The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors... more The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors was tested. It was found that people report proportionally lower frequencies of both healthy and unhealthy behaviors if they give frequency estimations over a longer as compared to a shorter time span (time span effect). In addition, they report lower frequencies of unhealthy behaviors, and higher frequencies of healthy behaviors for themselves than for the average other (illusory superiority). For healthy but not for unhealthy behaviors a stronger illusory superiority effect was obtained in frequency reports for behavioral expectations as compared to past behaviors. Potential explanations and implications for subjective measurements of health behavior are discussed.
We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they descr... more We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they describe their future. In contrast to previous studies in which participants estimated the likelihoods of experimenter‐generated events, our participants freely listed important events they believed were possible in their future versus the average person's future. They also provided desirability ratings, controllability ratings, and likelihood estimates for these self‐generated events. Participants listed more desirable and fewer undesirable events in their future than in the average person's future. These differences were stronger for controllable than uncontrollable events. Comparative optimism was also observed in participants' ratings of the likelihood of positive and negative events. Taken together, these findings suggest that a comparative optimism characterizes future expectations about spontaneously generated events as well as the pre‐selected events sampled in previous st...
Om het draagvlak voor het veranderende stelsel van sociale zekerheid in te schatten is het belang... more Om het draagvlak voor het veranderende stelsel van sociale zekerheid in te schatten is het belangrijk inzicht te hebben in hoe (vooral) jongeren tegen dit stelsel aankijken. Nagegaan werd of studenten het behoefte-en het gelijkheidsprincipe op een gelijke manier toepassen bij het inschatten van de rechtvaardige hoogte en duur van uitkeringen en bij uitkeringen voor henzelf en anderen. Vooral het gelijkheidsprincipe werd gehanteerd. Er waren echter ook discrepanties tussen "noodzakelijke" en "rechtvaardige" uitkeringen die werden gemodereerd door de dimensie van de uitkering (hoogte vs duur) en de persoon voor wie de uitkeringen bestemd waren. In Nederland en de rest van Europa voltrekken zich maatschappelijke en beleidsmatige veranderingen, die grote gevolgen hebben voor het sociale zekerheidsstelsel. Enerzijds is er de vergrijzing, waardoor meer middelen moeten worden besteed aan ouderdoms-en medische voorzieningen (Nelissen, 1997a;. Anderzijds is er een selectief terugtredende overheid, waardoor sommige maatschappelijke risico's in de toekomst nog wel door het sociale zekerheidsstelsel worden gedekt en andere niet. Samen kunnen deze verschijnselen het publieke draagvlak voor het in de toekomst overblijvende systeem van sociale zekerheid onder druk zetten. Het is dus niet te verwonderen dat sociale wetenschappers buigen over vragen rondom 1 Correspondentie-adres: Vera Hoorens, Departement Psychologie, K.U. Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, B -3001 Leuven. De auteurs danken Kamieke van de Riet en Nicole Remmers voor het verzamelen van de gegevens, Tineke Willemsen voor het onder hun aandacht brengen van de literatuur over "entitlement", en Jos Berghman voor zijn pleidooi voor een psychologie van de sociale zekerheid.
Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in les... more Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countries. Using data from 62 countries ( N = 28,640), we examine binary gender gaps in agentic and communal self-views as a function of country-level objective gender equality (the Global Gender Gap Index) and subjective distributions of social power (the Power Distance Index). Findings show that in more egalitarian countries, gender gaps in agency are smaller and gender gaps in communality are larger. These patterns are driven primarily by cross-country differences in men’s self-views and by the Power Distance Index (PDI) more robustly than the Gl...
The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-lett... more The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-letters as compared to non-name-letters is due to an enhanced subjective frequency of own name-letters as compared to non-
We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they descr... more We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they describe their future. In contrast to previous studies in which participants estimated the likelihoods of experimenter-generated events, our participants freely listed important events they believed were possible in their future vs. the average person's future. They also provided desirability ratings, controllability ratings and likelihood estimates for these self-generated events. Participants listed more desirable events and fewer undesirable events in their future than in the average person's future. These differences were stronger for controllable than uncontrollable events. Comparative optimism was also observed in participants' ratings of the likelihood of positive and negative events. Taken together, these findings suggest that comparative optimism characterises future expectations about spontaneously generated events as well as the preselected events sampled in previous studies.
