I checked 15 psychology journals on Tuesday, September 01, 2026 using the Crossref API. For the period August 25 to August 31, I found 29 new paper(s) in 10 journal(s).

Behavior Research Methods

Quantifying the dyadic interaction: A methodological framework for conducting observational moment-by-moment research
Diego FernĂĄndez-Regueras, M. Cristina Guerrero-Escagedo, Ana Calero-Elvira, Eduardo Estrada
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Systematic observation is a valuable method for studying interactive phenomena in dyads, as it captures sequences of behavior, potentially enhancing validity. However, observational studies remain underutilized compared with other tools, such as self-report questionnaires, because they require time and resources. This work aims to facilitate observational research by providing a step-by-step guide for preprocessing and exploring data from systematic observations, enabling flexible data handling beyond traditional sequential analyses. To illustrate the guide’s application, we used a dataset of 154 psychotherapy sessions collected longitudinally across different treatment phases from 32 patient–therapist dyads. We coded sessions using the Therapeutic Relationship Coding System (TRCS), which captures moment-by-moment verbal interactions relevant to the therapeutic alliance. Post-session questionnaire data were collected using the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI). An R script and a set of functions were developed to assist researchers with data preprocessing and to generate descriptive visualizations addressing the following questions: (1) What behaviors (and sequences of interacting behaviors) are more frequent? ; (2) How do behaviors evolve over time ; (3) Do behavioral changes differ across groups? After applying our proposed analytical tools, we interpret our results in light of the dominant theoretical framework on the therapeutic alliance.
Subjective age of acquisition norms for 30,849 Russian words
Andrei A. Grigoriev, Konstantin V. Sugonyaev, Svetlana A. Pashneva, Ekaterina A. Valueva, Nikolai A. Grigorev
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Age of acquisition (AoA) is a key psycholinguistic variable known to influence lexical and conceptual processing across a broad range of tasks. However, existing Russian datasets are small and mainly limited to picturable nouns and verbs. In this study, we collected AoA ratings for 30,849 Russian words that represent a broad vocabulary range. Ratings were collected from 2,201 adult respondents in both in-person and online sessions. Reliability assessed via bootstrap split-half correlations was high (mean r = 0.895, 95% CI [.893, .897]). To validate the subjective AoA estimates, we administered vocabulary tests to school students from grades 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Two validation procedures were used: grade-level validation and within-grade validation. The former related the grade level at which an item was reliably known with the adult ratings, the latter related adult AoA to students’ accuracy. Subjective AoA strongly predicted objective AoA measures ( r = 0.805) and showed consistent negative relations with student accuracy across grades. Correlations with existing Russian AoA datasets ( r = 0.68–0.91) further supported the reliability of the norms. The new ratings also showed expected correlations with word frequency, length, concreteness, imageability, and familiarity. The resulting norms provide the largest and most comprehensive AoA resource for the Russian language and can support future research in psycholinguistics, lexical processing, and language development. All norms are publicly available on OSF.

Computers in Human Behavior

Generic title: Not a research article
Corrigendum to ‘Psychological need experiences inside and outside gaming as predictors of adolescent problematic gaming and well-being: A longitudinal test of the Need Density Hypothesis’ [Computers in Human Behavior 186 (2026) 109140]
Lowie Bradt, Maarten Vansteenkiste, Marlies Van de Casteele, Bieke Zaman, Eva Grosemans, Rozane De Cock, Bart Soenens
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The Role of Attention and Norm Perception in Online Comments’ Impact on Attitudes toward Sunscreen: An Eye-Tracking Approach
Junhan Chen, Shilin Xia, Zexin Ma
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At the point of risk: Can AI-assisted decision support reduce digital fraud vulnerability across age groups and scam types?
Yicheng Sun, Jacky Keung, Hi Kuen Yu, Yuchen Cao
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How conversation content and style shape service evaluations: Evidence from a dual-pathway mediation model and neural processing
Yebing Li, Fenghua Wang, Jia Jin, Yu Pan
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Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

