Sharon Dewitte
Biographic Data
| ID | 97589 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sharon Dewitte |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sharon |
| FAMILY NAME | Dewitte |
| SIGNATURE | DEWITTE S |
| AFFILIATIONS | KU Leuven |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6010-4782 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 42 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 198 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 42 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Regional and Temporal Differences in Disease, Trauma, and Mortality in Iron Age Britain
The British Iron Age (eighth to first centuries B.C.) is characterized by agrarian communities who were regionally diverse and highly distinctive. In this study, we explored three new research questions about these communities using data derived from the primary inhumations of Middle Iron Age (400–100 B.C.) Yorkshire and Early to Late Iron Age Dorset (eighth century B.C. to early–mid first century A.D.) and a range of statistical approaches: did …
The State of the Art and Future Research Directions in Face-to-Face Fundraising: A Systematic Literature Review
Face-to-face (F2F) fundraising is employed by nonprofit organizations all around the world. We systematically review 50 years of literature on this technique, focusing on door-to-door and street fundraising, two types that allow for reaching a large, randomly assembled, and heterogeneous group of people, who typically have no personal relationship with recruiters. We provide both a quantitative and qualitative synthesis of 67 articles published i…
Evaluation mode affects choice of healthy and unhealthy Food: The role of taste and healthiness attribute evaluability
Non-monetary reinforcement effects on pro-environmental behavior
Pubertal Timing as a Measure of Health and Well-Being and a Bridge Between Past and Present
Bioarchaeology is inherently interdisciplinary, but there is room to expand collaboration and dialogue with scholars in other fields, particularly if we want our work to benefit living people. One way to promote interdisciplinarity is through broader adoption of measures used in related fields. Given our own interests in health and well-being, here we describe applications of pubertal timing, which has been shown to reflect living conditions. By …
Uncertainty causes humans to use social heuristics and to cooperate more: An experiment among Belgian university students
Demographic and Evolutionary Consequences of Pandemic Diseases
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has justifiably captured the attention of people around the world since late 2019. It has produced in many people a new perspective on or, indeed, a new realization about our potential vulnerability to emerging infectious diseases. However, our species has experienced numerous catastrophic disease pandemics in the past, and in addition to concerns about the harm being produced during the pandemic and the potential lo…
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…
A preregistered study of the relationship between childhood socioeconomic background, life history strategies and conformity
Verbal aptitude hurts children's economic decision‐making accuracy
The impact of children's decision making increases with age and has relatively increased through time. Although a lot is known about cognitive development, less is known about how this development impacts decision accuracy in economic situations. This study builds on revealed preference theory to study the impact of cognitive aptitude on economic decision‐making accuracy and explores the intervening role of decision heuristics. In a study ( n = 1…
Positive affect and pro-environmental behavior: A preregistered experiment
Having less, giving more? Two preregistered replications of the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior
Measuring pro-environmental behavior: Review and recommendations
A Novel Investigation into Migrant and Local Health-Statuses in the Past: A Case Study from Roman Britain
Migration continues to be a central theme in archaeology, and bioarchaeology has made significant contributions toward understanding the disease and demographic consequences of migration in different periods and places. These studies have been enhanced by stable isotope studies of mobility and diet, which have revealed further complexities.This study integrates osteological, palaeopathological and stable isotope evidence to investigate the interr…
Trends in mortality and biological stress in a medieval polish urban population
The Conundrum of Modern Art: Prestige-Driven Coevolutionary Aesthetics Trumps Evolutionary Aesthetics among Art Experts
A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect
Good self-control has been linked to adaptive outcomes such as better health, cohesive personal relationships, success in the workplace and at school, and less susceptibility to crime and addictions. In contrast, self-control failure is linked to maladaptive outcomes. Understanding the mechanisms by which self-control predicts behavior may assist in promoting better regulation and outcomes. A popular approach to understanding self-control is the …
Pre-exposure to food temptation reduces subsequent consumption: A test of the procedure with a South-African sample
Time-based versus money-based decision making under risk: An experimental investigation
Yersinia pestis and the Plague of Justinian 541–543 AD: A genomic analysis
Household ecology and out-migration among ethnic Karen along the Thai-Myanmar border
Local migration in developing-world settings, particularly among rural populations, is an important yet understudied demographic process. Research on migration in such populations can help us test and inform anthropological and demographic theory. Furtherm
Adapting to an initial self-regulatory task cancels the ego depletion effect
From willpower breakdown to the breakdown of the willpower model – The symmetry of self-control and impulsive behavior
