Small Research Grant

Small Research Grant is sponsored by Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). SPSP launched the inaugural edition of the Small Research Grants program in 2015 to provide funding for members who work at institutions that do not provide financial support for research.

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org/funding/small-research-grant) The Society for Personality and Social Psychology launched the inaugural edition of the Small Research Grants program in 2015 to provide funding for members who worked at institutions that did not provide financial support for research. **This program has been discontinued**.

* **Conor O'Dea: "He deserved it": Masculine honor beliefs and perceptions of bullies and bully victims** Abstract:_Masculine honor beliefs (MHB) describe an expectation for men and boys to confront threats. However, no research has applied this expectation to an understanding of the manifestation of violence in young boys and men in school.

I predict that MHB will be associated with more negative perceptions of bullies but also more negative perceptions of bully victims unless the victim confronts the bully (Study 1). I also predict that greater MHB will be associated with greater understanding and empathy toward a previously bullied school shooter but not a school shooter who was not bullied (Study 2). _ * **Joseph A.

Wagoner: An Integration of Moral Foundations Theory into the Social Psychological Model of Schisms: An Empirical Examination** Abstract:_Research shows that perceiving norm violations can lead people to exit their group, but it has yet to identify the individual differences that make people more susceptible to perceiving norm violations.

Because moral intuitions impact what they view as right or wrong, people's moral intuitions may impact how they respond to norm violations and thus their schism intentions. However, ideological asymmetries in morality may lead liberals and conservatives to perceive different violations. Four studies will be conducted to examine how ideological asymmetries in morality affect schism processes.

_ * **Elizabeth Seto: Lowering the moral bar: The effect of belief in free will on racial asymmetries in judgments of blame** Abstract:_Scholars contend the functional significance of belief in free will lies in moral responsibility. Specifically, the notion that people can freely choose their own actions allows us to justify punishment for wrongdoing.

Expanding on this literature, the current research examines whether belief in free will and attributions of blame are equal among different racial groups. Study 1 will examine the effect of belief in free will and the race of a perpetrator on assignments of responsibility and punishment. Study 2 will examine whether these effects differ between high-level and low-level crimes.

_ * **Grace Deason: Exploring the Libertarian Dynamic: The impact of values frames on civil liberties under conditions of terrorist threat** Abstract:_Under conditions of threat, individuals low in authoritarianism (i.e., libertarians) typically adopt attitudes similar to those of the more authoritarian.

In a sample of undergraduates, we found that threatened individuals reflexively frame civil liberties issues in terms of social conformity values, but that the conservative shift among the more libertarian can be prevented by reminding them of their preference for individual autonomy. We now aim to replicate the results from our initial study on a broader and more representative sample of U.S. residents. _ * **Chris C.

Martin: Testing the Efficacy of a Short Intervention to Promote Well-Being at a Highly Competitive University** Abstract:_We aim to conduct a modified replication of a study testing a positive psychology intervention. The original intervention was a 12-week program designed for a general population.

We aim to modify the intervention for students at a highly competitive engineering university, compressing the duration and editing the content for this audience. We will enroll 45 participants in a 7-week intervention and test if subjective well-being sustainably increases. This grant will allow us to compensate participants enrolled in the study.

_ * **Jorida Cila: An examination of the role of political correctness on support for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada** Abstract:_This research draws on some recent government actions toward reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

Some of these actions (e.g., removing of the statue of Canada's first Prime Minister) were met with a lot of controversy, often framed by the public as attempts at erasing or changing history and as an example of political correctness.

We propose two studies to show how perceptions of political correctness influence (a) support for various reconciliation policies, (b) fears that history is being rewritten, and (c) attitudes toward Indigenous Peoples.

_ * **Emily K Hong: On the Importance of Future Self-Continuity: Future Self-Continuity Promotes Healthy Goal Pursuit through Authenticity and Meaning in Life** Abstract:_We propose a theoretical model in which future self-continuity facilitates the pursuit of healthy goals by increasing authenticity and subsequently meaning in life. Using an experimental-causal-chain approach, we will conduct three studies to test the model.

