The Relational Grammar of Social Life

• Fonn, Erik Kjos; Zahl, Joakim Haugane & Thomsen, Lotte (2021). The boss is not always right: Norwegian preschoolers do not selectively endorse the testimony of a novel dominant agent. Child Development. ISSN 0009-3920. p. 1–14. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13722. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Theories of cultural evolution posit that cues of competence-based prestige, rather than formidability-based dominance, should guide culturally transmitted learning, but recent work suggested that French and Kaqchikel Guatamalan preschoolers place their epistemic trust in dominant others. In contrast, this study shows that 249 three- to six-year-olds (116 girls, tested between 2016 and 2018 across metropolitan locations with varying ethnic composition and socioeconomic status) randomly endorsed the word-labels of dominant and subordinate agents in the egalitarian culture of Norway, using stimuli which solicit dominance inferences among infants and manipulating anonymity across studies to control for egalitarian desirability bias. A meta-analysis estimated that 48% endorsed the dominant's testimony. This demonstrates that the tendency to endorse the epistemic claims of dominant individuals does not emerge reliably in early childhood.

• Blomster, Johanna Katarina; Thomsen, Lotte & Seibt, Beate (2020). Moved by Observing the Love of Others: Kama Muta Evoked Through Media Fosters Humanization of Out-Groups. Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01240.
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Dovidio, John F. & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Fusion with political leaders predicts willingness to persecute immigrants and political opponents. Nature Human Behaviour. ISSN 2397-3374. p. 1–13. doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0708-1. Full text in Research Archive
• Prendergast, Claire Nicole; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Ikonomeas, Alexander Gustav Fredriksen; Brun, Aurora; Huth, Håkon & Bredesen, Marit (2019). The Norwegian version of the five factor narcissism inventory for vulnerable narcissism and the grandiose narcissism subscale of indifference: Psychometric properties of the long‐ and short‐form versions. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. ISSN 0036-5564. 60(5), p. 492–500. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12569. Full text in Research Archive
• Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Egalitarianism: Psychological and socio-ecological foundations. Current Opinion in Psychology. ISSN 2352-250X. 32, p. 146–152. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.014.
• Thomsen, Lotte (2019). The developmental origins of social hierarchy: how infants and young children mentally represent and respond to power and status. Current Opinion in Psychology. ISSN 2352-250X. 33, p. 201–208. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.044.
• Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau; Czajkowski, Nikolai Olavi; Vassend, Olav; Røysamb, Espen; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem & Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Correlations between social dominance orientation and political attitudes reflect common genetic underpinnings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. ISSN 0027-8424. 116(36), p. 17741–17746. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1818711116. Full text in Research Archive
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Thomsen, Lotte & Dovidio, John F. (2019). Divided Loyalties: Perceptions of Disloyalty Underpin Bias Toward Dually-Identified Minority-Group Members. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. ISSN 0022-3514. 117(4), p. 807–838. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000168. Full text in Research Archive
• Prendergast, Claire Nicole (2019). Infant Understanding of Different Forms of Social Exclusion. Brain Sciences. ISSN 2076-3425. 9(9). doi: 10.3390/brainsci9090227. Full text in Research Archive
• Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Social Dominance Orientation(SDO). In Todd K., Shackelford & Weekes-Shackelford, Viviana A. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer International Publishing. ISSN 9783319169996. doi: https%3A/doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6.
• Obaidi, Milan; Kunst, Jonas R.; Kteily, Nour; Thomsen, Lotte & Sidanius, Jim (2018). Living Under Threat: Mutual Threat Perception Drives Anti-Muslim and Anti-Western Hostility in the Age of Terrorism. European Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0046-2772. 48(5), p. 567–584. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2362. Full text in Research Archive
• Thomsen, Lotte & Fiske, Alan P. (2018). Communal Sharing/Identity Fusion Does Not Require Reflection on Episodic Memory of Shared Experience, or Trauma - and Usually Generates Kindness. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. ISSN 0140-525X. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x18001784.
• Thomsen, Lotte & Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer (2018). A theory of how evolved psychology underpins attitudes towards societal economics must go beyond exchanges and averages. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. ISSN 0140-525X. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x18000535.
• Thomsen, Lotte; Obaidi, Milan & Bergh, Robin (2018). They Think We Are a Threat to Their Culture”: Meta-Cultural Threat Fuels Willingness and Endorsement of Extremist Violence against the Cultural Outgroup. International Journal of Conflict and Violence. ISSN 1864-1385.
