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.
To be or not to be (a prisoner): Social identification as cure and curse via self‐stigma and social exclusion
Research on social identification in marginalized populations has documented both social cure and social curse effects, suggesting that distinct identification dimensions may underlie opposite outcomes. This study integrated the Social Identity Approach to Health with stigma and social exclusion research to explore a dual pathway in which ingroup ties and identity centrality are respectively associated with greater or lower well-being among prisoners through their links with self-stigma and perceived social exclusion. A path analysis was conducted with a sample of 160 prisoners. Findings suggest that belonging and connectedness derived from identifying with fellow prisoners (i.e., ingroup ties) are associated with reduced psychological distress via lower perceived exclusion. In a context characterized by disconnection, social identification may provide a form of reconnection that supports well-being. Conversely, the personal importance attributed to the prisoner identity (i.e., identity centrality) was associated with greater self-stigma and perceived exclusion, with the latter mediating its negative association with well-being. Within a highly stigmatized group, the centrality of group identity may amplify feelings of exclusion, undermining well-being. Overall, the study advances understanding of the dual effects of social identification in marginalized groups and underscores the value of applying established psychosocial frameworks to hard-to-reach populations.
Publication date: Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:16:20 -0700 Access the article >>Alcoholics anonymous and recovery in Türkiye: A qualitative study in the context of Social Identity Theory
Alcoholics anonymous (AA) groups play a central role in facilitating the transition from an ‘addicted’ identity to a ‘recovering’ identity; however, empirical research on how this identity transformation is socially constructed, maintained and questioned within group contexts is limited. Drawing on Social Identity Theory (SIT), this qualitative study examines how AA group dynamics shape members' sense of belonging, processes of identity reconstruction and experiences of recovery while also illuminating the vulnerabilities that may destabilize recovery identity. The study involved in-depth interviews with 20 AA members in Istanbul who had participated in meetings for a minimum of 6 months. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings were organized into three interrelated themes: (1) AA as an in-group: the construction of a recovery identity, (2) reinforcement of the recovery identity through social interactions and (3) vulnerabilities and threats to the recovery identity. Overall, this study demonstrates that the identity of recovery within AA is a continuous negotiation process shaped by group-based interactions and identity threats. By highlighting the social and relational dimensions of recovery, this study extends SIT to mutual aid groups and emphasizes the central role of collective identity processes in sustaining long-term recovery.
Publication date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:49:19 -0700 Access the article >>Performing populist leadership online: Discursive and multimodal construction of a shared social identity
Populist leaders are known for engaging supporters through compelling rhetoric, sparking debate about what persuasive strategies they use to mobilize voters. While research shows that leaders creatively frame their communication, the role of social media–especially its multimodal affordances–remains poorly understood. This study applies multimodal critical discursive psychology (MCDP) to examine the modalities used in TikTok videos of Finnish right-wing populist politician Sebastian Tynkkynen. Using the integrative social identity model of populist leadership (ISIMPL), we identified eight discursive and multimodal strategies, through which Tynkkynen performs populistic identity leadership and constructs a shared identity: ‘performing populist prototypicality’ by emphasizing authenticity and ordinariness, ‘performing as the voice of the people’ through heroism and self-sacrifice, ‘mobilizing a populist “us”’ through in-group celebration and shared victimhood, and ‘othering the elite as “them”’ through blame and ridicule. These are accomplished through various discursive and multimodal resources, with co-contextualization of elements playing a crucial role in creating an overall message. This study shows how multimodal communication enables populist politicians to innovatively perform leadership and construct shared identities online, enhancing understanding of the discursive and multimodal construction of populist identity leadership.
Publication date: Mon, 06 Apr 2026 21:16:51 -0700 Access the article >>The Siren's call: How social media influencers are using identity leadership to shape diagnostic label identification and self‐care intentions
As social media becomes a central source of mental health information, there is growing concern that influencers can lead people to interpret everyday experiences as symptoms of mental ill health. Across two experimental studies that utilized distinct media formats, we examined how, by creating, representing, advancing and embedding a shared sense of ‘us’ (i.e. engaging in identity leadership), influencers' ADHD-related content shapes perceptions of self, symptoms and behavioural intentions. In Study 1 (N = 289 men) authentic video stimuli demonstrating high- versus low-identity leadership were extracted from TikTok, whilst in Study 2 (N = 259 men) tightly controlled text posts were used. Across both studies, identity leadership was associated with greater identification as ADHDers, help-seeking attitudes and self-care intentions. Planned comparisons in Study 1 provided some evidence that high-identity-leadership content increased participants' identification as ADHDers. In Study 2, identity leadership was particularly important for mental health professional influencers (compared to lay influencers) in promoting self-care intentions. These findings suggest that influencers can use identity leadership to meaningfully influence both people's understanding and response to mental health content.
