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Mitkidis P, Elbaek CT. How the minimalist model of ownership psychology can aid in explaining moral behaviors under resource constraints. Behav Brain Sci 2023; 46:e343. [PMID: 37813427 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x23001401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
The model of ownership psychology as a cognitive adaptation proposes that people flexibly navigate cognitive systems of cooperation and competition, thus enabling them to justify unethical behavior. We discuss how this model captures previous accounts of unethical behavior and propose that a disengagement heuristic can help us understand recent findings in the interconnection between scarcity psychology and unethical behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis Mitkidis
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs alle 4, Aarhus V, Denmark ; https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/panagiotis-mitkidis(ca495362-7cd4-473c-99a9-aad26088e872).html ; https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/christian-truelsen-elbaek(24b06155-fef3-417b-8dc2-f33b86d1e117).html
| | - Christian T Elbaek
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs alle 4, Aarhus V, Denmark ; https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/panagiotis-mitkidis(ca495362-7cd4-473c-99a9-aad26088e872).html ; https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/christian-truelsen-elbaek(24b06155-fef3-417b-8dc2-f33b86d1e117).html
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Elbæk CT, Mitkidis P, Aarøe L, Otterbring T. Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5453. [PMID: 37673884 PMCID: PMC10482940 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41007-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals can experience a lack of economic resources compared to others, which we refer to as subjective experiences of economic scarcity. While such experiences have been shown to shift cognitive focus, attention, and decision-making, their association with human morality remains debated. We conduct a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between subjective experiences of economic scarcity, as indexed by low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, and various self-reported measures linked to morality. In a pre-registered study, we analyze data from a large, cross-national survey (N = 50,396 across 67 countries) allowing us to address limitations related to cross-cultural generalizability and measurement validity in prior research. Our findings demonstrate that low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, are associated with higher levels of moral identity, higher morality-as-cooperation, a larger moral circle, and increased prosocial intentions. These results appear robust to several advanced control analyses. Finally, exploratory analyses indicate that observed income inequality at the national level is not a statistically significant moderator of the associations between subjective socioeconomic status and the included measures of morality. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding human morality under experiences of resource scarcity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian T Elbæk
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, 8210, Aarhus V, Denmark.
| | - Panagiotis Mitkidis
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, 8210, Aarhus V, Denmark
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 27701, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Lene Aarøe
- Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Tobias Otterbring
- Department of Management, University of Agder, 4630, Kristiansand, Norway
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Gasiorowska A, Folwarczny M, Tan LKL, Otterbring T. Delicate dining with a date and burger binging with buddies: impression management across social settings and consumers' preferences for masculine or feminine foods. Front Nutr 2023; 10:1127409. [PMID: 37396139 PMCID: PMC10311548 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1127409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Consumers often use their food choices as an impression management strategy to signal desirable aspects about themselves to others, especially in public places like restaurants and cafeterias, where the presence of others can promote certain consumption choices and preference patterns. In mating contexts, people prefer gender-typical traits and characteristics in a potential partner. Food options can also be classified according to their gender typicality, with certain alternatives perceived as feminine (e.g., salad, seafood) and with other options perceived as more masculine (e.g., steak, burger). Drawing on impression management theories from the drinking and dining domain and literature on sex differences in human mate preferences, we present a high-powered experiment investigating whether consumers' preferences for masculine or feminine foods depend on the social setting in which the food consumption takes place: dining with an attractive date (mating) or meeting and eating with friends (non-mating). Participants (N = 162, 46.9% females, 53.1% males; age M = 41.8 years, SD = 14.5) were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions (mating vs. non-mating) and were asked to indicate their food preferences for 15 dishes that differed markedly in perceived femininity/masculinity. Consistent with our theorizing, females (males) generally had a stronger preference for foods perceived as more feminine (masculine), thereby supporting the gender-typicality thesis at the aggregate level. Furthermore, females in the mating condition-but not females in the non-mating condition-reported significantly stronger preferences for more feminine food alternatives. However, in direct contrast to our theorizing, males preferred more masculine meals in the non-mating condition (i.e., when dining with friends), whereas this gender-typical tendency did not emerge in the mating condition (i.e., when dining with an attractive date). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and present a set of fruitful avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agata Gasiorowska