The Honor of a Leader: Examining the Content of Honor-Congruent Leadership Prototypes
Aaron L. Pomerantz, Ryan P. Brown
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Across three studies, we investigated how honor norms are associated with leadership prototypes. An archival, national-level study and an individual-level correlational study both linked honor norms to tough, reputation-conscious leadership and preferences for male leaders. A pre-registered quasi-experiment refined our understanding of these associations. Participants “designed” an ideal leader in either the presence or absence of intergroup conflict and results again showed that honor endorsement predicted preferences for certain leader characteristics (e.g., tough, protective) and for male leaders. High intergroup conflict increased both preferences across all participants, regardless of their level of honor endorsement, and the main effects of both honor and conflict on male leader favorability ratings were partially mediated by preferences for honor-congruent leader characteristics. Together, these studies suggest that honor functions as a cultural logic that informs leadership prototypes, shaping collective perceptions of idealized power and influence.
Storytelling as a Bridge: Examining the Psychological Processes of Fictional Writing on Intergroup Understanding
Xun Zhu
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Reading a positive story about an outgroup reduces prejudice, but can writing a story about the outgroup have similar effects? Three experiments examined whether and how writing a fictional story about an outgroup character can improve writers’ perceptions of the outgroup. Study 1 ( N = 727) showed that narrative writing increased warmth and competence perceptions of the character, regardless of whether writers described cooperating directly with the character, as characters themselves, to complete a positive task or wrote the story from the character’s perspective. Higher perceived warmth, but not competence, was associated with lower intergroup anxiety and stronger empathy toward the outgroup, which in turn predicted perceived dangerousness. Two follow-up experiments sought to replicate these findings using a different character (Study 2; N = 287) and a comparison with nonnarrative persuasive writing (Study 3; N = 343). The findings contribute to theories addressing the intersection of intergroup contact, creative writing, and narrative communication.
From “Them” to “Us”: Intergroup Contact Leads to Improved Intergroup Attitudes through Building Common Ingroup Identity: Longitudinal Evidence from Four European Countries
Joanna Lindström, Siddartha Aradhya, Sabina Čehajić-Clancy
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The successful integration of ethnic minorities is largely contingent on establishing positive relations between minority and majority groups. Drawing on the common ingroup identity model, we argue that for minority youth, intergroup contact (e.g., friendship) with majority youth predicts more positive attitudes toward the majority group because it may foster a stronger common-ingroup identity. Using three-wave panel data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries ( N = 5,447), we found support for our hypothesis: intergroup contact predicted more positive attitudes toward the majority groups over time, due to an increase in common-ingroup identification. Findings suggest that intergroup friendships may play a key role in immigrant youth integration, precisely through facilitating a sense of belonging to a shared identity with the majority group.

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Can bad guys count as happy? The graded moralization of happiness across general and episodic levels
Jiangyong Li, Huaiyuan Qi, Jing Long, Yangmei Luo
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Registered Report Stage II: Defending or defying democracy? Investigating the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and support for democratic principles [registered report - stage II]
Tisa Bertlich, Felicitas Flade, Roland Imhoff
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Multivariate Behavioral Research