• Obaidi, Milan; Bergh, Robin; Sidanius, Jim & Thomsen, Lotte (2018). The Mistreatment of My People: Victimization by Proxy and Behavioral Intentions to Commit Violence Among Muslims in Denmark. Political Psychology. ISSN 0162-895X. 39(3), p. 577–593. doi: 10.1111/pops.12435.
• Zickfeld, Janis Heinrich; Kunst, Jonas R. & Hohle, Sigrid Møyner (2018). Too sweet to eat: Exploring the effects of cuteness on meat consumption. Appetite. ISSN 0195-6663. 120, p. 181–195. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.08.038. Full text in Research Archive
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Boos, Beverly Karen; Kimel, Sasha; Obaidi, Milan; Shani, Maor & Thomsen, Lotte (2018). Engaging in extreme activism in support of others’ political struggles: The role of politically motivated fusion with out-groups. PLOS ONE. ISSN 1932-6203. 13(1). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190639.
• Thomas, Ashley J.; Thomsen, Lotte; Lukowski, Angela F.; Abramyan, Meline & Sarnecka, Barbara W. (2018). Toddlers prefer those who win but not when they win by force. Nature Human Behaviour. ISSN 2397-3374. 2(9), p. 662–669. doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0415-3.
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Kimel, Sasha; Shani, Maor; Alayan, Ramzi & Thomsen, Lotte (2018). Can Abraham bring peace? The relationship between acknowledging shared religious roots and intergroup conflict. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. ISSN 1941-1022. 11(4), p. 417–432. doi: 10.1037/rel0000192. Full text in Research Archive
• Obaidi, Milan; Thomsen, Lotte & Bergh, Robin (2018). "They Think We Are a Threat to Their Culture”: Meta-Cultural Threat Fuels Willingness and Endorsement of Extremist Violence against the Cultural Outgroup. International Journal of Conflict and Violence. ISSN 1864-1385. 12. doi: 10.4119/UNIBI/IJCV.647.
• Haugen, Ingvild & Kunst, Jonas R. (2017). A two-way process? A qualitative and quantitative investigation of majority members’ acculturation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. ISSN 0147-1767. 60, p. 67–82. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.07.004. Full text in Research Archive
• Eikemo, Marie Helene; Biele, Guido; Willoch, Frode; Thomsen, Lotte & Leknes, Siri (2017). Opioid modulation of value-based decision-making in healthy humans. Neuropsychopharmacology. ISSN 0893-133X. 42(9), p. 1833–1840. doi: 10.1038/npp.2017.58. Full text in Research Archive
• Johansson, Ole Jørgen & Kunst, Jonas R. (2017). Explaining prejudice toward the mentally ill: A test of sociopolitical, demographic, and socioeconomic factors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. ISSN 0021-9029. 47(12), p. 682–695. doi: 10.1111/jasp.12483. Full text in Research Archive
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Ronald, Fischer; Sidanius, Jim & Thomsen, Lotte (2017). Preferences for group dominance track and mediate the effects of macro-level social inequality and violence across societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. ISSN 0027-8424. 114(21), p. 5407–5412. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1616572114.
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Kteily, Nour & Thomsen, Lotte (2017). “You Little Creep”: Evidence of Blatant Dehumanization of Short Groups. Social Psychological and Personality Science. ISSN 1948-5506. doi: 10.1177/1948550617740613. Full text in Research Archive
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Sadeghi, Talieh; Tahir, Hajra; Sam, David Lackland & Thomsen, Lotte (2016). The vicious circle of religious prejudice: Islamophobia makes the acculturation attitudes of majority and minority members clash. European Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0046-2772. 46(2), p. 249–259. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2174.
• Kunst, Jonas R. & Hohle, Sigrid (2016). Meat eaters by dissociation: How we present, prepare and talk about meat increases willingness to eat meat by reducing empathy and disgust. Appetite. ISSN 0195-6663. 105, p. 758–774. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.07.009.
• Kimel, Sasha; Huesmann, R.; Kunst, Jonas R. & Halperin, Eran (2016). Living in a Genetic World: How Learning About Interethnic Genetic Similarities and Differences Affects Peace and Conflict. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. ISSN 0146-1672. 42(5), p. 688–700. doi: 10.1177/0146167216642196.
