Exposure to Literary Fiction Is Associated With Lower Psychological Essentialism.

We investigated the impact of exposure to literary and popular fiction on psychological essentialism. Exposure to fiction was measured by using the Author Recognition Test, which allows us to separate exposure to authors of literary and popular fiction. Psychological essentialism was assessed by the discreteness subscale of the psychological essentialism scale in Study 1, and by the three subscales of the same scale (such as discreteness, informativeness, and biological basis) in Study 2 that was pre-registered. Results showed that exposure to literary fiction negatively predicts the three subscales. The results emerged controlling for political ideology, a variable that is commonly associated with psychological essentialism, and level of education.

Uncertainty in the Time of Corona: Precautionary Adherence, Fear, and Anxiety in New York City During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The recent COVID-19 pandemic is having profound impacts on every sector of society, and New York City (NYC) emerged as an early epicenter of the disease. Given the novelty and scale of the disease, information surrounding COVID-19 has been marked by considerable uncertainty and confusion. Although various factors have been associated with COVID-19 distress, little is known about the relations between levels of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and anxiety symptoms and behaviors. This cross-sectional study sought to examine potential correlates and pathways between anxiety and precautionary behaviors with the two levels of IU: prospective and inhibitory. Individuals from NYC (N = 99) completed an online survey through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Findings revealed that fear of COVID-19 accounts for associations between prospective IU and greater anxiety symptoms and behaviors, whereas precaution adherence accounts for associations between prospective IU and reduced anxiety symptoms and behaviors. In addition, precaution adherence accounts for associations between inhibitory IU and greater anxiety symptoms and behaviors. The results shed light on ways in which variations in IU may be associated with anxiety symptoms and behaviors in the context of COVID-19 and future pandemic scenarios.