Browsing by Author "Yilmaz, Onurcan"

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Citation Count: 9
Do changes in threat salience predict the moral content of sermons? The case of Friday Khutbas in Turkey
(Wiley, 2020) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Bayrak, Fatih; Us, Elif Öykü; Yilmaz, Onurcan
We analyzed the content of "Friday Khutbas" delivered in Turkish mosques between January 2001 and December 2018 to test the prediction of moral foundations theory (MFT) literature that threat salience would lead to an increased endorsement of binding moral foundations. As societal-level indicators of threat, we examined (a) historical data on the proportion of terrorism-related news published in a Turkish newspaper, (b) the geopolitical risk score of Turkey as measured by Geopolitical Risk Index, and (c) Google Trends data on the search frequency of words "terror", "terrorism", or "terrorist". To measure the endorsement of moral foundations, we built a Turkish Moral Foundations Dictionary and counted the relative frequency of morality-related words in the khutbas delivered in Istanbul, Turkey. Time series analyses showed that risk salience in a certain month was positively related to endorsement of the loyalty/betrayal foundation in that month's Friday Khutbas. There were mixed results for the other moral foundations.
Does cognitive reflection predict cooperation behavior after a seven-month period
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Yilmaz, Onurcan
Bu çalışma, Hristiyan inananlar ve inanmayanlar (ateist ve agnostikler) arasında yedi aylık bir sürenin ardından (bilişsel stil ve bilişsel yeteneğin standart ölçümleriyle ölçülen) bilişsel derin düşünmenin grup içi, grup dışı ve anonim ortaklara karşı işbirliği davranışını yordayıp yordamayacağını test etmeyi amaçladı. Talep etkisi (demand effect) gibi ölçüm araçlarının potansiyel karıştırıcı etkilerini önlemek için, bilişsel ölçümlerin (ön test) işbirliği davranışı ölçümleriyle (son test) bağlantısını kesen ön- ve son-test evreleri kullanıldı. Bilişsel derin düşünmenin birden çok bileşeni, bilişsel stil için Bilişsel Performans Testi ve bilişsel yetenek için Raven Progresif Matrisleri dahil olmak üzere çeşitli değerlendirme araçları kullanılarak ölçüldü. İşbirlikçi davranış, iki aşamalı Mahkum İkilemi (Mİ) aracılığıyla ölçüldü; katılımcılar oyunu başlangıçta anonim ortaklarla ve ikinci aşamada iç-grup, dış-grup veya yine anonim bir ortakla oynadılar. Grup kimliği manipülasyonu, katılımcıların gerçek dini kimliklerine dayanıyordu. Adillik hassasiyetlerini ölçmek için Para Tahsis Oyunu (PTO) da kullanıldı. Daha yüksek bilişsel derin düşünmenin (1) daha yüksek anonim işbirliği, (2) PTO'da daha düşük iç-grup yanlılığı ve (3) Mİ'de daha düşük dış-grup ayrımcılığı yordayacağını bekleyen hipotezleri test etmek için doğrulayıcı analizler yapıldı. Ancak sonuçlar hiçbir hipotezi desteklemedi. Bununla birlikte, keşifsel analizler, aktif olarak açık fikirli düşünmenin iç-grup yanlılığını negatif olarak yordadığını ve akıcı zekanın, iç-grup yanlılığını yordamada sıfır toplamlı inançlarla etkileşime girdiğini ortaya koydu. Daha yüksek sıfır toplamlı oyun inançlarına sahip olanlar için; akıcı zeka, iç-grup yanlılığını pozitif olarak yordadı. Ayrıca, analitik bilişsel stil ve toplam derin düşünme skorları, yalnızca inanmayanlar arasında (inananlara kıyasla) tek seferlik anonim işbirliğini pozitif olarak yordadı ve bu, gruplararası epistemik norm farklılıklarına işaret ediyor. Bu bulgular, bilişsel derin düşünmenin işbirlikçi davranış üzerindeki etkisinin bağlamsal ve bireysel faktörlere bağlı olduğunu göstermektedir.
