Brett Mercier
Biographic Data
| ID | 1842878 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brett Mercier |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brett |
| FAMILY NAME | Mercier |
| SIGNATURE | MERCIER B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3731-8752 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 29 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Bad victims
Four preregistered studies find that perpetrators who commit moral transgressions are judged less harshly when their transgressions impact individuals who have previously committed immoral actions (i.e., bad victims). In Studies 1 and 2, we used between- and within-participants comparisons to find that perpetrators, and the moral transgressions they committed, were judged less harshly when they affected bad (vs. neutral) victims. In Studies 3 and…
Perceived mental illness is associated with judgments of less agency, yet more moral wrongness
For a set of 10 conditions (e.g. homosexuality, obesity, drug addiction), we explored associations between moral judgments, agency evaluations, and perceptions that a condition is a mental illness. In a preregistered study ( n = 1,249 U.S. adults), we found that perceptions of lower agency were associated with decreased moral wrongness judgments, as well as increased perceptions of mental illness, yet perceived moral wrongness was the most robust…
Anticipated affect predicts moral praise and character judgments
In four preregistered studies (total N = 5,067), we investigated whether people use their own anticipated affective responses to a situation to make judgments about the praiseworthiness of helping and the moral character of helpers. We found that helpers in more affectively arousing scenarios were seen as more morally motivated, received greater praise, and were seen as having more positive moral character, even when controlling for the perceived…
Measurement issues in the many analysts religion project
A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being
The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-…
Overestimating Reported Prejudice Causes Democrats to Believe Disadvantaged Groups Are Less Electable
Four studies show that Democrats overestimate the explicit prejudice reported by the American electorate, leading them to perceive presidential candidates from disadvantaged groups as less electable. Study 1 (MTurk; n = 728) found that Democrats overestimated the percentage of Americans who say they would not vote for presidential candidates from disadvantaged groups. Study 2 (MTurk; n = 597) replicated this finding and demonstrated that Democrat…
Recognizing the Impact of Covid-19 on the Poor Alters Attitudes Towards Poverty and Inequality
Shifting attributions for poverty motivates opposition to inequality and enhances egalitarianism
False Polarization and False Moderation
Past research finds that people hold moderate views on political issues while believing others are extreme. This false polarization has been demonstrated across a variety of different attitude dimensions and is explained by naive realism, the belief that one holds an unbiased view of reality. We argue that because people believe they see the world objectively, they should be very certain about their opinions, more certain than others expect. In t…
Shifting attributions for poverty motivates opposition to inequality and enhances egalitarianism
Recognizing the Impact of Covid-19 on the Poor Alters Attitudes Towards Poverty and Inequality
Overestimating Reported Prejudice Causes Democrats to Believe Disadvantaged Groups Are Less Electable
Four studies show that Democrats overestimate the explicit prejudice reported by the American electorate, leading them to perceive presidential candidates from disadvantaged groups as less electable. Study 1 (MTurk; n = 728) found that Democrats overestimated the percentage of Americans who say they would not vote for presidential candidates from disadvantaged groups. Study 2 (MTurk; n = 597) replicated this finding and demonstrated that Democrat…
False Polarization and False Moderation
Past research finds that people hold moderate views on political issues while believing others are extreme. This false polarization has been demonstrated across a variety of different attitude dimensions and is explained by naive realism, the belief that one holds an unbiased view of reality. We argue that because people believe they see the world objectively, they should be very certain about their opinions, more certain than others expect. In t…
Recognizing the Impact of Covid-19 on the Poor Alters Attitudes Towards Poverty and Inequality
Shifting attributions for poverty motivates opposition to inequality and enhances egalitarianism
Measurement issues in the many analysts religion project
A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being
The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-…
Overestimating Reported Prejudice Causes Democrats to Believe Disadvantaged Groups Are Less Electable
Four studies show that Democrats overestimate the explicit prejudice reported by the American electorate, leading them to perceive presidential candidates from disadvantaged groups as less electable. Study 1 (MTurk; n = 728) found that Democrats overestimated the percentage of Americans who say they would not vote for presidential candidates from disadvantaged groups. Study 2 (MTurk; n = 597) replicated this finding and demonstrated that Democrat…
Perceived mental illness is associated with judgments of less agency, yet more moral wrongness
For a set of 10 conditions (e.g. homosexuality, obesity, drug addiction), we explored associations between moral judgments, agency evaluations, and perceptions that a condition is a mental illness. In a preregistered study ( n = 1,249 U.S. adults), we found that perceptions of lower agency were associated with decreased moral wrongness judgments, as well as increased perceptions of mental illness, yet perceived moral wrongness was the most robust…
Anticipated affect predicts moral praise and character judgments
In four preregistered studies (total N = 5,067), we investigated whether people use their own anticipated affective responses to a situation to make judgments about the praiseworthiness of helping and the moral character of helpers. We found that helpers in more affectively arousing scenarios were seen as more morally motivated, received greater praise, and were seen as having more positive moral character, even when controlling for the perceived…
Bad victims
Four preregistered studies find that perpetrators who commit moral transgressions are judged less harshly when their transgressions impact individuals who have previously committed immoral actions (i.e., bad victims). In Studies 1 and 2, we used between- and within-participants comparisons to find that perpetrators, and the moral transgressions they committed, were judged less harshly when they affected bad (vs. neutral) victims. In Studies 3 and…
Psychology (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Political science (5 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (4 works) · Inequality (3 works) · Politics (3 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (3 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (3 works) · Social Psychology (3 works) · Attribution (2 works)