Matos, A. S., & Hong, Y. (in press). Nothing passive about it: Voice in news coverage can shape Americans’ endorsement of collective punishment during events of high political tension. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.​​​

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• Western media has come under fire recently for disproportionate reporting of events, often being accused of complicity in agenda-building. Bridging the research on media bias, collective punishment, and language framing, we sought to confirm whether the voice of a news article can shape public perception of an event and subsequent endorsement of collective punishment. We conducted two empirical studies (N = 632) using two distinct contexts of high political tension (terrorist attack, social protest) and found patterns corroborating recent critiques of western media. We further tested whether the identity of those involved could qualify the readiness with which people endorsed collective punishment in the aftermath of these events, theorizing that participants would be more willing to do so if the people involved in the news coverage were Muslim given the association in the U.S. between Islam and radicalism (e.g., Lajevardi, 2021). Largely supporting our predictions, we found that presenting a news article in active (versus passive) voice increased negative perceptions of the actors, especially if they were Muslim (versus not). The extent to which voice and identity affect collective punishment endorsement, however, depends on two important caveats: personal stance and perceived media legitimacy. We end the article by discussing the implications of our findings and providing suggestions on how journalists can move forward in rebuilding legitimacy in an ever-polarized society.

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​​​​Tadmor, C. T., Chao, M. M., Hong, Y.-y., & Cai, L. Y. (2026). A conditional threat-regulation model: When deliberative processing of ongoing threat reduces intergroup bias. PNAS Nexus, 5(9), pgag295. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag295

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• Ongoing societal threats such as war, civil unrest, and pandemics heighten intergroup bias by inducing cognitive rigidity and suppressing complex reasoning. Yet most bias-reduction strategies require conditions that threat itself undermines, including direct engagement with outgroups. We propose a Conditional Threat-Regulation Model that specifies when and for whom threat-induced cognitive rigidity can be regulated in the face of threat. Across three experiments conducted during real societal crises in Israel, Hong Kong SAR, and the United States, we test whether deliberative processing of ongoing threat can enable integrative complexity and thereby reduce intergroup bias toward groups associated with the threat. Two exploratory studies conducted during armed conflict and societal unrest varied writing topic (threat vs. non-threat) while holding depth of processing constant; deliberative processing of the ongoing threat increased integrative complexity conditionally and in turn was associated with reduced intergroup bias. A preregistered experiment conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic crossed writing topic with depth of processing (deliberative vs. intuitive) to isolate the role of deliberation, and demonstrated that deliberative processing of ongoing threat enabled greater integrative complexity and reduced intergroup bias. Across studies, these effects were conditional on individuals’ cognitive preparedness, indexed by multicultural experience, with benefits concentrated among individuals able to translate deliberation into integratively complex reasoning. Integrative complexity served as a structural signature of regulated cognition under threat, mediating the relationship between deliberative processing and intergroup judgment. Together, the findings indicate that regulation of threat-induced cognitive rigidity is possible but conditional on both situational prompts and individual cognitive readiness.

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​​​​Lin, M., Matos, A. S., Hong, Y.-y., & Ramírez-Esparza, N. (2026). Racializing disease: Anti-Chinese attitudes and behaviors in the wake of COVID-19. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000795

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• Objectives: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, anti-Asian sentiment has surged in the United States. Narratives framing China as a source of contagion may have intensified perceptions of Chinese as disease carriers, reinforcing racialized associations with health threat. Guided by intergroup threat theory, this research examined whether these associations appeared in attitudinal domains and whether they translated into discriminatory behaviors. Method: In Study 1, we analyzed secondary data from Project Implicit collected immediately after the pandemic, in which White American participants (N = 351) completed explicit ratings and a COVID-19 Implicit Association Test. In Study 2, conducted postpandemic, we introduced a behavioral paradigm to assess how these associations manifest in everyday interactions. White participants (N = 192) interacted with either a Chinese or White experimenter—who wore a face mask or not to manipulate disease salience. Participants were then offered cleaning wipes after handling a product and hand sanitizer after the session. Results: In Study 1, participants reported no significant differences in explicit associations of health threat between Chinese and American individuals but implicitly associated Chinese individuals more strongly with health threat. Similarly, in Study 2, although participants explicitly rated experimenters similarly on hygiene and health, they were significantly more likely to use hand sanitizer when offered by a Chinese than a White experimenter, regardless of mask condition. No significant experimenter racial difference emerged in the use of cleaning wipes. Conclusions: These findings highlight how implicit biases linking Chinese people and health threat manifest in the postpandemic context and shape subtle discriminatory behavior, even without explicit bias.

 

Szumowska, E., Chan, H.-W., Kossowska, M., & Hong, Y. (2026). Sustaining humanitarian engagement: A reinforcement account of helping over time. Personality and Individual Differences, 259, 113867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113867​​​

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• Sustaining prosocial behavior during prolonged crises is essential, yet its motivational drivers remain unclear. In a four-wave longitudinal study of Polish citizens aiding Ukrainian refugees (N = 1066), we tested a dynamic model of sustained helping, focusing on psychological rewards—perceived benefits of helping, such as purpose, social connection, and reduced unease—and motivational importance, the value placed on fulfilling core psychological needs. Using cross-lagged panel (CLPM) and random-intercept CLPM (RI-CLPM) models, we examined reciprocal associations among these constructs and helping effort. In the CLPM, psychological rewards and helping were reciprocally associated over time, consistent with a reinforcement account. Motivational importance predicted initial, but not sustained, engagement. RI-CLPM results revealed strong trait-like stability across constructs, suggesting that sustained helping is primarily driven by enduring individual differences in motivational orientation rather than short-term within-person fluctuations. These findings indicate that psychological rewards are more closely linked to sustained helping than motivational importance, and that this association operates mainly at the between-person level. Our results refine accounts of prosocial motivation and inform strategies for maintaining engagement during humanitarian crises.

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Hong, Y., Lee, L., & Matos, A. S. (2026). Multicultural experiences: Impacts on the mind and self. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 35(2), 77-83. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214251382089

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• Globalization has brought unprecedented opportunities for individuals to be exposed to or interact with elements or people from different cultures. Recent research has examined how multicultural experiences could impact human psychology. Borrowing from this literature, this article discusses some key ways in which people adapt and respond to multicultural exposure through the acquisition and application of cultural knowledge (the multicultural mind) and development of cultural identities (the multicultural self). Multicultural exposure allows individuals to acquire and gain fluency in multiple cultural knowledge systems, enhancing cognitive flexibility and creativity and reducing prejudice. At the same time, as individuals amass multicultural experiences, they need to negotiate their multiple identities, forming different representations of them. Although individuals may display exclusionary responses when perceiving a threat toward their culture, a secure attachment to their culture can act as a safe haven that mitigates such threat. We discuss collectivization of multicultural experiences as a future research direction.​​​​​​