Bennett Callaghan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Bennett Callaghan
Frontiers in Psychology, 2022
A field experiment (N = 4,536) examined how signs of social class influence compassionate respons... more A field experiment (N = 4,536) examined how signs of social class influence compassionate responses to those in need. Pedestrians in two major cities in the United States were exposed to a confederate wearing symbols of relatively high or low social class who was requesting money to help the homeless. Compassionate responding was assessed by measuring the donation amount of the pedestrians walking past the target. Pedestrians gave more than twice (2.55 times) as much money to the confederate wearing higher-class symbols than they did to the one wearing lower-class symbols. A followup study (N = 504) exposed participants to images of the target wearing the same higher-or lower-class symbols and examined the antecedents of compassionate responding. Consistent with theorizing, higher-class symbols elicited perceptions of elevated competence, trustworthiness, similarity to the self, and perceived humanity compared to lower-class symbols. These results indicate that visible signs of social class influence judgments of others' traits and attributes, as well as in decisions to respond compassionately to the needs of those who are suffering.
<p>Summary of legislative bills where sponsorship of the bill indicates either support for,... more <p>Summary of legislative bills where sponsorship of the bill indicates either support for, or reduction of, economic inequality in the US.</p
Americans remain largely unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the de... more Americans remain largely unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the degree to which it is patterned by race. In the present research we exposed a community sample of respondents to one of three interventions designed to promote a more realistic understanding of the Black-White wealth gap. The interventions were developed to conform to best practices in messaging about racial inequality drawn from the social sciences, yet differed in the extent to which they highlighted a single story versus data-based trends in Black-White wealth inequality or both. The interventions that highlighted data versus only a single story of racial inequality were most effective in both shifting how people talk about racial wealth inequality—eliciting less speech about personal achievement—and, critically, improving accuracy in perceptions of the Black-White wealth gap. These increases in accuracy persisted up to 18 months following the intervention, though accuracy did decline a...
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2016
Associations between social class and prosocial behavior—defined broadly as action intended to he... more Associations between social class and prosocial behavior—defined broadly as action intended to help others—may vary as a function of contextual factors. Three studies examined how making prosocial actions public, versus private, moderates this association. In Study 1, participation in a public prosocial campaign was higher among upper than lower class individuals. In Studies 2 and 3, lower class individuals were more prosocial in a dictator game scenario in private than in public, whereas upper class individuals showed the reverse pattern. Follow-up analyses revealed the importance of reputational concerns for shaping class differences in prosociality: Specifically, higher class individuals reported that pride motivated their prosocial behavior more than lower class individuals, and this association partially accounted for class-based differences in prosociality in public versus private contexts. Together, these results suggest that unique strategies for connecting and relating to o...
Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2016
KEYWORDS conditions priming different levels of moral transcendence-with moral development; human... more KEYWORDS conditions priming different levels of moral transcendence-with moral development; human moral transcendence understood as the primary psychological rights; torture; interrogation; dimension distinguishing preconventional, conventional and Kohlberg postconventional reasoning. Participants later considered two hypothetical detainee scenarios. For each detainee, participants judged the importance of punishment and seeking information, and evaluated the appropriateness of "severe interrogation", either abstractly conceived (ACSI) or concretely described (CDSI). Across scenarios, the correlations between desiring information, desiring punishment, and recommending CDSI were strongest in the least transcendent condition and weakest in the most transcendent, suggesting that greater primed transcendence reduced associations between supporting CDSI and two common motivations of such support. Exposure to more transcendent moral schemas was also associated with a monotonic decline in support for CDSI in the two scenarios. The use in counter-terrorism operations of "enhanced" interrogation techniques-which arguably constitute torture (e.g. Siems, 2009)-has sparked moral and legal debate in the USA and worldwide, and the clear difference between the torturer's perspective and that of the tortured can make the debate seem intractable (Batson, Chao. & Givens, 2009). Reaching consensus may depend on whether those involved in the debate take the perspectives of others and apply moral principles consistently. Thus, understanding what processes affect attitudes towards torture may have broad theoretical implications for moral judgment. Some empirical research into torture-related attitudes has focused on the psychological factors underlying different perspectives toward torture (
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 2014