The effect of the 2023 Türkiye - Syria earthquakes on cooperative behaviors and intentions
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Yilmaz, Onurcan
Pek çok teori varoluşsal tehditler ile politik davranışlar ve tutumlar arasında olan karmaşık ilişkiye açıklama getirme teşebbüsünde bulunsa da alanyazında bulunan çalışmalar nihai bir sonuca ulaşamamış ve bulgular sistemli bir şekilde bir teoriyi desteklememektedir. Kuramlar arasındaki çelişkileri çözmek ve farklı tehditlerin politik ideoloji, tutum ve davranışları nasıl şekillendirdiğini incelemek amacıyla Eadeh ve Chang (2020) siyaset bilimi alanyazınında hali hazırda bulunmakta olan Soruna Vakıflık Modeli'ni (Petrocik, 1996) siyaset psikolojisi alanyazınına adapte etti. Soruna Vakıflık Modeline göre farklı şekildeki tehditler (tip, şiddet vs.) farklı zaman, mekan ve bağlamlarda farklı politik yöne doğru kaymalara (muhafazakarlık veya liberallik) sebep olabilir. Bu araştırmada, literatürde çok çalışılmayan bir tehdit tipi olan deprem tehditinin katılımcıların işbirliği davranışları ve niyeti üzerindeki etkisi ve deprem risk algısının düzenleyici etkileri doğal deney ortamında incelenmiştir (2023 Türkiye – Suriye depremleri öncesi ve sonrası). Çalışma kapsamında deprem tehditinin diktatör ve kamusal mallar oyunu ile ölçülen para paylaşma davranışı ve işbirliği olarak ahlak ölçeğinde ölçülen işbirliği niyeti üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Araştırma öncesi anket çalışmasına katılan katılımcılar bu çalışmaya davet edildi (Örneklem sonuç olarak 388 katılımcıdan oluşmaktadır.) ve deprem manipülasyonu ile kontrol koşullarına seçkisiz bir şekilde atandılar. 2023 Türkiye – Suriye depremleri ardından katılımcıların işbirliği davranışı ile risk algılarında artış gözlemlenirken işbirliği niyetinde azalma meydana geldiği saptanmıştır. Buna karşın depremin cömertlik davranışı üzerinde anlamlı bir etkisinin olmadığı saptanmıştır. Deney manipülasyonun bağımlı değişkenler üzerinde etkisinin olmadığı gözlemlenmiştir ve bu durumun tavan etkisinden kaynaklandığı düşünülmektedir. Ahlaki mesajların deprem tehditinin olumsuz etkilerini hafifletmediği ve bireysel farklılık değişkenlerinin potansiyel düzenleyici değişken olarak bağımlı değişkenler üzerinde herhangi bir etkisinin olmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Sonuçlar farklı tip tehditlerin farklı psikolojik tepkilere yol açabileceği argümanını desteklemektedir.
Citation Count: 0
Effective health communication depends on the interaction of message source and content: two experiments on adherence to COVID-19 measures in Türkiye
(Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Aktar, Bengi; Aydas, Berke; Yilmaz, Onurcan; Alper, Sinan; Isler, Ozan
ObjectiveFollowing the COVID-19 outbreak, authorities recommended preventive measures to reduce infection rates. However, adherence to calls varied between individuals and across cultures. To determine the characteristics of effective health communication, we investigated three key features: message source, content, and audience.MethodsUsing a pre-test and two experiments, we tested how message content (emphasizing personal or social benefit), audience (individual differences), message source (scientists or state officials), and their interaction influence adherence to preventive measures. Using fliers advocating preventive measures, Experiment 1 investigated the effects of message content and examined the moderator role of individual differences. Experiment 2 presented the messages using news articles and manipulated sources.ResultsStudy 1 found decreasing adherence over time, with no significant impact from message content or individual differences. Study 2 found messages emphasizing 'protect yourself' and 'protect your country' to increase intentions for adherence to preventive measures. It also revealed an interaction between message source and content whereby messages emphasizing personal benefit were more effective when they came from healthcare professionals than from state officials. However, message source and content did not affect vaccination intentions or donations for vaccine research.ConclusionEffective health communication requires simultaneous consideration of message source and content.
Citation Count: 8
How to activate intuitive and reflective thinking in behavior research? A comprehensive examination of experimental techniques
(Springer, 2022) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Yilmaz, Onurcan
Experiments comparing intuitive and reflective decisions provide insights into the cognitive foundations of human behavior. However, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the frequently used experimental techniques for activating intuition and reflection remain unknown. In a large-scale preregistered online experiment (N = 3667), we compared the effects of eight reflection, six intuition, and two within-subjects manipulations on actual and self-reported measures of cognitive performance. Compared to the overall control, the long debiasing training was the most effective technique for increasing actual reflection scores, and the emotion induction was the most effective technique for increasing actual intuition scores. In contrast, the reason and the intuition recall, the reason induction, and the brief time delay conditions failed to achieve the intended effects. We recommend using the debiasing training, the decision justification, or the monetary incentives technique to activate reflection, and the emotion induction, the cognitive load, or the time pressure technique to activate intuition.