The Problem of Temporal Misalignment in Longitudinal Causal Research
Jeroen D. Mulder, Manuel C. Voelkle, Ellen L. Hamaker
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Modeling Between-Group Differences in Dynamics of Psychological Constructs in the Presence of Measurement Non-Invariance: A Stepwise Approach
Manuel T. Rein, Leonie V. D. E. Vogelsmeier, Jeroen K. Vermunt, Eeske van Roekel, Kim De Roover
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Whose Sincerely Held Beliefs Count? Political Ideology Shapes Perceptions of Religious Exemption Requests
Mary Katz, Nava Caluori, Michael H. Pasek
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Four studies collectively investigate whether schematic and political biases predict how people conceptualize sincerely held religious beliefs and reason about religious exemptions. Studies 1a ( N = 99) and 1b ( N = 151) suggest that U.S. Americans schematically associate conservative (but not liberal) stances on religion-relevant issues with sincerely held religious belief. Studies 2 and 3 investigate how politically diverse U.S. Americans evaluate exemption requests that are either schema-consistent (conservative request; Study 2; N = 402) or inconsistent (liberal request; Study 3; N = 400) and reveal that people might not exclusively rely on these schemas for judgments about religious exemption requests, as people are more willing to grant exemptions to both conservative schema-consistent and liberal schema-inconsistent religious claims than to nonreligious claims. However, political ideology critically shapes judgments about the religious sincerity of beliefs, whether denying exemption requests constitutes First Amendment violations, and whether exemptions should ultimately be granted.
Why Do We Talk About Race? Examining Goals in Discussions About Race in Interracial Friendships
Ashley L. Berkebile-Weinberg, Jennifer R. Steele
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Shared goals are a pillar of effective intergroup contact, yet little research has examined the specific goals that motivate people to engage in intergroup discussions. Across two studies, we assessed the goals of Latine (Study 1) and Black (Study 2) participants, compared to White (Studies 1 and 2) participants, during race-related discussions with a racial ingroup or outgroup friend. Participants from all three racial groups expressed a greater desire to socially connect with racially minoritized versus White friends. White participants’ goals to learn and express egalitarian values were higher in discussions about race with Latine and Black, versus White, friends. By contrast, White participants expressed a lower desire to challenge their friends and manage their group image relative to Latine and Black participants. Participants’ primary conversation goals were to socially connect and learn; however, White participants’ goals shifted more depending on whether they were speaking to a racial ingroup or outgroup friend.
Intergroup Competition Promotes Intragroup Cooperation: A Meta-Analysis of Social Dilemmas
Tycho van Tartwijk, Angelo Romano, Leticia Micheli, Daniel Balliet
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Current theories pose that intergroup competition elevates intragroup cooperation and put forward hypotheses about conditions that increase the magnitude of this effect. Here, we report a preregistered meta-analysis of studies using experimental games that manipulate the presence of intergroup competition and its effect on intragroup cooperation. Our investigation reveals the overall direction and magnitude of the effect, which addresses mixed empirical findings. We identified 25 articles to meet inclusion criteria, which yielded 70 effect sizes. A multilevel random effects model revealed a medium positive effect of intergroup competition on intragroup cooperation ( g = .677, N = 6,051). Studies involving intergroup competition with interdependence produced a strong effect, whereas this effect was weaker for studies without interdependence. Our findings present meta-analytic evidence that intergroup competition promotes intragroup cooperation and identify opportunities for future research.
Beliefs About Suffering, Psychological Adjustment, and Prosocial Orientation
Jinyoung Park, Mark R. Leary, Christine Lathren, John M. Davis, Mark Weiser, Rick Hoyle
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People’s beliefs about suffering may shape how they understand and respond to life’s challenges. Across five studies, we tested whether two focal beliefs—that suffering is widely shared/universal and that suffering can be potentially enriching—predict adaptive psychological and prosocial outcomes. College undergraduates who saw their problems as more common reported less distress. U.S. adults who perceived that they experienced a similar amount of suffering as other people and who viewed suffering as enriching demonstrated better adjustment and more adaptive responses to hypothetical challenges. Among Jewish Israeli participants, an enriching view was associated with mental health, common humanity, and support for peaceful resolution of the Israel–Palestine conflict. Finally, reading about suffering as enriching versus depressing increased affective well-being, and framing suffering as universal increased the common-humanity component of compassion. These findings suggest that viewing suffering as universal and potentially enriching supports psychological adjustment and prosocial orientation.
The Morality-Effectiveness Disconnect of Pro-Environmental Behaviors
Jareef Martuza, Hege Landsvik
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Not all pro-environmental behaviors are created equal—some are vastly more effective at mitigating climate change than others. Do people judge the more effective behaviors as proportionally more moral? Five main and six supplemental studies ( N = 9,247) across five countries reveal a robust morality-effectiveness disconnect: pro-environmental behaviors that rank better on objective climate-mitigation potential rank worse on individual moral judgments. Laypeople fail to predict this pattern, believing that a positive relationship exists. Furthermore, labeling behaviors by climate impact category reduces the morality-effectiveness disconnect, and detailed impact information reverses it and increases policy endorsement of more effective behaviors over less effective behaviors. While the disconnect primarily stems from effectiveness misperceptions that accurate information can mitigate, we find that personal support for less effective behaviors plays an additional role. Thus, people’s moral intuition for climate action appears miscalibrated: moral cognition can undermine the collective welfare that such cognition should presumably promote.
The Lay Belief That There is Virtue in Duty and Duty in Virtue: A Novel Lens for Viewing Moral Judgment
Hajin Kim, Julian J. Zlatev, Dale T. Miller
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We praise the performance of virtuous acts (e.g., composting) and condemn the failure to perform dutiful ones (e.g., littering). Importantly, however, moral acts may contain elements of both virtue and duty. Composting elicits praise, but not composting may also elicit condemnation. Across six studies, we show that a bivalent measure of moral evaluations (assessing the blame or praise for both doing and not doing the same act) allows for more accurate predictions of moral behaviors and provides possible explanations for various existing moral puzzles. Studies 1a to 1c demonstrate that the moral evaluations for, and emotional responses to, doing and not doing an act are not systematically related. Bivalent moral evaluations illuminate why Republicans were less likely to mask than Democrats during the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 2) and why financial compensation can reduce blood donations (Study 3). These evaluations improve predictions of intended blood donations (Study 3) and actual voting behavior (Study 4).
Historical Relevance and Modern Perceptions: Mixed-Black and Mixed-Native Racial Categorization and Resource Deservingness
Hailey Shangin, C. Malik Boykin, Tyler Jimenez
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Growing multiracial populations in the United States underscore the evolving complexity of racial identity, particularly in how racial perceptions shape perceived deservingness to resources. This research examines how individuals with Black/White and Native American/White ancestries are categorized and the influence of categorization on perceived deservingness of group-specific resources. It explores the persistence of hypodescent (assigning by non-dominant identity) and hyperdescent (assigning by dominant identity) relating to historical and policy contexts. Across two studies, participants categorized mixed-race targets and evaluated their deservingness for minority-specific resources (i.e., scholarship). Black/White targets were categorized as more Black, consistent with hypodescent bias, while Native/White targets were often categorized as more White, consistent with hyperdescent. Comparatively, these categorizations shaped perceptions of resource deservingness, especially for Black/White targets. This underscores the complexities of perceived multiracial group categorization and may suggest the need for nuanced understanding of racial identity in an increasingly diverse society.
Why Poverty in the Present Matters for Intergenerational Concern and the Future of Humanity
Kyle Fiore Law, Stylianos Syropoulos, Amanda Signorini, Christina Jinhee Capozzoli, Liane Young, Brendan Bo O’Connor
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Contrary to perceived tensions between addressing present and future societal needs, we find that present-day poverty and inequality are deeply connected with attitudes toward far-future welfare at both societal and individual levels. Study 1 (144 countries) shows that poorer, more unequal nations score lower on indices of intergenerational concern and farsighted policies. Study 2 (34 countries, N = 123,502) shows that subjective socioeconomic status (SES) predicts greater obligation to sacrifice for future lives, especially in nations with less inequality. In Study 3 ( N = 1,264 Americans), individuals randomly assigned more resources allocate more to future generations, though not proportionately more. Replicating Studies 1 and 2, real-world SES predicts higher donations beyond situational framings. Thus, combatting present-day societal challenges may be key to increasing concern and action for humanity’s future.

