Jason E Plaks
Biographic Data
| ID | 767275 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jason E Plaks |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jason E |
| FAMILY NAME | Plaks |
| SIGNATURE | PLAKS J E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2706-8067 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 140 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Aspect-Level Personality Characteristics of U.S. Presidential Candidate Supporters in the 2016 and 2020 Elections
With two studies ( N=1,257), we examined the aspect-level personality predictors of support for major U.S. presidential candidates in 2016 and 2020. U.S. residents completed measures of aspect-level personality, overall political orientation, and support for each candidate. The profile that predicted support for each candidate diverged from the profile that predicted generic liberalism/conservatism. Moreover, differences emerged between supporter…
Identifying psychological features of robots that encourage and discourage trust
Three Dimensions of American Conservative Political Orientation Differentially Predict Negativity Bias and Satisfaction With Life
Numerous studies have linked political conservatism with negativity bias, whereas others have linked conservatism with indicators of positive adjustment. This research sought to reconcile this seeming contradiction by examining whether distinct dimensions of conservatism differentially predicted measures of negativity bias and positive adjustment. In two studies, we used an empirically derived and validated Attitude-Based Political Conservatism (…
Anger and Sadness as Moral Signals
Three studies examined the relationship between emotions and moral judgment from an interpersonal perspective. In Studies 1 and 2, participants justified their decisions in sacrificial dilemmas to an imagined interlocutor. Linguistic analyses revealed that Don’t Sacrifice justifications contained more anger-related language than sadness-related language, whereas Sacrifice justifications contained roughly equal proportions of anger and sadness lan…
To believe or not to believe
The present study investigated which stereotypes agnostics share with atheists, and which stereotypes are unique to each group. In Study 1, participants reported stereotypes that they believed society held about agnostics, atheists, Christians, and Muslims. Common stereotypes for agnostics were indecisive and questioning, but for atheists were immoral and intolerant. In Study 2, participants rated how representative 10 key traits from Study 1 wer…
When Less is better
Beyond Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness
INTRODUCTION: Research has consistently revealed positive correlations between political liberalism and Openness to Experience, and between conservatism and Conscientiousness. Most of this research has made use of domain-level models of the Big Five personality traits. Recent work suggests, however, that each Big Five trait domain can be divided into distinct aspects or facets, which offer more nuanced characterizations of each trait. METHODS: Ac…
Disgust and Deontology
Models of moral judgment have linked generalized emotionality with deontological moral judgment. The evidence, however, is mixed. Other research has linked the specific emotion of disgust with generalized moral condemnation. Here too, the evidence is mixed. We suggest that a synthesis of these two literatures points to one specific emotion (disgust) that reliably predicts one specific type of moral judgment (deontological). In all three studies, …
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Romantic pursuit decisions often require a person to risk one of the two errors: pursuing a romantic target when interest is not reciprocated (resulting in rejection) or failing to pursue a romantic target when interest is reciprocated (resulting in a missed romantic opportunity). In the present research, we examined how strongly people wish to avoid these two competing negative outcomes. When asked to recall a regrettable dating experience, part…
I appreciate your effort
Why Do Conservatives Report Being Happier Than Liberals? The Contribution of Neuroticism
Previous studies suggest that conservatives in the United States are happier than liberals. This difference has been attributed to factors including differences in socioeconomic status, group memberships, and system-justifying beliefs. We suggest that differences between liberals and conservatives in personality traits may provide an additional account for the "happiness gap". Specifically, we investigated the role of neuroticism (or conversely, …
Religion and Punishment
We hypothesize that two distinct facets of religiosity—orthodoxy (an emphasis on belief) and orthopraxy (an emphasis on behavior)—predict differential sensitivity to an actor’s intent when making moral judgments. Participants judged actors who performed misdeeds intentionally or unintentionally. In Study 1, high orthopraxy predicted harsher judgments of the unintentional actor, while high orthodoxy predicted more lenient judgments. In Study 2, we…
Conservatives Anticipate and Experience Stronger Emotional Reactions to Negative Outcomes
The present work examined whether conservatives and liberals differ in their anticipation of their own emotional reactions to negative events. In two studies, participants imagined experiencing positive or negative outcomes in domains that do not directly concern politics. In S tudy 1, 190 A merican participants recruited online (64 male, M age = 32 years) anticipated their emotional responses to romantic relationship outcomes. In S tudy 2, 97 C …
Empathy for the group versus indifference toward the victim
Folk Beliefs About Human Genetic Variation Predict Discrete Versus Continuous Racial Categorization and Evaluative Bias
