Ethan Zell
Biographic Data
| ID | 189156 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ethan Zell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ethan |
| FAMILY NAME | Zell |
| SIGNATURE | ZELL E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8363-8418 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 59 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Smooth sailing versus rocky roads: Performance variability, social comparison, and self-evaluation
People often consider their rank across multiple performances, which can be summarized in terms of its mean and variability. Prior work on performance variability examined evaluations of other people and was limited either by use of correlational designs or imaginal scenarios. Here we conducted two studies with high experimental realism to assess the immediate effects of performance means and variability on self-evaluations (total N = 408 college…
Ignorance of history, political ideology, and attitudes toward Confederate symbols in the United States
Conservatives report much more favorable attitudes toward Confederate symbols (e.g., flags, monuments) than liberals. However, little work has examined factors that mediate or explain this robust political difference. Across two studies, we explored whether knowledge of historical racism mediates political differences in Confederate symbol attitudes. In a predominantly White internet sample ( N = 227, U.S. South), Study 1 found that the associati…
The Association of Self-Esteem With Health and Well-Being: A Quantitative Synthesis of 40 Meta-Analyses
Prior meta-analyses have examined the association between self-esteem and a variety of specific outcomes. Here we aggregated data across 40 unique meta-analyses, which collectively included more than 2,000 studies and 1 million participants to examine the cross-sectional association between self-esteem and overall health/well-being. Results indicated that self-esteem has a robust overall association with health/well-being ( r = .31). Moderator an…
Do growth mindsets reduce the big-fish-little-pond effect
Research on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) indicates that students evaluate themselves more favorably when they have high rank in low rank schools than low rank in high rank schools. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how the detrimental effects of being a little fish in a big pond might be reduced. To address this gap, we conducted two experiments testing whether growth mindsets reduce the BFLPE. Participants in two preregistered studies r…
Empathic forecasting of the big-fish-little-pond effect
The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) is the tendency for students to evaluate themselves more favourably when they have high rank in a low rank school than low rank in a high rank school. Research has documented the BFLPE on experienced emotions. We conducted three studies that examined forecasts of how the BFLPE influences other people's emotions (i.e. empathic forecasts). In Study 1, participants received performance feedback about themselve…
Transgender Knowledge Mediates U.S. Political Differences in Prejudice and Support for Trans-inclusive Policies
There are sharp U.S. political differences in transgender attitudes, with liberals expressing much more favorable attitudes and support for trans-inclusive policies than conservatives. Transgender attitudes likely contribute to numerous public policies that are being passed or considered, including policies that impact transgender health, safety, and well-being. Thus, it is imperative to understand why vast partisan differences in transgender att…
Political Differences in Knowledge and Its Connection With Vaccination During Covid-19
Conservatives in the United States have more negative attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and are less likely to be vaccinated than liberals. The present research tests whether political differences in knowledge underlie differences in vaccination. Participants in Study 1 completed a knowledge test about COVID-19 vaccines and indicated whether they had received a COVID-19 vaccine. Republicans had worse knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines than Democr…
Ignorance of History and Political Differences in Perception of Racism in the United States
According to the Marley hypothesis, White Americans are more ignorant of historical racism than Black Americans, which explains their greater tendency to deny racism in the present. We extended the Marley hypothesis by testing whether it explains political differences in perception of racism among White Americans in the United States. Two preregistered studies measured participants’ knowledge of historical racism as well as their perception of pr…
Big five personality traits and performance: A quantitative synthesis of 50+ meta‐analyses
OBJECTIVE: The connection between personality traits and performance has fascinated scholars in a variety of disciplines for over a century. The present research synthesizes results from 54 meta-analyses (k = 2028, N = 554,778) to examine the association of Big Five traits with overall performance. METHOD: Quantitative aggregation procedures were used to assess the association of Big Five traits with performance, both overall and in specific perf…
Is Affirmation the Cure? Self-Affirmation and European-Americans’ Perception of Systemic Racism
Supporting this argument, preliminary research indicates that self-affirmation boosts European Americans’ perception of racism and reduces the gap between European and Hispanic Americans’ perception of racism. Although promising, these studies were limited by relatively low statistical power and no subsequent studies have assessed their robustness. We conducted 3 pre-registered experiments testing the effect of self-affirmation on perception of r…
Taking Social Comparison to the Extremes: The Huge-Fish-Tiny-Pond Effect in Self-Evaluations
People evaluate themselves more favorably when they are a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond. The present research demonstrates that this tendency is exacerbated in extreme social comparison conditions, explains why, and highlights practical implications. Study 1 participants were told that they were a big (little) fish in a little (big) pond or a huge (tiny) fish in a tiny (huge) pond. Results provided evidence for a huge…
It’s their fault: Partisan attribution bias and its association with voting intentions
