Megan E. Birney
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View article: Examining the effect of existential risk priming on family planning and future health intentions
Examining the effect of existential risk priming on family planning and future health intentions Open
Life-history theory posits that exposure to extrinsic risks in the environment creates a more present-focus in decision making. However, human technological progress means we face an evolutionarily novel type of risk: existential risk. The…
View article: Spite and Science‐Denial: Exploring the Role of Spitefulness in Conspiracy Ideation and COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs
Spite and Science‐Denial: Exploring the Role of Spitefulness in Conspiracy Ideation and COVID‐19 Conspiracy Beliefs Open
Science denialism is at the heart of many conspiracy theory beliefs. We propose that such beliefs are manifestations of a distal social process: spite. In three pre‐registered studies, we test the hypothesis that established predictors of …
View article: Obedience as “Engaged Followership”: A Review and Research Agenda
Obedience as “Engaged Followership”: A Review and Research Agenda Open
Milgram’s Obedience to Authority (OtA) studies have long been understood as demonstrating that people are prone to blindly follow the orders of authority. More recently, we have proposed an engaged followership model of obedience, which su…
View article: Engaged followership and toxic science: Exploring the effect of prototypicality on willingness to follow harmful experimental instructions
Engaged followership and toxic science: Exploring the effect of prototypicality on willingness to follow harmful experimental instructions Open
Drawing on the ‘engaged followership’ reinterpretation of Milgram's work on obedience, four studies (three pre‐registered) examine the extent to which people's willingness to follow an experimenter's instructions is dependent on the percei…
View article: Prologue: Language Challenges in the 21st Century
Prologue: Language Challenges in the 21st Century Open
As immigration and mobility increases, so do interactions between people from different linguistic backgrounds. Yet while linguistic diversity offers many benefits, it also comes with a number of challenges. In seven empirical articles and…
View article: When Speaking English Is Not Enough: The Consequences of Language-Based Stigma for Nonnative Speakers
When Speaking English Is Not Enough: The Consequences of Language-Based Stigma for Nonnative Speakers Open
We explored the effects of language-based stigma on the relationship between native and nonnative speakers. In two studies, we found that stigmatized nonnative speakers experienced more negative interpersonal interactions, higher levels of…
View article: Participant concerns for the Learner in a Virtual Reality replication of the Milgram obedience study
Participant concerns for the Learner in a Virtual Reality replication of the Milgram obedience study Open
In Milgram's seminal obedience studies, participants' behaviour has traditionally been explained as a demonstration of people's tendency to enter into an 'agentic state' when in the presence of an authority figure: they attend only to the …
View article: Activating and Guiding the Engagement of Seniors With Online Social Networking: Experimental Findings From the AGES 2.0 Project
Activating and Guiding the Engagement of Seniors With Online Social Networking: Experimental Findings From the AGES 2.0 Project Open
Objective: Guided by theoretical and empirical work attesting to the health benefits of social connections, we tested whether Internet connectivity, and training in its use for social purposes, can support the well-being of older adults re…
View article: Questioning authority: new perspectives on Milgram's ‘obedience’ research and its implications for intergroup relations
Questioning authority: new perspectives on Milgram's ‘obedience’ research and its implications for intergroup relations Open