A Timur Sevincer
Biographic Data
| ID | 115936 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A Timur Sevincer |
| GIVEN NAMES | A Timur |
| FAMILY NAME | Sevincer |
| SIGNATURE | SEVINCER A T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universität Hamburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2751-0142 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 95 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Mental contrasting and problem-solving in romantic relationships: A dyadic behavioral observation study
We investigated how mental contrasting, a self-regulation strategy, affects relationship problem-solving in 105 mixed-gender couples. Couples were assigned to a mental contrasting (juxtaposing the desired future with the main inner obstacle) or indulging (imagining only the desired future) condition. We reassessed problem resolution 2 weeks later. Actor-partner interdependence model analyses revealed that mental contrasting improved problem resol…
Revisiting Ego Depletion: Evidence from Multi-Lab Collaborations
The ego depletion effect posits that initial exertion of self-control impairs subsequent self-regulatory performance. Despite being examined in over 1000 independent studies and cited extensively, recent large-scale studies have questioned its validity. We propose that the replicability of ego depletion may hinge on the intensity of the manipulation. Our new paradigm, involving a demanding antisaccade task lasting for 30–40 min followed by a Go-N…
The Pluralistic Illusion of Gender Inequality
Despite substantial gender equality in highly gender-egalitarian countries like Germany, perceptions of persistent inequality remain widespread. We examine systematic perception gaps that may explain this disconnect. In a survey of 735 German adults, participants reported their perceived societal and personal gender inequality, estimated others' perceptions, and indicated their attitudes toward gender equality measures. Both women and men perceiv…
Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages
Mental contrasting and conflict management in satisfied and unsatisfied romantic relationships
Managing relationship conflict is a difficult yet crucial task for romantic partners. We investigated how imagining a conflict's resolution affects the engagement in resolving that conflict. For instance, people may indulge in positive fantasies about their future, or they may mentally contrast their desired future (successful conflict resolution) with the main inner obstacle (e.g., anger, frustration) in the current reality. In two experiments, …
Low working memory reduces the use of mental contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy that helps people effectively pursue important personal wishes. People with higher self-regulation skills are more likely to spontaneously use mental contrasting. Because one central cognitive function underlying self-regulation is working memory capacity, we investigated whether people with low rather than high working memory capacity are less likely to spontaneousl…
Students’ Beliefs About Trigger Warnings
Trigger warnings aim to help people emotionally prepare for potentially disturbing material or avoid the material altogether. There has been a lively debate in society and academia whether the widespread use of trigger warnings helps, harms, or has no substantial impact. Recent meta-analytic evidence suggests trigger warnings have no effect on people's emotional reaction, avoidance, and comprehension. They do however heighten a negative anticipat…
Gendered Self-Views Across 62 Countries: A Test of Competing Models
Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countrie…
Political Ideology Outdoes Personal Experience in Predicting Support for Gender Equality
Indices of gender equality provide an inconsistent picture of current gender inequality in countries with relatively high equality. We examined women's and men's subjectively perceived gender inequality and their support for gender equality in the general population and in politicians, respectively, in three countries with relatively high gender equality: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany (total N = 1,612). In both women's and me…
Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change
Family still matters: Human social motivation across 42 countries during a global pandemic
A Multilab Replication of the Ego Depletion Effect
There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregistered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium-level effect size. In the current research, we conducted a preregistered multilab replication of that experiment. Data from 12 labs across the globe ( N = 1,775) revealed a small and significant ego depletion effect, d = 0.10. After ex…
Risky Business: Cosmopolitan Culture and Risk-Taking
Some metropolitan areas (e.g., Berlin, New York) have a cosmopolitan culture. That is, they serve as centers of economic development and value diversity, creativity, and equality. These areas offer economic and creative opportunities that are open to anyone willing to take a risk. Therefore, such cities may attract people who are high in risk-taking. We first showed that real-world risk-taking is more common in cities with a more cosmopolitan cul…
Psychometric Properties and Correlates of Precarious Manhood Beliefs in 62 Nations
Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Here, we present cross-cultural data on a brief measure of precarious manhood beliefs (the Precarious Manhood Beliefs scale [PMB]) that covaries meaningfully with other cross-culturally validated gender ideologies and with country-level indices of gender equality and human development. Using data …
Taking Responsibility for Others and Use of Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people are more inclined to spontaneously use mental contrasting when they feel responsibility. Studies 1 and 2 provided correlational evidence: Employees who felt responsible for completing an important team project (Study 1) and MTurk users who felt and activel…
