Social Psychology’s Empty-Self Metaphor and the Replication Crisis

Perspectives on Psychological Science · 2026-01-06

Since the early 20th century, an emphasis on the causal power of situations in social psychology has fostered the view that the self is an empty vessel filled by the contents of the situation. We label this the "empty-self metaphor," with incarnations including situationism and elements of theories of self-presentation, self-perception, social identity, the dramaturgical movement, and others. The persistence of this metatheoretical assumption has led to an underappreciation of an enduring, unique self and to the development of contemporary paradigms (e.g., social priming and embodied cognition) that have hinged on the implicit premise that the self is empty or passive. The self is not empty, of course, and new preliminary evidence we have collected indicates that research predicated on the empty-self metaphor is far less likely to replicate. Although we emphasize that the power of the situation has yielded important theoretical and practical insights, we propose that the field would be strengthened by better accounting for the chronic, dispositional motivations that emanate from an enduring self. We offer suggestions-both theoretical and methodological-that can help social psychologists achieve this goal.

Local motion governs visibility and suppression of biological motion in continuous flash suppression

Journal of Vision · 2025-10-27

Presenting unique visual stimuli to each eye induces a dynamic perceptual state where only one image is perceived at a time, and the other is suppressed from awareness. This phenomenon, known as interocular suppression, has allowed researchers to probe the dynamics of visual awareness and unconscious processing in the visual system. A key result is that different categories of visual stimuli may not be suppressed equally, but there is still a wide debate as to whether low- or high-level visual features modulate interocular suppression. Here we quantify and compare the strength of suppression for various motion stimuli in comparison to biological motion stimuli that are rich in high-level semantic information. We employ the tracking continuous flash suppression method, which recently demonstrated uniform suppression depth for a variety of static images that varied in semantic content. The accumulative findings of our three experiments outline that suppression depth is varied not by the strength of the suppressor alone but with different low-level visual motion features, in contrast to the uniform suppression depth previously shown for static images. Notably, disrupting high-level semantic information via the inversion or rotation of biological motion did not alter suppression depth. Ultimately, our data support the dependency of suppression depth on local motion information, further supporting the low-level local-precedence hypothesis of interocular suppression.

Towards a “Disciplinary Analytics”: What and with Whom Do Learning Scientists Write When They Write About Codesign?

Proceedings. · 2025-06-10

Here we introduce a "Disciplinary Analytics" approach to helping learning scientists see and understand research communities and themes in the field.We suggest that such analytics could support (inter)disciplinary collaboration, equitable convening practices, and effective knowledge sharing.Using "codesign" as an initial thematic focus, we present example visualizations based on public conference proceedings, and articulate opportunities for developing disciplinary infrastructures and routines that could help researchers, particularly newcomers, navigate the "big tent" of learning sciences.

The Power of Trump’s Big Lie: Identity Fusion, Internalizing Misinformation, and Support for Trump

PS Political Science & Politics · 2025-01-13 · 7 citations

ABSTRACT Former president Trump has maintained broad support despite falsely contending that he was the victim of electoral fraud, also known as the “big lie.” We consider both the antecedents of this phenomenon and its consequences. We propose that Trump supporters’ already established deep personal alignment— identity fusion —with their leader predisposed them to believe the lie. Accepting it then set the foundation for other identity-protecting beliefs and attitudes. Using a three-wave panel of Trump supporters, we found that the more fused they were before the 2020 election, the stronger their belief in the big lie grew between 2021 and 2024. Accepting the big lie helped solidify fusion with Trump and had consequences for related attitudes. Belief in the big lie predicted downplaying the criminal charges against Trump and supporting his antidemocratic policy agenda. Fueled by and fueling further fusion, belief in the big lie is a primary component of a larger narrative that emboldens Trump and justifies antidemocratic behavior.

