Let the Music Play: Live Music Fosters Collective Effervescence and Leads to Lasting Positive Outcomes.

This work examined the power of live music events to enhance wellbeing through collective effervescence (CE)-the sense of sacredness and connection felt when in large groups. Four studies ( = 789) using both university and community samples examined the relationship between live music events and CE and how this relationship contributes to positive, lasting outcomes. Results suggest that CE is highly related to positive outcomes associated with attending live music events.

Social comparison, parasocial relationships, and attachment style: how and when do celebrities improve self-liking?

The recent exponential increase in information available online has not only increased access to information about celebrities, but also decreased the degree to which that information is unambiguously positive. In the current work, we examined how positive celebrities (i.e.

Using imaginary worlds for real social benefits.

We argue that imaginary worlds gain much of their appeal because they fulfill the fundamental need of human beings to feel connected to other humans. Immersion into story worlds provides a sense of social connection to the characters and groups represented in the world. By fulfilling the need to belong, imaginary worlds provide a buffer against rejection and loneliness.

Minding Your Own Business? Mindfulness Decreases Prosocial Behavior for People With Independent Self-Construals.

Mindfulness appears to promote individual well-being, but its interpersonal effects are less clear. Two studies in adult populations tested whether the effects of mindfulness on prosocial behavior differ according to individuals' self-construals. In Study 1 ( = 366), a brief mindfulness induction, compared with a meditation control condition, led to decreased prosocial behavior among people with relatively independent self-construals but had the opposite effect among those with relatively interdependent self-construals.

If music be the food of love, play on: Four ways that music may lead to social connection.

The hypothesis that music is well suited to facilitate social bonding (Savage et al., target article) is highly consistent with social psychological research on the need to belong. We explore how music is uniquely placed to increase feelings of connections to large collectives by increasing collective effervescence, providing narratives, reminding one of others, and providing social surrogates.

The psychological importance of collective assembly: Development and validation of the Tendency for Effervescent Assembly Measure (TEAM).

Although previous research suggests that connection to large, mostly anonymous groups is important for the fulfillment of psychological needs and a sense of psychological well-being, no measure exists to assess individual differences in this area. In 5 studies, we developed and provided support for the validity of the Tendency for Effervescent Assembly Measure (TEAM). Utilizing data from student and community samples, we conducted exploratory factor analyses to guide item selection for the scale (Study 1), evaluated the structure of the scale in an independent sample (Study 2), examined the convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the scale (Study 3), and assessed measurement invariance of the scale across different demographic groups (Study 4).

Social Surrogate use in those Exposed to Trauma: I Get by with a Little Help from my (Fictional) Friends.

Traumatic events bring an increased need for social connection but paradoxically can make relationships more difficult. The current research examines the unique role social surrogates such as favorite TV shows, books, and celebrities may play in fulfilling the social needs of people who have experienced trauma. Across two studies we predicted and found that experiencing traumatic events is associated with higher interest in using social surrogates.

Alone against the group: A unanimously disagreeing group leads to conformity, but cardiovascular threat depends on one's goals.

A long history of research in psychology has studied the consequences of when individuals face a group that unanimously disagrees with them. However, relatively little research has attempted to understand individuals' internal reactions to such disagreement while it is experienced. Psychophysiological measures are particularly well suited for this purpose.

Threatened belonging and preference for comfort food among the securely attached.

Research has shown that comfort food triggers relationship-related cognitions and can fulfill belongingness needs for those secure in attachment (i.e., for those with positive relationship cognitions) (Troisi & Gabriel, 2011).

Becoming a vampire without being bitten: the narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis.

We propose the narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis--that experiencing a narrative leads one to psychologically become a part of the collective described within the narrative. In a test of this hypothesis, participants read passages from either a book about wizards (from the Harry Potter series) or a book about vampires (from the Twilight series). Both implicit and explicit measures revealed that participants who read about wizards psychologically became wizards, whereas those who read about vampires psychologically became vampires.

Chicken soup really is good for the soul: "comfort food" fulfills the need to belong.

Theories of social surrogacy and embodied cognition assume that cognitive associations with nonhuman stimuli can be affectively charged. In the current research, we examined whether the "comfort" of comfort foods comes from affective associations with relationships. Two experiments support the hypotheses that comfort foods are associated with relationships and alleviate loneliness.

Negative self-synchronization: will I change to be like you when it is bad for me?

The current research examined whether people will attempt to modify internal aspects of the self to make them congruent with others, even when those modifications have negative implications for the self, a phenomenon we refer to as negative self-synchronization. We proposed that negative self-synchronization will occur only for individuals who are securely attached. Across 4 experiments, participants who were high in secure attachment were more likely than those low in attachment security to engage in negative self-synchronization (Experiments 1-4).

To prove or to improve? Which motive distorts perceptions of personality controllability?

This research extends past work on positive illusions and self-goals by examining motivated perceptions of how much control people think they have over changing their personality traits. A self-validation motivation should cause individuals to view their personality weaknesses as uncontrollable (to avoid blame for having them) and their personality strengths as controllable (to take credit for having them). A self-growth motivation should cause individuals to view their weaknesses as controllable (to view them as improvable) and their strengths as uncontrollable (to view them as unchanging).

No man is an island: the need to belong and dismissing avoidant attachment style.

The need to belong theory proposes that all human beings need social connections. However, dismissive avoidant individuals claim to be comfortable without close relationships and appear to be indifferent to how other people think of them. The current studies examined the association between dismissing avoidant attachment and the desire to feel accepted by others.

How I see me depends on how I see we: the role of attachment style in social comparison.

The self-concept is a social, flexible construct that shifts in response to the salience of a relationship partner. Three related experiments found that the tendency to pursue closeness in relationships (as measured by attachment style) served as a moderator of the shift. Specifically, individuals who avoid closeness in relationships became less similar to salient friends via contrast effects, whereas those who pursued closeness in relationships became more similar to salient friends via assimilation effects.

Implicit and explicit measures of sexual orientation attitudes: in group preferences and related behaviors and beliefs among gay and straight men.

The relations among implicit and explicit measures of sexual orientation attitudes and sexual-orientation-related behavior and beliefs among gay men (Study 1) and straight men (Studies 1 and 2) were explored. Study 1 found relations between implicit and explicit measures of sexual orientation attitudes, large differences between gay and straight men on both implicit and explicit measures, and that these measures predicted sexual-orientation-related behaviors among gay men. Also, only straight men exhibited a negative relation between their attitudes toward homosexuality and heterosexuality.

When you and I are "we," you are not threatening: the role of self-expansion in social comparison.

Many theories of self-evaluation emphasize the power of social comparison. Simply put, an individual is thought to gain esteem whenever she or he outperforms others and to lose esteem when he or she is outperformed. The current research explored interdependent self-construal as a moderator of these effects.