I checked 15 psychology journals on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 using the Crossref API. For the period September 23 to September 29, I found 44 new paper(s) in 13 journal(s).

Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science

Pairmutate: A Web Application for Testing Dyadic Associations Through Comparison With Pseudo Dyads
Chiara Carlier, Liesse Frérart, Peter Kuppens, Eva Ceulemans
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Recently, a lot of attention in the behavioral sciences has been going to how feelings, thoughts, or behaviors overlap, covary, or synchronize across time within dyadic relationships, such as romantic couples or parent–child pairs. This is often investigated by computing and testing an association measure within each dyad. However, two individuals may demonstrate similar responses and thus association simply because they are in the same experimental conditions, have similar social or cultural backgrounds, or just share basic biological functions rather than that the observed similarity can be attributed to true interpersonal processes. This “common input” phenomenon is known to increase the probability of false positives when testing dyadic associations. Permutation testing allows one to account for it by comparing associations based on data from true dyads with associations based on data from pseudo dyads. Pseudo dyads are formed by coupling partners from different dyads in the sample. Although this approach has been proven valuable in dyadic research, it is conceptually and computationally complex and thus not readily accessible. In this tutorial, we explain the logic behind testing dyadic associations using pseudo dyads and introduce and demonstrate a newly developed web application called “Pairmutate” for this purpose.
A Practical Tutorial in R for Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling With Hierarchical Effect-Size Dependency and Study-Level Moderators
Junhua Dang
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In this tutorial, I provide a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to conducting two-stage meta-analytic structural equation modeling with hierarchical effect-size dependency and moderation analyses. I illustrate the procedure using a data set of correlations between Big Five personality traits and psychological flow across multiple studies. The proposed workflow uses multilevel-multivariate random-effects pooling in Stage 1 and structural equation modeling in Stage 2. A key feature is a working-model approach to Stage 1 heterogeneity: I fit and compare interpretable heterogeneity structures (e.g., compound-symmetry and heterogeneous compound-symmetry variants) and select the best-fitting pooling model before constructing the Stage 2 inputs. I then demonstrate how to evaluate a categorical moderator (i.e., flow questionnaire) via multigroup comparison. I also illustrate how to test heterogeneity in individual path coefficients and conduct post hoc pairwise comparisons. By walking through the full two-stage meta-analytic structural-equation-modeling workflow using real data and reproducible R code, I intend this tutorial for researchers in psychology, education, and the social sciences who seek to synthesize findings across studies regardless of prior experience with meta-analytic structural equation modeling.
Addressing Missing Data From Prompt Noncompliance: A Practical Guide to Auxiliary Variables in Ecological Momentary Assessment
Stefan Schneider, Marta Walentynowicz, Meynard J. Toledo, Raymond Hernandez, Doerte U. Junghaenel, Joshua M. Smyth, Arthur A. Stone
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Missing data from noncompliance and missed prompts are pervasive in ecological-momentary-assessment (EMA) research. Although researchers often examine variables associated with prompt nonresponse, these variables are rarely incorporated into analytic models, leaving standard multilevel analyses to rely on missing-at-random (MAR) assumptions that are often implausible given the available data. In this tutorial, we introduce an accessible strategy for integrating such variables, known as “auxiliary variables,” directly into multilevel models to bolster the plausibility of the MAR assumption. We outline a practical framework for identifying promising auxiliary variables in EMA data sets (e.g., structural-design features, lagged self-reports, passive metadata) and provide step-by-step instructions for (a) preparing EMA data sets, (b) evaluating the utility of candidate auxiliary variables, and (c) incorporating them into multilevel models of EMA data. To facilitate adoption, we supply open-source R code for each step and introduce an R function ( EMAuxiliary ) that streamlines the estimation of multilevel models with auxiliary variables using freely available Blimp software. A fully worked example using real EMA data illustrates the approach. Our aim is to equip applied researchers with a practical, widely applicable method for reducing bias from missing prompts and strengthening inferences in EMA studies.

