Narcissistic leaders present us with an interesting paradox, because they have positive as well as negative characteristics. As such, we argue that the nature of the context determines how suitable narcissists are perceived to be as leaders. Here we propose that a specific contextual factor, that is, uncertainty, increases the preference for narcissists as leaders. As an initial test of this prediction, the first study showed that narcissistic characteristics were evaluated as more desirable in a leader in an uncertain context rather than a certain context. In Studies 2 and 3, we further hypothesized and found that high narcissists are chosen as leaders more often than low narcissists, especially in uncertain (rather than certain) contexts. In all of the studies, individuals were shown to be aware of the negative features of narcissistic leaders, such as arrogance and exploitativeness, but chose them as leaders in times of uncertainty, regardless. Thus, a narcissistic leader is perceived as someone who can help reduce individual uncertainty. These results reveal the importance of contextual uncertainty in understanding the allure of narcissistic leaders. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Previous research on superordinate identification demonstrated the positive effects of such identification on intergroup relations. Our study investigated the hypothesis that superordinate identity increases acceptance of intergroup inequalities among members of low-status groups. The results obtained from two studies supported our predictions. Superordinate identification increased the justification of unequal funding by members of the disadvantaged group (Study 1) and the acceptance of displaying religious symbols in public places among non-believers (Study 2). In contrast, identification with the low-status subgroup decreased perceived legitimacy of unequal intergroup arrangements. The results demonstrate that superordinate identification can have a negative influence on willingness to act in line with subgroup interest among members of disadvantaged groups. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Adopting a powerful posture leads individuals to feel more confident and dominant. Social exclusion can strongly impact individuals' mood and basic social needs. The current research combines these bodies of research, investigating the effects of dominant and submissive poses on responses to social exclusion and inclusion. In two experiments, participants held a slouching or upright pose and were either socially included or excluded using the Cyberball social exclusion manipulation. Social exclusion only affected participants' mood when individuals took a powerful posture: Excluded participants in powerful postures had more negative mood after exclusion than included power-posing participants, but effects of exclusion and inclusion did not differ among submissive-posing participants (Experiments 1 and 2). Similarly, it was also found that social exclusion affected basic needs only when participants' adopted powerful poses (Experiment 2). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Despite women's increasing representation in elected offices across a range of countries, women remain a minority of elected officials. Although greater gender equality in political leadership may be assumed to promote gender equality in other domains,’ the presence of female candidates might ironically facilitate attitudes associated with legitimizing gender inequality. Using experimental methods, we demonstrate that the presence of a female political candidate, relative to a male political candidate, leads to greater beliefs that the sociopolitical system is just (Experiment 1), greater legitimacy of the gender status hierarchy (Experiment 2), and greater implicit preference for stability (Experiment 3). Ironically, within a context in which women are generally underrepresented as political leaders, the increasing presence of women as political candidates might lead’ to stronger legitimization of the current sociopolitical system, potentially inhibiting social change. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We report research implicating nostalgia as an intrapersonal means of warding off the stigmatization of persons with mental illness. We hypothesized and found that nostalgia about an encounter with a person with mental illness improves attitudes toward the mentally ill. In Experiment 1, undergraduates who recalled an encounter with a mentally ill person while focusing on central (vs. peripheral) features of the nostalgia prototype reported a more positive outgroup attitude. This beneficial effect of nostalgia was mediated by greater inclusion of the outgroup in the self (IOGS). In Experiment 2, undergraduates who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) interaction with a mentally ill person subsequently showed a more positive outgroup attitude. Results supported a serial mediation model whereby nostalgia increased social connectedness, which predicted greater IOGS and outgroup trust. IOGS and outgroup trust, in turn, predicted more positive outgroup attitudes. We ruled out alternative explanations for the results (i.e., mood, perceived positivity, and typicality of the recalled outgroup member). The findings speak to the intricate psychological processes underlying the prejudice-reduction function of nostalgia and their interventional potential. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Although implicitly measured bias was once assumed to be highly stable, subsequent research has shown that it is, in fact, malleable. One technique for altering implicit bias is through counter-prejudicial training. At least two broad mechanisms may drive this effect. First, training people to respond in counter-prejudicial ways may diminish the extent to which biased associations are activated in memory. Second, training may strengthen processes that reduce the influence of biased associations on responses. Participants received either counter-prejudicial, pro-prejudicial, or no training and then completed an implicit measure of bias. Application of the quadruple process model revealed support for both mechanisms: Counter-prejudicial training produced less activation of biased associations as well as enhanced detection of appropriate responses compared with pro-prejudicial or no training. Implications for the development of bias-reduction training are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Performing consecutive self-control tasks typically leads to deterioration