I checked 15 psychology journals on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 using the Crossref API. For the period November 11 to November 17, I found 25 new paper(s) in 8 journal(s).

Behavior Research Methods

The HeCz corpus: A large, richly annotated reading corpus of newspaper headlines in Czech
Jan Chromý, Markéta Ceháková, James Brand
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Large behavioral datasets that provide detailed data on reading processes are valuable resources for a range of researchers working in linguistics, psychology and cognitive science. This paper presents the HeCz corpus, which comprises self-paced reading data for 1919 newspaper headlines (23,634 words) in Czech, with each headline being accompanied by a yes–no comprehension question, resulting in a rich dataset of reading times for each individual word and comprehension accuracy. The corpus is novel in terms of the sheer scale of data collection, with 1872 native Czech speakers, each reading approximately 120 headlines, with 1162 of those participants also completing the experiment again in a re-testing session using the same stimuli approximately 1 month later. There is participant level meta-data also available relating to basic demographic information, reading habits and a profile of their mood state prior to completing the experiment. Beyond the behavioral and demographic data, we also include a range of linguistic annotations for several variables, e.g., frequency, surprisal, morphological tagging. To better understand how these variables might impact processing, we present exploratory analyses where we predicted the reading times for words, with the results indicating important roles for linguistic, demographic, and methodological variables. Given the range of multidisciplinary applications of the HeCz corpus, we hope that it will provide a valuable and unprecedented resource for a range of research applications related to reading processes.
Missing data in microrandomized trials: Challenges and opportunities
Shiyu Zhang, John J. Dziak, Lizbeth Benson, Jamie R. T. Yap, Dusti R. Jones, Cho Y. Lam, Lindsey N. Potter, David W. Wetter, Inbal Nahum-Shani
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The vision of leveraging digital technologies to deliver real-time psychological interventions in everyday settings is realized via just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) – an intervention design that guides the use of rapidly changing information about a person’s internal states and contexts to decide whether and how to intervene in daily life. Microrandomized trials (MRTs) were developed as an experimental design to address scientific questions about how to best construct JITAIs, enabling scientists to investigate whether, what type, and under what conditions, intervention delivery can promote behavior change. However, missing data present challenges to the ability of MRTs to inform the development of JITAIs. This article articulates the multiple sources of missing data that can manifest in MRT studies, discusses how such missing data can impact (1) bias, (2) variance, and (3) the future implementation of JITAIs, and discusses strategies for both minimizing missing data in an MRT design and handling missing data when they occur. The overarching goal is to provide a conceptual framework that will guide future investigators in anticipating missing data and making informed decisions to manage them. Throughout, we illustrate concepts using existing data from the Mobile Assistance for Regulating Smoking (MARS) study. MARS ( n = 99) involved a 10-day MRT that included up to six randomizations per person per day.
The impact of dichotomization on network recovery
Nikola Sekulovski, Tessa F. Blanken, Jonas M. B. Haslbeck, Maarten Marsman
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Graphical models have become an important method for studying the network structure of multivariate psychological data. Accurate recovery of the underlying network structure is paramount and requires that the models are appropriate for the data at hand. Traditionally, Gaussian graphical models for continuous data and Ising models for binary data have dominated the literature. However, psychological research often relies on ordinal data from Likert scale items, creating a model-data mismatch. This paper examines the effect of dichotomizing ordinal variables on network recovery, as opposed to analyzing the data at its original level of measurement, using a Bayesian analysis of the ordinal Markov random field model. This model is implemented in the R package . Our analysis shows that dichotomization results in a loss of information, which affects the accuracy of network recovery. This is particularly true when considering the interplay between the dichotomization cutoffs used and the distribution of the ordinal categories. In addition, we demonstrate a difference in accuracy when using dichotomized data, depending on whether edges are included or excluded in the true network, which highlights the effectiveness of the ordinal model in recovering conditional independence relationships. These findings underscore the importance of using models that deal directly with ordinal data to ensure more reliable and valid inferred network structures in psychological research.
Quantifying word informativeness and its impact on eye-movement reading behavior: Cross-linguistic variability and individual differences
Inbal Kimchi, Sascha Schroeder, Noam Siegelman
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The importance or centrality of a linguistic unit to a larger unit’s meaning is known to affect reading behavior. However, there is an ongoing debate on how to quantify a unit’s degree of importance or centrality, with previous quantifications using either subjective ratings or computational solutions with limited interpretability. Here we introduce a novel measure, which we term “informativeness”, to assess the significance of a word to the meaning of the sentence in which it appears. Our measure is based on the comparison of vectorial representations of the full sentence with a revised sentence without the target word, resulting in an easily interpretable and objective quantification. We show that our new measure correlates in expected ways with other psycholinguistic variables (e.g., frequency, length, predictability), and, importantly, uniquely predicts eye-movement reading behavior in large-scale datasets of first (L1) and second language (L2) readers (from the Multilingual Eye-tracking Corpus, MECO). We also show that the effects of informativeness generalize to diverse writing systems, and are stronger for poorer than better readers. Together, our work provides new avenues for investigating informativeness effects, towards a deeper understanding of the way it impacts reading behavior.