Behavior Research Methods

A teamwork response tree model for dyadic agreement-accuracy responses
Peida Zhan, Gaohong Chu
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Disentangling substantive and method variance in mixed-worded scales: An empirical application of the random intercept item factor analysis (RIIFA)
Palmira Faraci, Giuliana Nasonte
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Measuring the dynamics of attentional capture in hand and eye movements with virtual reality
Max D. Gurr, Jeff Moher, Matthew D. Egbert, Christopher D. Erb
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Laboratory investigations of attentional capture typically use two-dimensional displays and button-press responses, which may limit their generalizability to everyday experiences. The current study used a virtual reality (VR) system to measure the dynamics of attentional capture by simultaneously recording participants’ ( N = 54) hand and eye movements as they completed a modified additional singleton task. In both a sparsely detailed and richly detailed virtual environment, participants reached to select a uniquely shaped target that was accompanied by a uniquely colored distractor on 50% of trials. We observed robust attentional capture costs across our measures of hand and eye movements, with greater latencies in initiation and movement times, larger reach curvatures, more overall eye movement, and delayed first target fixations on distractor-present trials. Three-dimensional target attraction and distractor attraction scores provided sensitive measures of the time course of attentional capture and allowed for more direct interpretations of performance than reach curvature. Although initiation times, response times, gaze distances, and target fixation proportions were elevated in the richly detailed environment relative to the sparsely detailed environment, we failed to observe a significant interaction between environmental detail and attentional capture costs in any of our measures. Taken together, our results demonstrate the feasibility of using VR to examine the dynamics of attentional capture in immersive virtual environments with richer, more continuous behavioral measures.
BriDGE the gap: Improving behavioral research by integrating DAGs and GAMs into experiments
Giuseppe Alessandro Veltri, Sanchayan Banerjee
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Understanding the mechanisms through which behavioral interventions work remains a critical challenge in behavioral science. While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide reliable evidence for intervention efficacy, they are seldom designed to reveal the underlying causal pathways that drive observed outcomes. We introduce a comprehensive data-driven methodological protocol – BriDGE – that combines advanced causal inference techniques, such as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), causal discovery algorithms, and generalized additive models (GAMs), to enhance mechanistic insights in behavioral applications. BriDGE modifies conventional experimental analysis with a stepwise approach including DAG-based hypothesis formulation, modeling of nonlinear relationships with GAMs, and detailed mediation analysis. Using bootstrapping and sensitivity checks, BriDGE ensures robust and reliable detection of both direct and indirect effects. We use a simulation study to validate BriDGE’s ability to identify complex causal mechanisms, offering researchers a robust framework for deepening understanding of causal mechanisms and optimizing intervention design. To support adoption, we additionally provide practical guidance on mediator dimensionality, computational feasibility, and simulation-based power planning, including benchmarking templates implemented in the accompanying code. There are natural limitations of BriDGE – we discuss their implications when applied to public policy. We call for a greater integration of these methods in the toolkit of applied policy analysis to bridge the gap from “what works” to “why and how it works”. We also release BriDGE, an open-source R package that implements the workflow to facilitate adoption and reproducibility.
The effect of incentive type on data quality and quantity in an experience sampling study in a student population
Milla PihlajamÀki, Ginette Lafit, Olivia J. Kirtley, Inez Myin-Germeys, Gudrun Eisele
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An LLM canary in the online data coalmine: Bayesian reasoning problems as a capability-gap test for LLM contamination in online samples
Vera Wilde
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Computers in Human Behavior

Capitalizing on positive experiences: Receiving affective empathy fosters a better mood and prosocial waiting
Mingping Li, Yuwen Yang, Xiaodi Wang, Yanjie Su
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Incompetence or deception: Unraveling the asymmetric mechanisms of AI hallucinations on trust and distrust
Kun Wang, Zhao Pan, Yaobin Lu
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A Longitudinal Study of Patterns of Direct Online Harms Victimization in Six EU Countries
Sandy Schumann, Magdalena Celuch, Emmi Kauppila, Iina Savolainen, Atte Oksanen
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Evaluating role-prompted LLM responses on autism-related Theory-of-Mind tasks
Mohammad Mahdi Salmani-Zarchi, Mohammad Javad Dousti, Hamed Khademi Khaledi, Mohammad Mahdi Mohajeri, Abdol Hossein Vahabie, Heshaam Faili
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Personalizing AI voice agents: How voice agents with similar voices shape trust, self-congruency, and behavior
Yun Fu, Martin Meißner
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Beyond tasks: Environment and interaction as active components in virtual reality interventions for dementia
Pai Liu, Daiyue Lu, Jessica Fernandez
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Newcomers help most after being helped, veterans do not: Evidence from Stack Overflow
Lenard Strahringer, Sven Eric Pruess, Kai Riemer
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Divergent relationships between moral disengagement and cyberbullying bystander response behaviors: Examining the amplifying roles of humor and anonymity
Zirui Chen, Clifton R. Emery
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Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