This is the second Article stemming from a study of the post-release behavior of wrongfully convi... more This is the second Article stemming from a study of the post-release behavior of wrongfully convicted individuals. Utilizing data on exonerees compiled from the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, the study tracks the behavior of 118 exonerees following their releases and examines the effects of more than twenty variables on their post-release criminality. We present here our findings on the ameliorative effects of expungement on post-exoneration offending. Expungement would seemingly be an obvious remedy for wrongfully convicted individuals, but in fact, almost one-third of exonerees do not have their records purged. We found that a failure to expunge was a significant predictor of postexoneration offending. 1 This relationship was strongest for offenders who had not committed an offense prior to the one for which they were wrongfully convicted. The problematic impact of failing to expunge is generally consistent with labeling theory, as are the findings regarding the effects on exonerees without prior records, which are supported by
PLOS ONE, 2015
In Fig. 1, "Relationships between social status and the tendency to sponsor legislation supportin... more In Fig. 1, "Relationships between social status and the tendency to sponsor legislation supporting economic inequality", Panel B is incorrect. Please see the corrected Fig. 1 here.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015
Perceived lower rank in the social class hierarchy reflects an individual's relative lack of perc... more Perceived lower rank in the social class hierarchy reflects an individual's relative lack of perceived social and economic worth in society. In the current study we tested the predictions that lower perceptions of social class rank elicit both reduced political participation and lower political self-efficacy. Study 1 found that students with lower perceived social class were less likely to seek information about student government. Study 2 found that perceptions of political self-efficacy accounted for the relationship between perceived social class rank and political participation. Study 3 established causal associations between perceived social class and political participation-a momentary manipulation of elevated perceived social class increased political efficacy and intentions to participate in politics. In Study 4, affirming the self reduced social class disparities in both perceived political participation and efficacy. Throughout the studies, perceptions of social class were consistently related to political participation, and these associations occurred after accounting for political ideology and objective indicators of social class. Discussion focused on the understudied psychological barriers that perpetuate voter inequality in society.
Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pre... more Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pressing issues facing society. And yet, predicting the behavior of politicians with respect to their support of economic inequality remains a significant challenge. Given that high status individuals tend to conceive of the current structure of society as fair and just, we expected that high status members of the U.S. House of Representatives would be more likely to support economic inequality in their legislative behavior than would their low status counterparts. Results supported this prediction particularly among Democratic members of Congress: Whereas Republicans tended to support legislation increasing economic inequality regardless of their social status, the social status of Democrats – measured in terms of average wealth, race, or gender – was a significant predictor of support for economic inequality. Policy implications of the observed relationship between social status and suppo...
PloS one, 2014
Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pre... more Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pressing issues facing society. And yet, predicting the behavior of politicians with respect to their support of economic inequality remains a significant challenge. Given that high status individuals tend to conceive of the current structure of society as fair and just, we expected that high status members of the U.S. House of Representatives would be more likely to support economic inequality in their legislative behavior than would their low status counterparts. Results supported this prediction particularly among Democratic members of Congress: Whereas Republicans tended to support legislation increasing economic inequality regardless of their social status, the social status of Democrats - measured in terms of average wealth, race, or gender - was a significant predictor of support for economic inequality. Policy implications of the observed relationship between social status and suppo...
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 2013
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Americans remain unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the degree to ... more Americans remain unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the degree to which it is patterned by race. We exposed a community sample of respondents to one of three interventions designed to promote a more realistic understanding of the Black–White wealth gap. The interventions conformed to recommendations in messaging about racial inequality drawn from the social sciences yet differed in how they highlighted data-based trends in Black–White wealth inequality, a single personal narrative, or both. Data interventions were more effective than the narrative in both shifting how people talk about racial wealth inequality—eliciting less speech about personal achievement—and, critically, lowering estimates of Black–White wealth equality for at least 18 mo following baseline, which aligned more with federal estimates of the Black–White wealth gap. Findings from this study highlight how data, along with current recommendations in the social sciences, can be leveraged...