This research examined how people explain major outcomes of political consequence (e.g., economic growth, rising inequality). We argue that people attribute positive outcomes more and negative outcomes less to their own political party than to an opposing party. We conducted two studies, one before the 2016 U.S. presidential election ( N = 244) and another before the 2020 election ( N = 249 registered voters), that examined attributions across a …
Implicit self‐esteem following a romantic partner's success: Three replications and a meta‐analysis
Few studies have examined how social comparisons with one's romantic partner influence self‐esteem. Ratliff and Oishi (2013) found that writing about a romantic partner's success versus failure lowered men's implicit self‐esteem (i.e., automatic associations between the concepts self/other and good/bad). We conducted three replications of this research (two preregistered). In each replication, the effect of writing about a romantic partner's succ…
Comparisons Across Dimensions, People, and Time: On the Primacy of Social Comparison in Self-Evaluations
People often consider how their performance in one domain compares to their performance in other domains, the performance of other people, and their past performance (i.e., dimensional, social, and temporal comparison). The present research is the first to test whether social comparisons have a significantly larger effect on self-evaluations than dimensional and temporal comparisons. Study 1 participants received downward versus upward dimensiona…
The better-than-average effect in comparative self-evaluation: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis
33). Results from selection model analyses clarify areas of the BTAE literature in which publication bias may be of elevated concern. Discussion highlights theoretical and empirical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Ignorance of History and Perceptions of Racism: Another Look at the Marley Hypothesis
Why do White Americans perceive less racism than Black Americans? Two provocative studies on the Marley hypothesis suggest that White Americans are more ignorant of historical instances of racism than Black Americans and that ignorance of history mediates racial differences in perceptions of racism. We conducted two replications of the Marley hypothesis in a different institutional and regional context than prior studies. In contrast with prior f…
Subjective social status and health: A meta-analysis of community and society ladders.
Does personality predict health and well-being? A metasynthesis.
OBJECTIVE: To derive a robust and comprehensive estimate of the overall relation between Big Five personality traits and health variables using metasynthesis (i.e., second-order meta-analysis). METHOD: Thirty-six meta-analyses, which collectively provided 150 meta-analytic effects from over 500,000 participants, met criteria for inclusion in the metasynthesis. Information on methodological quality as well as the type of health outcome, unreliabil…
Local dominance effects on self-evaluations and intrinsic motivation
Previous research indicates that local comparisons with one or a few people in the immediate environment have a stronger influence on self-evaluations than general comparisons with larger samples. Two studies examined whether this local dominance effect extends to intrinsic motivation. Study 1 suggests that local comparisons have a stronger effect on both self-evaluations and task enjoyment than general comparisons. Study 2 suggests that local co…
Mars, Venus, or Earth? Sexism and the Exaggeration of Psychological Gender Differences
Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis.
Self-evaluative effects of dimensional and social comparison
Do People Have Insight Into Their Abilities? A Metasynthesis
Having insight into one’s abilities is essential, yet it remains unclear whether people generally perceive their skills accurately or inaccurately. In the present analysis, we examined the overall correspondence between self-evaluations of ability (e.g., academic ability, intelligence, language competence, medical skills, sports ability, and vocational skills) and objective performance measures (e.g., standardized test scores, grades, and supervi…
You May Think You’re Right … Young Adults Are More Liberal Than They Realize
Do people have biased perceptions of their political orientation? Based on the link between political conservatism and in-group loyalty, we predicted that people would underestimate their liberalism and that this effect would be more pronounced among political conservatives. Young adults indicated their self-perceived political orientation and completed an objective measure of political orientation, which placed them along a liberal-conservative …
Referent status neglect: Winners evaluate themselves favorably even when the competitor is incompetent
Self-evaluative effects of temporal and social comparison
Contextual neglect, self-evaluation, and the frog-pond effect
Social comparisons entail not only information about one's standing in a social group (intragroup or local comparison) but also information about the standing of the group in comparison to other groups (intergroup or general comparison). In Studies 1-3, the authors explored the relative impact of intergroup and intragroup comparisons on self-evaluations and affect. While intragroup comparison feedback consistently impacted self-evaluations and af…
Self-evaluative effects of dimensional and social comparison
Mars, Venus, or Earth? Sexism and the Exaggeration of Psychological Gender Differences
It’s their fault: Partisan attribution bias and its association with voting intentions
This research examined how people explain major outcomes of political consequence (e.g., economic growth, rising inequality). We argue that people attribute positive outcomes more and negative outcomes less to their own political party than to an opposing party. We conducted two studies, one before the 2016 U.S. presidential election ( N = 244) and another before the 2020 election ( N = 249 registered voters), that examined attributions across a …
Comparisons over time: Temporal trajectories, social comparison, and self‐evaluation
Social comparison information fluctuates over time. We examined how people evaluate their task performance and ability after receiving test feedback specifying not only that they ranked above or below average, but also that their social status was rising, falling, or remaining constant. Participants' self‐evaluations were more positive when their social standing was rising over time rather than remaining constant. On the other hand, participants …
