Most-cited articles · 2024

The 10 most-cited articles in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2024

Ranked by OpenAlex citation count on 29 October 2026, out of 124 eligible articles Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published in 2024. Ranks are frozen; this page will not change. Number one, with 185 citations: Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis..

Cohort
124 articles
Listed
Top 10 (8.1%)
Open access
5 of 10
Snapshot
2026-10-29

The most-cited Journal of Personality and Social Psychology articles of 2024 cluster around a few broad themes: basic psychological needs and motivation, social exclusion and polarization, and the social consequences of artificial intelligence. The top paper, a meta-analysis by Gavin R. Slemp, James G. Field, Richard M. Ryan and colleagues on interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs, has 185 citations, far ahead of the second entry at 53.

For readers, the list offers a snapshot of which topics drew the most scholarly attention in the journal that year, from ostracism in daily life to political dissimilarity in romantic relationships. It reflects citation activity recorded by OpenAlex across 124 eligible articles and should be read as a measure of attention rather than of quality.

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  1. 1
    top 0.9%

    Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis.

    Gavin R. Slemp, James G. Field, Richard M. Ryan, Vivien W. Forner, Anja Van den Broeck and 1 more

    185 citationsOpen access (CC-BY)doi:10.1037/pspi0000459OpenAlex

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    = 443,556). Our results indicate that supports for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were strongly positively related with the satisfaction of these basic needs and strongly negatively related to their frustration. Interpersonal supports for basic needs were strongly positively related with subjective well-being and exhibited small to moderate positive associations with performance. Moderation analyses showed general stability of effects across cultures, although correlations of autonomy support to autonomous motivation weakened as a function of individualism. The opposite pattern was observed for the correlation between relatedness support and intrinsic motivation. Some effects also declined as a function of sample age and lag in measurements. We also find that competence- and relatedness-supportive behaviors explained incremental variance in basic need satisfaction even after controlling for the more established effects of autonomy support. In addition, lateral need supports explained incremental variance in basic need satisfaction after controlling for vertical sources of…

  2. 2
    top 1.7%

    Ostracism in everyday life: A framework of threat and behavioral responses in real life.

    Christiane M. Büttner, Dongning Ren, Olga Stavrova, Selma C. Rudert, Kipling D. Williams and 1 more

    53 citationsOpen access (OTHER-OA)doi:10.1037/pspi0000471OpenAlex

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    = 7,943 assessments including 767 ostracism experiences in 7 days) show that ostracism is an aversive experience that takes place in a range of contexts and relationships, as often as two to three times per week on average. Reconciling previously mixed findings regarding ostracism's effects on behavior and extending existing theory, we propose a novel framework of behavioral reactions based on need-threat levels: When psychological needs are severely threatened, individuals react to everyday ostracism with avoidance (i.e., withdrawal) and antisocial inclinations (i.e., they exhibit significantly stronger antisocial intentions, although they do not engage in antisocial behavior more frequently). Conversely, when psychological needs are threatened to a lesser extent, individuals are more likely to adopt approach behaviors (i.e., prosocial behavior, talking to others, or connecting with them on social media). Our findings considerably extend present theorizing in ostracism research as they allow to understand when and how individuals experience everyday ostracism and how behavioral…

  3. 3
    top 2.5%

    The dual-process approach to human sociality: Meta-analytic evidence for a theory of internalized heuristics for self-preservation.

    Valerio Capraro

    51 citationsdoi:10.1037/pspa0000375OpenAlex

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    (see record 2025-05381-001). The last entry in the Roch et al. (2000) row in Table 3 should appear instead as load decreases taking. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Which social decisions are influenced by intuitive processes? Which by deliberative processes? The dual-process approach to human sociality has emerged in the last decades as a vibrant and exciting area of research. Yet a perspective that integrates empirical and theoretical work is lacking. This review and meta-analysis synthesizes the existing literature on the cognitive basis of cooperation, altruism, truth telling, positive and negative reciprocity, and deontology and develops a framework that organizes the experimental regularities. The meta-analytic results suggest that intuition favors a set of heuristics that are related to the instinct for self-preservation: people avoid being harmed, avoid harming others (especially when there is a risk of harm to themselves), and are averse to disadvantageous inequalities. Finally, this article highlights some key research questions to further advance our…

  4. 4
    top 3.3%

    How perceived polarization predicts attitude moralization (and vice versa): A four-wave longitudinal study during the 2020 U.S. election.

    Chantal D’Amore, Martijn van Zomeren, Namkje Koudenburg

    48 citationsOpen access (OTHER-OA)doi:10.1037/pspi0000454OpenAlex

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    = 617). The results of the within-person analyses generally supported the model's hypotheses across both samples and various attitude topics. Furthermore, cross-lagged structural equation models explored reciprocal influences, revealing positive feedback loops between structural polarization and attitude moralization over time. Our findings thus indicate that perceived polarization strengthens attitude moralization (and vice versa) over time-a dynamic process that helps to explain how nonmoralized conflict between groups can evolve into zero-sum conflict during periods of intense polarization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. 5
    top 4.1%

    Extended artificial intelligence aversion: People deny humanness to artificial intelligence users.

