Browsing by Author "Bayrak, Fatih"

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All the Dark Triad and some of the Big Five traits are visible in the face
(2021) Alper, Sinan; Bayrak, Fatih; Yilmaz, Onurcan; 0000-0001-6350-6234
Some of the recent studies suggested that people can make accurate inferences about the level of the Big Five and the Dark Triad personality traits in strangers by only looking at their faces. However, later findings provided only partial support and the evidence is mixed regarding which traits can be accurately inferred from faces. In the current research, to provide further evidence on whether the Big Five and the Dark Triad traits are visible in the face, we report three studies, two of which were preregistered, conducted on both WEIRD (the US American) and non-WEIRD (Turkish) samples (N = 880). The participants in both the US American and Turkish samples were successful in predicting all Dark Triad personality traits by looking at a stranger's face. However, there were mixed results regarding the Big Five traits. An aggregate analysis of the combined dataset demonstrated that extraversion (only female), agreeableness, and conscientiousness were accurately inferred by the participants in addition to the Dark Triad traits. Overall, the results suggest that inferring personality from faces without any concrete source of information might be an evolutionarily adaptive trait.
Do changes in threat salience predict the moral content of sermons? The case of Friday Khutbas in Turkey
(2019) Alper, Sinan; Bayrak, Fatih; Us, Elif Oyku; Yilmaz, Onurcan; 0000-0002-6671-2129; 0000-0001-6350-6234; AAJ-6747-2020
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.
Inferring political and religious attitudes from composite faces perceived to be related to the dark triad personality traits
(2021) Alper, Sinan; Bayrak, Fatih; Yilmaz, Onurcan
We used composite face images perceived to have different levels of Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) and asked participants to predict these target individuals' religious and political identities. In Study 1 (N = 550), Turkish participants rated faces with higher levels of perceived Dark Triad traits as less likely to be religious, to believe in God, and more likely to be left-winger, and to vote for a leftleaning party in all categories except for male narcissism. In a pre-registered follow-up study (N = 1001), we recruited a nationally representative US sample and replicated the same results with minor differences regarding male and female narcissism, and voting preferences. Participants' own political and ideological identities and their stereotypical evaluation of the target groups were mostly ineffective in explaining their predictions. The results suggest that people can perceive faces with higher levels of Dark Triad traits as less religious and less conservative.
Morality as a moderator of the relationship between ingroup identification and ingroup favoritism
(Başkent Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, 2019) Bayrak, Fatih; Korkmaz, Leman
The relationship between ingroup identification and ingroup favoritism has been studied for many years. In the Social Identity Theory literature, studies show that the direction and strength of this relationship are shaped under the influence of many different variables. The variables questioned in this topic generally consist of factors that drawn on levels of analysis at intragroup or intergroup levels except for the self-esteem hypothesis. In this study, morality as an evolutionary based intrapersonal and intuitional motivation was investigated in terms of its effects on this relationship. In this thesis, morality was examined from a new theoretical approach, Morality as Cooperation Theory. It was claimed that giving importance to certain moral dimensions will have a moderator effect on the relationship between ingroup identification and ingroup favoritism. Additionally, ideological orientation and core motivations of social conservatism, resistance to change and opposition to equality, were examined as covariate variables due to their associations with different moral dimensions and behaviors towards outgroups in the literature. In this context, one cross-sectional and one experimental study were carried out. In the first study, the pattern of the relationships between morality, ideology, ingroup identification, and ingroup favoritism were explored. It was found that reciprocity dimension of morality has a moderator effect on the relationship between ingroup identification and ingroup favoritism. Considering the results of the first study, in the second study, reciprocity dimension was manipulated, and its moderator role was tested by an experimental design. Consistent with the first study, the results of the second study revealed a significant moderator effect of reciprocity dimension. The findings, contributions, and limitations of the studies were discussed in the context of the relevant literature and suggestions were presented for future studies İç grupla özdeşleşme ve iç grup kayırmacılığı arasındaki ilişki uzun yıllardır çalışılmaktadır. Sosyal Kimlik Kuramı literatüründeki araştırmalar, bu ilişkinin gücünün ve yönünün pek çok farklı değişkenin etkisi altında şekillendiğini göstermektedir. Benlik saygısı hipotezi dışında bu konuda ele alınmış olan değişkenler genellikle grup içi ve gruplar arası analiz düzeyinde faktörlerden oluşmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, evrimsel temelli ve birey içi sezgisel bir motivasyon olan ahlak, bu ilişki üzerindeki etkileri açısından incelenmiştir. Araştırmada ahlak, yeni bir kuramsal yaklaşım olan İşbirliği Olarak Ahlak kuramı çerçevesinde ele alınmıştır. Belirli ahlaki boyutlara önem vermenin, iç grupla özdeşleşme ve iç grup kayırmacılığı arasındaki ilişkide düzenleyici bir rolü olacağı iddia edilmiştir. Ayrıca, ideolojik yönelim ve sosyal muhafazakarlığın temel iki motivasyonu olarak düşünülen değişime kapalılık ve eşitliğe karşıtlık, literatürdeki farklı ahlaki boyutlarla ve dışgruplara yönelik davranışlarla olan ilişkisi nedeniyle kontrol değişkeni olarak ele alınmıştır. Bu bağlamda bir kesitsel ve bir deneysel çalışma gerçekleştirilmiştir. İlk çalışmada ahlak, ideoloji, iç grupla özdeşleşme ve iç grup kayırmacılığı değişkenleri arasındaki ilişkilerin örüntüsü keşfedilmiştir. Karşılıklılık ahlaki boyutunun iç grupla özdeşleşme ve iç grup kayırmacılığı arasındaki ilişkide düzenleyici rolü olduğu tespit edilmiştir. İlk çalışmanın bulguları göz önünde bulundurularak, ikinci çalışmada karşılıklılık ahlaki boyutu manipüle edilmiş ve karşılıklılığın düzenleyici rolüne ilişkin hipotez deneysel desen kullanılarak test edilmiştir. İlk çalışmayla tutarlı olarak, ikinci çalışma sonuçları da karşılıklılık boyutunun anlamlı düzeyde düzenleyici etkisinin olduğunu göstermiştir. Araştırma bulguları, katkıları ve kısıtları literatür bağlamında tartışılarak gelecekte yürütülecek çalışmalara önerilerde bulunulmuştur.
