A new study using Connect participants reveals insightful connections between the quality of democracy in various American states and the vacation choices of U.S. citizens. This compelling research delves into how democratic backsliding in states like Florida and Georgia influences Americans' willingness to travel to these destinations. Through a series of innovative survey experiments, the study uncovers that while there is a noticeable decline in interest for vacationing in states experiencing democratic erosion, the overall effect on travel preferences remains modest.
Our research indicates that the influence of role models extends beyond the sports field, with implications for marketers and advertisers aiming to understand factors that shape consumer behavior in sports. Decreased event attendance directly impacts ticket sales, pivotal for event revenue, emphasizing the importance of fostering attendance and loyalty.
In today's hyperconnected world, smartphones have become an indispensable part of our lives, offering instant access to information, communication, and entertainment. However, this pervasiveness has also led to concerns about excessive smartphone use, a phenomenon often referred to as "constant checking." Characterized by the habitual and often uncontrollable urge to check one's smartphone for new notifications, messages, or updates, constant checking can have detrimental impacts on individuals' well-being and productivity.
Across our studies, run on CloudResearch and other platforms, our salient victim effect occurred when participants considered positive outcomes from their own lives, when they were in interpersonal interactions, and when they imagined a situation at work. Beneficiaries of bias were responsive to the salient victim across a variety of reasons for the bias (i.e., participants were White, they were similar to the decision maker, or they were related to the decision maker) and regardless of whether a specific victim was mentioned or not. In short, it seemed like the salient victim had a powerful effect. In real life, too, there seem to be some examples of when people will take action to correct bias after they reflect on the victims.
Think about a person who, one day, was late to work, twisted her ankle because she had to run to catch the bus, and almost got fired. She blamed it all on her phone alarm that didn’t sound—she judged that single cause (the alarm) as responsible for many consequences. Well, it turns out these kinds of judgments (what social psychologists call “causal attributions”) have to do with our thinking styles — whether we are more holistic or analytic individuals. Our thinking styles affect how we make sense of the world around us.
We are excited to announce a new chapter in the growth of our Connect platform. Our journey began with a mission to provide researchers with a seamless, high-quality online research experience, and today, we're thrilled to take the next step in that journey.
