• Deviancy Aversion and Social Norms 

      Gollwitzer, Anton; Martel, Cameron; Heinecke, Anna; Bargh, John (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2022)
      We propose that deviancy aversion—people’s domain-general discomfort toward the distortion of patterns (repeated forms or models)—contributes to the strength and prevalence of social norms in society. Five studies (N = ...
    • Discordant knowing: A social cognitive structure underlying fanaticism 

      Gollwitzer, Anton; Olcaysoy Okten, Irmak; Osorio Pizarro, Angel; Oettingen, Gabriele (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2022)
      Examining the epistemic and social–cognitive structures underlying fanaticism, radicalization, and extremism should shed light on how these harmful phenomena develop and can be prevented. In nine studies (N = 3,277), we ...
    • Misplaced certainty in the context of conspiracy theories 

      Oettingen, Gabriele; Gollwitzer, Anton; Jung, Jiin; Olcaysoy Okten, Irmak (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2022)
      We examine conspiracy beliefs in the context of misplaced certainty—certainty that is unsubstantiated by one's own or others' skepticism. A conspiracy theory held with misplaced certainty may entail, for instance, “knowing” ...
    • The role of status in the early emergence of pro-White bias in rural Uganda 

      Marshall, Julia; Gollwitzer, Anton; Mermin-Bunnell, Kellen; Mandalaywala, Tara (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2022)
      Research investigating the early emergence of racial prejudice has been largely limited to contexts in which racial prejudice is most likely to emerge—multiracial societies that have pronounced racial inequality (e.g., ...