Demand to Act and Use of Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people spontaneously use mental contrasting when the demand to act toward their desired future is high. Study 1 provided correlational evidence: The participants who planned to act most immediately were also those who used mental contrasting. Studies 2 and 3 adde…
Well Self-Regulated People Use Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy helping people manage their life by promoting selective goal pursuit: people pursue feasible futures and disengage from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether participants who effectively regulate their academic and everyday life spontaneously use mental contrasting. Indeed, students who were good self-regulators in the academic domain, as indicated by their high s…
The Culture of Cities: Measuring Perceived Cosmopolitanism
Cities like New York and San Francisco have a different feel than cities like Newark and Columbus. But can these differences be captured quantitatively? We argue these places vary along the dimension of cosmopolitanism, that is, the extent to which they offer economic opportunities and emphasize diversity, creativity, and egalitarianism. We present a Cosmopolitan City Scale (CCS) designed to assess perceived cosmopolitanism. The CCS has high inte…
Frontier settlement and cultural change
A cultural task analysis of implicit independence: Comparing North America, Western Europe, and East Asia
Informed by a new theoretical framework that assigns a key role to cultural tasks (culturally prescribed means to achieve cultural mandates such as independence and interdependence) in mediating the mutual influences between culture and psychological processes, the authors predicted and found that North Americans are more likely than Western Europeans (British and Germans) to (a) exhibit focused (vs. holistic) attention, (b) experience emotions a…
A cultural task analysis of implicit independence: Comparing North America, Western Europe, and East Asia
Informed by a new theoretical framework that assigns a key role to cultural tasks (culturally prescribed means to achieve cultural mandates such as independence and interdependence) in mediating the mutual influences between culture and psychological processes, the authors predicted and found that North Americans are more likely than Western Europeans (British and Germans) to (a) exhibit focused (vs. holistic) attention, (b) experience emotions a…
Political Ideology Outdoes Personal Experience in Predicting Support for Gender Equality
Indices of gender equality provide an inconsistent picture of current gender inequality in countries with relatively high equality. We examined women's and men's subjectively perceived gender inequality and their support for gender equality in the general population and in politicians, respectively, in three countries with relatively high gender equality: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany (total N = 1,612). In both women's and me…
The Culture of Cities: Measuring Perceived Cosmopolitanism
Cities like New York and San Francisco have a different feel than cities like Newark and Columbus. But can these differences be captured quantitatively? We argue these places vary along the dimension of cosmopolitanism, that is, the extent to which they offer economic opportunities and emphasize diversity, creativity, and egalitarianism. We present a Cosmopolitan City Scale (CCS) designed to assess perceived cosmopolitanism. The CCS has high inte…
Mental contrasting and conflict management in satisfied and unsatisfied romantic relationships
Managing relationship conflict is a difficult yet crucial task for romantic partners. We investigated how imagining a conflict's resolution affects the engagement in resolving that conflict. For instance, people may indulge in positive fantasies about their future, or they may mentally contrast their desired future (successful conflict resolution) with the main inner obstacle (e.g., anger, frustration) in the current reality. In two experiments, …
Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change
Well Self-Regulated People Use Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy helping people manage their life by promoting selective goal pursuit: people pursue feasible futures and disengage from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether participants who effectively regulate their academic and everyday life spontaneously use mental contrasting. Indeed, students who were good self-regulators in the academic domain, as indicated by their high s…
A cultural task analysis of implicit independence: Comparing North America, Western Europe, and East Asia
Informed by a new theoretical framework that assigns a key role to cultural tasks (culturally prescribed means to achieve cultural mandates such as independence and interdependence) in mediating the mutual influences between culture and psychological processes, the authors predicted and found that North Americans are more likely than Western Europeans (British and Germans) to (a) exhibit focused (vs. holistic) attention, (b) experience emotions a…
Frontier settlement and cultural change
Well Self-Regulated People Use Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy helping people manage their life by promoting selective goal pursuit: people pursue feasible futures and disengage from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether participants who effectively regulate their academic and everyday life spontaneously use mental contrasting. Indeed, students who were good self-regulators in the academic domain, as indicated by their high s…
The Culture of Cities: Measuring Perceived Cosmopolitanism
Cities like New York and San Francisco have a different feel than cities like Newark and Columbus. But can these differences be captured quantitatively? We argue these places vary along the dimension of cosmopolitanism, that is, the extent to which they offer economic opportunities and emphasize diversity, creativity, and egalitarianism. We present a Cosmopolitan City Scale (CCS) designed to assess perceived cosmopolitanism. The CCS has high inte…