Multidimensional Intuitive-Analytic Thinking Style and Its Relation To Moral Concerns, Epistemically Suspect Beliefs, and Ideology
(2023) Bayrak, Fatih; Dogruyol, Burak; Alper, Sinan; Yilmaz, Onurcan; 0000-0001-6350-6234
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.
Psychological correlates of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and preventive measures: Evidence from Turkey
(2020) Alper, Sinan; Bayrak, Fatih; Yilmaz, Onurcan; 32837129
COVID-19 pandemic has led to popular conspiracy theories regarding its origins and widespread concern over the level of compliance with preventive measures. In the current preregistered research, we recruited 1088 Turkish participants and investigated (a) individual differences associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs; (2) whether such conspiracy beliefs are related to the level of preventive measures; and (3) other individual differences that might be related to the preventive measures. Higher faith in intuition, uncertainty avoidance, impulsivity, generic conspiracy beliefs, religiosity, and right-wing ideology, and a lower level of cognitive reflection were associated with a higher level of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. There was no association between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and preventive measures while perceived risk was positively and impulsivity negatively correlated with preventive measures. We discuss the implications and directions for future research.
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
(2022) Bayrak, Fatih; 35422529
The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/individualism and moral dilemma judgements. Including participants from 45 countries, Bago et al. find that the situational factors that affect moral reasoning are shared across countries, with diminished observed cultural variation.
Social Identification and Collective Action Participation in the Internet Age: A Meta-Analysis
(2021) Akfirat, Serap; Uysal, Mete Sefa; Bayrak, Fatih; Ergiyen, Tolga; Uzumceker, Emir; Yurtbakan, Taylan; Ozkan, Ozlem Serap
Since the digitally-mediated large-scale protests took place all over the world, the role of social identities in collective actions has become the center of academic attention. Some scholars have claimed that interpersonal or individual reasons have become more important than collective identifications in participating digitally-mediated collective actions. To answer the question that whether social identification has lost its centrality in collective actions in the Internet age, we conducted a meta-analysis of 46 studies (N = 18,242) which examined digitally-mediated collective actions across the world reported between January 2011 and January 2020. We focused on the relationship between social identification and collective action, and the possible moderator effects of group type to be identified (emergent vs. pre-existing group), participation type (actual behavior vs. intention), and WEIRDness of the sample. The analyses showed a moderate to strong relationship between social identification and participation in digitally-mediated collective actions, while group type was the only significant moderator. Accordingly, the relationship between identification with emergent groups and collective action participation was much stronger compared to the relationship between identification with pre-existing groups and collective action participation. We discussed the theoretical implications of the results emphasized the basic dynamics of collective actions.
A tale of two hashtags: An examination of moral content of pro- and anti-government tweets in Turkey
(2021) Bayrak, Fatih; Alper, Sinan; 0000-0001-6350-6234
During the campaign period of the 2018 Presidential Election in Turkey, there was a burst in the number of tweets posted by both pro- and anti-government Twitter users. Both sides started their own hashtags and reached a total of 2 million tweets in only one day. We analyzed the content of 186,554 tweets from two opposing ideological camps to test the predictions of Moral Foundations Theory, which suggests that liberals and conservatives endorse different moral foundations. We scored each side's level of emphasis on different moral foundations using the Turkish Moral Foundations Dictionary and compared the two groups. Results revealed that the supporters of the conservative government in Turkey were more likely to endorse care, loyalty, and authority foundations of morality, as compared to those who oppose the conservative government. In addition, the general moral emphasis was higher in the tweets of the pro-government group. Being one of the first studies investigating the moral content of political tweets in a non-WEIRD context, the current study yields important findings regarding the external validity of the Moral Foundations Theory's predictions in different cultures.