in self-control performance. This effect can be explained within the strength model of self-control or within a cognitive control perspective. Both theoretical frameworks differ in their predictions with regard to the impact of affect and task characteristics on self-control deterioration within a two-task paradigm. Whereas the strength model predicts decrements in self-control performance whenever both tasks require a limited resource, under a cognitive control perspective, decrements should only occur when people switch to a different response conflict in the second task. Moreover, only the cognitive control model predicts an interaction between task switching and positive affect. In the present research, we investigated this interaction within a two-task paradigm and found evidence that favored a cognitive control interpretation of the results. Positive affect only benefitted consecutive self-control performance if response conflicts in the two tasks were different (resisting sweets followed by a Stroop task). If they were the same (two consecutive Stroop tasks), positive affect impaired self-control performance. These effects were partially replicated in the second study that also examined negative affect, which did not affect self-control performance. We conclude that drawing on cognitive control models could add substantially to research on self-control. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Three experimental studies investigated whether death-thoughts avoidance as a consequence of mortality salience and need for certainty as a consequence of uncertainty are two different motivational states. The results suggest that although death-thought avoidance and need for certainty are different constructs, they share a great deal of variance (anxiety plays a pivotal mediational role in both). However, whereas the impact of uncertainty on negative attitudes towards an out-group with different worldviews (Arabs) was mediated only by anxiety (measured retrospectively), the effect of mortality salience was mediated by both retrospective anxiety and death-thought accessibility. These findings imply that similar effects that have been obtained by these two manipulations are, at least partly, the result of different processes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Scientific discoveries about the dangers of smoking and antismoking actions carried out in Western countries over recent decades have progressively helped create an antismoking social norm. Nevertheless, many smokers still refuse to quit. We conducted two studies to investigate smokers' resistance to this norm as a function of their personal self-esteem (PSE) and group-based self-esteem (GBSE). An initial correlational study assessed smokers' perception of the antismoking social norm, their PSE, and their antismoking attitudes. Smokers with low PSE had lower antismoking attitudes than those with high PSE when the antismoking norm was strong. The second study assessed GBSE (i.e., smokers' satisfaction as smokers) and manipulated both the strength of the antismoking norm and PSE (i.e., focus on personal weaknesses or strengths). Smokers with low PSE displayed the lowest antismoking attitudes when the antismoking norm was strong and their GBSE was high. These results show that the antismoking norm can produce paradoxical effects and suggest that the way individuals cope with stigmatization is affected by the interplay between PSE and GBSE. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We tested whether power reduces responses related to social stress and thus increases performance evaluation in social evaluation situations. We hypothesized and found that thinking about having power reduced fear of negative evaluation and physiological arousal during a self-presentation task (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 2, we also showed that simply thinking about having power made individuals perform better in a social evaluation situation. Our results confirmed our hypotheses that the mechanism explaining this power–performance link was that high power participants felt less fear of negative evaluation. The reduced fear of negative evaluation generated fewer signs of behavioral nervousness, which caused their performance to be evaluated more positively (serial mediation). Simply thinking of having power can therefore have important positive consequences for a person in an evaluation situation in terms of how he or she feels and how he or she is evaluated. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Benevolent sexism promises women a revered place within intimate relationships, which should lead to greater dissatisfaction when they face relationship difficulties. We collected self-reports of relationship problems and relationship satisfaction (Study 1; N = 91 heterosexual couples), relationship problems and relationship evaluations daily over 3 weeks (Study 1), and hurtful partner behaviour and relationship evaluations over 10 days (Study 2; N = 86 women). Women's endorsement of benevolent sexism predicted sharper declines in relationship satisfaction when they faced greater relationship problems (Study 1) and hurtful partner behaviour (Study 2). These effects were magnified in longer relationships (Studies 1 and 2), indicating that the sensitivity to relationship problems associated with women's endorsement of benevolent sexism is particularly pronounced when women have more invested in their relationship role being revered and cherished. The results suggest that women who endorse benevolent sexism are vulnerable within their relationships because their satisfaction is contingent upon the fulfilment of the promises of benevolent sexism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The present research tests the idea that playing a team-player video game in which players work together as teammates and assist each other in achieving a common goal increases cooperative behavior toward a new partner. In fact, relative to a single-player mode, cooperatively playing a video game increased cooperation in a mixed-motive decision dilemma task. Because the players were exposed to the same video game content in both experimental conditions, the effect on cooperative behavior can only be accounted for by the different way the game was played. Mediation analyses revealed that cooperative team play promoted feelings of cohesion, which activated trust (i.e., the expectation of reciprocal cooperation), which in turn increased cooperative behavior. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.