Publication date: Sun, 05 Apr 2026 22:09:22 -0700 Access the article >>The habitual, spatial and temporal conditions of everyday youth intergroup contact in an ethnically diverse city
There is substantial evidence that positive intergroup contact can reduce prejudice. Most everyday interactions, however, are not deliberately structured to be positive, and individuals do not always engage in intergroup contact even when there is opportunity. The present research adopts a qualitative approach to understand how youth negotiate everyday contact with outgroup friends and acquaintances in the ethnically diverse city of Bradford, England. We explore how youth intergroup interactions manifest in everyday life, how urban spaces facilitate or inhibit them, and the psychological processes involved. A total of 33 youth aged 16–18 (16 Asian, 14 White, 1 Black, 1 Arab, 1 mixed race) took part in a photography project and focus group sessions, and nine of those youth (4 Asian, 3 White, 1 Black, 1 Arab) took part in follow-up walking interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings demonstrated the habitual nature of everyday intergroup contact and the complex negotiations youth engage in to socialise with outgroup friends. They also highlight how space perceptions influence the maintenance of cross-ethnic friendships and are shaped by past experiences and memories. Our research has implications for understanding everyday unstructured interactions and the spatial and temporal factors that influence youth intergroup contact.
Publication date: Sun, 05 Apr 2026 22:07:01 -0700 Access the article >>Indirect mobilisation and violence legitimation through influencers on alternative platforms
Existing mobilisation literature has largely focused on groups and collective sensemaking processes as the primary drivers of collective action. However, online influencers have emerged as key leaders and mobilisers, which can shape collective action through one-to-many communication. Using self-categorisation theory, we examine indirect mobilisation and the legitimation of violence during the August 2024 UK riots through a case study of a far-right influencer's Telegram channel. The dataset consists of 230 posts and 156 pieces of multimedia content from the Tommy Robinson News Telegram channel from 29th July to 7th August 2024. We employed an abductive thematic analysis approach, revealing how throughout the progression of the riots, posts in the Telegram channel construct group identities, establish epistemic authority and leadership legitimacy, and legitimise violence. Our findings extend the social identity approach of mobilisation into the digital realm, revealing how broadcast-style, unidirectional affordances of Telegram channels can impact the dynamics of leadership, identity construction and mobilisation of (violent) collective action.
Publication date: Fri, 03 Apr 2026 21:55:20 -0700 Access the article >>‘A learning process that never ends’: How advantaged social justice activists negotiate privilege and activism within their identity
Research shows that critically reflecting on ingroup privilege can motivate allyship. However, we lack a deeper understanding of how activists make sense of their privilege, how it contributes to their motivation to stay engaged, and how activism recursively affects the meaning-making of social privilege. Building on social representations and identity process theory, we explored the social representation of privilege among allies and the identity processes involved in reconciling with ingroup privilege. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with advantaged social justice activists (i.e., activists who are working in organizations to improve conditions for disadvantaged and oppressed groups). Applying thematic network analysis, we found convergent social representations of privilege but varying representations of its (systemic) roots, three types of identity threat elicited by privilege (morality, positionality and social threat) and four ways in which privilege relates to activism (privilege enables action, privilege is a responsibility to act, quest for meaning and relativizing the role of privilege for activism). A key insight concerns the prominent role of the coherence motive, which seems to help (re-)conceptualizing privilege threat(s) in a way that motivates dismantling systems of inequality. We discuss the need for further theorizing on the bidirectional link between allyship and privilege reflection.
Publication date: Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:51:22 -0700 Access the article >>Comparing imagined contact approaches to reducing prejudice and anxiety towards Black people
Intergroup anxiety can undermine positive intergroup relations. This Registered Report presents two preregistered online studies testing a mental contrasting intervention to reduce intergroup anxiety towards Black individuals. Previous work aimed to inoculate anxiety by having participants imagine a threatening intergroup experience followed by a positive one, compared to only imagining positive interactions. In Study 1 (N = 300), White US adults were randomly assigned in a 2 × 2 design to imagine either a negative-then-positive interaction (intervention) or positive-only interactions with an outgroup (Black) or ingroup (White) member. State anxiety was measured immediately before and after the second imagined interaction, followed by prejudice and contact intentions. Study 2 (N = 149) replicated the outgroup conditions and tested whether imagining a neutral-then-positive interaction reduced anxiety relative to imagining positive-only interactions. Contrary to preregistered predictions, Study 1 showed higher intergroup anxiety in the intervention condition and a significant condition × time interaction. These effects did not replicate in Study 2. Across both studies, the intervention did not significantly reduce prejudice or increase contact intentions. Overall, the preregistered tests did not support the hypothesis that this intervention reduces intergroup anxiety or related outcomes, constraining claims regarding its robustness and generalizability.
Publication date: Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:11:07 -0700 Access the article >>‘None of us are free until all of us are free’: Introducing collective liberation as a praxis‐oriented framework and concept into social psychology
Recent years have seen a resurgence of protest and resistance movements worldwide, reminding deep interconnections between struggles for liberation beyond borders, histories and identities. While activists frequently frame these efforts through the lens of collective liberation, this lens remains absent from mainstream social psychology. In this article, we introduce collective liberation as a framework, concept and practice for social psychology. We critically examine the epistemological, methodological and conceptual constraints that have obscured it, and turn to activist expressions and theorizing to articulate three core components central to collective liberation: interlocked systems of oppression, interdependency of individuals and their freedoms, and shared responsibility for their liberation. We situate collective liberation alongside, yet distinct from, existing research constructs in collective action, resistance, allyship and solidarity, blurring the lines between allyship and resistance. Finally, we propose a research agenda that integrates collective liberation into social psychological theory and practice, offering new avenues for studying sustained activism and resistance, cross-movement solidarity and the psychological processes that support long-term social change.
