Brief Commentary: Theory Testing for Differences in Process – Hypothesizing, Testing, and Reporting Comparisons Between Indirect Effects

Journal of Consumer Research · 2026-04-16

Abstract Consumer researchers often compare a proposed process across contexts (i.e., moderated mediation) or across mediators (e.g., ruling out an alternative process in parallel mediation). This paper aims to help researchers in mapping process-related theoretical hypotheses onto statistical coefficients and in reporting their results. Researchers can formulate a variety of hypotheses about the conditional indirect effect (CIE) of a predictor X on an outcome Y through a mediator M, such as: (A) the CIE is greater for moderator condition W0 than W1, (B) the CIE is only positive for W0, (C) the CIE is positive for W0 and negative for W1. For example, if a researcher’s hypotheses align with case A, they must test and report the difference between the two conditional indirect effects (i.e., the index of moderated mediation). Reporting that the indirect effect is significant for W0 and non-significant for W1 would be insufficient for case A, but appropriate for case B. We generalize these examples in two tutorials–for moderated mediation and for parallel mediation–to help researchers 1) connect theory to testable predictions, 2) select the appropriate statistical model, and 3) report results transparently and consistently. We provide concrete examples of pre-registrations, data analyses, and manuscript reports.

Replication Data for: Communication Patterns in Joint Decision-Making

Harvard Dataverse · 2026-02-09

This repository contains instructions to access and analyze data from the manuscript “Communication Patterns in Joint Decision-Making.” The readMe document contains more details. Given the identifying nature of our conversational data, the conversation transcripts (while provided privately to the JMR team) will not be made publicly available.

Exploring the counteractive effects of mandating diversity training: Solution aversion, reactance, and polarized social beliefs.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 2025-12-15

A common strategy to address social inequity in organizations is to implement mandatory diversity training policies. But how do people react to such mandates? Mandating such training can signal the importance of diversity-related issues (e.g., discrimination), potentially increasing acknowledgment of these problems. However, integrating the theory of psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966) with the notion of solution aversion (Campbell & Kay, 2014), we suggest that learning about mandatory diversity training initiatives (compared to optional ones) could also exert an opposing effect, engendering negative emotional responses (i.e., reactance) which fuel increased political polarization surrounding beliefs that diversity-related problems still persist (i.e., solution aversion). Four preregistered experiments support this hypothesis. Study 1 and Study 2a demonstrate that recalling or anticipating mandatory (compared to optional) diversity training leads to increased reactance, which in turn leads to increased denial that social inequity is a problem. Study 2b shows that the effect is unique to mandatory diversity training, but not mandatory training unrelated to diversity. Study 3, via tests of parallel mediation, demonstrates that this effect counteracts the positive effect that mandating training policies have via signaled importance of the problem. Importantly, in all studies, we observe a consistent pattern of moderation by political orientation, such that reactance-induced negative emotions predict denial of discrimination more strongly for more politically conservative (compared to liberal) participants. Our research has significant implications for understanding the repercussions of mandatory diversity training policies, as well as the potential role of imposing solutions on exacerbating political polarization surrounding issues of social inequity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Resistance to Workplace Equality: A Spotlight on Psychological Barriers

Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

While the U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of the representation of different social groups, unfair group-based disparities still remain a pervasive feature in the workplace. And while organizations have stepped up efforts to redress social inequalities in the workplace, the past few years have seen a steady increase in backlash against DEI initiatives. From a micro-level perspective, this symposium showcases research that advances our understanding of psychological antecedents of resistance towards initiatives aimed at achieving group equality in the workplace. Rather than examining how perceivers' social identities and group belonging influence backlash against equality-promoting policies, the five papers in this symposium focus on more ubiquitous dispositional and situational features that spark resistance to social equality, including lay perceptions, assumptions, and biases. We hope that this symposium helps theorists and policy practitioners alike understand broad skepticism and resistance towards equality-promoting initiatives in addition to social identity based explanations already popular in public discourse about backlash against DEI. The Ironic Effects of Mandating Diversity Training on Belief in the Existence of Discrimination Author: Peter Jin; Duke University Author: Gavan Fitzsimons; Duke University Author: Aaron Kay; Duke University How Female Leadership Shapes Employee Perceptions of Concrete Organizational DEI Actions Author: Jenny Oh; Carnegie Mellon University Author: Catherine Shea; Carnegie Mellon University Evaluating the Distribution of Discrimination: Widespread or Concentrated? Author: Manuel Galvan; New York University Beyond Balancing Scales: Exploring the Pervasive Representation of Equality as Zero Sum Author: Michael M Berkebile-Weinberg; Columbia Business School Author: Isaac Raymundo; Columbia Business School Author: N. Derek Brown; Columbia Business School Hierarchical Social Structures are Perceived as Less Changeable than Egalitarian Social Structures Author: Usman Liaquat; Cornell University Author: Devon Proudfoot; Cornell University

Exploring the link between trait reactance and antiegalitarian beliefs.