We will examine whether experimentally manipulated future self-continuity influences authenticity, meaning, and goal pursuit sequentially, whether experimentally manipulated authenticity affects meaning and goal pursuit, and finally whether experimentally manipulated meaning influences goal pursuit.

_ * **Michael Parker: Basic Psychological Needs and Motivated Social Cognition** Abstract:_The current proposal seeks to explore maladaptive perfectionism as a compensatory motive that results from basic need frustration. Competence is a fundamental need, and when frustrated, people may resort to extreme forms of cognition to attempt to satisfy this need.

However, according to self-determination theory, compensatory motives do not actually satisfy needs, thus this may be why perfectionism is relatively resistant to change. The current research proposes three studies to explore the connection between the need for competence and the motivated cognitions that underly perfectionism.

_ * **Nicholas Camp: Spatial Disadvantage and the Perception of Race** Abstract:_Segregation and disinvestment have played a central role in racial inequality in the United States. We test how associations between impoverished spaces and African Americans influence the social perception of race.

Using Google Streetview images sampled from high and low-income census tracts, we examine whether the same target is perceived as appearing more African-American in the context of low-income Streetview images and, conversely, less prototypically African-American against the context of high-income tract images in urban and rural settings.

_ * **Ruth Warner: Rape Reporting and the Perceived Credibility of Rape Victims** Abstract:_Rape is an underreported crime compared to other violent crimes so it is important to understand how people perceive rape victims based on whether they report to police or not. In two studies, we will examine how people respond to a victim based on reporting.

We argue that reporting acts as a heuristic and that people will believe a victim is more credible when she reports compared to when she doesn't. We will test potential explanations for the effect of reporting to police on credibility, including expectations of victims and the generation of alternative explanations for rape allegations. _ * **Jun Xun Goh: Are Women "Electable?"

: Ambiguous Linguistic Usage Justifies Prejudice against Female Presidential Candidates** Abstract:_Female presidential candidates are described using ambiguous terms such as "unelectable." Because people describe outgroup members negatively using broad and abstract words, its ambiguity allows prejudice to be justified. This proposal examines the gendered meaning of electability and its prejudice-justifying function.

Study 1 will test whether masculine stereotypes are seen as more electable than feminine stereotypes. Study 2 will test if people are seen as less sexist if they use (or don't use) electability to justify negative views about a female candidate.

_ * **Kostadin Kushlev: Causal impact of smartphones on attention, enjoyment, and learning in the classroom** Abstract:_How does being constantly connected to the internet through smartphones shape students' experiences in the classroom? We will randomly assign students to view a lecture with or without their smartphones.

We will use a high-powered design to test whether, and to what degree, access to smartphones in the classroom affects attention, enjoyment, and learning (immediate lecture comprehension and retention of content a week later). Crucially, our study will be preregistered, yielding insights regardless of whether there is or there is not an effect of smartphones on student outcomes.

_ * **Gili Freedman: Perceptions of Rejectors: The Impact of Race and Gender** Abstract:_How do race and gender affect perceptions of social rejectors? Prior research has shown that men are viewed more positively than women for engaging in social rejection; however, research has yet to examine how intersectionality affects this process.

The proposed research tests competing hypotheses for how Black and White men and women are perceived for engaging in social rejection. Using a vignette paradigm in a large online sample (N = 1693), the proposed research will examine whether race and gender produce a multiplicative backlash effect against Black women who engage in social rejection.

_ * **Caitlyn Yantis: The impact of White Americans' racial identity beliefs on Black Americans' interracial interaction expectation** Abstract:_This research examines how White Americans' racial identity beliefs impact Black Americans' interracial interaction expectations. Black participants will anticipate discussing a racial topic with an ostensible White partner.