Publication date: Tue, 31 Mar 2026 21:39:49 -0700 Access the article >>Perceptions of anomie in society shape support for wealth redistribution
Understanding the factors that influence support for wealth redistribution is essential to address growing economic divides around the world. We propose that perceptions of anomie—the belief that society's social and political fabric is crumbling—can influence support for redistribution in opposing ways. When people see society as deteriorating, they may seek drastic change, increasing support for redistribution. Conversely, viewing society as descending into anomie may also foster a belief that the government will mismanage redistributed wealth, thereby reducing support. Study 1 examined these relationships in a U.S. sample, confirming the presence of these two opposing pathways, and Study 2 then replicated the findings in the UK. Study 3 tested this model experimentally, introducing the ‘anomie paradigm’ to explore how perceptions of anomie cause shifts in psychology. Here, participants were exposed to a fictitious society characterized by high or low anomie. The high (relative to low) anomie condition increased support for redistribution through a desire for change but simultaneously decreased support via concerns over government misuse. These findings highlight how perceptions of societal breakdown can shape redistributive preferences through co-occurring psychological processes with opposing implications for policy support.
Publication date: Sun, 29 Mar 2026 22:50:30 -0700 Access the article >>Deconstructing the moral circle: Obligations as the driver of moral expansion
Who do we believe deserves rights, and when do we feel personally obligated to protect them? Expanding the moral circle has been seen as a hallmark of moral progress, yet existing research has rarely examined how different kinds of moral judgements, recognizing rights versus endorsing obligations, shape this process. The present research disentangles these judgements across human and non-human entities to better understand how they predict prosocial decision-making. Across three studies (N = 1256), we consistently found that people were more willing to grant moral rights than to endorse moral obligations, particularly for human targets. Yet only obligations emerged as a reliable predictor of prosocial intentions across both high- and low-cost behaviours. Study 3 extended these findings by distinguishing between positive and negative forms of moral judgement, showing that while negative rights and obligations were attributed more broadly, positive obligations most strongly motivated helping, especially towards non-human entities. Together, these findings demonstrate that rights may expand the moral circle symbolically, but obligations, particularly positive obligations, supply the motivational force that is most closely tied to prosociality. This distinction offers new theoretical insight into moral cognition and highlights practical avenues for fostering prosocial engagement in a time of expanding but often inconsistent moral concern.
Publication date: Fri, 27 Mar 2026 21:00:27 -0700 Access the article >>Re‐imagining space: Conceptualizing new psychological interventions against segregationist attitudes and behaviours
Drawing on theories, concepts and empirical evidence from the fields of human geography, social and environmental psychology, this paper argues for space-based interventions as new psychological interventions aiming to address segregationist attitudes and behaviours among co-located groups. The main premise of this argument is that engaging in spatial experiences that cause people to challenge their existing notions of place will impact socio-spatial processes that propagate segregationist practices. These processes concern how people view and attach to their place and how they regard antagonistic groups vis-à-vis place. In presenting space-based interventions, I first explain why space and place are relevant to intergroup interventions aiming at co-existence and why, therefore, a ‘spatial shift’ in this realm holds promise. I then engage with three different types of space-based activities stipulating their envisioned outcomes: (a) to know more about (the history of) a place; (b) to know the Other in relation to place; and (c) crossing physical and mental boundaries. I conclude with a critical reflection on factors that could impede space-based interventions or undermine their effect, and how the potential of these interventions to engage the body and induce ‘ruptures’ could ameliorate these constraints.
Publication date: Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:33:09 -0700 Access the article >>Understanding stigma consciousness: A multilevel analysis across diverse stigmatized groups
Members of stigmatized groups differ in how they perceive, reflect on and cope with their stigmatized group status. One potential variable explaining these differences is stigma consciousness: the extent to which individuals expect to be stigmatized based on their group membership (Pinel, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 76, 1999, 114). However, theorizing and research on predictors of interindividual and between-group variance in stigma consciousness are limited so far. The present research systematically investigated several variables potentially contributing to differences in stigma consciousness at the individual, stigma, and group levels. Multilevel regression modelling using data collected from N = 3969 members of 18 different stigmatized groups revealed that stigma consciousness varies primarily between individuals and less between groups and is largely predicted by individual-level factors, including discrimination experiences, ingroup identification and ideological beliefs. Our findings help to refine the conceptualization of stigma consciousness as an individual psychological characteristic, shaped primarily by individual perceptions and experiences rather than group memberships. Future research directions are discussed, highlighting further individual-level predictors as well as outcomes of stigma consciousness.