• Kunst, Jonas R. & Thomsen, Lotte (2015). Prodigal Sons: Dual Abrahamic Categorization Mediates the Detrimental Effects of Religious Fundamentalism on Christian–Muslim Relations. The international journal for the psychology of religion. ISSN 1050-8619. 25(4), p. 293–306. doi: 10.1080/10508619.2014.937965. Full text in Research Archive
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Thomsen, Lotte; Sam, David Lackland & Berry, John W. (2015). “We Are in This Together”: Common Group Identity Predicts Majority Members’ Active Acculturation Efforts to Integrate Immigrants. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. ISSN 0146-1672. 41(10), p. 1438–1453. doi: 10.1177/0146167215599349.
• Kunst, Jonas R.; Thomsen, Lotte & Sam, David Lackland (2014). Late Abrahamic reunion? Religious fundamentalism negatively predicts dual Abrahamic group categorization among Muslims and Christians. European Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0046-2772. 44(4), p. 337–348. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2014.
• IJzerman, Hans; Karremans, Johan; Thomsen, Lotte & Schubert, Thomas (2013). Caring for sharing: How attachment styles modulate communal cues of physical warmth. Social Psychology. ISSN 1864-9335. 44, p. 160–166. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000142.
• Thomsen, Lotte & Carey, Susan (2013). Core Cognition of Social Relations. In Mahzarin R., Banaji & Gelman, Susan A. (Ed.), Navigating the Social World: What infants, children and other species can teach us. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780199890712. p. 17–23. doi: 10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780199890712.003.0004.

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• Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Innate Building-blocks of Political Psychology.
• Eidjar, Oda; Kjos Fonn, Erik; Haugane Zahl, Joakim & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Seeking out the majority: Preverbal expectations whether third parties will join the larger group.
• Thomsen, Lotte; Kjos Fonn, Erik; Haugane Zahl, Joakim; Eidjar, Oda & Carey, Susan (2019). The structure of dominance: Preverbal infants map pyramidal position to social dominance.
• Kjos Fonn, Erik; Haugane Zahl, Joakim; Eidjar, Oda & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Early-developing Coalitional Preferences: Most male, but not female, pre-verbal infants and pre-schoolers prefer members of larger groups.
• Haugane Zahl, Joakim; Kjos Fonn, Erik; Eidjar, Oda & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Return the Favor: Preverbal Infants Represent Direct Reciprocity under Resource Scarcity.
• Haugane Zahl, Joakim; Kjos Fonn, Erik; Eidjar, Oda & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Return the Favor: Preverbal Infants Represent Direct Reciprocity under Resource Scarcity,
• Kjos Fonn, Erik; Haugane Zahl, Joakim; Eidjar, Oda & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Early-developing Coalitional Preferences: Most male, but not female, pre-verbal infants and pre-schoolers prefer members of larger groups.
• Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau; Røysamb, Espen; Vassend, Olav; Ystrøm, Eivind & Thomsen, Lotte (2019). Moral opportunism: A unique genetic grounding associates lesser guilt from perpetrating injustice with greater sensitivity to being the victim of it.
• Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau; Czajkowski, Nikolai Olavi; Vassend, Olav; Røysamb, Espen; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem & Kunst, Jonas R. [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Social dominance orientation has both genetic and unique environmental influences, but only genetic pleiotropy accounts for its correlation with political attitudes.
• Thomsen, Lotte (2018). Innate Relational Representations and Motives.
• Thomsen, Lotte; Haugane Zahl, Joakim; Kjos Fonn, Erik & de Born, Victoria (2018). Preschoolers use gratitude as a cue for future altruism.
• Thomsen, Lotte (2017). Core Relational Cognition.
• Prendergast, Claire Nicole & Thomsen, Lotte (2017). ‘Selvations’ in Social Motivation . Social justice research. ISSN 0885-7466. 30(3), p. 1–8. doi: 10.1007/s11211-017-0289-y.
• H. Kleppestø, Thomas; Czajkowski, Nikolai Olavi; Vassend, Olav; Røysamb, Espen; R. Kunst, Jonas & Thomsen, Lotte (2017). Preferring domination or egalitarianism: Genetic and environmental structure of Social Dominance Orientation.
• Thomas, Ashley J.; Abramyan, Meline; Lukowski, Angela & Thomsen, Lotte (2016). Preferring the Mighty to the Meek: Toddlers Prefer Novel Dominant Agents.
• Thomsen, Lotte; Obaidi, Milan; Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer; Kteily, Nour & Sidanius, Jim (2014). Individual differences in relational motives interact with the political context to produce terrorism and terrorism-support. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. ISSN 0140-525X. 37(4), p. 377–378. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X13003579.

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