Computers in Human Behavior

“Immersive Virtual Reality Learning and Cognitive Load: A multiple-Day Field Study”
Benjamin De Witte, Vincent Reynaert, Danny Kieken, Joseph Jabbour, Catherine Demarey, Anne Dumoulin, Jalal Possik
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Neural Correlates of Social Exclusion in Individuals with Excessive Smartphone Use
Gudrun M. Henemann, Mike M. Schmitgen, Sophie H. Haage, Jakob P. Rosero, Patrick Bach, Nadine D. Wolf, Julian Koenig, Robert C. Wolf
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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Taking advantage: Predictions and moral judgments of leveraging outside options in ultimatum games
Sifana Sohail, Yarrow Dunham
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The self-interest bias in moral character judgment persists regardless of cognitive resource availability
Katarzyna Miazek, Konrad Bocian
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Neural dynamics of attentional Bias: How facial width-to-height ratio interacts with emotion to influence attentional capture and suppression
Liwei Wang, Haixin Yang, Xinyue Zhang, Yuan Ma, Hailing Wang
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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Unnecessarily divided: Civil conversations reduce attitude polarization more than people expect.
Michael Kardas, Loran Nordgren, Derek Rucker
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Interpreting Microaggressions: The Role of Discourse Context, Recipient Status, and Observers’ Political Orientation
Thomas Holtgraves, Rishi Sarin, Rebecca Wood, Emily Cronk, Ana JĂşlia Nogueira MourĂŁo
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Microaggressions require an inferential process for their aggressive intent to be recognized. Using approaches from pragmatics, especially relevance theory, we conducted experiments to examine factors predicted to influence perceptions of an utterance as a microaggression. Participants read scenarios describing an interaction between two people and indicated their perceptions of a target remark. We expected and found that an utterance was more likely to be perceived as a microaggression if (a) it occurred in a context for which its relevance was not clear, thereby prompting observers to infer an aggressive intent, and (b) the recipient was a person of marginalized status. Furthermore, these effects were larger for participants with a more liberal political orientation relative to those who were more conservative. This was due, in part, to variability in Theory of Mind capabilities and beliefs about microaggressions associated with political orientation.
Who Did I Swipe On? Accuracy and Self-Presentation in Online Dating
Sarra Jiwa, Norhan Elsaadawy, Erika N. Carlson
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Many people use online dating profiles to meet partners and screen potential dates. Unlike other online contexts, targets might be more motivated to misrepresent their personality, making accuracy difficult. How strongly are people motivated to misrepresent themselves, how transparent is personality, and which individual differences might explain these processes? Online daters (targets, N = 180) submitted their profiles, described their personality and the impression they wanted to convey. Judges ( N = 196) viewed these profiles and rated targets’ personalities. Overall, targets wanted to be seen accurately and positively, and they successfully presented desired personas without their personality leaking through, suggesting being seen accurately is within targets’ control. Some processes were related to outcomes (e.g., swiping decisions) and explained by individual differences (e.g., attachment). These findings highlight the importance of considering self-presentational goals in online dating and when indexing accuracy in general.
When Do Real-World Rejections Motivate People to Seek out Symbolic Social Bonds? Insights From the Risk-Regulation Model
Sandra L. Murray, Shira Gabriel, Veronica M. Lamarche, Mark D. Seery, James K. McNulty, Deborah E. Ward, Esha Naidu
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Lack of belonging can negatively affect mental and physical health, but experiences with social rejection are routine. Two studies examined whether being unable to mitigate the risk of rejection in real-world relationships motivates people to defensively immerse themselves in symbolic social bonds with celebrities and fictional characters. Study 1 (four daily diary samples) and Study 2 (cross-sectional sample) operationalized the ability to mitigate risk (i.e., the ability to self-protect) through the amount of time spent in the physical company of potentially hurtful/rejecting close others. In both studies, unmitigated risk (i.e., spending more time with potentially hurtful/rejecting close others) predicted increased/greater engagement with symbolic social bonds. These studies are the first to reveal specific characteristics of social rejection experiences that motivate escape into symbolic social bonds.
Moral Stereotyping: A Surface-Based Cue Promotes the Use of Generalized Morality at an Early Stage of Human Interactions
Akiko Matsuo, Taiji Ueno