Publication date: Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:25:52 -0700 Access the article >>Concern for future generations predicts costly present‐day prosociality and extraordinary altruism: A case study of organ donorship
Are concerns for future generations and present-day prosociality at odds? Across three studies, we test the common assumption of a tradeoff between future-oriented concern and immediate helping behaviour. Drawing on theories of moral expansiveness, we examine whether individuals who report greater concern for the far future (as measured by ‘intergenerational concern’ and ‘impartial intergenerational beneficence’) are also more likely to engage in or express interest in organ donation, a costly and urgent form of present-day prosociality. In Study 1 (a large-scale survey), Study 2 (a pre-registered experiment) and Study 3 (a comparison of living organ donors, often termed ‘extraordinary altruists’, with demographically similar controls), concern for future generations predicts donor status, comfort discussing donation and intentions to register. These findings extend psychological theory on prosocial concern across time and provide initial evidence for a novel, theoretically grounded pathway by which future-oriented concern may strengthen rather than compete with present-day prosociality and altruism.
Publication date: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:33:39 -0700 Access the article >>The differential effects of identification modes on suggestion‐making behaviour
Sharing ideas and offering suggestions for group improvement, while highly beneficial for the group, can challenge its existing order, potentially creating normative conflict. Integrating this perspective with the multidimensional approach to group identification, this research examined the distinct, even opposing, effects of different identification modes on overt suggestion-making behaviour. In two field studies (n = 599 and n = 412), we hypothesized and found that the affective mode of identification (commitment) positively predicted overt suggestion-making behaviour, whereas the normative mode of identification (deference) predicted it negatively. These effects were consistent when the identification modes and suggestion-making were measured concurrently (Studies 1 and 2), and when suggestion-making was assessed again 2 years later (Study 1). The hypothesized opposing effects of the identification modes were consistent even after accounting for the enduring components of identification and suggestion-making behaviour in a model combining Studies 1 and 2, and were partially mediated by personal values (Study 1). Taken together, our findings reveal that groups seeking to foster high identification among their members should carefully consider the specific mode they aim to encourage, bearing in mind their differential implications.
Publication date: Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:36:36 -0700 Access the article >>A longitudinal multilevel analysis of individual‐ and contextual‐level predictors of cross‐ethnic friendships in the UK
Intergroup contact plays a central role in fostering positive intergroup attitudes; yet, factors promoting intergroup contact are less understood. Using three waves of data from a nationally representative UK household panel study (N = 18,807), we applied longitudinal multilevel models to examine how individual- and objective neighbourhood-level indicators jointly predict cross-ethnic friendships. At the individual level, higher openness and agreeableness, stronger neighbourhood belonging and a left-leaning political orientation were associated with more cross-ethnic friendships. At the contextual level, intergroup friendships were more common in neighbourhoods with more structural opportunity for contact (i.e., areas with a lower proportion of same-ethnic residents), and in areas with lower anti-immigration norms (as indicated by local Brexit ‘Leave’ vote share). Crucially, cross-level interactions highlighted the interplay of person and place: neighbourhood diversity fostered more cross-ethnic friendships, especially among those with strong neighbourhood belonging, suggesting that people who feel embedded in their community are more likely to translate diverse surroundings into meaningful intergroup ties. Differences between the ethnic majority and minority groups also emerged. For example, higher objective area-level racial hate crime incidence predicted more intergroup friendships among majority members, suggesting a possible repair response, but showed no association for minority members. Findings underscore the multilevel and group-specific pathways to sustained intergroup friendships.
Publication date: Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:31:29 -0700 Access the article >>Emotional synchrony predicts social cohesion effects following costly rituals
This manuscript explores two explanatory models of participation in university hazing, a typical example of costly ritual: the Shared Pathway Model and the Emotional Synchronization Model. Two correlational (N = 85 and 76) and one longitudinal study (N = 120 + 258) based on self-reported measures were conducted in highly ecological contexts to assess the predictive value of the two explanatory models on social cohesion (i.e., social identification and identity fusion) and well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, self-esteem and loneliness). Across studies, emotional synchronization consistently predicted social cohesion and well-being, both immediately and up to 4 months post-ritual. In contrast, the Shared Pathway Model showed only weak associations with short-term social identification and failed to explain long-term effects. A meta-analysis confirmed these results. These findings offer novel empirical support for the role of emotional synchronization in explaining the enduring psychosocial effects of costly rituals. We discuss implications for ritual theory and suggest future research on why some rituals foster strong social bonds while others lead to exclusion or fail to generate cohesion.
Publication date: Sun, 15 Mar 2026 21:19:09 -0700 Access the article >>‘They're eating our pets!’: When disgust and perceived cruelty combine to heighten prejudice
Accusations that foreigners are ‘eating pets’ tap into deep fears of impurity and cruelty. Despite the dark history of such moralized disgust and evidence that purity- and harm-based emotions can intensify bias, little experimental work has directly tested how these processes jointly shape prejudice. Across two main-text experiments and one supplemental replication (N = 2710, United States), we tested whether hostility is greatest when cultural outgroups are portrayed as consuming meat that elicits both visceral (purity-related) disgust and moral concern. A pretest confirmed that dog meat evoked the highest moral concern, rat the highest contamination-related appraisals and cow was neutral, while Study 2 substituted monkey to test generalization. Prejudice and punitive intent were strongest for morally protected animals (dog, monkey), moderate for rat and lowest for cow. Visceral disgust showed more consistent association with bias, whereas compassion played a more limited role. Invoking disgust and perceived cruelty can become a potent trigger of hostility towards cultural outgroups.