The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors... more The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors was tested. It was found that people report proportionally lower frequencies of both healthy and unhealthy behaviors if they give frequency estimations over a longer as compared to a shorter time span (time span effect). In addition, they report lower frequencies of unhealthy behaviors, and higher frequencies of healthy behaviors for themselves than for the average other (illusory superiority). For healthy but not for unhealthy behaviors a stronger illusory superiority effect was obtained in frequency reports for behavioral expectations as compared to past behaviors. Potential explanations and implications for subjective measurements of health behavior are discussed.
The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-lett... more The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-letters as compared to non-name-letters is due to an enhanced subjective frequency of own name-letters as compared to non-
B BP PS S D Di iv vi is si io on n o of f H He ea al lt th h P Ps sy yc ch ho ol lo og gy y A An ... more B BP PS S D Di iv vi is si io on n o of f H He ea al lt th h P Ps sy yc ch ho ol lo og gy y A An nn nu ua al l C Co on nf fe er re en nc ce e S Sh he ef ff fi ie el ld d 4 4t th h--6 6t th h S Se ep pt te em mb be er r 2 20 00 02 2 " "F
Objective: To examine if personal and comparative optimism, perceived effectiveness, and moraliza... more Objective: To examine if personal and comparative optimism, perceived effectiveness, and moralization of vaccination predict people's decision to get vaccinated. Methods: We measured self-reported vaccination decisions in a five-wave longitudinal study (N ≍ 5,000/wave) in Belgium over a six months period (December 2020-May 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the predictors were demographic factors, personal and comparative optimism for three aspects of COVID-19 (infection, severe disease, good outcome), perceived effectiveness of vaccination, and the extent to which vaccination is being viewed in prosocial terms (altruism, civic spirit) versus as instrumental in one's self-interest (common sense, concern about one's health). Results: The actual availability of vaccines changed people's outlook on vaccination. Marked differences emerged in vaccination decision between linguistic-cultural regions (Flemish Region, Walloon Region, Brussels Capital Region). Personal and comparative optimism predicted vaccination decisions to different extents depending on participants' age and on whether the optimism was for infection, severe disease, or a good outcome. In older participants, vaccination decision was mostly predicted by personal optimism; in younger participants, it was mostly predicted by comparative optimism. Moralizing vaccination predicted a lower likelihood of a positive vaccination decision, that is, higher vaccine hesitancy or refusal, particularly in older participants. Conclusions: Assessments of risk perception serving to inform vaccination campaigns should differentiate between expectations concerning the risk of infection and expectations concerning the outcome of an infection. Public health messages should address comparative optimism, particularly when targeting younger populations. Contrary to popular belief, moralizing vaccination may reduce the willingness to get vaccinated.