What role do folk beliefs about human genetic variation play in racial categorization and evaluation? In two studies, the authors assessed or manipulated participants' estimates of the percentage of genetic material that human beings have in common and examined whether this variable would predict categorization (Study 1) and evaluation (Study 2) of faces that varied monotonically in Black–White racial composition. In both studies, participants wi…
Attachment Anxiety Uniquely Predicts Regret Proneness in Close Relationship Contexts
Although regret plays a central role in decision making, few studies have explored the nature of regret in close relationships. The authors hypothesized that anxiously attached individuals, who are hypersensitive to relationship threat and prone to ambivalence in close relationships, would be particularly likely to experience regret over relationship-related decisions. Study 1 examined the relative abilities of attachment anxiety and neuroticism …
Impressions at the intersection of ambiguous and obvious social categories
Unexpected improvement, decline, and stasis
The authors hypothesized that reactions to performance feedback depend on whether one's lay theory of intelligence is supported or violated. In Study 1, following improvement feedback, all participants generally exhibited positive affect, but entity theorists (who believe that intelligence is fixed) displayed more anxiety and more effort to restore prediction confidence than did incremental theorists (who believe that intelligence is malleable). …
Meaningful” social inferences
Automatic social behavior as motivated preparation to interact
The authors propose that automatic social behavior may result from perceivers preparing to interact with primed social group members. In Study 1, participants primed with a disliked outgroup (gay men) showed evidence of interaction preparation (aggression) rather than direct stereotypic trait expression (passivity). In Study 2, participants with implicit positive attitudes toward the elderly walked more slowly after "elderly" priming, but partici…
Violations of Implicit Theories and the Sense of Prediction and Control
Beginning with the assumption that implicit theories of personality are crucial tools for understanding social behavior, the authors tested the hypothesis that perceivers would process person information that violated their predominant theory in a biased manner. Using an attentional probe paradigm (Experiment 1) and a recognition memory paradigm (Experiment 2), the authors presented entity theorists (who believe that human attributes are fixed) a…
Static Versus Dynamic Theories and the Perception of Groups
Research on lay theories suggests that people who begin the task of social perception with different starting assumptions follow different cognitive paths and reach different social endpoints. In this article, we show how laypeople's fixed (entity) versus dynamic (incremental) theories of human nature foster different meaning systems for interpreting and respondingto the same group information. Using research with adults and children, in the Unit…
Person theories and attention allocation
How do people respond to information that counters a stereotype? Do they approach it or avoid it? Four experiments showed that attention to stereotype-consistent vs. -inconsistent information depends on people's implicit theories about human traits. Those holding an entity theory (the belief that traits are fixed) consistently displayed greater attention to (Experiments 1 and 4) and recognition of (Experiments 2 and 3) consistent information. whe…
Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork
Using 4 experiments, the authors examined how stereotypic information about teammates influences social loafing and compensation during collective tasks. In each experiment, participants performed better on cognitive tasks when there was a poor (vs. good) fit between the stereotypic strengths of their partner and the requirements of the task. This pattern occurred whether participants used gender stereotypes (Experiment 1) or occupational stereot…
Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork
Person theories and attention allocation
How do people respond to information that counters a stereotype? Do they approach it or avoid it? Four experiments showed that attention to stereotype-consistent vs. -inconsistent information depends on people's implicit theories about human traits. Those holding an entity theory (the belief that traits are fixed) consistently displayed greater attention to (Experiments 1 and 4) and recognition of (Experiments 2 and 3) consistent information. whe…
Automatic social behavior as motivated preparation to interact
The authors propose that automatic social behavior may result from perceivers preparing to interact with primed social group members. In Study 1, participants primed with a disliked outgroup (gay men) showed evidence of interaction preparation (aggression) rather than direct stereotypic trait expression (passivity). In Study 2, participants with implicit positive attitudes toward the elderly walked more slowly after "elderly" priming, but partici…
Impressions at the intersection of ambiguous and obvious social categories
Violations of Implicit Theories and the Sense of Prediction and Control
Beginning with the assumption that implicit theories of personality are crucial tools for understanding social behavior, the authors tested the hypothesis that perceivers would process person information that violated their predominant theory in a biased manner. Using an attentional probe paradigm (Experiment 1) and a recognition memory paradigm (Experiment 2), the authors presented entity theorists (who believe that human attributes are fixed) a…
Meaningful” social inferences
Unexpected improvement, decline, and stasis