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Generalized morality refers to the use of prior knowledge of others’ morality to infer unknown aspects of morality, which is a crucial heuristic for obtaining cooperative partners in a large society. This research investigated how information is used for generalized morality. It was predicted that group-level generalized morality, or moral stereotyping, would come first when the information is limited, thereby people rely on a surface cue. As information increases, they come to use individual-level generalized morality, which is shown by Jackson et al. Following Jackson et al., the current research employed an agent-based modeling (Study 1) and human study (Study 2). Study 1 found that participants used moral stereotyping first in their interactions when the visual cue-morality association was salient. Study 2 also showed the same trend. This research worked as a replication of the previous study and as an important extension to understanding how moral cognition develops.
The Soothing Effect of a Stable World: Social Behavior of Individuals Varying on Social Anxiety Under Fixed and Growth Mindsets About Impression Formation
Liad Uziel
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Social anxiety (SA) entails perceiving interactions as threatening and is linked to detrimental social outcomes. This study tested whether individuals scoring higher on SA navigate interactions better when believing the impressions people form of others are relatively fixed (fixed mindset), thereby making interactions feel more controlled and less demanding. A Preliminary Study established that holding a fixed mindset attenuates how demanding interactions feel among individuals higher on SA. Three experiments manipulated impression formation mindsets. In Study 1, higher SA was associated with making a negative impression in a self-presentation task following a growth mindset induction (belief that impressions are malleable) but not following a fixed mindset induction. This pattern was repeated in Study 2 involving a stress-inducing self-presentation task. In Study 3, following a fixed mindset induction, SA predicted better real-life social experiences. In conclusion, a fixed model of impression formation may improve social functioning among individuals predisposed to SA.
“And the Next Thing You Know . . .”: Ideological Differences in Slippery Slope Thinking
Rajen A. Anderson, Daan Scheepers, Benjamin C. Ruisch
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Slippery slope arguments (SSAs) contend that a small, innocuous change will lead to cascading negative consequences. Although SSAs are common in political discourse, they have received little empirical attention in this context. In 15 studies (including samples from four countries and a study of natural language usage on the social media site Reddit), we examine who may be most prone to slippery slope thinking and why people in general may engage in such thinking. We consider whether individuals of different political ideologies exhibit different degrees of support for SSAs. We test three competing hypotheses that it is (a) political extremists, (b) political liberals, or (c) political conservatives that more strongly endorse SSAs. We consistently find that conservatives endorse SSAs more due to ideological differences in intuitive thinking. We additionally find evidence of these ideological differences in social media behavior, and that slippery slope thinking has consequences for punitive attitudes.
Meaning and Attention Intertwined: Experimental and Experience-Sampling Findings
Katy Y. Y. Tam, Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg, Christian S. Chan, Michael Inzlicht
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How does one attain meaning? Though pivotal to well-being, this question has been explored mainly within symbolic and philosophical domains, with little focus on its cognitive processes. We present a theoretical integration of meaning and attention, followed by five studies investigating their relationship in lab experiments and everyday life (total N = 1,654). Experimental findings indicate that meaning increased attention (Studies 1 and 3), and attention increased meaning, but only when meaning could be found in a stimulus (Studies 2a, 2b, and 3). An experience-sampling study further reveals a positive meaning–attention association at dispositional, situational, and cross-levels (Study 4). Across varied daily activities, participants reported greater meaning when they paid more attention. These studies also explored the interplay of meaning and attention with boredom, negative emotions, and subjective well-being. Together, our results suggest that paying attention during everyday activities can, in some instances, enhance the experience of meaning.
The Role of Uncertainty Mindsets in Shaping Diversity Attitudes and Their Downstream Effects on Commitment to Societal Change and Right-Wing Populist Voting
Ruri Takizawa, Stefanie Marx-Fleck, Alina Gerlach, Gudela Grote