Referent status neglect: Winners evaluate themselves favorably even when the competitor is incompetent
Transgender Knowledge Mediates U.S. Political Differences in Prejudice and Support for Trans-inclusive Policies
There are sharp U.S. political differences in transgender attitudes, with liberals expressing much more favorable attitudes and support for trans-inclusive policies than conservatives. Transgender attitudes likely contribute to numerous public policies that are being passed or considered, including policies that impact transgender health, safety, and well-being. Thus, it is imperative to understand why vast partisan differences in transgender att…
Political Differences in Knowledge and Its Connection With Vaccination During Covid-19
Conservatives in the United States have more negative attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and are less likely to be vaccinated than liberals. The present research tests whether political differences in knowledge underlie differences in vaccination. Participants in Study 1 completed a knowledge test about COVID-19 vaccines and indicated whether they had received a COVID-19 vaccine. Republicans had worse knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines than Democr…
Implicit self‐esteem following a romantic partner's success: Three replications and a meta‐analysis
Few studies have examined how social comparisons with one's romantic partner influence self‐esteem. Ratliff and Oishi (2013) found that writing about a romantic partner's success versus failure lowered men's implicit self‐esteem (i.e., automatic associations between the concepts self/other and good/bad). We conducted three replications of this research (two preregistered). In each replication, the effect of writing about a romantic partner's succ…
Self-evaluative effects of temporal and social comparison
Contextual neglect, self-evaluation, and the frog-pond effect
Social comparisons entail not only information about one's standing in a social group (intragroup or local comparison) but also information about the standing of the group in comparison to other groups (intergroup or general comparison). In Studies 1-3, the authors explored the relative impact of intergroup and intragroup comparisons on self-evaluations and affect. While intragroup comparison feedback consistently impacted self-evaluations and af…
Comparisons over time: Temporal trajectories, social comparison, and self‐evaluation
Social comparison information fluctuates over time. We examined how people evaluate their task performance and ability after receiving test feedback specifying not only that they ranked above or below average, but also that their social status was rising, falling, or remaining constant. Participants' self‐evaluations were more positive when their social standing was rising over time rather than remaining constant. On the other hand, participants …
Splitting of the Mind: When the You I Talk to is Me and Needs Commands
Self-talk has fascinated scholars for decades but has received little systematic research attention. Three studies examined the conditions under which people talk to themselves as if they are another person, indicating a splitting or fragmentation of the self. Fragmented self-talk, defined by the use of the second person, You, and the imperative, was specifically expected to arise in contexts requiring explicit self-control. Results showed that f…
Cultural Differences in Attitudes Toward Action and Inaction: The Role of Dialecticism
The current research examined whether nations differ in their attitudes toward action and inaction. It was anticipated that members of dialectical East Asian societies would show a positive association in their attitudes toward action/inaction. However, members of non-dialectical European-American societies were expected to show a negative association in their attitudes toward action/inaction. Young adults in 19 nations completed measures of dial…
Do People Have Insight Into Their Abilities? A Metasynthesis
Having insight into one’s abilities is essential, yet it remains unclear whether people generally perceive their skills accurately or inaccurately. In the present analysis, we examined the overall correspondence between self-evaluations of ability (e.g., academic ability, intelligence, language competence, medical skills, sports ability, and vocational skills) and objective performance measures (e.g., standardized test scores, grades, and supervi…
You May Think You’re Right … Young Adults Are More Liberal Than They Realize
Do people have biased perceptions of their political orientation? Based on the link between political conservatism and in-group loyalty, we predicted that people would underestimate their liberalism and that this effect would be more pronounced among political conservatives. Young adults indicated their self-perceived political orientation and completed an objective measure of political orientation, which placed them along a liberal-conservative …
Referent status neglect: Winners evaluate themselves favorably even when the competitor is incompetent
Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis.
Self-evaluative effects of dimensional and social comparison
Mars, Venus, or Earth? Sexism and the Exaggeration of Psychological Gender Differences
Does personality predict health and well-being? A metasynthesis.
OBJECTIVE: To derive a robust and comprehensive estimate of the overall relation between Big Five personality traits and health variables using metasynthesis (i.e., second-order meta-analysis). METHOD: Thirty-six meta-analyses, which collectively provided 150 meta-analytic effects from over 500,000 participants, met criteria for inclusion in the metasynthesis. Information on methodological quality as well as the type of health outcome, unreliabil…
Local dominance effects on self-evaluations and intrinsic motivation
Previous research indicates that local comparisons with one or a few people in the immediate environment have a stronger influence on self-evaluations than general comparisons with larger samples. Two studies examined whether this local dominance effect extends to intrinsic motivation. Study 1 suggests that local comparisons have a stronger effect on both self-evaluations and task enjoyment than general comparisons. Study 2 suggests that local co…
Subjective social status and health: A meta-analysis of community and society ladders.