Psychological Methods

Fitting two-level structural equation models to summary statistics: Leveling up meta-analytic structural equation modeling.
Suzanne Jak, Mike W. -L. Cheung
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Psychological Science

A Single Dimension of Memory Strength Underlies Semantic and Phonological False Memories
Lyulei Zhang, Adam F. Osth
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False memory can arise from semantically or perceptually similar experiences, as demonstrated in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Although semantic and phonological DRM tasks yield parallel false-recognition patterns, researchers have argued that they reflect distinct memory processes, based in part on findings that semantic associates elicit more false “remember” (R) judgments, whereas phonological associates elicit more false “know” (K) judgments. We directly tested this claim using semantic and phonological DRM tasks with old-new recognition followed by RK ratings ( N = 227 English-speaking students from an Australian university). The R/K dissociation was replicated, yet both parametric and nonparametric analyses revealed a single underlying dimension. A signal-detection-theory model fitted the data nearly perfectly, where R judgments reflected a stricter response criterion than K. A state-trace analysis likewise showed a monotonic relation between old/new and R false alarms across tasks. These results challenge dual-process interpretations, instead suggesting that semantic materials simply produce higher rates of false recognition.
The WHO Said What? Interaction of Source Credibility and Readers’ Prior Beliefs in the Reading of Social-Media Posts
Oskari J. Virtanen, Johanna K. Kaakinen
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Evaluating sources is an essential skill in our misinformation-riddled media environment. However, previous studies suggest that people tend not to engage with source information during reading, and very little research exists on how source credibility and readers’ beliefs interact on social media. We examined how source credibility and prior beliefs affect reading social-media posts. Finnish university students ( N = 83) first filled out a questionnaire measuring beliefs on eight controversial topics and then read 76 mock-up tweets on these topics while their eye movements were recorded. The sources of the tweets were pretested to be either credible or noncredible sources for the topic. Eye-movement results indicate that when credible sources say something belief-inconsistent, or if noncredible sources something belief-consistent, reading of the tweet is slower, and more attention is paid to the sources. Findings suggest that these “source-belief” inconsistencies disrupt reading and elicit deeper processing of source information.
Action Framing Modulates the Pavlovian Bias in Go and No-Go Learning
Zhang Chen, Senne Braem
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Reward- and punishment-associated (i.e., Pavlovian) cues can trigger specific responses that interfere with learning appropriate actions. Prior work has shown that reward impedes the learning of “no-go” responses, and punishment impedes the learning of “go” responses. This Pavlovian bias is theorized to arise at the motor level and may reflect a rigid coupling between reward and action activation and between punishment and action suppression. Contrary to this view, across two experiments testing adults (one preregistered, total N = 370), using behavioral analyses and computational modeling, we show that action framing strongly modulates Pavlovian bias. When go was framed as approach and no-go as avoidance, we replicated the typical asymmetry in learning. However, when go was framed as avoidance and no-go as approach, this Pavlovian bias disappeared in choice and was attenuated in response times. Pavlovian bias thus operates partly on a semantic level and is more flexible than often theorized.
What Survivors Remembered: Cognitive and Experiential Themes in Trauma Narratives From the Deadliest Mass Shooting in Modern American History
William B. Ridgway, Kevin D. Mohawk, Rhiannon N. Soriano Smith, Renato M. Liboro, Charles A. Morgan, Stephen D. Benning, Colleen M. Parks
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This study examined cognitive and experiential patterns in the trauma narratives of 42 survivors (74% women; M age = 42.1) of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. We conducted a codebook thematic analysis of written narratives collected within one month of the event. We developed four themes: contextual memory (sensory-perceptual features, time, and space), physical injury, heroism, and contemplating mortality. Survivors recalled vivid sensory impressions, detailed spatial awareness organized around escape, and temporal distortions, including both subjective slowing and sequence gaps. Accounts of graphic injury, prosocial action under fire, and direct confrontation with death further structured the narratives. Limitations include prompted rather than free recall, written self-report allowing revision, and a predominantly female sample. These findings add to the scant literature on mass-shooting survivors’ memories.