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How people respond to uncertainty has far-reaching socio-political consequences. When perceived as fixed and threatening, individuals may gravitate toward ideologies that undermine intergroup relations and social cohesion. We examined whether fostering an uncertainty-as-enabling mindset (viewing uncertainty as malleable and an opportunity) promotes positive diversity attitudes and indirectly affects commitment to societal change and support for right-wing populism. During Germany’s 2025 federal election, we ran a 3-month online study with German citizens ( N = 745). Participants who received an uncertainty mindset intervention (vs. control) reported a higher uncertainty-as-enabling mindset, which was linked to stronger commitment to societal change through higher perceived productivity of diversity and lower aversion to intergroup contact. The mindset was also linked to a lower likelihood of voting for a right-wing populist party via the same pathways. Shifting how individuals appraise uncertainty may thus be a promising strategy for strengthening democratic resilience by cultivating openness to diversity.
Social Norms and Charitable Giving: A Meta-Analytic Review
Cassandra M. Chapman, Jessica Spence, Lucas Dixon, Aimee E. Smith, Matthew J. Hornsey
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Charitable giving is essential for supporting collective action on various social and environmental problems. Social norms are known to sometimes affect giving, but not always. In this multilevel meta-analysis, we aggregate data from 113 independent samples from research involving 100,469 people in 22 countries to understand the extent to which social norms influence charitable giving ( r = .18, p < .001). We test a range of theoretical, methodological, and sample moderators to understand the conditions under which norms may be most effective at promoting giving. The relationship was stronger for injunctive than descriptive norms, when the norm referent was friends and family (vs. no referent or another ingroup), for internalized (vs. externally presented) norms, and potentially when the giving behavior was observed by others. Norms appear effective for most people, and especially for younger people and in non-WEIRD and collectivist contexts. Effects, however, were only found in published research and non-preregistered studies.
Awe Promotes Perspective-Taking via Self-Transcendence: Implications for Cooperation
Jiali Zhang, Chongzeng Bi
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This research identifies awe as an emotional factor that promotes perspective-taking. Utilizing a multi-method approach, we systematically investigate the influence of awe on perspective-taking, exploring its mechanisms and downstream consequences. We consistently found that awe is associated with (Studies 2 and 4) and promotes (Studies 1, 3, and 5) perspective-taking, with self-transcendence mediating this relationship (Studies 3, 4, and 5). Furthermore, the downstream effects of awe and perspective-taking manifest in association with (Study 4) and promote cooperative behavior (Study 5). The impact of awe on perspective-taking was not reducible to its positive valence (Study 1), and the mediation model was established beyond the influence of the small self (Study 3). These findings enrich the research on the relationship between emotions and perspective-taking, emphasizing the role of awe in promoting social cohesion.
What’s in It for Me? Beliefs About Relative Costs to Well-Being Explain Why People Deprioritize Moral Improvements
Jessie Sun, Jonathan Z. Berman
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Most people are interested in improving themselves, but they show less interest in improving on moral traits. Why don’t people particularly want to be more moral, and why do people prioritize improving certain traits more than others? Across four preregistered studies of U.K.-based CloudResearch ( N Study 1 = 252; N Supplemental = 110) and Behavioral Research Lab ( N Study 2a = 303, N Study 2b = 301) participants, we test four classes of explanations. Results rule out explanations based on the ideas that moral traits are seen as more difficult to change and as either more or less causally central. Instead, people are less interested in moral improvements because they believe (a) that they are already highly moral and (b) that nonmoral improvements would more effectively improve their happiness and goal attainment. These results clarify the perceived tradeoffs between well-being and morality and show that personal well-being is a central motivation for personality change.

Psychological Bulletin

Intergenerational stability in parenting across two generations: A multilevel meta-analytic review.
Sanne B. Geeraerts, Jenna Spitzer, Susanne Schulz, Deborah M. Capaldi, David C. R. Kerr, Susan Branje
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Feeds, feelings, and focus: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and mental health correlates of short-form video use.
Lan Nguyen, Jared Walters, Siddharth Paul, Shay Monreal Ijurco, Georgia E. Rainey, Nupur Parekh, Gabriel Blair, Miranda Darrah
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Psychological Methods

A tutorial and methodological review of linear time series models: Using R and SPSS.
JesĂşs F. Rosel, Sara Puchol, Marcel Elipe, Patricia Flor, Francisco H. Machancoses, Juan J. Canales
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Psychology of Popular Media

Journey in the digital era: Exploring doomscrolling, algorithmic literacy, and subjective well-being.
Nehir Yasan-Ak, Tuba Livberber, Tuğba Kamalı-Arslantaş
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