Ignorance of History and Perceptions of Racism: Another Look at the Marley Hypothesis
Why do White Americans perceive less racism than Black Americans? Two provocative studies on the Marley hypothesis suggest that White Americans are more ignorant of historical instances of racism than Black Americans and that ignorance of history mediates racial differences in perceptions of racism. We conducted two replications of the Marley hypothesis in a different institutional and regional context than prior studies. In contrast with prior f…
Comparisons Across Dimensions, People, and Time: On the Primacy of Social Comparison in Self-Evaluations
People often consider how their performance in one domain compares to their performance in other domains, the performance of other people, and their past performance (i.e., dimensional, social, and temporal comparison). The present research is the first to test whether social comparisons have a significantly larger effect on self-evaluations than dimensional and temporal comparisons. Study 1 participants received downward versus upward dimensiona…
The better-than-average effect in comparative self-evaluation: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis
33). Results from selection model analyses clarify areas of the BTAE literature in which publication bias may be of elevated concern. Discussion highlights theoretical and empirical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Is Affirmation the Cure? Self-Affirmation and European-Americans’ Perception of Systemic Racism
Supporting this argument, preliminary research indicates that self-affirmation boosts European Americans’ perception of racism and reduces the gap between European and Hispanic Americans’ perception of racism. Although promising, these studies were limited by relatively low statistical power and no subsequent studies have assessed their robustness. We conducted 3 pre-registered experiments testing the effect of self-affirmation on perception of r…
Taking Social Comparison to the Extremes: The Huge-Fish-Tiny-Pond Effect in Self-Evaluations
People evaluate themselves more favorably when they are a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond. The present research demonstrates that this tendency is exacerbated in extreme social comparison conditions, explains why, and highlights practical implications. Study 1 participants were told that they were a big (little) fish in a little (big) pond or a huge (tiny) fish in a tiny (huge) pond. Results provided evidence for a huge…
It’s their fault: Partisan attribution bias and its association with voting intentions
This research examined how people explain major outcomes of political consequence (e.g., economic growth, rising inequality). We argue that people attribute positive outcomes more and negative outcomes less to their own political party than to an opposing party. We conducted two studies, one before the 2016 U.S. presidential election ( N = 244) and another before the 2020 election ( N = 249 registered voters), that examined attributions across a …
Implicit self‐esteem following a romantic partner's success: Three replications and a meta‐analysis
Few studies have examined how social comparisons with one's romantic partner influence self‐esteem. Ratliff and Oishi (2013) found that writing about a romantic partner's success versus failure lowered men's implicit self‐esteem (i.e., automatic associations between the concepts self/other and good/bad). We conducted three replications of this research (two preregistered). In each replication, the effect of writing about a romantic partner's succ…
Ignorance of History and Political Differences in Perception of Racism in the United States
According to the Marley hypothesis, White Americans are more ignorant of historical racism than Black Americans, which explains their greater tendency to deny racism in the present. We extended the Marley hypothesis by testing whether it explains political differences in perception of racism among White Americans in the United States. Two preregistered studies measured participants’ knowledge of historical racism as well as their perception of pr…
Big five personality traits and performance: A quantitative synthesis of 50+ meta‐analyses
OBJECTIVE: The connection between personality traits and performance has fascinated scholars in a variety of disciplines for over a century. The present research synthesizes results from 54 meta-analyses (k = 2028, N = 554,778) to examine the association of Big Five traits with overall performance. METHOD: Quantitative aggregation procedures were used to assess the association of Big Five traits with performance, both overall and in specific perf…
Political Differences in Knowledge and Its Connection With Vaccination During Covid-19
Conservatives in the United States have more negative attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and are less likely to be vaccinated than liberals. The present research tests whether political differences in knowledge underlie differences in vaccination. Participants in Study 1 completed a knowledge test about COVID-19 vaccines and indicated whether they had received a COVID-19 vaccine. Republicans had worse knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines than Democr…
Empathic forecasting of the big-fish-little-pond effect
The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) is the tendency for students to evaluate themselves more favourably when they have high rank in a low rank school than low rank in a high rank school. Research has documented the BFLPE on experienced emotions. We conducted three studies that examined forecasts of how the BFLPE influences other people's emotions (i.e. empathic forecasts). In Study 1, participants received performance feedback about themselve…
Psychology (26 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (20 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (12 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (8 works) · Perception (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · Cognitive psychology (6 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works)