Demand to Act and Use of Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people spontaneously use mental contrasting when the demand to act toward their desired future is high. Study 1 provided correlational evidence: The participants who planned to act most immediately were also those who used mental contrasting. Studies 2 and 3 adde…
Taking Responsibility for Others and Use of Mental Contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people are more inclined to spontaneously use mental contrasting when they feel responsibility. Studies 1 and 2 provided correlational evidence: Employees who felt responsible for completing an important team project (Study 1) and MTurk users who felt and activel…
A Multilab Replication of the Ego Depletion Effect
There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregistered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium-level effect size. In the current research, we conducted a preregistered multilab replication of that experiment. Data from 12 labs across the globe ( N = 1,775) revealed a small and significant ego depletion effect, d = 0.10. After ex…
Risky Business: Cosmopolitan Culture and Risk-Taking
Some metropolitan areas (e.g., Berlin, New York) have a cosmopolitan culture. That is, they serve as centers of economic development and value diversity, creativity, and equality. These areas offer economic and creative opportunities that are open to anyone willing to take a risk. Therefore, such cities may attract people who are high in risk-taking. We first showed that real-world risk-taking is more common in cities with a more cosmopolitan cul…
Psychometric Properties and Correlates of Precarious Manhood Beliefs in 62 Nations
Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Here, we present cross-cultural data on a brief measure of precarious manhood beliefs (the Precarious Manhood Beliefs scale [PMB]) that covaries meaningfully with other cross-culturally validated gender ideologies and with country-level indices of gender equality and human development. Using data …
Family still matters: Human social motivation across 42 countries during a global pandemic
Gendered Self-Views Across 62 Countries: A Test of Competing Models
Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countrie…
Political Ideology Outdoes Personal Experience in Predicting Support for Gender Equality
Indices of gender equality provide an inconsistent picture of current gender inequality in countries with relatively high equality. We examined women's and men's subjectively perceived gender inequality and their support for gender equality in the general population and in politicians, respectively, in three countries with relatively high gender equality: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany (total N = 1,612). In both women's and me…
Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change
Low working memory reduces the use of mental contrasting
Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy that helps people effectively pursue important personal wishes. People with higher self-regulation skills are more likely to spontaneously use mental contrasting. Because one central cognitive function underlying self-regulation is working memory capacity, we investigated whether people with low rather than high working memory capacity are less likely to spontaneousl…
Students’ Beliefs About Trigger Warnings
Trigger warnings aim to help people emotionally prepare for potentially disturbing material or avoid the material altogether. There has been a lively debate in society and academia whether the widespread use of trigger warnings helps, harms, or has no substantial impact. Recent meta-analytic evidence suggests trigger warnings have no effect on people's emotional reaction, avoidance, and comprehension. They do however heighten a negative anticipat…
Revisiting Ego Depletion: Evidence from Multi-Lab Collaborations
The ego depletion effect posits that initial exertion of self-control impairs subsequent self-regulatory performance. Despite being examined in over 1000 independent studies and cited extensively, recent large-scale studies have questioned its validity. We propose that the replicability of ego depletion may hinge on the intensity of the manipulation. Our new paradigm, involving a demanding antisaccade task lasting for 30–40 min followed by a Go-N…
The Pluralistic Illusion of Gender Inequality
Despite substantial gender equality in highly gender-egalitarian countries like Germany, perceptions of persistent inequality remain widespread. We examine systematic perception gaps that may explain this disconnect. In a survey of 735 German adults, participants reported their perceived societal and personal gender inequality, estimated others' perceptions, and indicated their attitudes toward gender equality measures. Both women and men perceiv…
Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages
Mental contrasting and conflict management in satisfied and unsatisfied romantic relationships
Managing relationship conflict is a difficult yet crucial task for romantic partners. We investigated how imagining a conflict's resolution affects the engagement in resolving that conflict. For instance, people may indulge in positive fantasies about their future, or they may mentally contrast their desired future (successful conflict resolution) with the main inner obstacle (e.g., anger, frustration) in the current reality. In two experiments, …
Mental contrasting and problem-solving in romantic relationships: A dyadic behavioral observation study
We investigated how mental contrasting, a self-regulation strategy, affects relationship problem-solving in 105 mixed-gender couples. Couples were assigned to a mental contrasting (juxtaposing the desired future with the main inner obstacle) or indulging (imagining only the desired future) condition. We reassessed problem resolution 2 weeks later. Actor-partner interdependence model analyses revealed that mental contrasting improved problem resol…
Psychology (15 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (8 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Cognition (5 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Geography (4 works)