Ricerc@Sapienza

Although sympathy is a powerful other-focused motivation, not all individuals will experience sympathy when it is appropriate. Immigrants, as a disadvantaged out-group, are especially in need of sympathy and, given the tensions of the immigration debate, are at-risk for low sympathy. Indeed, past research has found that sympathy is less likely to be experienced toward disliked out-groups.

Women leaders in the workforce are adversely affected by two sets of stereotypes: women are warm and communal but leaders are assertive and competent. This mismatch of stereotypes can lead to negative attitudes toward women leaders, however, not all individuals will be equally sensitive to these stereotypes. Men and women characterized by a need for cognitive closure (the desire for stable and certain knowledge) should be particularly sensitive to these stereotypes because they can be stable knowledge sources.

In the present research, we examined whether individual differences in basic moral concerns might be related to a greater
endorsement of conspiracy theories. Building on the notion that conspiracy theories often deal with super-individual
relevant events in which a group perspective is central, we proposed that individual differences in moral concerns
pertaining to group- and community-concerns (i.e., binding moral foundations) rather than to individual well-being (i.e.,