exclusive conceptions of national identity can be differentially associated with distinct forms of contact avoidance among majority and minority groups.
Publication date: Mon, 25 May 2026 01:47:02 -0700 Access the article >>Inclusive messaging from leadership reduces discriminatory attitudes and norms: A mixed‐methods social identity analysis of a fitness facility
Physical inactivity is a widespread cause of chronic disease and is more common in minority groups, who experience discrimination in and exclusion from fitness environments. Organizational leadership can, however, foster inclusive norms and practices, and this may also be an attractive means for commercial gyms to increase their membership. The present experiment assessed an inclusive gym marketing campaign versus a conventional campaign versus control among 587 Australian community members. We found that participants who watched the inclusive campaign reported the strongest pro-inclusivity attitudes, advocacy intentions for minority group members in gym environments and intentions to exercise two weeks later. We found that members of the gym responsible for the inclusive campaign perceived their gym to be more inclusive and were less than half as likely to have experienced discrimination in the gym in the past two weeks, relative to active members of other gyms. Most people engaged well with the inclusive campaign, but non-members were less likely to believe it reflected the reality of the gym experience, with some seeing it as merely a cynical marketing ploy. Findings are discussed with a focus on how leadership theory can be utilized in practice to reduce discrimination and exclusion in fitness environments.
Publication date: Tue, 19 May 2026 21:27:15 -0700 Access the article >>The enduring power of social context: Pre‐war contact opportunity amplifies the effects of post‐war contact
Intergroup contact is one of the most established approaches for improving relations between adversary groups in conflict settings; yet little is known about whether its effects might be shaped by the social context. In this paper, we examine whether pre-war contact opportunity with the adversary group shapes the relationship between post-war intergroup contact and willingness to engage with the adversary group, measured at two post-war time points. We operationalize pre-war contact opportunity objectively, using pre-war census data on adversary group share. We analyse data from two studies conducted in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. Study 1, conducted approximately 10 years after the war's outbreak (N = 1967), demonstrates that post-war intergroup contact is more strongly associated with contact willingness among individuals who, before the war, lived in municipalities with higher contact opportunity. Study 2, conducted more than 30 years after the war, does not provide evidence for the same moderating pattern (N = 330), but supplementary analyses indicate persistent significant yet attenuated effects of contact opportunity. These findings highlight the relevance of the pre-conflict social context and temporal dynamics for understanding intergroup contact effects in post-conflict societies.
Publication date: Mon, 18 May 2026 22:13:52 -0700 Access the article >>Police officers' prejudice and distrust towards racialized groups is related to internal motivation to suppress prejudice and negative intergroup contact
Racialized individuals experience different interactions with the police compared to non-racialized individuals. This study investigates biases among German police officers (N = 208) towards individuals perceived as Arab. Police officers demonstrated shooter biases in a first-person shooter task, rated Arab individuals as less trustworthy, and expressed a preference for White individuals over Arab individuals. These biases closely mirrored those found in a civilian convenience sample (N = 237), with one notable difference: police officers showed significantly greater distrust towards Arab individuals than civilians. This heightened distrust was mediated by social dominance orientation and negative perceptions of intergroup contact. Additionally, internal motivation to suppress prejudice was as a strong predictor of both group preference and distrust in both samples. Collectively, these findings highlight that police officers, as a reflection of society, exhibit pervasive biases towards racialized groups, which might impact their interactions with minoritized communities.
Publication date: Fri, 15 May 2026 21:48:14 -0700 Access the article >>Getting involved in a society breaking down: The link between anomie and (non)normative political actions
Recent studies indicate a link between anomie, that is the perceived breakdown of society, and non-normative, for example violent, political actions. However, less is known about (1) how anomie relates to normative, for example legal, political actions and (2) why anomie is related to political actions in general. In a nationally representative sample from Germany and three preregistered experiments conducted in the United States (total N = 2379), we tested whether and why anomie is related to normative and non-normative political actions. As hypothesized, anomie decreases intentions to engage in normative actions via perceived lack of political control. Moreover, correlational and causal evidence indicates that the link between anomie and non-normative action is explained sequentially by lack of political control and political uncertainty, suggesting that such actions may reflect a quest for significance and meaning. In conclusion, our findings show that anomie may pose a twofold threat to political systems and help explain why: Anomie can reduce normative political participation via lack of political control and increase non-normative, radical political actions via a sequential pathway from lack of political control to uncertainty.
Publication date: Fri, 15 May 2026 02:25:11 -0700 Access the article >>The sound of Unity: Exploring shared social identity and identity expression through collective sound‐making at live sports events
Live sport events are often characterized by intense soundscapes marked by chanting, singing and synchronized applause. In this study, we examined in what ways collective sound-making is perceived as an expression of shared social identity at stadiums during live sports events. We focused on the Scottish Celtic Football Club whose political and religious history is central to supporter identity. We conducted semi-structured interviews (N = 12) about sounds produced during games, their meanings and importance to fans. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we generated two main themes: (1) collective sound production expresses a shared identity rooted in common political and religious history, (2) collective sound production reflects a shared present experience that contributes to cognitive, relational and affective transformations among individuals in the crowd. Overall, our analysis shows how social identity is constructed and celebrated through sound within a specific socio-historical context, and can be an indicator of psychological transformations in the crowd.
Publication date: Thu, 14 May 2026 23:43:15 -0700 Access the article >>“This must really come from within”: Kurdish diasporic narratives of solidarity as resistance and existence in Belgium
Migrant members of racially marginalized groups pursue their political struggle in places outside their land of origin. How would they resist racialized collective violence in the diaspora by engaging in solidarity as they acculturate to a new societal order? Combining traditional social psychological approaches of intragroup relationships with anticolonial and antiracist combative praxis, the current research examined (post)migrant Kurds' narratives of solidarity as resistance as they shared their experiences of Turkish racialized colonial violence in Belgium. We conducted a mixed methods study combining in-depth interviews with researcher participatory truth-witnessing. We interviewed 24 Kurds (2 sexual and gender minorities, 10 cisheterosexual women, 12 cisheterosexual men) about their intragroup relations and Kurdish resistance against collective violence. Reflexive thematic analysis centring around intragroup solidarity showed that participants understood and practiced solidarity as resistance and existence in several ways. In the diaspora, they navigated resistance against Turkish collective violence, transnational repression and the structural challenges of migrational acculturation through diverse, multi-sited, multi-layered and liminal intragroup solidarity despite some intragroup exclusions, with a desire for intragroup unity. Participatory truth-witnessing revealed that political organization and critical consciousness are central to intragroup solidarity beyond ethnocultural cohesion.
Publication date: Thu, 14 May 2026 23:39:49 -0700 Access the article >>Resisting collective violence: Shiite Muslims' discursive construction of solidarity in Pakistan
This study examines how Shiite Muslims in Pakistan construct resistance and solidarity in response to collective violence. Using discursive psychology within a constructionist social-psychological frame, it analyses 14 semi-structured interviews and 255 social media posts collected between November 2024 and January 2025. The analysis identifies discursive practices such as category entitlement, footing shifts, corroboration and extreme case formulation through which participants perform moral accountability, communal identity and defiance. Resistance emerges through ordinary discourse that reclaims voice, while solidarity is enacted through shared religious and moral language. The findings demonstrate how language operates as social practice, transforming grief into collective agency. The study advances discursive psychology by showing how discourse functions as a medium for moral repair and social reconstruction in contexts of sectarian violence.
Publication date: Wed, 13 May 2026 22:23:40 -0700 Access the article >>Context matters for the relationship between national identity and perceived democratic quality: National pride as a blind spot
A growing body of evidence shows that national identity is positively related to attitudes toward societal and political systems. Yet much less is known about contextual factors that may modify this relationship. Distinguishing two facets of national identity—attachment and pride—and focusing on perceived democratic quality as a core system attitude, we test whether the links between these identity dimensions and system attitudes vary with the actual quality of democracy. Using data from 92 countries in the combined World Values Survey/European Values Study (N = 156,658), augmented with country-level indicators, multilevel structural equation models show that the association between national pride and perceived democratic quality is stronger in less democratic countries, whereas the effect of attachment is context-invariant. These findings suggest that national pride is associated with a positively biased perception of democratic quality that diverges from reality in illiberal or weak democracies, thereby complicating the predominantly positive framing of national pride in the social psychological literature on national identity.
Publication date: Wed, 29 Apr 2026 21:20:14 -0700 Access the article >>Sharing conspiracy theories and staying in power: How leaders' false theories influence leadership perception
Research shows that spreading conspiracy theories impacts leaders' reputations; yet, it remains unclear how leaders are viewed when their theories are debunked. Across four studies (N = 1437), we explored whether conveying a conspiracy theory, regardless of its accuracy, influences followers' impressions of leader dominance, competence and warmth. Participants evaluated leaders who either incorrectly perceived (false-positive) or incorrectly misperceived (false-negative) a conspiracy about the cause of a simulated crisis. During intergroup conflict, false-positive leaders were seen as less warm, similarly competent, yet more dominant than false-negative leaders. The dominance gap grew when the consequences of overlooking a conspiracy were more severe. Conversely, in the absence of conflict, false-positive leaders were perceived as less warm and competent than false-negative leaders. These findings support an error management approach to conspiracy theories: Leaders who spread conspiracy theories, even if later debunked, are still perceived as strong leaders, particularly in conflict settings.
Publication date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:54:38 -0700 Access the article >>On being better than average in values
Do people feel that their personal values are better than others, even though they are happier if their values are similar to those around them? We examined the Better Than Average (BTA) effect in values in four cultures (Study 1: USA, China and Malaysia; Study 2: USA, using diverse online panel samples) and relative to either a more abstract (university) or a more concrete (department) reference group (Study 3, conducted with students in Israel). Across all samples and cultures, we found that people perceived their personally desired values as more important to the self than to others, and they perceived their less personally desired values as more important to others than to the self. Self-other comparisons favouring the self were even stronger for values that are normatively desired in society, and self-other comparisons favouring others were even stronger for values that are less normatively desired in society. We also found a relatively greater BTA effect towards a more abstract group and its positive consequences to self-esteem. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of value perception as prone to biases, generalizability and robustness of the BTA effect, and cross-cultural psychology. We discuss important societal implications of this effect.
Publication date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:51:26 -0700 Access the article >>gender.neutral@work.de: An experimental approach to the discrimination of nonbinary individuals during job applications
For many nonbinary individuals, disclosing their pronouns and preferred forms of address when applying for a job is necessary to avoid being misgendered. The request to be referred to in a gender-neutral way may trigger stereotypes and result in discrimination. Simulating recruitment scenarios, we test the effects of an applicant's request for gender-neutral address and avoidance of pronouns compared to binary-gendered alternatives. We hypothesize that applicants with a gender-neutral request would be discriminated against compared to applicants requesting binary-gendered pronouns. In a pre-registered pre-experiment with a convenience sample (N = 248), we found that applicants with a gender-neutral request were misgendered more often than applicants requesting binary-gendered pronouns and forms of address. No other indicators of discrimination were found, possibly due to the convenience sample. The reviewed experiment tested the hypotheses in a more diverse sample (N = 1275), adding openness towards nonbinary gender (ONBG) as a moderator variable and investigating spontaneous stereotype content. The findings demonstrated that applicants with a gender-neutral request were discriminated against compared to masculine-request applicants during the initial written application stage, with bias being moderated by ONBG. We discuss implications for understanding and reducing discrimination against nonbinary applicants in the work context.
Publication date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:22:35 -0700 Access the article >>Sexual prejudice declined across generational cohorts and genders: A cohort sequential latent growth curve model from 2014 to 2024
Despite attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ community improving in recent years, older (vs younger) cohorts still report higher rates of sexual prejudice. To date, it is unclear if this generational difference emerges due to normative ageing or the distinct social norms in which each generation was born and raised (cohort effects). This pre-registered study clarifies the issue by utilizing cohort sequential latent growth curve modelling to examine the developmental trajectory of sexual prejudice for men and women across 11 annual waves of longitudinal panel data (N = 63,558). Our results reveal a period effect in which older (vs younger) cohorts and men (vs women) display higher initial mean levels of sexual prejudice. But due to shared social conditions, most cohorts experience comparable curvilinear declines in sexual prejudice across time. Collectively, our results highlight the malleability of sexual prejudice across the lifespan and demonstrate the need to examine the socio-political environment when taking a lifespan development perspective on anti-LGBTQIA+ attitudes.
Publication date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:34:51 -0700 Access the article >>Issue Information
British Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 65, Issue 3, July 2026.
Publication date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:21:17 -0700 Access the article >>