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Papers by Mariette Berndsen

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Nov 1, 2018

Perspective-taking is often used to reduce prejudice towards disadvantaged or stigmatized outgrou... more Perspective-taking is often used to reduce prejudice towards disadvantaged or stigmatized outgroups. We took a different tack and tested the idea that the instruction to take another's perspective may induce reactance and (therefore) non-compliance amongst those who are prejudiced (i.e., those who glorify their national ingroup). Two studies showed that, amongst Australian glorifiers, the mere instruction to take the perspective of an asylum seeker elicited non-compliance. Study 1 (N = 117) and Study 2 (N = 330) demonstrated that glorifiers perceived asylum seekers as a realistic threat to Australian interests, indirectly promoting non-compliance with the perspective-taking instruction through prejudice against asylum seekers and psychological reactance against the perspective-taking instruction. Both studies indicated that, when instructed to take the perspective of an asylum seeker, reactance led glorifiers to respond from their own perspective. Study 2 also provides an experimental test of hypotheses by manipulating glorification. The findings highlight (1) that perspective-taking can elicit active resistance amongst those who glorify their national group and (2) the role of mode of identification as a point of origin in understanding the division in public attitudes towards refugees.

Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2000

In this paper hypothesis-testing behaviour is compared to risk-taking behaviour. It is proposed t... more In this paper hypothesis-testing behaviour is compared to risk-taking behaviour. It is proposed that choosing a suitable test for a given hypothesis requires making a preposterior analysis of two aspects of such a test: the probability of obtaining supporting evidence and the evidential value of this evidence. This consideration resembles the one a gambler makes when choosing among bets, each having a probability of winning and an amount to be won. A confirmatory testing strategy can be defined within this framework as a strategy directed at maximizing either the probability or the value of a confirming outcome. Previous theories on testing behaviour have focused on the human tendency to maximize the probability of a confirming outcome. In this paper, two experiments are presented in which participants tend to maximize the confirming value of the test outcome. Motivational factors enhance this tendency dependent on the context of the testing situation. Both this result and the framework are discussed in relation to other studies in the field of testing behaviour. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Frontiers in Psychology, Oct 12, 2022

Over recent years, immigrants have been met with unjust prejudiced behavior instead of warm welco... more Over recent years, immigrants have been met with unjust prejudiced behavior instead of warm welcome. However, not all citizens of a nation endorse such behavior, instead they try to oppose it through social mobilization. In the context of an ongoing situation where the national flag is used as a prejudiced means to exclude immigrants, individuals who felt attached with all members of the nation felt significantly more shame for the unjust than individuals who glorify their nation. Consequently, attached identifiers expressed a significantly greater motivation than glorified identifiers to start thinking about social mobilization to reclaim the meaning of the flag as a symbol of inclusion, not exclusion. The current study contributes to the growing debate on how immigrants are received, and it helps explain how national identification and feelings such as shame motivate individuals to start thinking about objecting to prejudicial flag displays.

Science Trends, Dec 20, 2018

European Journal of Social Psychology, 2015

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1998

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39th Annual Conference of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, 2009

Motivation and Emotion, 2020

A small body of research has investigated the relationship between an immoral disposition and sch... more A small body of research has investigated the relationship between an immoral disposition and schadenfreude. Less work has investigated the relationship between immoral behavior and schadenfreude. The aim of the present study was to separate out dispositional and behavioral attributions by both manipulation and measurement and thereby to investigate individual pathways to schadenfreude. Participants (Study 1: N = 281, Study 2: N = 271) were presented with a scenario that described a single immoral act or multiple immoral acts. The latter resulted in greater attributions to dispositional immorality. Importantly, dispositional immorality attributions were found to predict schadenfreude, but behavioral immorality attributions had no independent effect on schadenfreude. The pathways to schadenfreude were partly mediated by condemning emotions directed at the person but not by condemning emotions directed at the behavior. These findings expand our understanding of the psychological processes that underlie schadenfreude.

Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 2017

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the current research is to explore how mode of identification (glorificati... more ABSTRACTThe purpose of the current research is to explore how mode of identification (glorification versus attachment) results in either schadenfreude “with a bad conscience” (S-BC) about disadvantaged people, or prosocial emotional responses (sympathy and guilt) towards them through appraisals of entitlement, realistic threat, and blame. These relationships were investigated amongst Australians (N = 213) and Romanians (N = 210) in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers in detention centres in those two countries. Consistent with hypotheses, Australian glorifying identifiers considered asylum seekers to be a threat to well-being and to not be entitled to seek asylum. Asylum seekers were therefore blamed for their situation in detention centres and this enhanced group-based S-BC. Very different findings were observed for attached identifiers who expressed group-based sympathy and guilt towards asylum seekers. Similar pathways were observed in the Romanian sample except for the role of entitlement. Mor...

Motivation and Emotion, 2016

Participants (Study 1: N = 138, Study 2: N = 153) responded to a video in which a person suffered... more Participants (Study 1: N = 138, Study 2: N = 153) responded to a video in which a person suffered a mishap. The studies manipulated whether or not the person was responsible for the mishap and the degree to which the consequences were subsequently found to be serious. Results of Study 1 showed reduction in schadenfreude and more compassion for the victim in the serious condition due to appraisals that it was immoral to laugh about the misfortune. The stronger these appraisals and the stronger the initial schadenfreude, the stronger were moral emotions (guilt, shame, and regret) about initially expressed schadenfreude. Moral emotions and compassion fostered prosocial behavior. Study 2 extended these results by showing that seriousness of the consequences acted as a moderator for most of these findings with significant effects occurring in the serious condition only. Most reduction in schadenfreude occurred when the consequences were serious and when the person was less responsible for the misfortune. The studies extend past research by investigating schadenfreude and other emotions in a context that does not involve social comparison and where participants reflected on their initial expressions of schadenfreude.

We are conducting a meta-analysis on the effect of perspective-taking strategies on intergroup at... more We are conducting a meta-analysis on the effect of perspective-taking strategies on intergroup attitudes and actions.

This file contains the tables, figures and stimulus materials for the research reported by Bernds... more This file contains the tables, figures and stimulus materials for the research reported by Berndsen et al. (2017) CRSP.<br>

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2015

Although it is well-established that interpersonal apologies promote forgiveness, the apology–for... more Although it is well-established that interpersonal apologies promote forgiveness, the apology–forgiveness link at the intergroup level is more tenuous. A possible reason for this tenuous relationship is that many intergroup apologies focus on the offender group’s feelings about the transgression as opposed to the victimized group’s suffering. In this spirit, we manipulated focus of a collective apology in two experiments. Consistent with predictions, a victim-focused apology (relative to offender-focused apology) heightened perceptions of offender group remorse, perceived empathy of the offender group, and trust in the offender. In turn, perceptions of remorse, empathy, and trust uniquely increased intergroup forgiveness. Results have implications for facilitating restorative effects between groups in situations of social injustice.