Papers by Axel Zinkernagel
Diagnostic Assessment, and Methodology for their continual support and for the very pleasant and ... more Diagnostic Assessment, and Methodology for their continual support and for the very pleasant and open work atmosphere, in particular, Anna Baumert, Friederike Gerstenberg, Tobias Rothmund, and Nadine Thomas. I would also like to thank the former members of the work group, Wilhelm Hofmann and Tobias Gschwendner, for their research footprints and ideas, which I could build upon in my research.
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, Jun 10, 2019
Single-Block, Single-Target, Implicit Association Test
Acta Politica
Based on the assumption that disclosing explicit populist radical-right (PRR) attitudes and votin... more Based on the assumption that disclosing explicit populist radical-right (PRR) attitudes and voting intentions for PRR parties may be inhibited by a social desirability bias, this paper aims at developing a measure for implicit populist attitudes (IAT) and at assessing its explanatory power for the prediction of PRR party support. Using data from a German online survey (N = 898), the populism-IAT is tested against corresponding direct measures of populist attitudes and anti-immigrant attitudes to predict voting propensity for the German PRR party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Results reveal that social desirability concerns indeed restrict the likelihood of reporting a high propensity of PRR vote; however, direct measures turn out as best predictors for self-reported voting intentions. Inconsistencies between implicit and explicit attitudes may indicate sensitivity to social (un-)desirability perceptions, when attitudes are displayed on the implicit but not on the explicit level...
The Interplay Between Explicit and Implicit Right‐Wing Populism in Germany and Switzerland
Political Psychology
We conceptualize and measure right‐wing populism (RWP) as a three‐dimensional concept, explicitly... more We conceptualize and measure right‐wing populism (RWP) as a three‐dimensional concept, explicitly and implicitly, based on online surveys and implicit association tests (IATs) in Germany and Switzerland. Confirmatory factor analyses show that explicit populism, nativism, and authoritarianism establish the latent RWP‐construct and that they are each related to their respective implicit counterpart. However, RWP ideology does not exist as an equally robust construct in the implicit realm as it does in the explicit realm. Resulting implicit‐explicit incongruence is psychologically meaningful in that it is moderated by willingness to comply with perceived social norms: For participants who perceive that their own political views differ from their social environment and who conceal their diverging opinions, implicit attitudes differ more strongly from explicit attitudes. This supports our rationale that explicit expression of RWP‐ideology is subject to social‐compatibility concerns. Henc...
Multi-lab replication: antisaccade task as the depleting task
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2019
Multi-Lab Replication Reveals A Small but Significant Ego Depletion Effect
There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent pre-regist... more There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent pre-registered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium level effect size. In the current research, we pre-registered a multi-lab collaborating project to replicate that experiment. Data from twelve labs across the globe (N = 1775) revealed a small but significant ego depletion effect, g = 0.12, CI95 = [0.02, 0.21]. The data also provided some evidence in support of a moderating effect of individual differences in lay theory about willpower, such that participants with an unlimited-resource theory evinced a weaker depletion effect. Finally, a series of auxiliary analyses provided important implications for future studies investigating the robustness of ego depletion, such that strictly controlled experimental settings and outcome tasks with medium difficulty might be better for observing a stronger depletion effect.
Validity of a measure of implicit disgust sensitivity
PsycEXTRA Dataset
Discrepancies between Implicit and Explicit Self–concepts of Intelligence Predict Performance on Tests of Intelligence
European Journal of Personality, 2011
Three studies investigated the correspondence between implicit and explicit self–concepts of inte... more Three studies investigated the correspondence between implicit and explicit self–concepts of intelligence and how that correspondence is related to performance on different intelligence tests. Configurations of these two self–concepts were found to be consistently related to performance on intelligence tests in all three studies. For individuals who self–reported high intelligence (high explicit self–concept), a negative implicit self–concept (measured with the Implicit Association Test) led to a decrease in performance on intelligence tests. For participants whose self–report indicated a low self–concept of intelligence, positive automatic associations between the self and intelligence had a similar effect. In line with a stress hypothesis, the results indicate that any discrepant configuration of self–concepts will impair performance. Importantly, the prediction of performance on intelligence tests by the self–concept of intelligence was shown to be independent of self–esteem (Stu...
European Journal of Personality, 2013
At present, it is not well understood which individual characteristics determine whether individu... more At present, it is not well understood which individual characteristics determine whether individuals will benefit or suffer from feedback about suboptimal performance. Three separate studies tested the idea that individuals‘ reactions to (neutral versus negative; positive versus negative) feedback as either improving or deteriorating performance in intelligence tests depended on their explicit and implicit self–concept of intelligence (eSCI and iSCI). In all studies (Study 1, N = 177; Study 2, N = 165; Study 3, N = 132), persons with low eSCI/high iSCI showed a boost in performance after negative feedback, whereas persons with any other combination showed a decline in performance. The studies also provide an explanation for these effects in terms of mediating mechanisms. Whereas the performance boost of individuals with low eSCI/high iSCI can be best explained by achievement–related reactance (Studies 2 and 3) and decrease in ruminative thinking (Study 3), the performance declines i...