Citation Count: 0
How to activate threat perceptions in behavior research: A simple technique for inducing health and resource scarcity threats
(Springer, 2024) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Yilmaz, Onurcan; Maule, A. John; Gaechter, Simon
Understanding our cognitive and behavioral reactions to large-scale collective problems involving health and resource scarcity threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, helps us be better prepared for future collective threats. However, existing studies on these threats tend to be restricted to correlational data, partly due to a lack of reliable experimental techniques for manipulating threat perceptions. In four preregistered experiments (N = 5152), we developed and validated an experimental technique that can separately activate perceptions of personal health threat or resource scarcity threat, either in the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic or in general. We compared the threat manipulations to a relaxation manipulation designed to deactivate background threat perceptions as well as to a passive control condition. Confirmatory tests showed substantial activation of personal health and resource scarcity threat perceptions. This brief technique can be easily used in online experiments. Distress due to the threat manipulation was rarely reported and easily managed with a debriefing toolkit.
Citation Count: 2
Intergroup tolerance leads to subjective morality, which in turn is associated with (but does not lead to) reduced religiosity
(Sage Publications Ltd, 2020) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Harma, Mehmet; Harma, Mehmet; Sevi, Baris
Although the effect of religious belief on morally relevant behavior is well demonstrated, the reverse influence is less known. In this research, we examined the influence of morality on religious belief. In the first study, we used two samples from Turkey and the United States, and specifically tested the hypothesis that intergroup tolerance predicts a shift in meta-ethical views toward subjective morality, which in turn predicts decreased religious belief. To examine the relationship between intergroup tolerance and religiosity via subjective morality, a structural equation model (SEM) was run. SEM results yielded good fit to the data for both samples. Intergroup tolerance positively predicted subjective morality, and in turn, morality negatively predicted religiosity. The bias-corrected bootstrap analysis confirmed the mediation, indicating that the association between intergroup tolerance and religious belief was mediated via subjective morality. In Study 2, we probed for the causal relationship, and the results showed that manipulating intergroup tolerance increases subjective morality, but does not influence religiosity. Therefore, we found only partial evidence for our proposed model that tolerance causally influences subjective morality, but not religiosity.
Citation Count: 2
Is negativity bias intuitive for liberals and conservatives?
(Springer, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Harma, Mehmet; Yilmaz, Onurcan; Bahcekapili, Hasan G.; Harma, Mehmet
Previous research suggests that conservatives (right-wingers) tend to show more negativity bias than liberals (left-wingers) in several tasks. However, the majority of these studies are based on correlational findings and do not provide information on the cognitive underpinnings of this tendency. The current research investigated whether intuition promotes negativity bias and mitigates the ideological asymmetry in this domain in three underrepresented, non-western samples (Turkey). In line with the previous literature, we defined negativity bias as the tendency to interpret ambiguous faces as threatening. The results of the lab experiment revealed that negativity bias increases under high-cognitive load overall. In addition, this effect was moderated by the participants' political orientation (Experiment 1). In other words, when their cognitive resources were depleted, liberals became more like conservatives in terms of negativity bias. However, we failed to conceptually replicate this effect using time-limit manipulations in two online preregistered experiments during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the baseline negativity bias is thought to be already at peak. Thus, the findings provide no strong evidence for the idea that intuition promotes negativity bias and that liberals use cognitive effort to avoid this perceptual bias.
Citation Count: 0
Multidimensional intuitive-analytic thinking style and its relation to moral concerns, epistemically suspect beliefs, and ideology
(Cambridge Univ Press, 2023) Doğruyol, Burak; Yılmaz, Onurcan; Alper, Sinan; Yilmaz, Onurcan
Literature highlights the distinction between intuitive and analytic thinking as a prominent cognitive style distinction, leading to the proposal of various theories within the framework of the dual process model. However, it remains unclear whether individuals differ in their thinking styles along a single dimension, from intuitive to analytic, or if other dimensions are at play. Moreover, the presence of numerous thinking style measures, employing different terminology but conceptually overlapping, leads to confusion. To address these complexities, Newton et al. suggested the idea that individuals vary across multiple dimensions of intuitive-analytic thinking styles and distinguished thinking styles between 4 distinct types: Actively open-minded thinking, close-minded thinking, preference for effortful thinking, and preference for intuitive thinking. They proposed a new measure for this 4-factor disposition, The 4-Component Thinking Styles Questionnaire (4-CTSQ), to comprehensively capture the psychological outcomes related to thinking styles; however, no independent test exists. In the current pre-registered studies, we test the validity of 4-CTSQ for the first time beyond the original study and examine the association of the proposed measure with various factors, including morality, conspiracy beliefs, paranormal and religious beliefs, vaccine hesitancy, and ideology in an underrepresented culture, Turkiye. We found that the correlated 4-factor model of 4-CTSQ is an appropriate measure to capture individual differences based on cognitive style. The results endorse the notion that cognitive style differences are characterized by distinct structures rather than being confined to two ends of a single continuum.