Adolescents’ Future Marriage Preferences: The Codevelopment of National Identity, Attitudes Towards Immigration and Intergroup Marriage Preferences Across Time
Alexander W. O’Donnell, Morgana Lizzio-Wilson, Michael Thai, Emma F. Thomas, Fiona Kate Barlow
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Human development involves constructing an imagined future, with young people often envisioning their future spouse and family composition. The extent to which national, religious and racial preferences emerge during this time is largely unknown. Using a large sample of Australian-born, English-speaking adolescents, the relationships between national identity, attitudes towards immigration and ingroup marriage preferences were assessed into young adulthood. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed significant within-person effects, whereby higher national identity indirectly predicted stronger national and racial marriage preferences 5 years later via increasingly critical attitudes towards immigration. Further, stronger national and racial marriage preferences predicted future increases in negative attitudes towards immigration, which in turn was associated with increased national identity several years later. Although marrying someone from the same religion was reported by young people to be important to them, national identity was not associated with changes in religious marriage preferences. These longitudinal effects suggest that simultaneous efforts to promote a more inclusive national identity and normalise intergroup intimacy could reduce prejudices during a formative developmental period.
Higher Perceived Inequalities Strengthen the Relationship between Economic Insecurity and Anti-Elite Attitudes
Nele Claes, Medhi Marot, Efrain Garcia-Sanchez, Toon Kuppens, Antony S. R. Manstead, Bram Spruyt, Alice Normand, CĂ©line Darnon
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This research examined the psychological mechanisms underlying anti-elite attitudes, focusing on the roles of economic insecurity and perceived economic inequality. In a preregistered study using a large representative sample across nine European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the UK, N = 11,217), we investigated whether feelings of relative deprivation explain the association between perceived personal economic insecurity and two anti-elite attitudes (i.e., populist attitudes and distrust in institutions) and whether perceived societal economic inequality reinforces these effects. The results show that (i) the more individuals feel insecure about their economic situation, the more they report anti-elite attitudes, (ii) which is explained by a greater feeling of relative deprivation (between 43% and 59% of variance explained), (iii) and this relationship is stronger for individuals who perceive greater economic inequalities within their country. This research provides evidence that feelings of relative deprivation constitute an important psychological process underpinning anti-elite attitudes across diverse economic, cultural, and political contexts.
The Fight for the Climate: Social Identities, Grievances, and Authoritarianism Drive Support for Climate Activism and Radicalism
Oluf GĂžtzsche-Astrup
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The combination of increased political authoritarianism and an accelerating climate emergency has led to worries of an uptick in political violence among activists. This paper takes a social psychological approach to develop hypotheses around the role of social identities, personal grievances, and authoritarianism in driving support for more radical climate activism. It tests these hypotheses in a conjoint experiment across the US, the UK, and Denmark (total N = 2,447). The experiment varies characteristics of activists and asks respondents to indicate their support for and willingness to join conventional and transgressive protest groups. Results show that identification with the climate movement and left-wing political alignment constitute protective factors against, rather than accelerators of, radical action. Rather, left-wing authoritarianism emerges as a core driver of more radical responses. The more left-wing authoritarian the respondent, the more open to sympathizing with and willing to join radical protest groups. The paper contributes to our causal understanding of group processes involved in protest and reintroduces conjoint experiments to this domain.

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Negotiations through the lens of situational affordances – A person-situation perspective on negotiating cooperation in social dilemmas
Dorothee Mischkowski, Jasper Zeno Siol, Isabel Thielmann
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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Change perception at zero tolerance: How protected values bias sensitivity to social improvement.
Tobias Vogel, André Mata
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Contextual predictors of state loneliness: The role of social company, activity, location, and duration of contextual exposure.
Ina Busch, Debora Brickau, Maike Luhmann
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Organizational Research Methods

