Alin Gavreliuc

Conspiracy beliefs vary substantially across countries and regions, yet the ecological factors underlying this variation remain largely unexplored. Drawing on behavioral immune system theory, which suggests that pathogen threat can heighten vigilance toward potential dangers, we examined whether pathogen prevalence predicts conspiracy beliefs. Study 1 analyzed four cross-national datasets (20-32 countries) and found that conspiracy beliefs were higher in countries with greater historical pathogen prevalence. Study 2 tested this relationship in a preregistered study using a larger sample (N = 15,503 from 55 countries) and found that historical pathogen prevalence predicted higher levels of conspiracy beliefs. Study 3 extended these findings to the US state level using data from 123,781 participants across 50 states. Finally, Study 4 (N = 493) experimentally manipulated perceived pathogen prevalence and found causal effects on generic and vaccine-related conspiracy beliefs. These findings extend behavioral immune system research by relating pathogen-rich ecologies to contemporary conspiracy thinking.

Contemporary theories of emotion emphasize the dual role of emotions as both personal experiences and communicative signals during social interactions. However, the impact of macro-level societal structures on emotional expression remains underexplored. This study investigates the expression-experience discrepancy for self-reported emotions across nations, focusing on how societal development relates to this discrepancy, which captures expressivity. Using meta-analysis and multilevel modeling with a multinational sample ( N _sample = 12,549, k _nation = 48; Study 1), we assessed the directions and variabilities in the frequency of expression of both positive and negative emotions, relative to the frequency of experiencing them. Negative emotions were more likely to be under-expressed. Further analyses revealed that societal trust, system quality and fairness, and the human development index significantly predicted the size of these discrepancies. Surprisingly, these effects were not associated with traditional cultural dimensions such as individualism versus collectivism, providing new insights into the social functionality of emotions from a macro perspective. These findings were replicated in an extended multinational sample ( N _sample = 19,690, k _nation = 65; Study 2). Our findings highlight the importance of considering structural and societal factors in emotion research and provide a foundation for future explorations into the relations between cultural contexts and the expression of emotions.

Norms are fundamental to social life, but basic questions about how they are affected by social context remain. Specifically, how do normative constraints depend on the presence and status of observers, and how do such relational contingencies vary across cultures? Using data from more than 25,000 individuals across 90 societies, we test several hypotheses linking normative constraints on everyday behaviors (like arguing, laughing, cursing, kissing, and crying), to the presence and status of observers. We find that behaviors widely viewed as appropriate in private become more constrained in the presence of others (an observer effect), and even more so when those others are higher in status (a status effect). Both observer and status effects are culturally universal, but the observer effect shows more variation across cultures. In particular, we find that observer effects are larger in societies that emphasize individualizing moral foundations, that is, avoiding harm and unfairness to others, because these societies are more permissive of actions when others are not around. The relative stability of status effects across cultural contexts suggests a universal tendency to defer in social hierarchies. These findings shed light on the relational contingency of everyday norms and underscore the role of such norms in the maintenance of social order and reproduction of inequality.

Public evaluation of those in power is fundamental to societal stability. However, how people judge powerholders depends on their positions within the socioeconomic hierarchy. Drawing on two large-scale cross-cultural studies encompassing 160 samples from 80 cultures, we examined whether socioeconomic status (SES) shapes how people appraise the motive of institutional powerholders. Though scepticism toward powerholders was widespread across the socioeconomic spectrum, higher-SES individuals consistently attributed lesser self-orientation and greater other-orientation to powerholders. In less corrupt societies, perceptions of powerholders were more favourable, and SES-based differences were more pronounced, indicating that the quality of national governance matters as well. In contrast, in highly corrupt national contexts, class-based distinctions largely disappeared. These findings suggest that viewing authorities as serving the common good may be both a privilege of one’s socioeconomic position and a privilege of living in a well-governed society. The results carry important implications for institutional legitimacy, social mobility, and the possible psychological foundations of populist movements.

