Submit your research today
Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology is now open for submissions
Read our author guidelines
Journal profile
The Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology aims to publish original research, and reviews, that have the potential to stimulate advances in social psychological theory.
Editor spotlight
Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology maintains an Editorial Board of practicing researchers from around the world, to ensure manuscripts are handled by editors who are experts in the field of study.
Abstracting and Indexing
Latest Articles
More articlesExploring the (Mal)adaptive Consequences of Self-Deceptive Enhancement: A Narrative Review
Introduction. Despite the abundance of literature on the nature and functions of self-deceptive enhancement (SDE), there is still a lack of consensus about whether and when SDE is adaptive or maladaptive for individuals. This question of the costs and benefits of SDE is of particular clinical relevance and is the focus of the present literature review. Method. Building on an earlier meta-analytic review by Dufner et al. (2019), a total of 53 additional studies were identified and included in this review. Results. 25 of the studies supported the adaptiveness of SDE, 27 supported the maladaptiveness of SDE, and two supported mixed findings. Discussion. While SDE appears to be commonplace and experienced as beneficial in the short term, its longer-term negative consequences for learning, relationships, ethical behavior, and substance use recovery seem to outweigh its immediate benefits. However, these findings are limited by methodological issues related to the reliance on self-report measures, lack of consensus about the definition of SDE, and lack of clinical studies focused on SDE. Future studies should clarify the construct of SDE versus positive illusions and other related constructs and should examine SDE’s role as a possible maintaining factor for psychopathology beyond substance use disorders.
The Effect of Land Cover Protection on Preventing Crime: The Case Study of the State of New York, USA
The settlements’ traditional character and architectural texture will strengthen people’s sense of belonging and prevent migration, while local urban identity will be the most significant impediment to crime. The study investigates the relationship between the environmental and criminal conditions in New York, the world’s most diverse demographic. In New York, not every county has the same settlement or vegetation homogeneity level. To avoid the immigrant factor, the location where the offenders committed the crime was considered; crime data were statistically analyzed to assess the vegetation-crime relationship. With an interdisciplinary approach, the research also draws attention to the mean-world syndrome regarding crime and urbanization in the current cultural environment in the context of the media-violence relationship. Under the crime index category, the crimes committed were divided into major groups, and statistical analyses were performed on all the groups. The study also touches on proactive policing used in the United States. According to our findings, the keyword of sustainable development, equity, has been successfully realized in the United States. As a result, the classic scenario of income distribution disparities in the state driving citizens to crime does not apply to New York.
The Regulation of Personal Security
Although most motivational psychologists recognize that security is important for healthy development and functioning (e.g., attachment theory), we add to prior work by proposing that the ongoing regulation of security under potential threat involves three unique features. Specifically, security regulation involves an initial preconscious system of threat processing (neuroception) and an internally (vs. externally) generated stop signal of goal completion (yedasentience) as well as the sequential activation of avoidance and approach systems (anxiety-to-approach). Throughout, we consider how the integration of these insights across social and biological sciences accounts for both adaptive and maladaptive patterns of security regulation (e.g., obsessive-compulsive disorder, reactive attachment disorder, contingent self-esteem).
A Theory of Reliance on Individuating Information and Stereotypes in Implicit Judgments of Individuals and Social Groups
We propose a theory of (a) reliance on stereotypes and individuating information in implicit person perception and (b) the relationship between individuation in implicit person perception and shifts in implicit group stereotypes. The present research preliminarily tested this theory by assessing whether individuating information or stereotypes take primacy in implicit judgments of individuals under circumstances specified by our model and then testing the malleability of implicit group stereotypes in the presence of the same (or additional) counterstereotypic individuating information. Studies 1 and 2 conceptually replicated previous research by examining the effects of stereotype-inconsistent and stereotype-consistent individuating information on implicit stereotype-relevant judgments of individuals. Both studies showed that stereotypic implicit judgments of individuals made in the absence of individuating information were reversed when the individuals were portrayed as stereotype-inconsistent and were strengthened when targets were portrayed as stereotype-consistent (though in Study 2 this strengthening was descriptive rather than inferential). Studies 3 and 4 examined whether the strong effects of individuating information found in studies 1 and 2 extended to the social groups to which the individuals belonged. Even in the presence of up to eight counterstereotypic exemplars, there was no evidence of significant shifts in group stereotypes. Thus, the data showed that the shifts in implicit judgments that were caused by individuating information did not generalize to stereotypes of the social groups to which the individuals belong. Finally, we propose modifications to our theory that include potential reasons for this lack of generalization that we invite future research to explore.
Organizational Justice and Health: Reviewing Two Decades of Studies
Organizational justice refers to employees’ perceptions of the fairness of decision-making rules and policies in the workplace. Lack of justice is suggested to be a significant psychosocial risk factor that affects employees’ attitudes and health. The aim of this narrative review was to compile the evidence available about the effects of organizational justice on health. To this end, a literature search was carried out using the Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases. The final sample consisted of 103 articles that studied the effects of justice on mental health (40 results), job stress (26), sickness absence (15), physical health (14), absenteeism/presenteeism (3), safety at work (3), and health of third parties (2). The results show that perceptions of workplace justice predict employees’ mental health, stress-related health problems, and lower levels of sickness absence were relatively compelling. Future studies should focus on less-researched outcomes and on how these associations are modified by other variables for a better understanding of how justice affects health, with a view to being able to carry out preventive measures more efficiently.
Beyond Reciprocity: Forgiveness, Generosity, and Punishment in Continuing Dyadic Interactions
There is a long-standing debate in philosophy and the social sciences about how selfishness and cooperation function in dyadic social exchanges. Dyads are the foundation of our social lives, and reciprocity has long been considered the dominant strategy for dyadic interactions. We will argue the repertoire of human behavior during social exchanges ranges from punishment to generosity, and that the nuances of the relationship and interaction will dictate which behavior is likely to occur. We will examine emotional consequences of punishment, reciprocity, and forgiveness in long-term dyadic social exchanges. Finally, we argue that dyads move beyond reciprocity to a more forgiving, generous strategy to reestablish cooperation, and continue the relationship when noncooperation arises, once the motivations shift has occurred.