The authors hypothesized that reactions to performance feedback depend on whether one's lay theory of intelligence is supported or violated. In Study 1, following improvement feedback, all participants generally exhibited positive affect, but entity theorists (who believe that intelligence is fixed) displayed more anxiety and more effort to restore prediction confidence than did incremental theorists (who believe that intelligence is malleable). …
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Romantic pursuit decisions often require a person to risk one of the two errors: pursuing a romantic target when interest is not reciprocated (resulting in rejection) or failing to pursue a romantic target when interest is reciprocated (resulting in a missed romantic opportunity). In the present research, we examined how strongly people wish to avoid these two competing negative outcomes. When asked to recall a regrettable dating experience, part…
Why Do Conservatives Report Being Happier Than Liberals? The Contribution of Neuroticism
Previous studies suggest that conservatives in the United States are happier than liberals. This difference has been attributed to factors including differences in socioeconomic status, group memberships, and system-justifying beliefs. We suggest that differences between liberals and conservatives in personality traits may provide an additional account for the "happiness gap". Specifically, we investigated the role of neuroticism (or conversely, …
Empathy for the group versus indifference toward the victim
I appreciate your effort
Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork
Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork
Using 4 experiments, the authors examined how stereotypic information about teammates influences social loafing and compensation during collective tasks. In each experiment, participants performed better on cognitive tasks when there was a poor (vs. good) fit between the stereotypic strengths of their partner and the requirements of the task. This pattern occurred whether participants used gender stereotypes (Experiment 1) or occupational stereot…
When Less is better
Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork
Using 4 experiments, the authors examined how stereotypic information about teammates influences social loafing and compensation during collective tasks. In each experiment, participants performed better on cognitive tasks when there was a poor (vs. good) fit between the stereotypic strengths of their partner and the requirements of the task. This pattern occurred whether participants used gender stereotypes (Experiment 1) or occupational stereot…
Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork
Static Versus Dynamic Theories and the Perception of Groups
Research on lay theories suggests that people who begin the task of social perception with different starting assumptions follow different cognitive paths and reach different social endpoints. In this article, we show how laypeople's fixed (entity) versus dynamic (incremental) theories of human nature foster different meaning systems for interpreting and respondingto the same group information. Using research with adults and children, in the Unit…
Person theories and attention allocation
How do people respond to information that counters a stereotype? Do they approach it or avoid it? Four experiments showed that attention to stereotype-consistent vs. -inconsistent information depends on people's implicit theories about human traits. Those holding an entity theory (the belief that traits are fixed) consistently displayed greater attention to (Experiments 1 and 4) and recognition of (Experiments 2 and 3) consistent information. whe…
Violations of Implicit Theories and the Sense of Prediction and Control
Beginning with the assumption that implicit theories of personality are crucial tools for understanding social behavior, the authors tested the hypothesis that perceivers would process person information that violated their predominant theory in a biased manner. Using an attentional probe paradigm (Experiment 1) and a recognition memory paradigm (Experiment 2), the authors presented entity theorists (who believe that human attributes are fixed) a…
Meaningful” social inferences
Automatic social behavior as motivated preparation to interact
The authors propose that automatic social behavior may result from perceivers preparing to interact with primed social group members. In Study 1, participants primed with a disliked outgroup (gay men) showed evidence of interaction preparation (aggression) rather than direct stereotypic trait expression (passivity). In Study 2, participants with implicit positive attitudes toward the elderly walked more slowly after "elderly" priming, but partici…
Unexpected improvement, decline, and stasis
The authors hypothesized that reactions to performance feedback depend on whether one's lay theory of intelligence is supported or violated. In Study 1, following improvement feedback, all participants generally exhibited positive affect, but entity theorists (who believe that intelligence is fixed) displayed more anxiety and more effort to restore prediction confidence than did incremental theorists (who believe that intelligence is malleable). …
Impressions at the intersection of ambiguous and obvious social categories
Folk Beliefs About Human Genetic Variation Predict Discrete Versus Continuous Racial Categorization and Evaluative Bias
What role do folk beliefs about human genetic variation play in racial categorization and evaluation? In two studies, the authors assessed or manipulated participants' estimates of the percentage of genetic material that human beings have in common and examined whether this variable would predict categorization (Study 1) and evaluation (Study 2) of faces that varied monotonically in Black–White racial composition. In both studies, participants wi…
Attachment Anxiety Uniquely Predicts Regret Proneness in Close Relationship Contexts