A field experiment (N = 4,537) examined how signs of social class influence prosocial behavior. I... more A field experiment (N = 4,537) examined how signs of social class influence prosocial behavior. In the experiment, pedestrians were exposed to a target wearing symbols of relatively high or low social class in two major urban cities in the USA who was presumably requesting money to help the homeless. Pedestrians gave more than twice (2.55 times) as much to the target wearing high social class symbols than they did to the one wearing lower-class symbols. A follow-up perceptual study exposed participants to images of this panhandler wearing the same higher- or lower-class symbols, finding that higher-class symbols elicited perceptions of elevated competence, trustworthiness, similarity to the self, and perceived humanity compared to lower-class symbols. These results indicate that perceivers use visible signs of social class as a basis for judging others’ traits and attributes, and in decisions to directly share resources.
Perceptions of interpersonal competence are an important predictor of success in the political do... more Perceptions of interpersonal competence are an important predictor of success in the political domain. However, we argue—and provide evidence for—the proposition that competence is valued differently by voters across the social class spectrum. In two experiments (N1 = 441; N2 = 500), we show that higher social class individuals expressed a greater likelihood than their lower-class counterparts of voting for a candidate described as competent and were more likely to prefer such a candidate to one described as warm. In a third study, we analyze exit poll results of presidential primary elections to show that candidates perceived as competent performed better than those perceived as warm among relatively higher-class populations of voters whereas the opposite was true among relatively lower-class populations. We conclude that competence, in the political domain, is distinctively appealing to higher-class individuals and discuss implications for psychological theory as well as the polit...
Frontiers in Psychology, 2022
A field experiment (N = 4,536) examined how signs of social class influence compassionate respons... more A field experiment (N = 4,536) examined how signs of social class influence compassionate responses to those in need. Pedestrians in two major cities in the United States were exposed to a confederate wearing symbols of relatively high or low social class who was requesting money to help the homeless. Compassionate responding was assessed by measuring the donation amount of the pedestrians walking past the target. Pedestrians gave more than twice (2.55 times) as much money to the confederate wearing higher-class symbols than they did to the one wearing lower-class symbols. A followup study (N = 504) exposed participants to images of the target wearing the same higher-or lower-class symbols and examined the antecedents of compassionate responding. Consistent with theorizing, higher-class symbols elicited perceptions of elevated competence, trustworthiness, similarity to the self, and perceived humanity compared to lower-class symbols. These results indicate that visible signs of social class influence judgments of others' traits and attributes, as well as in decisions to respond compassionately to the needs of those who are suffering.
<p>Summary of legislative bills where sponsorship of the bill indicates either support for,... more <p>Summary of legislative bills where sponsorship of the bill indicates either support for, or reduction of, economic inequality in the US.</p
Americans remain largely unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the de... more Americans remain largely unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the degree to which it is patterned by race. In the present research we exposed a community sample of respondents to one of three interventions designed to promote a more realistic understanding of the Black-White wealth gap. The interventions were developed to conform to best practices in messaging about racial inequality drawn from the social sciences, yet differed in the extent to which they highlighted a single story versus data-based trends in Black-White wealth inequality or both. The interventions that highlighted data versus only a single story of racial inequality were most effective in both shifting how people talk about racial wealth inequality—eliciting less speech about personal achievement—and, critically, improving accuracy in perceptions of the Black-White wealth gap. These increases in accuracy persisted up to 18 months following the intervention, though accuracy did decline a...
