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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D.

@awiezel.bsky.social
371 followers 428 following 199 posts

South(w)e(a)sterner & social psychologist studying political psychology, affect, leadership, & intergroup relations. Assistant Professor of Psychology and director of the BORG research lab (awiezel.wixsite.com/wiezelborglab) @ Elon University.

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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Looking forward to visiting Pacific Lutheran University this Friday, where I’ve been kindly invited to speak as part of their Psychology Colloquium Series about why we often perceive greater partisan divides than actually exist—and what social psychology suggests might help bridge them. (2/2)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
How am I spending my fall break? Talking about political polarization, naturally! (1/2)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
So, Zenodo seems better if you want one free repository for a project’s materials, data, code, and supplements during review & after publication. Figshare may work better for smaller projects where convenient private sharing matters more than storage capacity. Curious what others are using! (4/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Figshare: 20 GB free private storage and 20 GB maximum per file, with DOIs, versioning, embargoes, and private links. Institutional limits may be much larger, but account-free reviewer access needs checking. (3/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Zenodo: 50 GB per record by default, DOI-based versioning, and expiring secret links that reviewers can use without accounts. Main drawbacks: published records are relatively immutable, and metadata may remain public even when files are restricted. (2/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Update: I’ve been comparing Zenodo & Figshare for storing research data, code, and materials esp. during double-anonymized peer review. Short version: Zenodo offers more free storage and stronger long-term archival features; Figshare may be simpler for smaller projects and private sharing. (1/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
In it, discuss how the findings connect to research on leader selection, dominance, and intergroup conflict—and why an association between appearance and behavior should not be interpreted as evidence that facial structure straightforwardly causes aggression. (2/2)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Excited to share that PsyPost recently invited me as an outside expert to comment on interesting new research examining whether leaders’ facial characteristics are associated with their likelihood of initiating international conflict. Read the article here: www.psypost.org/the-shape-of... (1/2)
psypost.org
One measurable feature of a leader's face predicted whether they'd start a military conflict in their first year in office — across 1,761 leaders and six decades
A sweeping new study of world leaders spanning six decades finds that those with wider facial proportions are slightly more likely to initiate military action, particularly during their first few years in office.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I know institutional repositories are another option, but I’m unsure how well they handle anonymized reviewer access. Recommendations/experiences welcome! (2/2)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Psych hivemind: with OSF moving away from hosting datasets, code & research materials in Projects, where are folks moving these? I have my eye on Zenodo, but would love to hear what you’re using & why—especially re: long-term stability, DOI/versioning, and anonymous sharing for peer review. (1/2)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Excited to join Ann Cahill (Philosophy) & Mel Gil (English) for “Democracy & The Other,” as part of Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences’ Democracy & series at @elonuniversity.bsky.social! Looking forward to bringing a social psychological perspective on political difference and “othering.”
Poster for Democracy & the Other on Tuesday Sept 1 at 4:20-5:20 pm, featuring photos of the three speakers.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I was just telling one of my research mentees about this today! Thanks for the reminder.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
She also co-authored a book chapter on romantic mate preferences with me and Doug Kenrick, and her most recent project extends this work by examining relationship preferences among understudied populations, including lesbian women. Strong work, Sophie! 👏 (4/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
In the BORG Lab, Sophie has contributed across all stages of the research process—from meticulously coding behavioral videos (across 1,181 variables each!) to developing her own independent projects. (3/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Sophie’s work spans both Katrina Jongman-Sereno’s Social and Personality Psychology (SoPeP) Lab and my Wiezel Behavior, Opinions, and Relations between Groups (BORG) Lab. (2/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Very excited to share that undergraduate senior and my research mentee, Sophie Verrecchia, has earned the Elon Department of Psychology’s 2026 Research Excellence Award! (1/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Then, Lindsay Bialecki presented her poster, “Investigating the Impact of Leader Role Models Across Race, Sex, & Political Party,” on her research on the types of role models that influence political ambition, generously supported by a Grants-in-Aid through Elon Univ. Very proud of all three! (4/4)
Lindsay Bialecki and Dr. Adi Wiezel pose with Lindsay’s poster at SURF.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
During the same session, Sophie Verrecchia presented her poster, “Who We Want, Why We Want Them: An Investigation of Mate Preferences Among Lesbian Women,” covering her research on the romantic partner preferences of lesbian women relative to straight men. (3/4)
Sophie Verrecchia presents her poster at SURF to a small crowd of listeners.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
First, Abram Darby presented his poster, “Social Motives and Leadership Preferences: How Views on Childcare Are Associated with Preferred Traits in Political Leaders,” looking at the relation between kin care motives and leader preferences. (2/4)
Abram Darby presents his poster to Dr. Charles Doan at SURF.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The first cohort of the Wiezel BORG Lab is graduating (🥲), & I’m excited to start sharing their accomplishments. Alongside shared lab projects, each senior conducted independent research using CloudResearch Connect & presented at Elon’s Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) on April 28. (1/4)
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Very proud of my newest research student, Justice Wilbourn, who will be joining the BORG Lab in Fall 2026. Justice just earned a competitive Sinclair undergraduate research grant to support a project on parental influences on political attitudes (with Dr. Nic Bussberg and me). Congrats, Justice! 👏
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
On Wednesday afternoon, Sophie Verrecchia presented her project examining mate (romantic partner) preferences among lesbian women and straight men. Congratulations to both on reaching this important research milestone! 👏 (And, as a bonus: the lab bracelets I made to celebrate the occasion! ☺️).
