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The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior

Publication ,  Journal Article
Callan, MJ; Kay, AC; Olson, JM; Brar, N; Whitefield, N
Published in: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
March 1, 2010

Socio-legal scholars have suggested that, as a ubiquitous social system, law shapes social reality and provides interpretive frameworks for social relations. Across five studies, we tested the idea that the law shapes social reality by fostering the assumptions that people are self-interested, untrustworthy, and competitive. In Studies 1 and 2, we found that people implicitly associated legal concepts with competitiveness. Studies 3-5 showed that these associations had implications for social perceptions, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior. After being primed with constructs related to the law, participants perceived social actors as less trustworthy and the situation as more competitive (Study 3), became more against a political issue when it conflicted with their normative self-interest (Study 4), and made more competitive choices during a prisoner's dilemma game when they believed that social relations were basically zero-sum in nature (Study 5). The implications and applications of these results are discussed. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

DOI

EISSN

1096-0465

ISSN

0022-1031

Publication Date

March 1, 2010

Volume

46

Issue

2

Start / End Page

325 / 335

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Callan, M. J., Kay, A. C., Olson, J. M., Brar, N., & Whitefield, N. (2010). The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 325–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.005
Callan, M. J., A. C. Kay, J. M. Olson, N. Brar, and N. Whitefield. “The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46, no. 2 (March 1, 2010): 325–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.005.
Callan MJ, Kay AC, Olson JM, Brar N, Whitefield N. The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2010 Mar 1;46(2):325–35.
Callan, M. J., et al. “The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 46, no. 2, Mar. 2010, pp. 325–35. Scopus, doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.005.
Callan MJ, Kay AC, Olson JM, Brar N, Whitefield N. The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2010 Mar 1;46(2):325–335.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

DOI

EISSN

1096-0465

ISSN

0022-1031

Publication Date

March 1, 2010

Volume

46

Issue

2

Start / End Page

325 / 335

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology