RESUMEN
Multiculturalism and tolerance, as two sets of normative beliefs about how to deal with intergroup diversity, have been recognized as effective at reducing outgroup negativity among majority group members. However, whether majority group members' normative beliefs regarding them might motivate their solidarity-based collective actions and how their political ideology might qualify this influence remained unclear. To answer these questions, we conducted two pre-registered experimental studies (N = 626), both zooming in on the multiculturalism issues in the context of the relationships between native Dutch citizens and citizens with a Moroccan background within Dutch university campuses (Study 1) and broader Dutch society (Study 2). In both studies, we found an ingroup norm of tolerance (vs. control) undermined majority group members' engagement in collective actions in support of ethnic minorities. Additionally, ideological leftists were more sensitive to norms than rightists: Study 1 showed a facilitative effect of the multiculturalism norm (vs. control) on solidarity-based collective action intentions particularly among leftists, whilst Study 2 revealed a dampening effect of the tolerance norm (vs. control) on these intentions particularly among leftists.
RESUMEN
It is well-documented that economic inequality can harm political stability and social cohesion. In six experiments (total N = 1,907) conducted in China and the United Kingdom, we tested our primary hypothesis that high (vs. low) economic inequality leads to voters' reduced preferences for competent political leaders. Across studies, this prediction was consistently supported by experimental evidence, regardless of the voter's social status. We also found that high (vs. low) economic inequality indirectly diminished preferences for competent political leaders through heightened perceptions that politicians were less inclined to care about the populace in a highly (vs. lowly) unequal societal context. In essence, our findings underscore the idea that economic inequality curtails voters' preferences for competent political leaders by amplifying their concerns about politicians' indifference to the populace. It also stresses the need for policies and practices to address economic inequality and maintain the vitality of democracy.
RESUMEN
Three preregistered experiments examined to what extent information about an epidemic situation provided by experts and information about anti-infection policies promoted by governments/media influenced anti-infection behaviors. The above effects were examined among populations from different countries (in Experiments 2 and 3) and across self-construals (in Experiment 3). In three experiments, participants (N =706) were presented with a scenario where experts provided (or did not provide) information about an epidemic situation and governments/media promoted (or did not promote) information about anti-infection policies. After that, participants indicated their willingness to adopt anti-infection behaviors. Results across three experiments showed that both types of information independently increased participants' anti-infection behaviors. In Experiments 2 and 3, we further found that the epidemic information had a larger impact on inducing anti-infection behaviors than the policy information, which was robust and consistent across countries and self-construals. Findings were discussed under the framework of social influence and in terms of practical implications for pandemic situations like the COVID-19.