Psychology of Music

The Impact of Music Instrumental Training and Second-Language Learning as Extracurricular Activities on Children’s Well-Being: A Randomised Controlled Study From a Positive Psychology Perspective
Claudia María Fernåndez de Cañete García, Pastora Martínez Castilla, Graham Welch
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This study explores the effects of nearly 7 months of extracurricular music instrumental training and second-language learning on psychological well-being among Year 4 children (8-year-old+) from middle socioeconomic backgrounds in Spain. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with 70 participants assigned to one of three conditions: Music (individual or group lessons), English (individual or group), and Control. Subjective well-being, overall life satisfaction, psychological well-being, and positive and negative affect were assessed before and after the intervention programme. Results revealed a positive effect of the group music instrumental condition on psychological well-being, with this group being the only one presenting lower baseline psychological well-being scores. Moreover, the control group experienced a significant decline in psychological well-being from pre- to post-intervention, a change not observed in any of the intervention groups. This study represents the first attempt in the literature to assess with a RCT the effect of music instrumental training on standardised well-being constructs – rather than isolated well-being measures – from a positive psychology perspective. We interpret the findings with consideration to baseline differences and the sensitivity of some well-being measures. Further research is needed to replicate these results and explore their implications with other interventions.
Burnout, Agency, and Postgraduation Plans in Music Student Teachers
Daryl W. Kinney
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Beginning as early as student teaching, teacher burnout has been linked to demography, work conditions, and agency. The purpose of this study was to investigate burnout in music student teachers and how burnout changes during student teaching. Music education majors ( N = 46) enrolled in student teaching at a large Midwestern university in the United States completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES) at Weeks 4, 8, and 13 of student teaching, along with surveys measuring agency, postgraduation plans, work/planning hours, and perceptions of support. Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed significant effects of agency, postgraduation intentions, and week on MBI-ES burnout dimensions. Higher agency was associated with lower emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and greater personal accomplishment. Those intending to pursue full-time music teaching positions showed lower emotional exhaustion and greater personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion decreased from Week 8 to Week 13 among high-agency participants and those planning to teach, yet increased among those with lower agency and no immediate teaching plans. Personal accomplishment increased over time for all participants, remaining higher among those with greater agency and teaching aspirations. Findings highlight the importance of fostering agency and providing targeted support for student teachers, particularly those uncertain about entering the profession.

Psychology of Popular Media

Nigerian women’s perceptions of social media’s role in skin bleaching, body image, and colorism.
Ruth Emmanuel, Kelly Merrill
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Adolescents’ appearance-related social media consciousness and photo-related behaviors are linked to social anxiety symptoms with peers digitally and in-person: An ecological momentary assessment study.
Adelaide E. Graham, Margaret V. Brehm, Zelal Kilic, Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Jacqueline L. Nesi, Cecile D. Ladouceur, Jennifer S. Silk
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