5 Replication Failures, Questioning DEI, and Sex Differences in Brain and Behavior
The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Linkfest for March 2024
Welcome to my latest Linkfest: a collection of links to papers and articles that caught my eye over the last few weeks. On the menu today, we have some hot-off-the-press findings from psychology, five recent replication failures, Bryan Caplan on DEI, and an assorted collection of sex differences. Enjoy!
Hot Off the Press: New Findings in Psychology
Updates
In my last Linkfest, I mentioned that better-looking people are treated more leniently in the criminal justice system. Now, a new study finds that people with better-looking lawyers are treated more leniently as well. Link.
In an earlier post, I described research suggesting - ironically - that hypochondria may be bad for your health (see below). According to a study due to be published in April, narcissism may be good for your health. U.S states with higher average levels of narcissism tend to have lower levels of obesity and depression, and lower rates of death from heart failure and hypertension. On top of that, states with more narcissists have more plastic surgeons per capita. So now you know. Link.
Political Psychology
Political extremists are less knowledgeable about politics than political moderates: the mildly left and mildly right. So says a study spanning 45 nations and more than 63,000 participants. Link.
A new paper in the journal Political Psychology looks at the prevalence of political schadenfreude in the U.S. of A.: that is, the extent to which people take pleasure in the suffering of political opponents. The conclusion? It’s common - especially among ideological extremists. Troublingly, political schadenfreude may impact people’s voting patterns. As the paper’s authors note, “a sizable portion of the American public is more likely than not to vote for candidates who promise to pass policies that ‘disproportionately harm’ supporters of the opposing political party.” Link.
5 Replication Failures
It’s been a busy month for failed replications, one of the real growth areas in psychology these days. At least five famous findings have gone down in flames - or at least been called into question.
Cognitive-Dissonance Theory. According to cognitive-dissonance theory, when people freely act in ways inconsistent with their attitudes, this creates an uncomfortable state of dissonance, which people typically resolve by changing their attitudes to match their actions. One of the most famous findings supporting the theory is that when people are asked to write an essay arguing for a position they don’t hold, they end up shifting their views toward that position - but only if they don’t feel they were in some way compelled to write the essay. A large, multi-nation study attempted to replicate this classic finding… and was completely unable to do so. To be fair, the study looked only at this one putative example of cognitive dissonance, and other examples might yet hold up. Still, cognitive-dissonance theory does predict that writing uncoerced, counter-attitudinal essays will shift people’s views, and thus the failure to find this should count as a mark against the theory, not just the one finding. Moreover, to the extent that the original finding boosted our confidence in cognitive-dissonance theory, the failed replication should lower it. Link.
School-Based Mindfulness Interventions. Do school-based mindfulness interventions have a protective effect against mental-health problems in teens? According to a new preprint, the answer is no. As the authors note, “When compared to all controls combined, mindfulness interventions did not significantly improve any outcome.” Link.