Feeling understood fosters identity fusion.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 2024-05-16 · 16 citations

If the consequences of identity fusion are well established, its psychological antecedents are not. To address this shortcoming, eight studies tested the hypothesis that self-verification (receiving evaluations that confirm one's self-views) increases fusion (a synergistic union with a group, individual, or cause), which, in turn, increases behavioral support for the target of fusion. Correlational studies showed that perceived self-verification was positively associated with fusion, which was positively associated with willingness to fight and die for a group (Study 1a), a value (Study 1b), and a leader (Study 1c). Study 2 revealed that increasing perceived self-verification fostered greater willingness to fight and die for the group but only indirectly through increases in fusion. Study 3 showed that 4 months after indicating the degree of fusion with a group, increasing perceived self-verification augmented endorsement of fighting and dying for the group indirectly through elevations in fusion. In Study 4, relational ties mediated the relationship between perceived self-verification and fusion. Finally, face-to-face interviews with incarcerated members of street gangs and organized crime gangs (Studies 5a-5b) showed that perceived self-verification was positively associated with fusion, which was positively associated with sacrifices for the gang (replicating Studies 1a-1c). No evidence emerged supporting a rival causal path in which fusion caused willingness to fight and die through perceived self-verification. Implications for related theoretical approaches and for conceptualizing the relationship between personal identities, social identities, and group processes are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Buying the Blackpill

Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2024-05-16

Involuntary celibates ("incels") are men who desire romantic or sexual partners but purportedly cannot attain them. Their ideology – the Blackpill – holds that their exclusion from successful romantic and sexual relationships is due almost entirely to their relative unattractiveness. Furthermore, the consequences of being an unattractive man bleed over into other aspects of their lives, marring their interpersonal relationships, job prospects, and overall well-being. Blaming women as the chief architects of their unhappiness, incels sometimes commit mass acts of violent retribution. In this chapter, we explicate the incel ideology; explore the interrelated phenomena of social exclusion, self-verification, and identity fusion among incels; describe who incels are; and provide a framework for de-fusing incels from the group.

Comprehensive identity fusion theory (CIFT): New insights and a revised theory

Advances in experimental social psychology · 2024-01-01 · 25 citations

High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization

PNAS Nexus · 2024-06-05 · 10 citations

Throughout the 21st century, economic inequality is predicted to increase as we face new challenges, from changes in the technological landscape to the growing climate crisis. It is crucial we understand how these changes in inequality may affect how people think and behave. We propose that economic inequality threatens the social fabric of society, in turn increasing moralization-that is, the greater tendency to employ or emphasize morality in everyday life-as an attempt to restore order and control. Using longitudinal data from X, formerly known as Twitter, our first study demonstrates that high economic inequality is associated with greater use of moral language online (e.g. the use of words such as "disgust", "hurt", and "respect'). Study 2 then examined data from 41 regions around the world, generally showing that higher inequality has a small association with harsher moral judgments of people's everyday actions. Together these findings demonstrate that economic inequality is linked to the tendency to see the world through a moral lens.

Identity fusion and support for political authoritarianism: Lessons from the <scp>U.S.</scp> insurrection of 2021

Political Psychology · 2024-03-25 · 4 citations

Abstract The recent surge in political authoritarianism has triggered interest in the factors that regulate its rise and fall. We explored these phenomena in the time around the January 6, 2021, insurrection in the United States. Identity fusion (synergistic union) with Trump predicted the perception that Democrats represented an existential threat to the American way of life; higher perceived threat, in turn, predicted endorsement of authoritarian actions against Democrats. Biden supporters did not display analogous effects. Among Trump supporters and, to a lesser extent, Biden supporters, fusion with the United States negatively predicted both the perception that out‐party members represented an existential threat and endorsement of authoritarian actions against them. These findings provide unique insight into the role of identity in the nation's closest brush with authoritarian takeover in over a century.

High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization

2023-03-30 · 1 citations

Throughout the 21st century, economic inequality is predicted to increase as we face new challenges, from changes in the technological landscape to the growing climate crisis. It is crucial we understand how these changes in inequality may affect how people think and behave. We propose that economic inequality threatens the social fabric of society, in turn increasing moralization – that is, the greater tendency to employ or emphasize morality in everyday life – as an attempt to restore order and control. Using longitudinal data from X, formerly known as Twitter, our first study demonstrates that high economic inequality is associated with greater use of moral language online (e.g., the use of words such as ‘disgust’, ‘hurt’ and ‘respect’). Study 2 then examined data from 41 regions around the world, generally showing that higher inequality has a small association with harsher moral judgments of people’s everyday actions. Together these findings demonstrate that economic inequality is linked to the tendency to see the world through a moral lens.