Between Famine and Death: England on the Eve of the Black Death-Evidence from Paleoepidemiology and Manorial Accounts
Archaeological findings, in conjunction with contemporary quantitative data from manorial records, demonstrate that most of the English population before the onset of the Black Death (1348-1350) suffered from a chronic shortage of protein, calcium, and Vitamin B12 for at least one generation-much longer than the three years of bad harvests and grain famine typically attributed to the Great Famine (1315-1317). The skeletal evidence suggests that a…
The joint effect of tangible and non-tangible rewards on healthy food choices in children
Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice
Neuroscientific studies demonstrate that erotic stimuli activate the reward circuitry processing monetary and drug rewards. Theoretically, a general reward system may give rise to nonspecific effects: exposure to “hot stimuli” from one domain may thus affect decisions in a different domain. We show that exposure to sexy cues leads to more impatience in intertemporal choice between monetary rewards. Highlighting the role of a general reward circui…
What Do We Know about the Agricultural Demographic Transition
The Agricultural Revolution accompanied, either as a cause or as an effect, important changes in human demographic systems. The consensus model is that fertility and mortality increased and health declined with the adoption of agriculture, compared to those for hunter-gatherers. Analysis of the agricultural transition relies primarily on archaeological and paleodemographic data and is thus subject to the errors associated with such data. The assu…
Self-Regulating Enhances Self-Regulation in Subsequent Consumer Decisions Involving Similar Response Conflicts
Ego depletion, the observation that self-regulation reduces subsequent self-regulation, is a remarkably robust phenomenon, and the generalization to the consumer domain appears undisputable. Contrary to most other self-regulatory situations, however, consecutive self-regulatory decisions in consumer settings tend to be similar in the control processes that they recruit. Three experiments demonstrate the pivotal role of similarity. When two consec…
Between Famine and Death: England on the Eve of the Black Death-Evidence from Paleoepidemiology and Manorial Accounts
Archaeological findings, in conjunction with contemporary quantitative data from manorial records, demonstrate that most of the English population before the onset of the Black Death (1348-1350) suffered from a chronic shortage of protein, calcium, and Vitamin B12 for at least one generation-much longer than the three years of bad harvests and grain famine typically attributed to the Great Famine (1315-1317). The skeletal evidence suggests that a…
Tempt Me Just a Little Bit More: The Effect of Prior Food Temptation Actionability on Goal Activation and Consumption
People are often exposed to actionable food temptations (i.e., an immediate opportunity to consume, like when friends offer cookies) and nonactionable food temptations (i.e., no immediate consumption opportunity, like ads for chocolate). The results of three experiments suggest that prior exposure to nonactionable food temptations does not prevent the activation of an eating goal, given a subsequent consumption opportunity, while prior exposure t…
The less I trust, the less I contribute (or not)?’ The effects of trust, accountability and self‐monitoring in social dilemmas
The present research examined the influence of trust, accountability, and self‐monitoring on individual decision makers' willingness to contribute in a give‐some game and in an experimental public goods dilemma. Previous research has shown that trust and contributions are positively related such that high trusters generally contribute more than low trusters. The present research questions the pervasiveness of this relation by arguing that low tru…
I felt low and my purse feels light: Depleting mood regulation attempts affect risk decision making
We propose that negative affect can induce people to engage in risky decisions. We test two alternative hypotheses as to how this effect may emerge. The mood repair hypothesis states that risky choices in risk decision making serve as a means to repair one's negative affect. The depletion hypothesis, in contrast, states that risky choices in risk decision making are the mere consequence of a state of depletion resulting from engagement in active …
The role of different types of instrumentality in motivation, study strategies, and performance: Know why you learn, so you'll know what you learn
Background: Two theories in the field of motivation and achievement, namely the future time perspective theory and goal theory, result in conflicting recommendations for enhancing students' motivation, because of their differential emphasis on the task at hand and on the future consequences of a task.Aims: We will present a framework consisting of four types of instrumentality that combines both perspectives. The implications of those different t…
Altruistic behavior as a costly signal of general intelligence
Having less, giving more? Two preregistered replications of the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior
Positive affect and pro-environmental behavior: A preregistered experiment
Wanting a Bit(e) of Everything: Extending the Valuation Effect to Variety Seeking
Markman and Brendl have demonstrated that individuals tend to regard as more valuable those objects that are able to satisfy an active desire. Building on their framework, we predicted that desire would enlarge the consideration set and, hence, affect variety-seeking tendencies in a product category. Our first study shows that hunger and visual food cues enhance variety seeking in food items. Further, by means of mediation analyses and a suppress…
The presence of aggression cues inverts the relation between digit ratio (2D): (4D) and prosocial behaviour in a dictator game