Citation Count: 1
The positive association of education with the trust in science and scientists is weaker in highly corrupt countries
(Sage Publications Ltd, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Yelbuz, Busra Elif; Akkurt, Sumeyra Bengisu; Yilmaz, Onurcan
One of the most prominent correlates of trust in science and scientists is education level, possibly because educated individuals have higher levels of science knowledge and thinking ability, suggesting that trusting science and scientists relies more on reflective thinking abilities. However, it is relatively more reasonable for highly educated individuals to suspect authority figures in highly corrupt countries. We tested this prediction in two nationally representative and probabilistic cross-cultural data sets (Study 1: 142 countries, N = 40,085; Study 2: 47 countries, N = 69,332), and found that the positive association between education and trust in scientists (Study 1) and science (Study 2) was weaker or non-existent in highly corrupt countries. The results did not change after statistically controlling for age, sex, household income, and residence. We suggest future research to be more considerate of the societal context in understanding how education status correlates with trust in science and scientists.
Citation Count: 0
Scarcity improves economic valuations when cognitively salient
(Elsevier, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Yilmaz, Onurcan; Dulleck, Uwe
In an influential article, Shah et al. (2015) hypothesized that resource scarcity weakens the effect of irrelevant contextual factors on economic valuations. The hypothesis that scarcity frames value qualifies the applicability of standard theories of rational choice and suggests a revised psychological foundation. In support, Shah et al. showed that differences in the willingness to pay for a commodity depending on where it was purchased (a fancy hotel vs. a run-down store) and in the willingness to travel to receive a fixed discount depend-ing on the size of the purchase (a cheap vs. an expensive computer) were smaller among those with low personal incomes. In a large-scale preregistered experiment (N = 3,442), we tested whether scarcity framed value during the COVID-19 pandemic as well. The sam-ple exhibited the canonical context effects overall. Consistent with the hypothesis, these effects tended to be smaller among those facing higher scarcity of personal income. Ex-tending the original findings, economic valuations of low-income earners improved, partic-ularly when scarcity was on the minds of the participants, as those with high financial and other resource scarcity concerns were less susceptible to the context effects. Our findings indicate that scarcity frames value, especially when it is cognitively salient, and emphasize the importance of considering contextual factors when attempting replications.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )
Citation Count: 0
Shared Group Memberships Mitigate Intergroup Bias in Cooperation
(Sage Publications inc, 2023) Yılmaz, Onurcan; Dorrough, Angela; Isler, Ozan; Yilmaz, Onurcan
Research on cooperation between groups tends to consider a single social identity at a time. However, individuals naturally share group membership in one social category (e.g., religious belief) while diverging in membership to others (e.g., political ideology). Here, we test the effects of mixed-group membership on actual cooperative behavior relative to completely sharing (in-group) and completely diverging (out-group) group memberships. In three high-powered, preregistered, and incentivized experiments, we found evidence for our hypotheses that cooperation increases with the number of shared memberships in arbitrary (Experiment 1, N = 292) as well as naturally existing social categories such as political orientation and ethnicity (Experiment 2, N = 501) or political orientation and religious affiliation (Experiment 3, N = 292).
Citation Count: 0
Validation of the moral foundations questionnaire-2 in the Turkish context: exploring its relationship with moral behavior
(Springer, 2024) Doğruyol, Burak; Yılmaz, Onurcan; Bayrak, Fatih; Acem, Ensar; Isler, Ozan; Yilmaz, Onurcan
Despite the considerable attention it has received, Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) remains open to criticisms regarding failure to conceptualize the moral domain. MFT was revised in response to these criticisms, along with its measurement tool, the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ-2). However, the validity of this revised theoretical structure and its explanatory power relative to existing alternatives, such as Morality as Cooperation Theory (MAC), has not yet been independently tested. Here we first validated MFT's revised six-factor structure using the MFQ-2 in a large quasi-representative sample (N = 1099) from a predominantly Muslim country (i.e., T & uuml;rkiye) and then explored the relationship of these six factors with incentivized measures of moral behavior as well as different psychological variables. Our tests revealed excellent fit values for the six-factor structure proposed by the MFQ-2, which explained more of the variance in criterion variables compared to the MAC Questionnaire (MAC-Q). However, MAC-Q performed better in predicting actual moral behavior (e.g., generosity and cooperation) compared with MFQ-2. Taken together, these findings indicate that, at least for the time being, MFQ-2 and the structure of the moral foundations proposed by MFT can be used to conceptualize the moral domain, but its relatively weak relationship to actual moral behavior limits its insights.