Public opinion shifts affect cardiovascular responses during political speech

Feiteng Long started the session with their research exploring how those the left and right wing of the political spectrum differ in their cardiovascular responses to changing public opinion on migration 🧵2/5

Progressive social change threatens ideological rightists and challenges leftists, as our physiological data show.
Check out our new paper for the full story – a key part of my PhD work with @pruthie.bsky.social and Daan Scheepers.
#socialpsychology #politicalpsychology #socialchange

New in PSPB: In six studies, we found that economic inequality undermines our trust in politicians' concern about our interests, thus diminishing how much we care about political leaders' competence. #socialpsychology #politicalpsychology
doi.org/10.1177/0146...

Four studies show protest alliances boost advantaged groups' support for change. When advantaged allies support (not lead), disadvantaged groups feel respected—indirectly raising support for change and lowering polarisation. #socialpsychology #politicalpsychology #politics #socialchange
Read more:

Who favours competent/warm politicians?
✅ High-RWA voters particularly prefer competence (vs neutral)
⚠️ Low-RWA voters particularly prefer warmth (vs neutral) – though evidence isn't robust
Check out our new research: doi.org/10.1111/bjso...
#socialpsychology #politicalpsychology #politics

Proud to have successfully defended my PhD this week! A news article highlights the key societal implications of my PhD research. Check it out below! @unileiden.bsky.social @leidensocial.bsky.social @leidenpsychology.bsky.social
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...

Check out our registered report @ispp-pops.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/pops..., in which we present a four-wave field experiment combined with network analysis. We cannot make it without our social network expert @tzingora.bsky.social and my PhD supervisors @pruthie.bsky.social and Daan Scheepers!

Our registered report with @valentinmang.bsky.social and @feitenglong.bsky.social has now been published in BJSP! We examined the radicalizing effects of different Great Replacement conspiracy narratives (Muslim vs. left-wing conspirators). See the link for the paper: doi.org/10.1111/bjso...

Check out our new preprint! Together with @pruthie.bsky.social and Daan Scheepers, we found people are challenged when their opinion-based group grows, but threatened when it shrinks. We measured challenge and threat motivational states using ECG, ICG, and blood pressure.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

🚨Excited that our meta-analysis is out in JPSP @APA_Journals. We synthesized 6 decades (1958-2017) of empirical evidence on social dilemmas and tested which structural features (most strongly) promote cooperation:
doi.org/10.1037/pspi...
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Check out our new paper, the fruit of a complex, nuanced project led by @feitenglong.bsky.social , with Daan Scheepers and yours truly:

t.ly/QK_nI

My first side project with @feitenglong.bsky.social is also out in BJSP!

In brief: We implemented recent theorising on the potential influences of ingroup norms on outgroup solidarity in the Dutch context. The consistent finding is that only leftists were susceptible to these norms.

In six studies, we found that economic inequality undermines our trust in politicians' concern about our interests, thus diminishing how much we care about political leaders' competence.

Check out our recent paper published in PSPB! #socialpsyc #polipsy #polisky
journals.sagepub.com/share/HQP7C6...

Congratulations Valentin!