Digit ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have relatively shorter index (2D) compared to ring (4D) fingers than women. More masculine ratios are thought to be influenced by higher prenatal testosterone levels. In the present paper, we aim to show the context-dependency of the relation between 2D:4D and social behaviour. In two studies, we expose participants either to control or to aggression cues. Afterwards, they make a decision in…
Time-based versus money-based decision making under risk: An experimental investigation
From willpower breakdown to the breakdown of the willpower model – The symmetry of self-control and impulsive behavior
The joint effect of tangible and non-tangible rewards on healthy food choices in children
Engaging in self‐regulation results in low‐level construals
Previous research has suggested that self‐regulation results in low‐level construals but has inferred construal levels after self‐regulation only indirectly, through construal‐dependent judgments and choices. In the present paper, we demonstrate a direct link between engaging in self‐regulation and low‐level construals, by manipulating self‐regulation and subsequently assessing construal levels using well‐established and straightforward measures …
Wanting to have vs. wanting to be: The effect of perceived instrumentality on goal orientation
Two theories of motivation relevant to classroom learning result in conflicting recommendations for enhancing motivation and performance. The goal theory stresses only that stimulating an individual s natural curiosity will increase motivation. This theory relies on the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Future time perspective theory stresses the importance of the personal future for motivation and learning and the utility o…
Non-monetary reinforcement effects on pro-environmental behavior
The Conundrum of Modern Art: Prestige-Driven Coevolutionary Aesthetics Trumps Evolutionary Aesthetics among Art Experts
Is this a question? Not for long. The statement bias
Being funny: A selectionist account of humor production
In this paper, we develop a theory to explain why some people possess a good sense of humor (i.e., are funny) while others do not. In essence, the theory follows the general selectionist (Donahoe and Palmer 1994) scheme of response generation and selection : People who both generate a lot of jokes and are sensitive to negative appraisal will be considered to be humorous by their peers. Data to test this theory are described and analyzed. Most res…
Wanting to have vs. wanting to be: The effect of perceived instrumentality on goal orientation
Two theories of motivation relevant to classroom learning result in conflicting recommendations for enhancing motivation and performance. The goal theory stresses only that stimulating an individual s natural curiosity will increase motivation. This theory relies on the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Future time perspective theory stresses the importance of the personal future for motivation and learning and the utility o…
Being funny: A selectionist account of humor production
In this paper, we develop a theory to explain why some people possess a good sense of humor (i.e., are funny) while others do not. In essence, the theory follows the general selectionist (Donahoe and Palmer 1994) scheme of response generation and selection : People who both generate a lot of jokes and are sensitive to negative appraisal will be considered to be humorous by their peers. Data to test this theory are described and analyzed. Most res…
The less I trust, the less I contribute (or not)?’ The effects of trust, accountability and self‐monitoring in social dilemmas
The present research examined the influence of trust, accountability, and self‐monitoring on individual decision makers' willingness to contribute in a give‐some game and in an experimental public goods dilemma. Previous research has shown that trust and contributions are positively related such that high trusters generally contribute more than low trusters. The present research questions the pervasiveness of this relation by arguing that low tru…
The role of different types of instrumentality in motivation, study strategies, and performance: Know why you learn, so you'll know what you learn
Background: Two theories in the field of motivation and achievement, namely the future time perspective theory and goal theory, result in conflicting recommendations for enhancing students' motivation, because of their differential emphasis on the task at hand and on the future consequences of a task.Aims: We will present a framework consisting of four types of instrumentality that combines both perspectives. The implications of those different t…
Is this a question? Not for long. The statement bias
"The robustness of the "Raise-The-Stakes” strategy
Altruistic behavior as a costly signal of general intelligence
Wanting a Bit(e) of Everything: Extending the Valuation Effect to Variety Seeking
Markman and Brendl have demonstrated that individuals tend to regard as more valuable those objects that are able to satisfy an active desire. Building on their framework, we predicted that desire would enlarge the consideration set and, hence, affect variety-seeking tendencies in a product category. Our first study shows that hunger and visual food cues enhance variety seeking in food items. Further, by means of mediation analyses and a suppress…
Positive cueing: Promoting sustainable consumer behavior by cueing common environmental behaviors as environmental
A subordinate status position increases the present value of financial resources for low 2D: 4D men
It has been suggested that the ratio of the length of the 2nd and 4th fingers (digit ratio or 2D:4D) is related to prenatal testosterone with lower ratios thought to be influenced by higher prenatal testosterone levels. Accordingly, low 2D:4D has been associated to a number of fitness‐related factors, such as high status in competitive sports and in music. Recent evidence suggests that 2D:4D is also related to economic decision making. We combine…