Field Philosophy: A Methodological Approach to Organizational Philosophy-in-Practice
Stephanie Daher, Gazi Islam, Anahid Roux-Rosier
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Organizational research methods have increasingly been concerned with the relation between scholarship and practice, as part of an impact-oriented, responsible management literature. These concerns find an unexpected ally in recent developments within the field of philosophy, in which a distant and abstract relation to the field is replaced by a practice-oriented, collaboratively intense form of engagement referred to as “field philosophy.” Considered as an organizational research method, field philosophy emphasizes exchange, knowledge from below, and insider–outsider collaboration. The current article develops field philosophy for the study of organizational phenomena, illustrating this method with an empirical illustration from a field study of a carbon credit project in the Brazilian Amazon, and drawing out implications for the design and application of field philosophical methods for studying organizations.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Grateful for What and Whom? How Gratitude List Content Varies and Is Associated With Affective Responses
Yoobin Park, Elissa S. Epel, Emiliana Simon-Thomas
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A gratitude list activity, whereby one recalls and writes down things they are grateful for, is a well-studied intervention known to confer an immediate and even prolonged boost in well-being. However, the specific content people reflect on, and how it relates to affective evaluations and the impact of the intervention, remains underexplored. Using data from a global online study ( N = 19,265), we applied natural language processing to examine the content of gratitude lists, identifying 16 thematic clusters, with the most common one focused on social relationships. Next, we examined and found various sociodemographic and psychological differences in people’s gratitude list content. Further, mentioning themes related to family or nature was associated with greater increases in positivity following the activity. Overall, our findings highlight individual differences in what people naturally think of during this popular intervention and suggest opportunities for personalized modifications to enhance adherence to and effectiveness of the intervention.
Is Authenticity Perceptible? Accuracy in Judgments of State Authenticity From Expressive Behavior
Vanessa K. Castro, Serena Chen, Joseph M. Ocampo, Amie M. Gordon, Emily A. Impett, Max Weisbuch
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Substantial research provides evidence that being perceived as authentic benefits well-being and relationships, but under-examined is whether perceptions of authenticity are accurate. Across five studies, we tested whether perceivers can accurately discern others’ state authenticity. In Studies 1 to 3, we investigated correspondence between perceived and felt authenticity within acquainted dyads. Romantic partners accurately discerned each other’s authenticity after making sacrifices (Study 1) and after discussing a topic of personal distress and desired partner change (Study 2). However, partners failed to accurately perceive each other’s felt authenticity when discussing relationship conflict (Study 3), possibly impacted by cognitive or motivational processes elicited by the relatively high interpersonal stakes at play in conflict. In Studies 4A and 4B, outside observers were sensitive to authenticity differences in participants from Study 3 when watching thin-slice videos of the conflict conversations. Overall, we discuss the importance of authenticity for impression formation and close relationships.
A Safe Town? Ostensible State or County Racial Climate Impacts Perceptions of Town-Level Racial Identity-Safety Cues
Izilda Pereira-Jorge, Kim E. Chaney
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Identity-safety cues (ISCs) are environmental signals that indicate one’s marginalized identity is valued. ISC contextual information may impact town evaluations. Over three experiments ( N = 1,107), we examine how single or multiple ISCs posted across storefronts (i.e., Black lives matter flag, Study 1–3) and the racial climate surrounding a hypothetical town (Study 2–3) impact attributions of ISC motives and town evaluations. Racial minorities and Black Americans perceived greater external diversity motives (e.g., social pressure) of a storefront with an ISC when all other storefronts had an ISC compared to when no other storefronts had an ISC (Study 1–3). Ostensible state- and county-level racially egalitarian climates elicited greater expectations of internal diversity motives and positive town evaluations (e.g., greater progressive policies, quality of life, Black residents) compared to prejudicial racial climates and towns with a single ISC (Study 2–3). Findings demonstrate the need to consider multiple levels of ISCs.

Psychological Methods

Model checking for vector autoregressive models.
Jonas Haslbeck, Joran Jongerling, Björn Siepe, Sacha Epskamp, Lourens Waldorp
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The denominator chooses the estimand: A target-population true-score framework for standardized mean differences.
Daiki Nakamura
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A tutorial on Bayesian multilevel latent time series models using stan with the mlts R package.
Kenneth Koslowski, Fabian Felix MĂŒnch, Tobias Koch, Jana Holtmann
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Identifying and modeling careless and insufficient effort responding in continuous rating scale: A response-time-based mixture model.
Youxiang Jiang, Chongqin Xi, Hongbo Wen
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Transitive differential item functioning clustering: A graph-theoretic approach to identifying many-group partial measurement invariance.
Yale Quan, Chun Wang
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Identifying causes of treatment effect heterogeneity across replication studies: Definitions, identification, and estimation of remaining heterogeneity.
Soojin Park, Steffi Pohl, Peter M. Steiner
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Psychological Science