Publication date: Fri, 13 Mar 2026 05:40:43 -0700 Access the article >>Crowd psychology and the politics of co‐production: Social control, democratic order and the consequences of theory
Social psychology has long claimed neutrality in its explanations of collective behaviour, yet its foundational theories of crowds have repeatedly been co-produced with institutions of authority and mobilized in the reactionary governance of social order. This article challenges the discipline's familiar origin myth—centred on benign laboratory demonstrations of social influence—by re-situating crowd psychology as one of social psychology's earliest and most politically consequential points of emergence. From nineteenth-century crowd theory, through mid-twentieth-century de-individuation research, to contemporary public-order doctrine, assumptions about the inherent irrationality and danger of collective action have been repeatedly reformulated in scientific form, their persistence reflecting institutional and ideological fit rather than explanatory adequacy. Against this background, the article repositions the Social Identity Approach and the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM) not merely as theoretical corrections, but as a reorientation of how psychological knowledge is produced, authorized and used. Drawing on ethnographic participatory action research and sustained engagement with policing institutions in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, it conceptualizes collective behaviour as interactional and normatively organized, with policing practices constitutive of crowd dynamics rather than external to them. The article argues that co-production is not a methodological innovation but a historically persistent condition of social psychology and that the ESIM represents a distinctive attempt to govern this condition reflexively by redirecting psychological knowledge towards legitimacy, restraint and the facilitation of democratic rights. The broader implication is that social psychology cannot plausibly claim political neutrality: its concepts travel into institutions and practices, shaping how collective action is anticipated, governed and policed.
Publication date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:20:32 -0700 Access the article >>Disentangling the meat paradox: A comparative review of meat‐related conflicts across dietary behaviours
A growing field of research examines how people experience and resolve cognitive conflicts in their behaviours, particularly in relation to meat consumption. Despite the alleged importance of conflict in behaviour change, most research focuses on how conflict motivates individuals to change or maintain their conflicted behaviour but disregards that conflict may persist even after successful behaviour change. This oversight has contributed to seemingly contradictory conclusions by conflating different kinds of conflicts and has arguably constrained theory development. Our review thus delineates (a) how people with different dietary patterns in meat consumption are affected by meat-related ambivalence and dissonance, (b) differences in the characteristics (magnitude, frequency, moralization) of these conflicts, (c) boundary conditions of why conflict experiences arise, and (d) how these factors determine the downstream consequences of conflict. This allows us to derive several novel predictions, ranging from why conflict avoidance strategies may sometimes paradoxically increase the likelihood of experiencing conflict to the distinct roles of capability, opportunity, and motivation in shaping the behavioural consequences of conflict. By re-evaluating prevailing assertions in the literature on meat-related conflict, we offer numerous theoretical and practical implications regarding cognitive conflict and the psychology of meat consumption and avoidance.
Publication date: Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700 Access the article >>Why might members of racially minoritized groups seek anonymity when interacting with White people online? Codeswitching, emotional labour and burnout
People can alter the nature of online intergroup interactions by becoming anonymous. Across three studies (N = 1107), we surveyed Black (Studies 1–3) and White (Study 2) participants in majority-White nations. We argue that Black people living in these countries face substantial pressures in interracial interactions, and that responses associated with the performative pressures of contact might predict a desire for anonymity in interracial settings online. We operationalized these responses in three distinct yet related ways: codeswitching (adjusting language or behaviour), emotional labour (suppressing negative and displaying positive emotions) and experiencing burnout from intergroup contact. As proposed: (1) Black participants who engaged in more codeswitching and emotional labour, and who felt more burned out when interacting with White people, were more likely to seek anonymity in an interracial interaction; (2) Black participants were more likely than White participants to engage in codeswitching and emotional labour, to feel burned out from interracial contact, and, in turn, to seek anonymity in interracial interactions; and (3) stigma consciousness and perceived discrimination partly explained the relationship between codeswitching, emotional labour, and burnout and seeking anonymity. Our findings elucidate how group processes might affect whether members of racially minoritised groups might seek anonymity online.
Publication date: Sun, 08 Mar 2026 03:20:51 -0700 Access the article >>Dynamic norms as a tool for social change: How dynamic norms can revert controversial political decision‐making related to Brexit
Research shows that perceiving norms relevant to a collective phenomenon can motivate behaviour. This research examined whether dynamic social norms could counteract a collective disadvantage, that is, Brexit. We tested the effects of dynamic norm messages (emphasizing norms are changing over time) versus static norm messages (simply stating the norm) and a no-norm control condition on collective action intentions to stop Brexit among Remainers and Brexiteers across one pilot and two main experiments (Pilot 1 N = 150, Main Experiment 1 N = 750, Main Experiment 2 = 600) with British adults. Results showed that dynamic norms increased violent collective action intentions among Remainers and both violent and peaceful collective action intentions among Brexiteers compared with static norm and no-norm control conditions. Increased pre-conformity to future norms, more positive outgroup attitudes towards European immigrants and reduced outgroup threat perceptions from European immigrants mediated these effects. Findings suggest dynamic norms may reverse misinformation's detrimental impact by motivating actions counter to individuals' original stance. Highlighting norms are changing over time rather than static can be an effective tool for social change even in highly polarizing contexts.