I felt low and my purse feels light: Depleting mood regulation attempts affect risk decision making
We propose that negative affect can induce people to engage in risky decisions. We test two alternative hypotheses as to how this effect may emerge. The mood repair hypothesis states that risky choices in risk decision making serve as a means to repair one's negative affect. The depletion hypothesis, in contrast, states that risky choices in risk decision making are the mere consequence of a state of depletion resulting from engagement in active …
Tempt Me Just a Little Bit More: The Effect of Prior Food Temptation Actionability on Goal Activation and Consumption
People are often exposed to actionable food temptations (i.e., an immediate opportunity to consume, like when friends offer cookies) and nonactionable food temptations (i.e., no immediate consumption opportunity, like ads for chocolate). The results of three experiments suggest that prior exposure to nonactionable food temptations does not prevent the activation of an eating goal, given a subsequent consumption opportunity, while prior exposure t…
Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice
Neuroscientific studies demonstrate that erotic stimuli activate the reward circuitry processing monetary and drug rewards. Theoretically, a general reward system may give rise to nonspecific effects: exposure to “hot stimuli” from one domain may thus affect decisions in a different domain. We show that exposure to sexy cues leads to more impatience in intertemporal choice between monetary rewards. Highlighting the role of a general reward circui…
Self-Regulating Enhances Self-Regulation in Subsequent Consumer Decisions Involving Similar Response Conflicts
Ego depletion, the observation that self-regulation reduces subsequent self-regulation, is a remarkably robust phenomenon, and the generalization to the consumer domain appears undisputable. Contrary to most other self-regulatory situations, however, consecutive self-regulatory decisions in consumer settings tend to be similar in the control processes that they recruit. Three experiments demonstrate the pivotal role of similarity. When two consec…
The presence of aggression cues inverts the relation between digit ratio (2D): (4D) and prosocial behaviour in a dictator game
Digit ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have relatively shorter index (2D) compared to ring (4D) fingers than women. More masculine ratios are thought to be influenced by higher prenatal testosterone levels. In the present paper, we aim to show the context-dependency of the relation between 2D:4D and social behaviour. In two studies, we expose participants either to control or to aggression cues. Afterwards, they make a decision in…
What Do We Know about the Agricultural Demographic Transition
The Agricultural Revolution accompanied, either as a cause or as an effect, important changes in human demographic systems. The consensus model is that fertility and mortality increased and health declined with the adoption of agriculture, compared to those for hunter-gatherers. Analysis of the agricultural transition relies primarily on archaeological and paleodemographic data and is thus subject to the errors associated with such data. The assu…
The joint effect of tangible and non-tangible rewards on healthy food choices in children
Engaging in self‐regulation results in low‐level construals
Previous research has suggested that self‐regulation results in low‐level construals but has inferred construal levels after self‐regulation only indirectly, through construal‐dependent judgments and choices. In the present paper, we demonstrate a direct link between engaging in self‐regulation and low‐level construals, by manipulating self‐regulation and subsequently assessing construal levels using well‐established and straightforward measures …
Adapting to an initial self-regulatory task cancels the ego depletion effect
From willpower breakdown to the breakdown of the willpower model – The symmetry of self-control and impulsive behavior
Between Famine and Death: England on the Eve of the Black Death-Evidence from Paleoepidemiology and Manorial Accounts
Archaeological findings, in conjunction with contemporary quantitative data from manorial records, demonstrate that most of the English population before the onset of the Black Death (1348-1350) suffered from a chronic shortage of protein, calcium, and Vitamin B12 for at least one generation-much longer than the three years of bad harvests and grain famine typically attributed to the Great Famine (1315-1317). The skeletal evidence suggests that a…
Yersinia pestis and the Plague of Justinian 541–543 AD: A genomic analysis
Household ecology and out-migration among ethnic Karen along the Thai-Myanmar border
Local migration in developing-world settings, particularly among rural populations, is an important yet understudied demographic process. Research on migration in such populations can help us test and inform anthropological and demographic theory. Furtherm
Time-based versus money-based decision making under risk: An experimental investigation
A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect
Good self-control has been linked to adaptive outcomes such as better health, cohesive personal relationships, success in the workplace and at school, and less susceptibility to crime and addictions. In contrast, self-control failure is linked to maladaptive outcomes. Understanding the mechanisms by which self-control predicts behavior may assist in promoting better regulation and outcomes. A popular approach to understanding self-control is the …
Psychology (31 works) · Social Psychology (28 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (15 works) · Cognitive psychology (14 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · Economics (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works) · Geography (8 works) · Demography (7 works)