Waarom een studie over seksisme in Vlaamse kinderboeken? p. 3 Onderzoeksmethode p. 7 Resultaten p... more Waarom een studie over seksisme in Vlaamse kinderboeken? p. 3 Onderzoeksmethode p. 7 Resultaten p.10 Conclusies en implicaties p.25 Beleidsaanbevelingen p.29 Beperkingen en mogelijkheden voor vervolgonderzoek p.31 Geraadpleegde literatuur p.33
Medische concurrentie en conflict in de tijd van Jan Wier (1515-1588) Wie mag patiënten verzorgen... more Medische concurrentie en conflict in de tijd van Jan Wier (1515-1588) Wie mag patiënten verzorgen, en waar moet dat gebeuren? Wie mag zieken onderzoeken, aandoeningen vaststellen, en behandelingen voorschrijven? Hadden onderzoekers die vragen kunnen stellen aan mensen uit de 16 e eeuw, dan hadden ze uiteenlopende antwoorden gekregen. Dat kwam niet zozeer omdat er een bont gezelschap aan gezondheidswerkers was, maar vooral omdat hun bevoegdheden onderling slecht afgebakend waren. Veel patiëntentenminste, welgestelde patiëntenwaren behoorlijk mondig, zodat ze naar eigen inzicht en op advies van hun familieleden zelf een keuze maakten uit het aanbod van medische hulpverleners. Dat leidde tot hevige concurrentie en tot daaruit voortvloeiende conflicten. De betrokken hulpverleners leefden die conflicten uit aan het ziekbed en in de vakliteratuur, waar beschuldigingen van onkunde, bedrog en kwakzalverij duchtig over en weer vlogen. i Tegelijkertijd maakte de vage afbakening van bevoegdheden tussen beroepen in de gezondheidszorg het ook mogelijk dat de betrokkenen persoonlijke onenigheden uitvochten onder het mom van professionele conflicten. Sommige conflicten waarvan lange tijd is aangenomen dat het om wetenschappelijke of medische discussies ging, waren in werkelijkheid persoonlijke vetes of religieuze twisten. Persoonlijke antipathieën gaven
In the present paper, the relationship between illusory superiority (the belief to be better than... more In the present paper, the relationship between illusory superiority (the belief to be better than others) and unrealistic optimism (the expectancy of a better future for oneself than for others) is examined, and the relationship of both self-serving biases to the person positivity bias (the more benign evaluation of individuals as compared to groups) and the self-other asymmetry in social comparison is analysed. High school students rated themselves and a comparison other on a number of characteristics. In addition, they estimated the likelihood of a number of events in their own and the comparison other's future. Both the significant and intercorrelated illusory superiority and unrealistic optimism effects were correlated with locus of control, self-esteem and trait anxiety. Neither phenomenon could be explained by the person positivity hypothesis, and both biases were stronger if the prospects and characteristics of the comparison other were judged firstly than if subjects rat...
The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors... more The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors was tested. It was found that people report proportionally lower frequencies of both healthy and unhealthy behaviors if they give frequency estimations over a longer as compared to a shorter time span (time span effect). In addition, they report lower frequencies of unhealthy behaviors, and higher frequencies of healthy behaviors for themselves than for the average other (illusory superiority). For healthy but not for unhealthy behaviors a stronger illusory superiority effect was obtained in frequency reports for behavioral expectations as compared to past behaviors. Potential explanations and implications for subjective measurements of health behavior are discussed.
We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they descr... more We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they describe their future. In contrast to previous studies in which participants estimated the likelihoods of experimenter‐generated events, our participants freely listed important events they believed were possible in their future versus the average person's future. They also provided desirability ratings, controllability ratings, and likelihood estimates for these self‐generated events. Participants listed more desirable and fewer undesirable events in their future than in the average person's future. These differences were stronger for controllable than uncontrollable events. Comparative optimism was also observed in participants' ratings of the likelihood of positive and negative events. Taken together, these findings suggest that a comparative optimism characterizes future expectations about spontaneously generated events as well as the pre‐selected events sampled in previous st...