Populist ideology has attracted growing attention in political psychology, particularly concerning its cognitive antecedents. This study examines the relationship between Need for Closure (NFC) and the endorsement of populist ideology among young Europeans, focusing on Italian and Romanian participants. We propose a mediated model in which NFC predicts populist attitudes through Social Cynicism (SC) and Reward for Application (RA), with further mediation by Left-Wing (LWA) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA). 599 young adults from Italy and Romania (N _Italy = 325; N _Romania = 274; Age range: 18–30) completed validated psychological scales measuring NFC, SC, RA, LWA, RWA, and populist ideology. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both direct and indirect pathways across the two national samples. Results indicate that NFC is indirectly associated with populist ideology through SC and RA. Additionally, LWA — but not RWA — partially mediates this relationship, suggesting that NFC may be associated with more rigid ideological beliefs that align with left-wing populist rhetoric. Cross-country comparisons reveal significant differences between Italy and Romania, highlighting how national contexts are associated with differences in the psychological correlates of populist attitudes. The findings suggest that political discontent among youth is not always expressed through traditional ideological channels but may instead take more radical and morally rigid forms that resonate with populist rhetoric. Implications for educational and civic interventions targeting youth populism are discussed.

This data paper presents a dataset, of 12,361 observations compiled from the Happiness Meanders project, which explores cultural variations in individual and family well-being, ideal and actual happiness, emotional experiences and expressions, and cultural models of selfhood across 48 countries. Participants were recruited through academic networks. Data were collected using standardised scales, including the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Interdependent Happiness Scale, the Cultural Models of Selfhood Scale, and the Emotional Experience and Expression inspired by Affect Valuation Index. The dataset underwent thorough technical validation, including checks for variable consistency, handling missing data, and identifying potential response biases. A filter for data quality was applied, with potentially unreliable data flagged for exclusion. This dataset offers a valuable resource for examining cultural influences on emotional dynamics (frequence of experience and expression), individual and family oriented evaluations of happiness, ideal and actual evaluation of happiness, cultural models of selfhood, and can support further research in cross-cultural psychology and related social sciences.

Facing the actual challenge of living in a post-truth era, the pilot study investigated correlates of epistemic doubt and epistemic change when integrating multiple sources of information, with particular focus on identifying the cognitive and affective responses associated with epistemic doubt. To evoke epistemic doubt, we manipulated the structure of information presentation, about causes of climate change, through three conditions: exposure to multiple conflicting sources (mixed arguments) or to consistent sources (solely human-caused or natural-caused climate change arguments). Epistemic doubt differed across conditions (η² = .153, p < .01), being highest after exposure to conflicting sources, and both confidence-weighted belief-information discrepancy and epistemic confusion accounted for unique variance in doubt, although these associations were condition-sensitive. Epistemic doubt predicted epistemic change (10%, p < .05), whereas experimental conditions and cognitive-affective responses predicted doubt but not epistemic change directly. In pooled analyses, confidence-weighted belief-information discrepancy and epistemic confusion predicted epistemic doubt more strongly than prior epistemic beliefs and comprehension, tentatively suggesting that situational responses to information may matter more than pre-existing epistemic sophistication. Despite the pilot study’s limitations, these exploratory findings offer preliminary evidence on the correlates of epistemic doubt and change, with implications for future research discussed.

Despite being a classic social psychology topic, cultural variability in conformity has only been examined systematically in the last few decades. Vishkin et al. reported evidence that conformity of experienced emotions and of valued emotions is stronger in individualistic cultures. We tested the replicability of this finding using data from 28 nations ( N = 6,168), incorporating two further relevant cultural predictors of cultural differences: flexibility-monumentalism and tightness-looseness. Contrasting effects regarding valence were found for conformity of experienced emotions and of valued emotions. Conformity of experienced positive emotions and of valued negative emotions was predicted by individualism, monumentalism, and looseness. The results are discussed in terms of the distinction between injunctive and descriptive norms and cultural variations in the salience of positive and negative emotions. Using additional indicators of cultural difference yields a fuller understanding of these effects than that provided by the contrast between individualism and collectivism. The use of deviation scores provides a useful operationalization of variations in conformity.

Every social situation that people encounter in their daily lives comes with a set of unwritten rules about what behavior is considered appropriate or inappropriate. These everyday norms can vary across societies: some societies may have more permissive norms in general or for certain behaviors, or for certain behaviors in specific situations. In a preregistered survey of 25,422 participants across 90 societies, we map societal differences in 150 everyday norms and show that they can be explained by how societies prioritize individualizing moral foundations such as care and liberty versus binding moral foundations such as purity. Specifically, societies with more individualistic morality tend to have more permissive norms in general (greater liberty) and especially for behaviors deemed vulgar (less purity), but they exhibit less permissive norms for behaviors perceived to have negative consequences in specific situations (greater care). By comparing our data with available data collected twenty years ago, we find a global pattern of change toward more permissive norms overall but less permissive norms for the most vulgar and inconsiderate behaviors. This study explains how social norms vary across behaviors, situations, societies, and time.