I predict that Blacks will expect to feel most understood by a partner who both acknowledges White privilege (vs. not) as well as their own Whiteness (vs. not). Findings will highlight Black Americans' perspective as well as diversity in Whites' racial identity expression, while informing efforts to promote positive race-relevant interracial discussions.

_ * **Christopher Begeny: Understanding Collective Action from an Intragroup Lens: How Positive Experiences Among Members of One's Own Racial Minority Group Can Foment Collective Action** Abstract:_Amidst efforts to address extant forms of racial bias (e.g., #BlackLivesMatter) questions arise as to how these movements pull in active supporters – those who engage in collective actions (CAs).

This includes how targets of that bias, racial minorities, become motivated to engage in CA. Past work offers insights, yet many emphasize how minorities' CAs are shaped by INTERgroup experiences (e.g., with discrimination). The proposed research, rather than starting from an intergroup lens, tests how minorities' INTRAgroup experiences – positive treatment among racial ingroup members – foments CA.

_ * **Sara Driskell: Cognitive biases in evaluating body-worn camera (BWC) and other video evidence in court cases** Abstract:_As body-worn camera (BWC) usage rises, both policing and local communities point to them to solve a variety of issues when incidents are ambiguous.

In three studies, we will examine cognitive biases surrounding such footage, specifically targeting ways in which BWC footage may help or harm suspects and how our judgments of these suspects change based on the availability or lack of different types of video evidence.

We hypothesize that the mere presence of BWC footage will increase ratings of guilt, but having other types of footage (e.g., bystander) will not have an exculpatory effect. _ * **Joshua Guyer: The Role of Vocal Confidence in Persuasion: A Self-Validation Perspective** Abstract:_Three experiments are proposed to test if expressing one's thoughts using vocal qualities that reflect high or low confidence can influence attitude change.

Study 1 is a 2(Thought Direction: positive vs negative) x 2(Vocal Pitch: high vs low) between-participants factorial design. Study 2 swaps speech rate (fast vs slow) for vocal pitch. Study 3 introduces native language as a moderator.

We expect thought direction will impact attitudes more when thoughts are expressed using low vs high pitch (fast vs slow speech), and the impact of voice on attitudes will be mediated by thought confidence. _ * **Irmak Olcaysoy Okten, University of Delaware, Reducing the Effects of Identity Threat in STEM Domains via Memory Reconstruction** Abstract:_Negative STEM memories can undermine women’s self-perceptions in STEM.

Two intervention procedures aim to reshape negative STEM memories to bolster stigmatized individuals’ self-perception and motivation to achieve. The memory formation intervention will reverse negativity biases in women’s math memories by helping them form new positive memories. The reattribution intervention targets the memory construction process to weaken links between poor performance and negative self-perceptions.

Both techniques aim to provide long-lasting changes in otherwise debilitating STEM memories. _ * **Michelle Horhota, Furman University, Confronting Ageism, The Costs of Target versus Bystander Intervention** Abstract:_Does confronting ageism come with a cost? This study examines the impact of confronting ageism on impressions of warmth and competence.

Participants will read a vignette in which a perpetrator acts in an ageist way toward an older target and is confronted about the action. The confrontation style and identity of the confronter (target or bystander) will vary. Our past work suggests that impressions of older targets vary by confrontation style.

The proposed study extends this work to examine whether a bystander intervention causes more damage than good to impressions of an older target. _ * **Jacob Israelashvili, Tel Aviv, Different faces of empathy, Feelings of similarity disrupt accurate understanding of emotions** Abstract:_Empathizing with others is widely presumed to increase understanding of others’ emotions.

Little is known, however, about whether the empathic process actually helps people interpret others' feelings more accurately. Here, we probed the relationship between emotion recognition and two empathic processes: feelings of similarity in experience and perspective-taking. In previous studies, we found that having had a similar past experience was related to lower accuracy.

Study 3 will explore whether such an effect will be replicated with a new set of emotional stimuli and additional control conditions. _ * **Matthew Goldberg, Yale University, Ideological differences in motivated reasoning: what mechanisms are at work?