Effects of a Theory-Based Smartphone Intervention to Decrease Neuroticism in the General Public
Amanda J. Wright, Peter Haehner, Rosalie Andrae, Till Lubczyk, Christopher J. Hopwood, Wiebke Bleidorn
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Many people wish to be less neurotic, and such decreases could have far-reaching benefits, but evidence on nonclinical interventions and change mechanisms is limited. Using a German-speaking, adult sample ( N = 446), we conducted a 6-week, smartphone-based randomized controlled intervention to test effects of theory-based strategies targeting different neuroticism levels and aspects. Across groups, there were significant self-report effects ( d effect = −0.22 to −0.37) that persisted through a 2-month follow-up ( d effect = −0.16 to −0.33), and follow-up peer-report effects for one of two measures ( d effect = −0.18 to −0.30). Treatment-group comparisons indicated that state-level strategies fostered larger immediate (albeit shorter-lasting) effects, whereas habit-level strategies led to smaller initial declines that strengthened over time. Behavior-focused strategies, for states and especially habits, yielded particularly strong effects across assessment methods, both independently and incrementally. Our findings demonstrate that neuroticism can be changed within 6 weeks and provide insight into effective mechanisms of change.
Disillusionment With Meritocracy During the Transition to Adulthood: Longitudinal Change in Belief Systems and Depression in China
Shuming Fan, Oliver P. John, Filip De Fruyt
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Meritocracy —the belief that individual effort rather than structural advantages drives success—has long shaped societal narratives but now faces growing skepticism. Using four waves of China Family Panel Studies, we examined changes in meritocratic and nonmeritocratic beliefs among 524 participants from early adolescence (ages 10–13 in 2012) to emerging adulthood (ages 18–21 in 2020) and assessed their concurrent associations with depression trajectories. Meritocratic beliefs declined significantly in both college ( d = −0.56) and noncollege ( d = −0.30) groups. Only college students increased in nonmeritocratic beliefs ( d = 0.72), and these changes were associated with steeper increases in depression. College students’ recognition of structural barriers to success is associated with heightened psychological costs, although causality cannot be inferred.

Psychology of Music

Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Musical Activity and Well-Being Scale: A Methodological Study From TĂŒrkiye
Buket ƞimƟek Arslan, Alper Börekci
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This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Musical Activity and Well-Being Scale. This methodological study was conducted with 424 adults engaged in musical activities at either amateur or professional levels. Following the World Health Organization’s translation and back-translation protocol, the scale was adapted into Turkish and evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency analyses, and correlations with related measures. The findings supported the original five-factor structure of the scale and provided evidence for construct validity. Internal consistency analysis indicated excellent overall reliability (α = .93). In addition, meaningful relationships with measures of musical impact and psychological well-being offered further support for validity. Overall, the results suggest that the Turkish version of the Musical Activity and Well-Being Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing music-related well-being. The scale provides a valuable tool for research and practice in music psychology, education, and health contexts.

Psychology of Popular Media

A message from your outgoing editor.
Karen E. Shackleford
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Differential effects of social media on body esteem: An ecological momentary assessment on weight satisfaction and muscularity importance.
Megan Van Alfen, Sarah M. Coyne, Joseph A. Olsen, Drew P. Cingel, Adam A. Rogers, Ashley Larsen Gibby
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Narcissism on the beach? Attachment style, personality, and self-esteem contingencies of dating-show participants.
Leonie Schlebusch, Florian Hutzler, Sarah Schuster
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Eye tracking and the self-view: Self-focused attention on Zoom is a limited predictor of appearance-related concerns.
Amelia C. Couture Bue, Julie Aprill, Jacob Russell, Mariia Pugina, Carrie Grim, Jessica Simmons, Mania Mohseni, Sheena Hunter
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Editors’ introduction to the special issue: New media and body image.
Megan A. Vendemia, Teresa Lynch
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The effect of the presence and the content of close-ups on narrative responses.
Katalin Éva BĂĄlint, Dorina LĂ©nĂĄrd-Bella, AndrĂĄs BĂĄlint KovĂĄcs
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Technology, Mind, and Behavior

Digital intimacy: Motivations, perceptions, and perceived growth in human–artificial intelligence companionships.
Zeena Whayeb, Robert Hymes, Michelle Beddow
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Why humans use generative AI at work (WHAI-w): Scale development and validation of a needs-based measure.
Sandra Ohly, Mascha Goldschmitt, Hadar Nesher-Shoshan, Xenia Bolschakow, Katharina Neufeld, Thomas Rigotti
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