- Faculty of Psychology in Wroclaw, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Michał Folwarczny
- Department of Business Administration, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Lynn K. L. Tan
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
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Panagiotis M, Hanna T, Sonja P, Shahar A, Simon K, Dan A. On the interplay between pain observation, guilt and shame proneness and honesty. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 236:103920. [PMID: 37086665 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Seeing others in pain can stimulate powerful socio-emotional responses. Does it also make us more moral? In two laboratory experiments, we examined the interplay between pain observation, self-reported guilt and shame, subjective perceptions of pain intensity, and subsequent honest behavior. Watching a confederate perform a moderately painful (vs. non-painful) task did not affect honest behavior in a subsequent die-roll task. Independent of pain observation, there was a positive relationship between self-reported guilt proneness and shame proneness and honesty. More specifically, individuals who are more prone to feeling guilt -and to a lesser extent shame- behaved more honestly. Furthermore, we found weak support for the hypothesis that greater perceived pain (rather than objective pain) is associated with less cheating. We call for further research in the interconnections between perceived pain, guilt, shame, and moral behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitkidis Panagiotis
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Alle 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark; Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 334 Blackwell Street, Durham 27701, NC, USA.
| | - Thaler Hanna
- Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany
| | - Perkovic Sonja
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Alle 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark
| | - Ayal Shahar
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Reichman University, 8 Ha'universuta St., P.O. Box 167, Herzliya 46150, Israel
| | - Karg Simon
- Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 7, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Ariely Dan
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 334 Blackwell Street, Durham 27701, NC, USA
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Alkahwaji AM, Shin HS, Lee CJ. Negative Influence of the Hunger State on Rule-observance Behavior in Mice. Exp Neurobiol 2023; 32:31-41. [PMID: 36919334 PMCID: PMC10017842 DOI: 10.5607/en22036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Developing social strategies to share limited resources equally and maximize the long-term benefits of conflict resolution is critical for appropriate social interactions. During social interactions, social decision-making depends not only on the external environment, but also on internal factors, such as hunger, thirst, or fatigue. In particular, hunger, which is related to food as a physical need, plays a dominant role in social decision-making. However, the consequences of food deprivation on social decision-making are not well understood. We have previously shown that mice with rule-observance behavior are capable of resolving conflict during social decision-making by observing a well-established social strategy based on reward zone allocation. Here, we developed a rule-observance behavior paradigm wherein the hunger state is achieved by applying food restrictions on mice prior to social behavior experiments. We found that the hunger state in mice deteriorated the established social strategy by decreasing reaction time, implying an increase in impulsivity. In contrast, the hunger state did not affect reward zone allocation, indicating no effect on spatial memory. This decrease in reaction time led to a significant increase in the percentage of violations during rule observance and a significant decrease in the amount of reward (payoff equity). Our study proposes that the hunger state exerts a detrimental effect on appropriate social decision-making by decreasing reaction time, increasing violation, and decreasing payoff equity in rule-observance behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdelrahman M Alkahwaji
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon 34141, Korea.,IBS School, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
| | - Hee-Sup Shin
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon 34141, Korea.,IBS School, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
| | - C Justin Lee
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon 34141, Korea.,IBS School, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