Om het draagvlak voor het veranderende stelsel van sociale zekerheid in te schatten is het belang... more Om het draagvlak voor het veranderende stelsel van sociale zekerheid in te schatten is het belangrijk inzicht te hebben in hoe (vooral) jongeren tegen dit stelsel aankijken. Nagegaan werd of studenten het behoefte-en het gelijkheidsprincipe op een gelijke manier toepassen bij het inschatten van de rechtvaardige hoogte en duur van uitkeringen en bij uitkeringen voor henzelf en anderen. Vooral het gelijkheidsprincipe werd gehanteerd. Er waren echter ook discrepanties tussen "noodzakelijke" en "rechtvaardige" uitkeringen die werden gemodereerd door de dimensie van de uitkering (hoogte vs duur) en de persoon voor wie de uitkeringen bestemd waren. In Nederland en de rest van Europa voltrekken zich maatschappelijke en beleidsmatige veranderingen, die grote gevolgen hebben voor het sociale zekerheidsstelsel. Enerzijds is er de vergrijzing, waardoor meer middelen moeten worden besteed aan ouderdoms-en medische voorzieningen (Nelissen, 1997a;. Anderzijds is er een selectief terugtredende overheid, waardoor sommige maatschappelijke risico's in de toekomst nog wel door het sociale zekerheidsstelsel worden gedekt en andere niet. Samen kunnen deze verschijnselen het publieke draagvlak voor het in de toekomst overblijvende systeem van sociale zekerheid onder druk zetten. Het is dus niet te verwonderen dat sociale wetenschappers buigen over vragen rondom 1 Correspondentie-adres: Vera Hoorens, Departement Psychologie, K.U. Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, B -3001 Leuven. De auteurs danken Kamieke van de Riet en Nicole Remmers voor het verzamelen van de gegevens, Tineke Willemsen voor het onder hun aandacht brengen van de literatuur over "entitlement", en Jos Berghman voor zijn pleidooi voor een psychologie van de sociale zekerheid.
Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in les... more Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countries. Using data from 62 countries ( N = 28,640), we examine binary gender gaps in agentic and communal self-views as a function of country-level objective gender equality (the Global Gender Gap Index) and subjective distributions of social power (the Power Distance Index). Findings show that in more egalitarian countries, gender gaps in agency are smaller and gender gaps in communality are larger. These patterns are driven primarily by cross-country differences in men’s self-views and by the Power Distance Index (PDI) more robustly than the Gl...
The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-lett... more The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-letters as compared to non-name-letters is due to an enhanced subjective frequency of own name-letters as compared to non-
We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they descr... more We examined whether comparative optimism characterizes the events people generate when they describe their future. In contrast to previous studies in which participants estimated the likelihoods of experimenter-generated events, our participants freely listed important events they believed were possible in their future vs. the average person's future. They also provided desirability ratings, controllability ratings and likelihood estimates for these self-generated events. Participants listed more desirable events and fewer undesirable events in their future than in the average person's future. These differences were stronger for controllable than uncontrollable events. Comparative optimism was also observed in participants' ratings of the likelihood of positive and negative events. Taken together, these findings suggest that comparative optimism characterises future expectations about spontaneously generated events as well as the preselected events sampled in previous studies.
The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors... more The occurrence of a time span effect and illusory superiority in self reports of health behaviors was tested. It was found that people report proportionally lower frequencies of both healthy and unhealthy behaviors if they give frequency estimations over a longer as compared to a shorter time span (time span effect). In addition, they report lower frequencies of unhealthy behaviors, and higher frequencies of healthy behaviors for themselves than for the average other (illusory superiority). For healthy but not for unhealthy behaviors a stronger illusory superiority effect was obtained in frequency reports for behavioral expectations as compared to past behaviors. Potential explanations and implications for subjective measurements of health behavior are discussed.
The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-lett... more The hypothesis was tested that the Name-Letter Effect or affective overvaluation of own name-letters as compared to non-name-letters is due to an enhanced subjective frequency of own name-letters as compared to non-
B BP PS S D Di iv vi is si io on n o of f H He ea al lt th h P Ps sy yc ch ho ol lo og gy y A An ... more B BP PS S D Di iv vi is si io on n o of f H He ea al lt th h P Ps sy yc ch ho ol lo og gy y A An nn nu ua al l C Co on nf fe er re en nc ce e S Sh he ef ff fi ie el ld d 4 4t th h--6 6t th h S Se ep pt te em mb be er r 2 20 00 02 2 " "F
Objective: To examine if personal and comparative optimism, perceived effectiveness, and moraliza... more Objective: To examine if personal and comparative optimism, perceived effectiveness, and moralization of vaccination predict people's decision to get vaccinated. Methods: We measured self-reported vaccination decisions in a five-wave longitudinal study (N ≍ 5,000/wave) in Belgium over a six months period (December 2020-May 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the predictors were demographic factors, personal and comparative optimism for three aspects of COVID-19 (infection, severe disease, good outcome), perceived effectiveness of vaccination, and the extent to which vaccination is being viewed in prosocial terms (altruism, civic spirit) versus as instrumental in one's self-interest (common sense, concern about one's health). Results: The actual availability of vaccines changed people's outlook on vaccination. Marked differences emerged in vaccination decision between linguistic-cultural regions (Flemish Region, Walloon Region, Brussels Capital Region). Personal and comparative optimism predicted vaccination decisions to different extents depending on participants' age and on whether the optimism was for infection, severe disease, or a good outcome. In older participants, vaccination decision was mostly predicted by personal optimism; in younger participants, it was mostly predicted by comparative optimism. Moralizing vaccination predicted a lower likelihood of a positive vaccination decision, that is, higher vaccine hesitancy or refusal, particularly in older participants. Conclusions: Assessments of risk perception serving to inform vaccination campaigns should differentiate between expectations concerning the risk of infection and expectations concerning the outcome of an infection. Public health messages should address comparative optimism, particularly when targeting younger populations. Contrary to popular belief, moralizing vaccination may reduce the willingness to get vaccinated.