** Abstract:_Despite growing evidence that liberals and conservatives differ on a wide range of psychological traits (Jost 2017), it is not clear whether ideological asymmetries exist in motivated reasoning. We argue that this is due to the fact that motivated reasoning should be asymmetrical when either relational motives to maintain homogenous social networks, or when epistemic motives to reduce uncertainty are triggered.

We test these mechanisms directly by assigning participants to counter-attitudinal evidence on salient issues, combined with novel manipulations of relational and epistemic motives.

_ * **Alec Beall, The University of British Columbia, Experimental Priming Via Smartphone Wallpaper** Abstract:_Smartphone wallpaper—the first image you see every time you check your smartphone—represents a powerful yet unstudied naturally occurring visual prime that people experience far more regularly than any visual prime presented in prior lab-based research.

This project extends preliminary work showing that repeated exposure to a specific smartphone wallpaper influences psychological outcomes in predictable ways. If successful, this follow-up research represents one piece of a publishable package of studies exploring a novel, no-cost, and highly scalable new method for experimental psychology.

_ * **Hanne Watkins, University of Massachusetts, Investigating the effect of Memorial Day commemorations on Americans' support for diplomacy** Abstract:_Do Memorial Day commemorations increase support for diplomacy? War commemorations are somber occasions, emphasizing the cost of war. Previous research shows that they evoke pride, gratitude, and admiration towards ingroup soldiers.

Australians, Americans, and Brits support diplomatic solutions to conflict with Iran, more so on November 11 than two weeks previously. The present study further investigates the link between positive moral emotions, a concern for the sacrifices made by the ingroup military, and support for diplomatic solutions to geopolitical conflict.

_ * **Kayla Burd, Iowa State University: Does a Reasoning Requirement Reduce Racial and Ethnic Biases in Jury Decision-Making? ** Abstract:_This research will test whether requiring jurors to provide reasons for their decisions reduces bias and arbitrary decision-making compared to general verdicts. Community and student participants will take part in a civil mock trial.

Following the presentation of case evidence and deliberation, jurors will render a verdict. To examine whether a reasoning requirement reduces jury bias, the plaintiff's ethnicity will be manipulated and juries will utilize either reasoned or general verdicts. This research will advance my current program of research and help to secure future grants.

_ * **Mariela Jaffé, University of Basel:****Secretive and Close? How Sharing Secrets May Impact Perceptions of Psychological Distance** Abstract:_Having secrets is very common, and individuals sometimes decide to share a secret with another person. In our research project, we focus on the consequences of this disclosure on individuals' relationships.

Building on construal-level theory, we aim to investigate whether and how sharing secretive information impacts perceptions of the psychological distance between the secret-sharer and receiver. Results will contribute to the understanding of how disclosing secrets affects the way individuals think about each other, how close they feel toward each other, and how they will interact in the future.

_ * **Miranda McIntyre, California State University, San Bernardino****Liking Guides Learning: The Role of Interests in Memory for STEM Topics** Abstract:_Interests are known to guide information processing and learning, but little research has examined the role of individual differences. The proposed research tests whether trait-level interests promote memory for STEM topics.

People higher in the trait of thing orientation are more likely to pursue STEM careers, and initial studies indicate that they learn STEM-related information more readily. The current study extends these findings to a non-student population to determine whether interests predict memory in a more representative sample. _ * **Devin Mills, Center for Gambling Studies, Rutgers University: Does Impulsivity Explain Crypto Trading Behaviors?

A Two-Wave Prospective Study** Abstract:_Cryptocurrencies or "cryptos" are emerging digital currencies. Unlike other currencies, most cryptos are reportedly treated as investments; however, the volatility of these markets has alluded to the perception that crypto trading is a risky investment.

Similar to problem stock trading and gambling, heightened impulsivity may explain traders' level of involvement in cryptos as well as their endorsement of problem trading behaviors. Therefore, the proposed study examines the prospective relation between impulsivity and both crypto trading involvement and problem crypto trading behaviors.