Publication date: Sun, 08 Mar 2026 03:18:02 -0700 Access the article >>Identity and entitlement in accounts of (morally) normative and informational social influence for sustainability
Recent discursive psychology research has sought to respecify social influence as a discursive accomplishment and has also begun to identify how the psychological thesaurus is used to portray social influence in situated talk. The present paper contributes to this project by examining how social influence is depicted in accounts of influencing others in professional settings. Product designers' portrayals of influencing decision-makers to prioritize environmental sustainability, collected through semi-structured research interviews and from conference panel discussions, are analysed. Two recurring ways of constructing social influence are found—morally normative influence involving effort and force against resistance (‘pushing’) and informational influence through educating. The analysis shows how these depictions of influencing represent situated identity work. Two contributions are made to understanding ways of depicting social influence in professional settings. First, whether people claim entitlement to influence others at work is highlighted as a key element in how an influencer's identity is portrayed. Second, the participants' orientation to moral norms, not just social norms, is offered to extend to the concept of normative social influence in the context of sustainability. Implications for understanding how people relate to the shared moral challenge of environmental sustainability in different interactional contexts are discussed.
Publication date: Sun, 08 Mar 2026 03:14:14 -0700 Access the article >>Navigating the boundary between ‘normative’ and ‘non‐normative’ collective action: A British case study of the removal of a public statue associated with racism
Psychological research typically distinguishes between normative (e.g., peaceful protests, petitions) and non-normative (e.g., property destruction, riots) collective action. This binary framework has proved useful in exploring the psychological factors that shape different forms of collective action. However, recent critiques suggest it oversimplifies the fluid, contested, and context-dependent nature of collective protest. Our paper develops these critiques through qualitative analysis of walking interview accounts and courtroom transcripts of an event occurring at a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally in the city of Bristol, UK. During this event, a public statue of Edward Colston (1636-1721), a 17th century slaver, was toppled, defaced, and thrown in the River Avon, and four protestors were subsequently charged with, then acquitted of, criminal damage. Implications for conceptualising and investigating collective action are explored and the importance of recovering the situated meanings and consequences of local understandings of normative and non-normative action emphasised.
Publication date: Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:15:30 -0800 Access the article >>System justification and democracy: Is liberal democracy part of the status quo?
Research has conceptualized system justification as an overall perception of legitimacy of the status quo. However, there is mixed evidence to determine whether individuals construe political systems and values that uphold them as part of such status quo. We reasoned that if individuals construe the status quo as encompassing the political system and its values in the United States, system justification should predict support for current political institutions and liberal democracy. Relying on a representative survey and an experiment (N = 1994), we found that system justification was related to support for current institutions but not liberal democracy principles, even when making salient different components of the status quo (i.e. economic inequality and liberal democracy). Results suggest that researchers studying legitimacy of intergroup settings or political institutions should measure legitimacy of those institutions rather than general perceptions of fairness, as individuals might not construe the status quo as encompassing those institutions.
Publication date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 20:26:16 -0800 Access the article >>Manchester stands united: Place‐based identity facilitates resilience in the aftermath of a mass emergency
Understanding community resilience to disasters is fundamentally important in a world characterized by increasing political and environmental instability. The Social Identity Model of Collective Resilience has examined how the shared identity that emerges among neighbourhood residents affected by disasters can facilitate and coordinate effective collective responses, but has yet to examine impacts on community members beyond those directly affected. This is particularly important given the role of social identities in creating shared vulnerability and resilience to collective trauma among those indirectly affected, as well as evidence that neighbourhood identification can provide residents with collective resilience to a range of shared socio-economic and environmental stressors. The present study addresses this gap through an exploration of residents' accounts of the occurrence and aftermath of a terrorist attack on Manchester, England in 2017. The thematic analysis of retrospective interviews with 18 city residents indirectly affected by the bomb revealed that two key aspects of Mancunian identity – diversity and endurance of the city – were used to interpret the event and reported to facilitate coordinated coping and collective recovery. The implications are that identifying and enhancing local norms of cohesion and endurance can play a part in providing communities with resilience to future disasters.