Motivation Science · 2025-01-06

Consumer Wealth and Price Expectations

Working paper · 2025-08-01

From believer to buyer: How brands leverage religious values to connect with consumers

Journal of Consumer Psychology · 2025-06-18 · 2 citations

Abstract Aglozo and Cohen ( Journal of Consumer Psychology , 2025) synthesize prior work on the influence of religious values on consumer behavior through the frameworks of Schwartz's value theory and moral foundations theory. In this commentary, we extend their work by examining the intersection of religious values and branding. First, we build upon existing frameworks to identify pathways through which brands can leverage religious values (people‐based associations, place‐based associations, brand network associations, and activity‐based associations), while also noting important downsides. Second, we discuss how context affects the extent to which consumers behave according to their religious values, focusing on three mechanisms: identity salience, value internalization and framing, and competing consumption values. Finally, we conclude with directions for future work on religious values in consumer research.

Prosociality During COVID-19: Pathways Through Affect, Financial Stress, Well-being, and Collective Disempowerment across 39 Countries

Universitas Psychologica · 2024-12-31

Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in great loss of life worldwide and shook the global economy, required individuals' willingness and ability to behave prosocially. To contribute to the understanding of predictors of prosociality, we used multilevel models to test three previously established pathways to prosocial behavior, which we call the “broaden and build”, compensation, and incapacity pathways. We also tested whether these three paths are mediated by general well-being, and moderated by collective disempowerment, i.e., individuals’ belief that external societal forces have made it harder for people like them to function effectively. Participants from 39 countries (N = 59987) were surveyed on their willingness to engage in prosocial behaviors in the context of the pandemic. The “broaden and build” pathway was supported: positive affect was associated with willingness to engage in prosocial behavior via higher well-being. Two (in)capacity paths were also supported: financial strain and negative affect were both negatively associated with prosociality via lower well-being. A compensation pathway was also observed: Controlling for lower well-being, negative affect was associated with greater prosociality. Finally, differences in disempowerment moderated the affective pathways: higher disempowerment strengthened the positive association of positive affect with prosociality via well-being, and buffered the negative affect incapacity path.

The Precarity of Progress: Implications of a Shifting Gendered Division of Labor for Relationships and Well-Being as a Function of Country-Level Gender Equality

Sex Roles · 2024-05-01 · 7 citations

Abstract The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward a more traditional division of labor–one where women took greater responsibility for household tasks and childcare than men. We tested whether this regressive shift was more acutely perceived and experienced by women in countries with greater gender equality. Cross-cultural longitudinal survey data for women and men ( N = 10,238) was collected weekly during the first few months of the pandemic. Multilevel modelling analyses, based on seven waves of data collection, indicated that a regressive shift was broadly perceived but not uniformly felt. Women and men alike perceived a shift toward a more traditional division of household labor during the first few weeks of the pandemic. However, this perception only undermined women’s satisfaction with their personal relationships and subjective mental health if they lived in countries with higher levels of economic gender equality. Among women in countries with lower levels of economic gender equality, the perceived shift predicted higher relationship satisfaction and mental health. There were no such effects among men. Taken together, our results suggest that subjective perceptions of disempowerment, and the gender role norms that underpin them, should be considered when examining the gendered impact of global crisis.

When and Why Antiegalitarianism Affects Resistance to Supporting Black-Owned Businesses

Psychological Science · 2024-06-18 · 1 citations

Understanding how initiatives to support Black-owned businesses are received, and why, has important social and economic implications. To address this, we designed three experiments to investigate the role of antiegalitarian versus egalitarian ideologies among White American adults. In Study 1 ( N = 199), antiegalitarianism (vs. egalitarianism) predicted viewing initiatives supporting a Black-owned business as less fair, but only when the business was competing with other (presumably White-owned) businesses. In Study 2 ( N = 801), antiegalitarianism predicted applying survival-of-the-fittest market beliefs, particularly to Black-owned businesses. Antiegalitarianism also predicted viewing initiatives supporting Black-owned businesses as less fair than initiatives that targeted other (presumably White-owned) businesses, especially for tangible (vs. symbolic) support that directly impacts the success of a business. In Study 3 ( N = 590), antiegalitarianism predicted rejecting a program investing in Black-owned businesses. These insights demonstrate how antiegalitarian ideology can have the effect of maintaining race-based inequality, hindering programs designed to reduce that inequality.