_ * **Matthew Weeks, Rhodes College: Race-based shifts in compensation decisions: Applying the shifting standards model to explain continuing racial disparities** Abstract:_We are investigating the Shifting Standards Model of (SSM) stereotypic judgments as it impacts race-related workplace compensation decisions. Our goal is to illustrate the SSM as one mechanism to explain continued racial disparities in the workplace.

Two studies will examine the selection and compensation decisions of White and Black job applicants. Based on the SSM, we predict that White job applicants will be assigned higher objective salaries, even as Black applicants' objectively lower salaries are perceived as subjectively better than the Whites.

_ * **Erin Westgate, University of Florida: Meaning-making, coherence, and categorization: Is the mere act of categorization inherently meaningful? ** Abstract:_Do people find the act of categorization meaningful? The prevalence of common pastimes such as birdwatching, beachcombing, and mushroom hunting suggest they do.

If categorization helps make sense of the world around us, it may act as a chronic source of meaning, organizing people's experience from the most basic levels (e.g., vision) all the way up through higher-order cognition (e.g., stereotyping and prejudice). We experimentally test whether people find the act of categorizing novel stimuli to be more meaningful (and enjoyable) than simply viewing or memorizing the same stimuli.

_ * **Jiawei Zhang, University of Memphis: A 'wise' self-compassion intervention improves academic performance in African American students via increased growth-mindset and resilience** Abstract:_Growth-mindset beliefs entail believing that one's abilities are malleable with effort. Research has shown that growth-mindset beliefs have numerous benefits and encourage the development of resilience.

We argue that self-compassion can enhance growth-mindset beliefs, resilience, and in turn, academic performance. We will conduct a simple intervention that tests whether a simple practice of self-compassion can sustainably enhance growth mindset beliefs over an academic year and engender a pre-to-post increase in resilience and academic performance among African-American college students.

_ * **Pelin Gul, Iowa State University:The Two Faces of Cultures of Honor: Aggressive Vengeance against Competitors and Prosocial Reciprocity toward Cooperators** Abstract:_The importance of reciprocating bad deeds (e.g., insults, threats) through aggressive retaliation in honor cultures is well-known. However, much less is known about the importance of reciprocating good deeds (e.g., helping) in honor cultures.

The proposed research will examine whether members of honor cultures have stronger prosocial reciprocity norms manifested by being more attuned to moral values based on ingroup loyalty, feeling of obligation to help co-operators and ingroup members, and negative judgments of people who reject reciprocating help compared to members of dignity cultures.

_ * **Amy Houlihan, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi:Patient prototypes: Perceptions of others who have behavior-related illnesses** Abstract:_People's perceptions of others who have a specific illness (patient prototypes) may influence their health cognitions and behaviors. Results of two previous studies indicated that patient prototypes for three illnesses were distinct.

Patient prototypes were generally unrelated to illness representation dimensions but were positively associated with constructs in the prototype/willingness model. These studies were limited by the use of college student samples. The proposed study will replicate this work with an older, more diverse sample to examine the role of prior illness experience.

_ * **Ryan Lei, New York University:Causal Beliefs and the Mental Representation of Status** Abstract:_The proposed research hypothesizes that status stereotypes are organized in terms of intuitive theories about the causes of status differences.

In previous work, we have demonstrated that participants are better able to judge the compatibility of trait–status pairings when they are presented in line with the dominant cultural theory (that effort determines status) rather than vice versa. The proposed experiments will replicate these findings, and extend them to explore participant culture as a moderator.

_ * **Sarah Myruski, Research Foundation, CUNY; Hunter College, CUNY:Social Regulation of Emotion in Adolescents: The Role of Technology-Mediated Peer Presence** Abstract:_Emotion regulation (ER) promotes positive adjustment across the lifespan, yet little is known about how social context influences biological processes underlying ER, particularly during adolescence, a critical period for ER development.