Waarom een studie over seksisme in Vlaamse kinderboeken? p. 3 Onderzoeksmethode p. 7 Resultaten p... more Waarom een studie over seksisme in Vlaamse kinderboeken? p. 3 Onderzoeksmethode p. 7 Resultaten p.10 Conclusies en implicaties p.25 Beleidsaanbevelingen p.29 Beperkingen en mogelijkheden voor vervolgonderzoek p.31 Geraadpleegde literatuur p.33
Medische concurrentie en conflict in de tijd van Jan Wier (1515-1588) Wie mag patiënten verzorgen... more Medische concurrentie en conflict in de tijd van Jan Wier (1515-1588) Wie mag patiënten verzorgen, en waar moet dat gebeuren? Wie mag zieken onderzoeken, aandoeningen vaststellen, en behandelingen voorschrijven? Hadden onderzoekers die vragen kunnen stellen aan mensen uit de 16 e eeuw, dan hadden ze uiteenlopende antwoorden gekregen. Dat kwam niet zozeer omdat er een bont gezelschap aan gezondheidswerkers was, maar vooral omdat hun bevoegdheden onderling slecht afgebakend waren. Veel patiëntentenminste, welgestelde patiëntenwaren behoorlijk mondig, zodat ze naar eigen inzicht en op advies van hun familieleden zelf een keuze maakten uit het aanbod van medische hulpverleners. Dat leidde tot hevige concurrentie en tot daaruit voortvloeiende conflicten. De betrokken hulpverleners leefden die conflicten uit aan het ziekbed en in de vakliteratuur, waar beschuldigingen van onkunde, bedrog en kwakzalverij duchtig over en weer vlogen. i Tegelijkertijd maakte de vage afbakening van bevoegdheden tussen beroepen in de gezondheidszorg het ook mogelijk dat de betrokkenen persoonlijke onenigheden uitvochten onder het mom van professionele conflicten. Sommige conflicten waarvan lange tijd is aangenomen dat het om wetenschappelijke of medische discussies ging, waren in werkelijkheid persoonlijke vetes of religieuze twisten. Persoonlijke antipathieën gaven
In the present paper, the relationship between illusory superiority (the belief to be better than... more In the present paper, the relationship between illusory superiority (the belief to be better than others) and unrealistic optimism (the expectancy of a better future for oneself than for others) is examined, and the relationship of both self-serving biases to the person positivity bias (the more benign evaluation of individuals as compared to groups) and the self-other asymmetry in social comparison is analysed. High school students rated themselves and a comparison other on a number of characteristics. In addition, they estimated the likelihood of a number of events in their own and the comparison other's future. Both the significant and intercorrelated illusory superiority and unrealistic optimism effects were correlated with locus of control, self-esteem and trait anxiety. Neither phenomenon could be explained by the person positivity hypothesis, and both biases were stronger if the prospects and characteristics of the comparison other were judged firstly than if subjects rat...
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