Publication date: Tue, 17 Feb 2026 21:55:39 -0800 Access the article >>National bitterness, powerlessness and greatness: Examining constructions of affect as part of argumentation in populist EU discourse in Finland
Social psychological research exploring the rhetoric of Eurosceptic, right-wing populist actors and laypeople's argumentation in the polarizing context of Brexit has indicated the emotion-laden nature of EU-related issues. However, few studies have explicitly united affective and discursive psychological analyses of these topics. To fill this gap, the present study expands the discursive psychological approach to consider the interplay between affect and discourse in populist argumentation around the EU. The study utilizes qualitative interviews with 31 voters in Finland who supported or did not oppose an EU-critical statement from a radical right populist party's programme. We identified three key affective-discursive practices: (1) bitterness towards the undeserving ‘other’ justifying opposition to the EU; (2) national uncertainty mitigating criticism of the EU; and (3) national glory devaluing the EU. This study contributes to social psychological research on affect by demonstrating how rhetorical and discursive resources—particularly national referents, temporality, history—are employed in constructing affect as intertwined with identities and intergroup relations around EU issues. Instead of approaching it as implicit or marginal, this framework enables a thorough consideration of affect in argumentation around political issues, providing an in-depth understanding of its moral, relational and contextual nuances.
Publication date: Thu, 12 Feb 2026 19:59:21 -0800 Access the article >>How White people manage the weight of the past: The role of advantaged identity strategies in linking colonialism to current racial inequality
Linking European colonialism to current racial inequality may pose identity challenges to White European people. Through mixed methods, we examined how White people in the Netherlands manage their advantaged ethno-racial identity in relation to linking colonialism to current racial inequality. In Study 1, using individual interviews (N = 24), we found that participants exhibited identity strategies described in previous theorising: prideful (strong identification), distancing (weak identification) and power-cognisant (critical identification). In Studies 2a and 2b, using surveys (N = 591), we built on Study 1's results and found using latent profile analysis that participants blended strategies, resulting in four profiles: prideful-distancing (or prideful-ambivalent), distancing, distancing-cognisant and power-cognisant. Identity profiles distinguished whether participants linked colonialism to current racial inequality and their ideological outlook. Those exhibiting prideful-distancing and distancing profiles unlinked colonialism, asserted existing racial equality and downplayed the role of ethno-racial categories in shaping people's lives. Those exhibiting distancing-cognisant and power-cognisant profiles linked colonialism to and acknowledged current racial inequality. Those exhibiting a power-cognisant profile uniquely recognised the importance of ethno-racial categories, displaying thus a markedly pro-egalitarian outlook. We conclude by discussing the implications of how White people's identity management relates to linking colonialism to current racial inequality and its legitimacy.
Publication date: Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 Access the article >>The bridging role of belief in a just world in the culture‐psych loop
Beliefs, which are deeply shaped by cultural norms, play a central role in well-being, with belief in a just world (BJW) serving as a vital psychological resource. Yet, it remains unclear how cultural norms shape such beliefs and, in turn, influence emotional and psychosocial well-being. Across four studies (N = 2324), we examined the interplay among cultural tightness, BJW and well-being using surveys, cultural priming and longitudinal designs. Studies 1a–1d showed that BJW mediated the relationship between perceived tightness and well-being across different cultures and time periods. Studies 2a-2c provided causal evidence that tight (vs. loose) priming enhanced well-being through increased BJW. Study 3a revealed a sequential pathway from perceived tightness to personal BJW, to general BJW and finally to well-being. Study 3b, using a longitudinal design, revealed that personal BJW was more flexible and responsive to change, whereas general BJW was more stable and predictive of psychosocial well-being. Together, these findings highlight a dynamic pathway linking culture, belief and well-being, offering new theoretical and empirical insights into the role of BJW in supporting emotional and psychological well-being across ecologically and culturally diverse settings.
Publication date: Sun, 08 Feb 2026 20:59:14 -0800 Access the article >>Don't rock the boat! Do men prefer women leaders who support the status quo?
Women remain underrepresented in leadership, particularly in traditionally masculine work settings. At the same time, the visibility of this imbalance has led to growing calls for diversifying leadership. This research examines how both men and women contribute to the preservation or disruption of gender inequality in masculine organizational contexts. Men remain the gatekeepers of change—deciding who rises to the top and under what conditions—while women face the strategic dilemma of fitting in by downplaying inequality (supporting the status quo, sometimes called ‘queen bee behaviour’) or ‘rocking the boat’ by advocating social change (challenging the status quo). Across five experimental studies (total N = 887), we examined how evaluators assessed male and female leadership candidates who either supported or challenged the status quo. Results revealed that although men favoured female over male candidates, they consistently preferred women who reinforced the status quo over those who advocated equality. By contrast, male candidates who supported the status quo were penalized, and female evaluators showed no such preferences. These findings highlight subtle mechanisms through which gendered power dynamics are maintained, underscoring both the strategic trade-offs women must navigate to advance and the conditional nature of men's support for gender equality.