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2020
There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregiste... more There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregistered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium-level effect size. In the current research, we conducted a preregistered multilab replication of that experiment. Data from 12 labs across the globe ( N = 1,775) revealed a small and significant ego depletion effect, d = 0.10. After excluding participants who might have responded randomly during the outcome task, the effect size increased to d = 0.16. By adding an informative, unbiased data point to the literature, our findings contribute to clarifying the existence, size, and generality of ego depletion.
Computers in Human …, 2007
We investigated whether newly developed virtual 3D environments (VEs) based on a modification of ... more We investigated whether newly developed virtual 3D environments (VEs) based on a modification of the computer game Quake III Arena Ò are suitable for psychological experimenting. Internal validity of data collected in VEs may be threatened due to a priori individual differences in general performance in VE navigation and in susceptibility to cybersickness. The main question was whether individual differences in performance can be diminished by means of training. Additionally, the susceptibility of different subsamples to cybersickness when moving within VEs was examined. 85 participants took part in an experiment where they had to fulfill simple tasks in three VEs. Navigation performance was measured as the time participants needed to make their way through the VEs. Differences in navigation performance between different levels of experience were diminished by training, indicating that internal validity can be obtained. A classification tree reveals that game-inexperienced female participants aged over 31 years have the highest risk of experiencing cybersickness. VEs based on modifications of computer games seem to be an extremely promising and inexpensive possibility for the administration of psychological experiments.
Wie und womit? Programme zur Erstellung und Verarbeitung von Texten
Publizieren während der Promotion, 2010
Convergence of Direct, Indirect, and Objective Risk-Taking Measures in Gambling
Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology, 2010
Abstract. Based on dual-process models, we assumed that risk taking depends on implicit and expli... more Abstract. Based on dual-process models, we assumed that risk taking depends on implicit and explicit risk attitudes and risk propensity. Specifically, we predicted that the convergence between these indicators would depend on the impulsiveness versus reflectiveness of risk ...
Social Justice Research, 2014
Perceived injustice can trigger strong emotional reactions and motivate political protest. Althou... more Perceived injustice can trigger strong emotional reactions and motivate political protest. Although there is vast empirical evidence for this chain of reactions, we know little about individual differences in how perceived injustice can motivate people to engage in political actions. In a survey study with 1,005 German participants, we investigated how justice sensitivity as a personality disposition accounts for individual differences in political engagement. Regression analyses revealed that justice sensitivity from an observer perspective promotes political engagement, whereas justice sensitivity from a victim perspective is not related to political engagement . In the concrete case of a political decision regarding the public transport project ''Stuttgart 21'' in Germany, our data indicated that perceived procedural injustice of the decision process and moral outrage mediated the relation of justice sensitivity from an observer perspective and political protest. The present findings are in line with research on the behavioral outcomes of justice sensitivity and contribute to the understanding of individual differences in political engagement and its underlying motivational processes.
European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2011
We propose a single-block, single-target, Implicit Association Test (SB-ST-IAT) for measuring imp... more We propose a single-block, single-target, Implicit Association Test (SB-ST-IAT) for measuring implicit disgust sensitivity. Based on dual process theories, we tested the construct validity of this new measure using a sample of N = 75 participants. Incremental validity of the newly developed SB-ST-IAT was demonstrated using a disgust sensitivity questionnaire as a direct measure of disgust sensitivity, as well as two behavioral criteria. A controlled approach versus avoidance task with disgusting stimuli (worms) was employed as a measure of controlled behavior. Facial disgust expression and withdrawal of hands and upper body from the disgust stimuli were used as indicators of automatic behavior. Implications of our research for the validation of indirect measures are discussed.
European Journal of Personality, 2013
On the basis of an integration of dual-process models of information processing and the lens mode... more On the basis of an integration of dual-process models of information processing and the lens model framework of person perception, we conducted two studies to investigate whether self-perceivers could detect their implicit disposition from video feedback of behavioural cues and whether these cues were used for explicit dispositional inferences under conditions that maximized the presumed self-perception process. Using an approach that differed from previous research, we used the following: (i) a more detailed and stepwise self-perception procedure; (ii) a specific explicit measure compared with a global explicit measure; and (iii) disgust sensitivity as a domain with clear, unambiguous cues and an assumed low self-presentation bias. The results from two studies (N = 117 and N = 130) on disgust sensitivity provide the first evidence for the assumed process with regard to bodily reaction cues but not with regard to facial expression cues. These novel findings suggest that people can get to know their unconscious selves better if supporting conditions are met and the right behavioural cues are attended to. Additional boundary conditions of this selfperception process were investigated using display rules and need for closure in Study 2. We also collected a German version of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding ) as a general moderator in the cue validity part of our model. Although social desirability moderated the effect of the direct measures on behaviour according to our hypotheses, the results are not presented in this article to limit its length.
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Papers by Axel Zinkernagel