This study employs a neurocognitive index of ER sensitive to social context, the late positive potential. Since adolescence is characterized by growing reliance on peers for social support, and pervasive use of mobile digital technology for communication, this study tests whether technology-mediated peer presence positively impacts adolescent neurocognitive ER.

_ * **Janin Roessel, University of Mannheim:Success as a Burden versus Independence of Achievements – Self-Compassion as a Coping Resource for Impostor Feelings** Abstract:_Feelings of being an impostor (IP) despite high achievements are prevalent in achievement contexts ranging from higher education to management.

The impostor phenomenon poses a burden on individuals' well-being and career progress, and, ultimately, on society at large—but research on resilience and interventions is lacking. The present project investigates self-compassion (SC) as a coping resource for IP feelings. Study 1 investigates this correlatively on a trait level in work contexts.

Study 2 is experimental and tests the effects of a low-threshold SC intervention on IP symptoms among students.

_ * **Ozden Melis Ulug, University of Massachusetts Amherst:Turning non-allies into allies: The role of inclusive victimhood narratives in achieving justice and peace** Abstract:_We will test whether reading an inclusive victimhood narrative (e.g., both ingroup and outgroup suffering) instead of an exclusive narrative (e.g., only ingroup suffering) can lower non-allies' competitive victimhood, thereby decreasing their support for retributive justice and increasing their support for restorative justice and peace.

We have piloted this project in the Kurdish conflict context. We plan to compare/contrast our preliminary findings with two different conflict contexts: (1) Israel (similar context); (2) Poland (historically concluded, yet currently tense, context).

_ * **Rebecca Weil, University of Hull:At the boundaries of misattribution: Exploring boundary conditions of the positivity-familiarity effect** Abstract:_The positivity-familiarity effect demonstrates that positive affect can serve as a cue to answer the question of whether a stimulus has been encountered before. The assumed underlying mechanism is misattribution of positivity to judgments of familiarity.

Recent research suggested that this effect is not ubiquitous. The aim of the present research is to investigate source-target fit and informative value of primes as two boundary conditions for positivity-familiarity effects. Results from this line of research will provide novel insights into the misattribution mechanism.

_ * **Jessica A. Maxwell, Florida State University:Improving Romantic Partners' Implicit Feelings of Sexual Satisfaction** Abstract:_Sexual satisfaction is critical to relationship and personal well-being. Yet, couples' self-reported sexual satisfaction may be less diagnostic than their more automatic, implicit feelings of satisfaction.

The present research will be the first to adapt well-established implicit methods to (a) assess and (b) increase peoples' sexual satisfaction, improving upon past self-report methods. 500 participants will complete our developed implicit measure of sexual satisfaction followed by an evaluative conditioning procedure designed to increase their implicit sexual satisfaction.

_ * **Greta Valenti, Birmingham-Southern College:Visual Perspective in Mental Imagery of Regretted Events Influences Feelings of Regret and Perception of Consequences** Abstract:_Existing work suggests that mentally picturing regretted events from different visual perspectives affects intensity of regret (Valenti et al. , 2011). The current work will extend that work and offer evidence of downstream consequences.

The current research will measure, in addition to feelings of regret, participants' perceptions of how many life areas the regretted event influenced. The current research will also use a sample with different demographics, will draw regretted events from a different time period, and will use a validated and different dependent measure than the original work.

_ * **Sasha Kimel, Harvard University:Biological Essentialism & Conflict: How Learning about Genetic Roots Impacts Intergroup Relations** * **Luca Pancani, Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca:What's behind smartphone usage? Studying the antecedents and consequences of smartphone actual usage** Abstract:_Pervasiveness and overuse of smartphones have raised concerns about their potentially addictive role.

To date, the cross-sectional design and the lack of objective measures of smartphone actual usage that characterize most research have led to inconclusive evidence on smartphone use and overuse.

Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in combination with a mobile App that collects smartphone log data, the present study aims to investigate the psychosocial antecedents and consequences of smartphone usage, overcoming the limitations of the existing studies (e.g., self-report smartphone use).