Although regret plays a central role in decision making, few studies have explored the nature of regret in close relationships. The authors hypothesized that anxiously attached individuals, who are hypersensitive to relationship threat and prone to ambivalence in close relationships, would be particularly likely to experience regret over relationship-related decisions. Study 1 examined the relative abilities of attachment anxiety and neuroticism …
Religion and Punishment
We hypothesize that two distinct facets of religiosity—orthodoxy (an emphasis on belief) and orthopraxy (an emphasis on behavior)—predict differential sensitivity to an actor’s intent when making moral judgments. Participants judged actors who performed misdeeds intentionally or unintentionally. In Study 1, high orthopraxy predicted harsher judgments of the unintentional actor, while high orthodoxy predicted more lenient judgments. In Study 2, we…
Conservatives Anticipate and Experience Stronger Emotional Reactions to Negative Outcomes
The present work examined whether conservatives and liberals differ in their anticipation of their own emotional reactions to negative events. In two studies, participants imagined experiencing positive or negative outcomes in domains that do not directly concern politics. In S tudy 1, 190 A merican participants recruited online (64 male, M age = 32 years) anticipated their emotional responses to romantic relationship outcomes. In S tudy 2, 97 C …
Empathy for the group versus indifference toward the victim
Why Do Conservatives Report Being Happier Than Liberals? The Contribution of Neuroticism
Previous studies suggest that conservatives in the United States are happier than liberals. This difference has been attributed to factors including differences in socioeconomic status, group memberships, and system-justifying beliefs. We suggest that differences between liberals and conservatives in personality traits may provide an additional account for the "happiness gap". Specifically, we investigated the role of neuroticism (or conversely, …
I appreciate your effort
Disgust and Deontology
Models of moral judgment have linked generalized emotionality with deontological moral judgment. The evidence, however, is mixed. Other research has linked the specific emotion of disgust with generalized moral condemnation. Here too, the evidence is mixed. We suggest that a synthesis of these two literatures points to one specific emotion (disgust) that reliably predicts one specific type of moral judgment (deontological). In all three studies, …
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Romantic pursuit decisions often require a person to risk one of the two errors: pursuing a romantic target when interest is not reciprocated (resulting in rejection) or failing to pursue a romantic target when interest is reciprocated (resulting in a missed romantic opportunity). In the present research, we examined how strongly people wish to avoid these two competing negative outcomes. When asked to recall a regrettable dating experience, part…
Beyond Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness
INTRODUCTION: Research has consistently revealed positive correlations between political liberalism and Openness to Experience, and between conservatism and Conscientiousness. Most of this research has made use of domain-level models of the Big Five personality traits. Recent work suggests, however, that each Big Five trait domain can be divided into distinct aspects or facets, which offer more nuanced characterizations of each trait. METHODS: Ac…
Identifying psychological features of robots that encourage and discourage trust
Three Dimensions of American Conservative Political Orientation Differentially Predict Negativity Bias and Satisfaction With Life
Numerous studies have linked political conservatism with negativity bias, whereas others have linked conservatism with indicators of positive adjustment. This research sought to reconcile this seeming contradiction by examining whether distinct dimensions of conservatism differentially predicted measures of negativity bias and positive adjustment. In two studies, we used an empirically derived and validated Attitude-Based Political Conservatism (…
Anger and Sadness as Moral Signals
Three studies examined the relationship between emotions and moral judgment from an interpersonal perspective. In Studies 1 and 2, participants justified their decisions in sacrificial dilemmas to an imagined interlocutor. Linguistic analyses revealed that Don’t Sacrifice justifications contained more anger-related language than sadness-related language, whereas Sacrifice justifications contained roughly equal proportions of anger and sadness lan…
To believe or not to believe
The present study investigated which stereotypes agnostics share with atheists, and which stereotypes are unique to each group. In Study 1, participants reported stereotypes that they believed society held about agnostics, atheists, Christians, and Muslims. Common stereotypes for agnostics were indecisive and questioning, but for atheists were immoral and intolerant. In Study 2, participants rated how representative 10 key traits from Study 1 wer…
When Less is better
Aspect-Level Personality Characteristics of U.S. Presidential Candidate Supporters in the 2016 and 2020 Elections
With two studies ( N=1,257), we examined the aspect-level personality predictors of support for major U.S. presidential candidates in 2016 and 2020. U.S. residents completed measures of aspect-level personality, overall political orientation, and support for each candidate. The profile that predicted support for each candidate diverged from the profile that predicted generic liberalism/conservatism. Moreover, differences emerged between supporter…
Psychology (24 works) · Social Psychology (24 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (17 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (11 works) · Cognitive psychology (10 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Epistemology (6 works) · Personality (6 works) · Biology and political orientation (5 works)