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Otterbring T, Sundgot-Borgen C, Bratland-Sanda S, Trangsrud LKJ. Siblings, shopping, and sustainability: Birth-order differences in green consumption. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1105072. [PMID: 36935953 PMCID: PMC10020628 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1105072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Several studies have examined the role of birth order in shaping human personality, but fewer have tested this variable in relation to other pressing issues. We conducted a birth-order study on green consumption, which enabled us to detect a small-to-moderate effect size equivalent to r = 0.15 or d = 0.30 with sufficient statistical power (N = 335). To capture green consumption, participants indicated their tendency to express the value of environmental protection through purchases and consumption behaviors. Firstborns (vs. laterborns) consistently expressed lower concerns linked to environmental protection in their purchase patterns. While the effect size of this finding was small-to-moderate by conventional standards and in direct contrast to the findings from a recent article on the same topic, these results could still be informative to address challenges associated with climate change considering the number of individuals with siblings in the world and the ease with which birth-order data can be collected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Otterbring
- Department of Management, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
- *Correspondence: Tobias Otterbring,
| | - Christine Sundgot-Borgen
- Regional Department for Eating Disorders, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Solfrid Bratland-Sanda
- Department of Sport, Physical Education and Outdoor Studies, University of South-Eastern Norway, Kongsberg, Norway
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Mitkidis P, Lindeløv JK, Elbaek CT, Porubanova M, Grzymala-Moszczynska J, Ariely D. Morality in the time of cognitive famine: The effects of memory load on cooperation and honesty. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2022; 228:103664. [PMID: 35810496 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Though human social interaction in general seems effortless at times, successful engagement in collaborative or exploitative social interaction requires the availability of cognitive resources. Research on Dual-Process suggests that two systems, the affective (non-reflective) and the cognitive (reflective), are responsible for different types of reasoning. Nevertheless, the evidence on which system leads to what type of behavioral outcome, in terms of prosociality, is at best contradicting and perplexing. In the present paper, we examined the role of the two systems, operationalized as working memory depletion, in prosocial decision-making. We hypothesize that the nature of the available cognitive resources could affect whether humans engage in collaborative or exploitative social interaction. Using Operation Span to manipulate the availability of working memory, we examined how taxing the cognitive system affects cooperation and cheating. In two experiments, we provide evidence that concurrent load, but not cumulative load is detrimental to cooperation, whereas neither concurrent nor cumulative load seems to affect cheating behavior. These findings are in contrast to several previous assumptions. We discuss limitations, possible explanations, and future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis Mitkidis
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Alle 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark; Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 334 Blackwell Street, Durham 27701, NC, USA.
| | - Jonas K Lindeløv
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Aalborg University, Koghstræde 3, 9220 Aalborg Øst, Denmark
| | - Christian T Elbaek
- Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Alle 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark
| | - Michaela Porubanova
- Department of Psychology, Farmingdale State College, New York State University, 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735-1021, USA
| | | | - Dan Ariely
- Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, 334 Blackwell Street, Durham 27701, NC, USA
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Hunger Effects on Option Quality for Hedonic and Utilitarian Food Products. Food Qual Prefer 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Otterbring T, Elbæk CT, Lu C. Can Digit Ratio and Gender Identity Predict Preferences for Consumption Options With a Distinct Gender Image? Front Psychol 2022; 13:923709. [PMID: 35756313 PMCID: PMC9220292 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated whether individuals' preferences for masculine (vs. feminine) consumption options could be predicted by a biological sex cue (the 2D:4D digit ratio; a biomarker linked to prenatal testosterone exposure), and a psychological gender cue (self-perceived gender identity). Chinese participants (N = 216) indicated their preferences for a series of binary options that differed in their perceived gender image (e.g., romantic comedy vs. action thriller; pop music vs. hard rock), with one of the options evaluated as relatively more feminine and the other viewed as comparably more masculine. Participants also self-reported their gender identity and the length of their index and ring fingers, which was used to calculate their 2D:4D digit ratios. A low (male-typical) digit ratio and a masculine gender identity were both associated with more masculine preferences, regardless of participants' biological sex. However, a low digit ratio predicted preferences for masculine consumption options only in female participants with a masculine gender identity, but not in those with a feminine gender identity. These findings add to the literature on whether and when biological sex cues and psychological gender cues can predict preferences for options with a distinct gender image and suggest that the connection between these cues is more complex in women than in men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Otterbring
- Department of Management, School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
- Institute of Retail Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Chaoren Lu
- Kunming Academy of Governance, Kunming, China
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