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2016
Associations between social class and prosocial behavior—defined broadly as action intended to he... more Associations between social class and prosocial behavior—defined broadly as action intended to help others—may vary as a function of contextual factors. Three studies examined how making prosocial actions public, versus private, moderates this association. In Study 1, participation in a public prosocial campaign was higher among upper than lower class individuals. In Studies 2 and 3, lower class individuals were more prosocial in a dictator game scenario in private than in public, whereas upper class individuals showed the reverse pattern. Follow-up analyses revealed the importance of reputational concerns for shaping class differences in prosociality: Specifically, higher class individuals reported that pride motivated their prosocial behavior more than lower class individuals, and this association partially accounted for class-based differences in prosociality in public versus private contexts. Together, these results suggest that unique strategies for connecting and relating to o...
Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 2016
KEYWORDS conditions priming different levels of moral transcendence-with moral development; human... more KEYWORDS conditions priming different levels of moral transcendence-with moral development; human moral transcendence understood as the primary psychological rights; torture; interrogation; dimension distinguishing preconventional, conventional and Kohlberg postconventional reasoning. Participants later considered two hypothetical detainee scenarios. For each detainee, participants judged the importance of punishment and seeking information, and evaluated the appropriateness of "severe interrogation", either abstractly conceived (ACSI) or concretely described (CDSI). Across scenarios, the correlations between desiring information, desiring punishment, and recommending CDSI were strongest in the least transcendent condition and weakest in the most transcendent, suggesting that greater primed transcendence reduced associations between supporting CDSI and two common motivations of such support. Exposure to more transcendent moral schemas was also associated with a monotonic decline in support for CDSI in the two scenarios. The use in counter-terrorism operations of "enhanced" interrogation techniques-which arguably constitute torture (e.g. Siems, 2009)-has sparked moral and legal debate in the USA and worldwide, and the clear difference between the torturer's perspective and that of the tortured can make the debate seem intractable (Batson, Chao. & Givens, 2009). Reaching consensus may depend on whether those involved in the debate take the perspectives of others and apply moral principles consistently. Thus, understanding what processes affect attitudes towards torture may have broad theoretical implications for moral judgment. Some empirical research into torture-related attitudes has focused on the psychological factors underlying different perspectives toward torture (
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 2014
This is the second Article stemming from a study of the post-release behavior of wrongfully convi... more This is the second Article stemming from a study of the post-release behavior of wrongfully convicted individuals. Utilizing data on exonerees compiled from the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, the study tracks the behavior of 118 exonerees following their releases and examines the effects of more than twenty variables on their post-release criminality. We present here our findings on the ameliorative effects of expungement on post-exoneration offending. Expungement would seemingly be an obvious remedy for wrongfully convicted individuals, but in fact, almost one-third of exonerees do not have their records purged. We found that a failure to expunge was a significant predictor of postexoneration offending. 1 This relationship was strongest for offenders who had not committed an offense prior to the one for which they were wrongfully convicted. The problematic impact of failing to expunge is generally consistent with labeling theory, as are the findings regarding the effects on exonerees without prior records, which are supported by
PLOS ONE, 2015
In Fig. 1, "Relationships between social status and the tendency to sponsor legislation supportin... more In Fig. 1, "Relationships between social status and the tendency to sponsor legislation supporting economic inequality", Panel B is incorrect. Please see the corrected Fig. 1 here.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015
Perceived lower rank in the social class hierarchy reflects an individual's relative lack of perc... more Perceived lower rank in the social class hierarchy reflects an individual's relative lack of perceived social and economic worth in society. In the current study we tested the predictions that lower perceptions of social class rank elicit both reduced political participation and lower political self-efficacy. Study 1 found that students with lower perceived social class were less likely to seek information about student government. Study 2 found that perceptions of political self-efficacy accounted for the relationship between perceived social class rank and political participation. Study 3 established causal associations between perceived social class and political participation-a momentary manipulation of elevated perceived social class increased political efficacy and intentions to participate in politics. In Study 4, affirming the self reduced social class disparities in both perceived political participation and efficacy. Throughout the studies, perceptions of social class were consistently related to political participation, and these associations occurred after accounting for political ideology and objective indicators of social class. Discussion focused on the understudied psychological barriers that perpetuate voter inequality in society.
Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pre... more Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pressing issues facing society. And yet, predicting the behavior of politicians with respect to their support of economic inequality remains a significant challenge. Given that high status individuals tend to conceive of the current structure of society as fair and just, we expected that high status members of the U.S. House of Representatives would be more likely to support economic inequality in their legislative behavior than would their low status counterparts. Results supported this prediction particularly among Democratic members of Congress: Whereas Republicans tended to support legislation increasing economic inequality regardless of their social status, the social status of Democrats – measured in terms of average wealth, race, or gender – was a significant predictor of support for economic inequality. Policy implications of the observed relationship between social status and suppo...
PloS one, 2014
Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pre... more Economic inequality is at historically high levels in the United States and is among the most pressing issues facing society. And yet, predicting the behavior of politicians with respect to their support of economic inequality remains a significant challenge. Given that high status individuals tend to conceive of the current structure of society as fair and just, we expected that high status members of the U.S. House of Representatives would be more likely to support economic inequality in their legislative behavior than would their low status counterparts. Results supported this prediction particularly among Democratic members of Congress: Whereas Republicans tended to support legislation increasing economic inequality regardless of their social status, the social status of Democrats - measured in terms of average wealth, race, or gender - was a significant predictor of support for economic inequality. Policy implications of the observed relationship between social status and suppo...
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 2013
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Americans remain unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the degree to ... more Americans remain unaware of the magnitude of economic inequality in the nation and the degree to which it is patterned by race. We exposed a community sample of respondents to one of three interventions designed to promote a more realistic understanding of the Black–White wealth gap. The interventions conformed to recommendations in messaging about racial inequality drawn from the social sciences yet differed in how they highlighted data-based trends in Black–White wealth inequality, a single personal narrative, or both. Data interventions were more effective than the narrative in both shifting how people talk about racial wealth inequality—eliciting less speech about personal achievement—and, critically, lowering estimates of Black–White wealth equality for at least 18 mo following baseline, which aligned more with federal estimates of the Black–White wealth gap. Findings from this study highlight how data, along with current recommendations in the social sciences, can be leveraged...
A field experiment (N = 4,537) examined how signs of social class influence prosocial behavior. I... more A field experiment (N = 4,537) examined how signs of social class influence prosocial behavior. In the experiment, pedestrians were exposed to a target wearing symbols of relatively high or low social class in two major urban cities in the USA who was presumably requesting money to help the homeless. Pedestrians gave more than twice (2.55 times) as much to the target wearing high social class symbols than they did to the one wearing lower-class symbols. A follow-up perceptual study exposed participants to images of this panhandler wearing the same higher- or lower-class symbols, finding that higher-class symbols elicited perceptions of elevated competence, trustworthiness, similarity to the self, and perceived humanity compared to lower-class symbols. These results indicate that perceivers use visible signs of social class as a basis for judging others’ traits and attributes, and in decisions to directly share resources.
Perceptions of interpersonal competence are an important predictor of success in the political do... more Perceptions of interpersonal competence are an important predictor of success in the political domain. However, we argue—and provide evidence for—the proposition that competence is valued differently by voters across the social class spectrum. In two experiments (N1 = 441; N2 = 500), we show that higher social class individuals expressed a greater likelihood than their lower-class counterparts of voting for a candidate described as competent and were more likely to prefer such a candidate to one described as warm. In a third study, we analyze exit poll results of presidential primary elections to show that candidates perceived as competent performed better than those perceived as warm among relatively higher-class populations of voters whereas the opposite was true among relatively lower-class populations. We conclude that competence, in the political domain, is distinctively appealing to higher-class individuals and discuss implications for psychological theory as well as the polit...