_ * **Curtis Phills, University of North Florida:The impact of evaluative- and self-conditioning procedures on internal mental representations of the self and others** Abstract:Strategies to reduce prejudice against and increase identification with racial outgroups are effective at reducing prejudice and increasing identification with those groups.

However, little is known about the potential impact of these types of interventions on the internal mental representations of outgroups and the self. The proposed research will investigate the impact of training to associate positive concepts with outgroups versus training to associate the self with outgroups on internal mental representations of the self and others measured via a reverse correlation technique.

* **Jennifer Tomlinson, Colgate University:Understanding the Benefits of Shared Activities in Retirement** Abstract:The goal of this investigation is to identify the types of shared activities that are most beneficial to retired couples. Previous research finds that shared participation in exciting activities (compared to pleasant activities) has benefits for relationships.

However, the majority of research in this area has been done with younger couples. I predict that participation in activities that provide opportunities for self-expansion (compared to pleasant or no activities) will have the greatest benefits for relationship satisfaction, individual self-efficacy, and life satisfaction.

* **Jacqueline Thompson, University of Oxford:For richer or poorer: Building a model of how warmth and competence perceptions vary across levels of wealth** Abstract:In an increasingly unequal world, wealth is a source of vital social signals that activate stereotypes about warmth and competence. We previously found that wealthy individuals were perceived as more competent, although not warmer, than poor individuals.

Our paradigm has yielded strong effects in pilots between extreme levels of wealth, but to fill in the gaps from our initial (sometimes surprising) findings, we require further funding to test across intermediate values. These will both provide ecological validity and allow us to build a model of wealth effects on stereotype content.

* **Christopher Chartier, Ashland University: The Psychological Science Accelerator's First Study: Extending the Valence-Dominance Model around the World** Abstract:_The Psychological Science Accelerator is a 175 laboratory network, comprised mostly of social, personality, and cognitive psychologists, with the mission of accelerating the pace of reliable and generalizable evidence accumulation in psychological science.

I initiated the project and serve as director. We recently selected our first study for data collection in 2018, to test if Oosterhof and Todorov's (2008) valence-dominance model of social perception generalizes across world regions. We seek "bridge" funding to support our first project, before we secure large-scale grant funding.

_ * **Erin Cooley, Colgate University: Accusations of Being "White-Washed:" The Role of Feeling like a Numerical Minority on Perception of Racial Ingroup Members who Form Cross-Race Friendships** Abstract:_Qualitative data suggests that People of Color who befriend White people can experience accusations of being "White-washed" or "breaking the racial code"—accusations that primarily stem from members of their own racial group (Bell-Jordan, 2008).

In the present proposal, we propose that racial minorities who befriend White people will be perceived as inauthentic and disloyal by their own racial group (i.e., ingroup bias). Moreover, we expect that this backlash for befriending White people is driven by the perception that one is "selling out" to the more powerful racial group.

Thus, we further expect that this ingroup bias will be most pronounced when White people are perceived as a powerful numerical majority in America, but not when shifting racial demographics (i.e., a decreasing White majority) are made salient. Together this work will illuminate sources of racial bias that stem from one's own racial group and establish the conditions under which this bias is likely to emerge. _ * **Erika Koch, St.

Francis Xavier University: Treating Oneself Kindly When Others Are Cruel: The Role of Self-Compassion in Responses to Interpersonal Rejection** Abstract:_Does self-compassion, which involves treating oneself with kindness rather than criticism, predict—or even influence—responses to interpersonal rejection? The proposed research will test this question in two studies.

Study 1 (correlational) will test whether self-compassion moderates the relationship between perceptions of rejection and potential outcomes of rejecting experiences—namely, self-esteem, positive and negative affect, and depression. Study 2 (experimental) will test whether induced self-compassion fosters relatively adaptive responses to rejection.

_ * **Zoi Manesi, Singapore Management University: Too selfish to get married and have children? The role of