Sophie Verrecchia presenting her poster at NCUR to two audience members. Sophie Verrecchia, Dr. Adi Wiezel, and Abram Darby (clockwise) showing off their black and green beaded bracelets that say “BORG” on them, after the lab’s acronym.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
After some practice sessions (and a great lab dinner at Mekong Restaurant on Monday evening), Abram Darby kicked things off on Tuesday morning with his poster on childcare motives and leadership preferences.
Abram Darby and Sophie Verrecchia enjoying fresh spring rolls at Mekong Restaurant. Dr. Adi Wiezel, Sophie Verrecchia, and Abram Darby discussing poster presentations at a table outside of Mekong Restaurant. Abram Darby standing proudly in front of his NCUR poster.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Delighted that I got to spend some time in Richmond, VA earlier this week supporting two of my outstanding seniors as they presented their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Both projects reflect some of the more independent work they’ve been doing in the BORG Lab.
Dr. Adi Wiezel, Sophie Verrecchia, and Abram Darby smiling in front of Sophie’s NCUR poster.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Too real 😂
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Thanks for the heads up!
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
And that’s a wrap for my #SPSP2026 talk summaries this year. Thanks for sharing all that neat work, y’all! ☺️
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In a followup study, a number of political polarization interventions were not found to be successful at pushing around any of the three types of moral convinction, which may suggest that these aspects of moral conviction are more trait-like in nature.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Notably, *not* all types of moral conviction were associated with moral absolutism or ant democratic attitudes. Inparty moralization, for example, was most strongly associated with positive partisanship and the centrality of one’s party identification.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
@icedteas.bsky.social presented interesting work at #SPSP2026 suggesting that (political) moral conviction seems to have three distinct facets, focused on: inparty moralization, moralized disagreement, and moralized character judgment (for being a member of the outparty).
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
My pleasure. It was a neat talk on some interesting work!
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In fact, the “assumed” moral foundation intervention actually backfired among participants who were more conservative—for them, it was actually associated with *reduced* climate concern.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Interestingly, presenting participants with messages emphasizing their preferred moral foundation also seemed to increase their climate concern more than did messages with leveraging their assumed moral foundation (fairness for liberals, purity for conservatives).
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Moreover, messages that emphasized participants’ top chosen moral foundation seemed to be associated with increased climate concern among *both* liberals and conservatives (who believe in climate change).
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Although conventional explanations of partisan attitude differences typically emphasize relative differences in partisan values (as indexed by moral foundations), results suggested that when partisans were asked to select their top value, liberals & conservatives alike overwhelmingly chose “care.”
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
@diegoreinero.bsky.social presented some thought-provoking work at #SPSP2026 showing that American partisans seem to be most attitudinally polarized on climate issues, in particular.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
@jakewomick.bsky.social presented interesting work at #SPSP2026 investigating the prejudices of extreme leftists, finding that they were negatively prejudiced against men and Jewish people; prejudices associated with (and mediated by) perceptions that these groups are harmful and powerful.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
(2) those with more densely connected belief systems (such as ideologues) tend to have more moralized belief systems.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Specifically, she presented one study using simulation data, and three additional studies using conceptual similarity tasks, with results suggesting that (1) moral conviction spreads from highly moralized nodes to closely connected neighboring beliefs/attitudes and…
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In the #SPSP2026 symposium she chaired, @abbycassario.bsky.social presented work investigating how attitudes get pulled into the moral domain; while prior explanations have focused on emotions and intra-attitudinal features, she suggested researchers should also consider *inter*-attitude structures.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Specifically, a 1 standard deviation increase in the persuasiveness of a debate was associated with a 19% increase in Chat GPT-detected intellectual humility.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Content analyses of 438,723 comments on 90 debate videos suggested that comments were most intellectually humble when the debate featured (1) persuasive arguments and (2) a debate moderator.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In a replication study, focused on a more politicized issue—defunding the police—the debate condition was only associated with more intellectual humility than the no video control.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Additionally, the informational video on rent control (which also presented new information), was associated with greater intellectual humility among participants than the no video control condition.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In an interesting #SPSP2026 talk, @abdoe.bsky.social presented data showing that assigning participants to watch a debate (versus an informational video, or no video) on rent control made them significantly more intellectually humble.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
In addition, in 7/9 countries (all but South Africa and Israel), religious nationalism was associated with greater support for political violence; and in 9/9 countries, religious nationalism was associated with greater support for undemocratic practices.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Interesting research presented by Zarnab Zahoor at #SPSP2026 found that across 9 democracies (7 Christian-majority, 1 Hindu-majority, and 1 Jewish-majority), all samples showed a positive association between religious nationalism and conservatism (this effect was especially pronounced in the U.S.).
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
and the Bible study condition was associated with significantly more compassion toward others than the guided meditation/breathing exercise.
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Adi Wiezel, Ph.D. @awiezel.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Another study had participants either complete a 15-minute Bible study or guided meditation exercise; although the conditions did not differ on subsequent measures of affective polarization, both conditions showed outparty feeling thermometer scores that were notably warmer than national averages,
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