Publication date: Fri, 06 Feb 2026 03:44:37 -0800 Access the article >>‘They are lovely men’: Compassionate exclusion used to justify a protest outside asylum seeker accommodation
This study employed critical discursive and rhetorical psychology to analyse the discourses drawn upon to justify an arguably violent protest outside a previously disused hotel in rural Ireland, where 34 male asylum seekers had been accommodated. Interviews with protesters and public representatives were retrieved from three mainstream media platforms. The protesters drew on three contradictory and deracialized discursive strategies to inoculate their justification for the protest against accusations of prejudice, which we label compassionate exclusion. The first is a compassionate concern about the suitability of the accommodation for the asylum seekers, whilst engaging in collective action to force the asylum seekers into homelessness and risk of further violence. The second positions the protesters as compassionate towards the asylum seekers whilst demanding that they receive vetting and that the local community receive prior consultation on their suitability for accommodation. The third presents the ‘male’ asylum seekers as a threat to women in this isolated rural community, even though the protesters position themselves as compassionate towards the ‘lovely men’ who are already accommodated. This highlights how compassionate humanitarian concerns can be co-opted to justify an arguably violent demand for the forced removal and exclusion of asylum seekers, whilst avoiding accusations of racism.
Publication date: Fri, 06 Feb 2026 03:37:07 -0800 Access the article >>Small gifts, big shifts? Testing the role of contact through reciprocal gifting as a prejudice reduction strategy
Through two experimental studies (pre-test/post-test/follow-up with control), we tested reciprocal gifting as an indirect contact strategy that could improve Turkish native children's attitudes towards their Syrian refugee peers in the highly prejudicial immigration context of Türkiye. In Study 1 (N = 144), children who were led to believe that they exchanged gifts with their Syrian peers showed more positive outgroup attitudes in the post-test (unlike children in the control group), while there were no significant changes in negative attitudes or social closeness. In Study 2 (N = 207), we implemented an enhanced procedure whereby children created personalized and symbolic gifts, making the reciprocal gifting experience more engaging. Although this revised approach improved positive attitudes and social closeness, negative attitudes remained unchanged, and all outcomes returned to baseline levels at the follow-up stage (approximately 40 days later) in both studies, overall providing evidence for the short-term positive effects of the reciprocal gifting strategy. We discussed the importance of implementing creative strategies in hostile school environments.
Publication date: Sun, 01 Feb 2026 21:38:55 -0800 Access the article >>The social psychology of collective violence: Civilian motivations for involvement in the Indonesian May 1998 riots
This study examines motivations for participating in the understudied Indonesian riots of May 1998 targeting the ethnic Chinese minority, using an integrative framework addressing intergroup, intragroup and individual factors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 participants (26 male, 5 female), all aged over 35 and involved in violent acts during the riots, in which thousands of homes and businesses were looted or destroyed, and hundreds of people were raped or murdered. Thematic analysis revealed motivations at three levels: intergroup (ethnic prejudice, animosity towards security forces), intragroup (conformity, fear of missing out) and individual (thrill-seeking, need for significance, greed, impulsivity). Narratives illustrate how these factors interact within a context of socio-political and economic upheaval. Most participants cited motivations at the intragroup and individual levels, with fewer referencing intergroup factors or reporting a single level of motivation. Conformity (an intragroup factor) was reported by all participants. This research highlights the complex interplay of psychological and social dynamics driving collective ethnic violence.
Publication date: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 20:49:08 -0800 Access the article >>Agreeing to disagree: When do superordinate identities facilitate competing opinion‐based groups to work through intergroup conflict?
With increasing division and conflict amongst groups with different opinions on social and political issues, there is a growing need to effectively manage intergroup conflict. The current paper examined the role of superordinate identities in facilitating—versus hindering—competing opinion-based groups to work through value-based intergroup conflict and reach value consensus. We examined interactions on Wikipedia as a novel, ‘real-world’ context where people with different opinions and perspectives work through disagreement guided by the rules and norms of a Wikipedian superordinate identity. We thematically analysed 22 discussion topics (comprising 9837 words) involving 21 editors on the Wikipedia talk page corresponding to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament article. Analyses revealed that supporters and opponents of the Voice often shared the same values but disagreed about how those values should be expressed (i.e., the implications of those values). Moreover, we found evidence that working through intergroup conflict involved perceiving value consensus—a process which was facilitated by a Wikipedian superordinate identity. The results highlight the conditions under which superordinate groups can productively structure disagreement and attenuate conflict between opinion-based groups.
Publication date: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 20:40:10 -0800 Access the article >>Issue Information
British Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 65, Issue 2, April 2026.
Publication date: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 03:35:22 -0800 Access the article >>From the perspective of the Construal Level Theory: Examining the effect of psychological distance on system justification
The current research examines the relationship between psychological distance and system justification through the lens of the Construal Level Theory. In three experimental studies, we investigated whether and how psychological distance shapes the salience of different levels of social identity relevant to system-justifying tendencies. In Study 1, we investigated the moderating effect of psychological distance on the relationship between membership in different gender-based groups and system justification in the context of gender inequality. In Study 2, we investigated the influence of psychological distance on the extent to which individuals with opposing political ideologies justify the system. Finally, Study 3 deepened Studies 1–2 by comparing the impact of lower- vs. higher-level identity threats as a function of psychological distance. Results suggest that psychological distance reduces system justification among typically high-justifying groups, leading to greater convergence across status and ideological divides. Implications, limitations and future directions are discussed.
Publication date: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 03:25:21 -0800 Access the article >>