    Jianning Dang, Li Liu

    42 citationsdoi:10.1037/pspi0000480OpenAlex

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    = 2,317) across multiple AI use scenarios, we found that people denied humanness, especially emotional capacity and human nature traits, to AI advice seekers in comparison to human advice seekers (Studies 1-5 and S1-S3). This is because people perceived less similarity between themselves and AI advice seekers (vs. human advice seekers), with a stronger mediating role of perceived similarity among individuals with greater aversion to AI (Studies 2 and S1). Dehumanization of AI advice seekers predicted less behavioral support for (Study 3) and helping intention toward (Studies S2 and S3) them and could be alleviated through anthropomorphism-related interventions, such as perceiving humanlike qualities in AI or utilizing generative AI (Studies 4 and 5). These findings represent an important theoretical step in advancing research on AI aversion and add to the ongoing discussion on the potential adverse outcomes of AI, focusing on AI users. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. 6
    top 4.9%

    The zero-sum mindset.

    Patricia Andrews-Fearon, Friedrich Martin Götz

    39 citationsdoi:10.1037/pspa0000404OpenAlex

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    . In an investigation spanning six countries (Belgium, India, Italy, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and United States) on three continents, and more than 10,000 unique participants, we use cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods to provide foundational evidence for the zero-sum mindset. In Studies 1-5 (Concept), we show that the zero-sum mindset is distinct from existing concepts, stable over time, and predictive of disparate instances of zero-sum thinking and its strategic implications across domains and cultures. In Studies 6-7 (Cognitions), we show that zero-sum configurations of success promote hostile interpretations of others and that the zero-sum mindset predicts this bias even in objectively non-zero-sum situations. In Studies 8-9 (Consequences), we show that the zero-sum mindset predicts lower cooperation even in situations where cooperation is a matter of life or death. These findings call attention to the way lay game theories such as the zero-sum mindset bear critical implications for the cognitions and attitudes that drive social behavior and success.…

  7. 7
    top 5.7%

    I love you but I hate your politics: The role of political dissimilarity in romantic relationships.

    Amie M. Gordon, Maria Luciani, Annika From

    35 citationsdoi:10.1037/pspi0000467OpenAlex

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    Amid heightened political polarization in the United States, have politics worked their way into the bedroom? An increase in political similarity between romantic partners has consequences not just for romantic relationships but for society as a whole; political homophily increases our political echo chambers and affects future generations. We drew upon 11 data sets with over 4,000 individuals (including more than 500 couples) to test four preregistered research questions about the prevalence, correlates, consequences, and potential buffers of political dissimilarity in modern-day relationships. Across measures of similarity (overall perceptions, partisanship matching, shared political ideology), couples in our sample showed high levels of political similarity (e.g., 23% were cross-partisan, with fewer than 8% composed of one Democrat and one Republican). Examining 18 potential correlates of political dissimilarity, we found little evidence that certain factors predispose people to end up in a politically dissimilar relationship. When considering the potential consequences of…

  8. 8
    top 6.5%

    Effects of intellectual humility in the context of affective polarization: Approaching and avoiding others in controversial political discussions.

    Larissa Knöchelmann, J. Christopher Cohrs

    27 citationsdoi:10.1037/pspi0000462OpenAlex

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    = 1,668), we manipulated how intellectually humble a target person was perceived and measured participants' self-reported (topic-specific) intellectual humility. Results revealed that participants' intellectual humility was consistently negatively correlated with affective polarization. Additionally, intellectual humility of both the target person and the participants was beneficial, and sometimes even necessary, to make participants approach, and not avoid, the target person. Intellectual humility was more important than moral conviction, opinion, and opinion strength. Furthermore, the effects on approach and avoidance were mediated by more positive expectations regarding the debate, and the effects on future willingness for contact by higher target liking. Our findings suggest that intellectual humility is an important characteristic to enable political exchange as it leads to seeing political outgroups more positively and to a higher willingness to engage in intergroup contact. Implications for intergroup contact of political groups as well as ideas for future research are…

  9. 9
    top 7.3%

    Most people's life satisfaction matches their personality traits: True correlations in multitrait, multirater, multisample data.

    René Mõttus, Anu Realo, Jüri Allïk, Liisi Ausmees, Samuel D. Henry and 2 more

    27 citationsOpen access (CC-BY)doi:10.1037/pspp0000501OpenAlex

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    = .70 and its longitudinal associations with personality traits mirrored cross-sectional ones. We conclude that without common measurement limitations, most people's life satisfaction is highly consistent with their personality traits, even across many years. So, satisfaction is usually shaped by these same relatively stable factors that shape personality traits more broadly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. 10
    top 8.1%

    Anxiety about the social consequences of missed group experiences intensifies fear of missing out (FOMO).

    Jacqueline R. Rifkin, Cindy Chan, Barbara E. Kahn

    25 citationsOpen access (CC-BY-NC-ND)doi:10.1037/pspa0000418OpenAlex

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    = 5,441), we find that FOMO occurs when people miss events involving valued social groups and is driven by the perception of missed bonding and concerns about how this may negatively affect their future relationships. People feel greater FOMO when they miss events involving valued others (vs. strangers or irrelevant social groups) and when events foster social bonding (vs. individual activity)-even when the events themselves may be unenjoyable. FOMO is further intensified when concerns about one's future social-group belonging are elevated, either stemming from situational triggers (e.g., social media photos) or one's chronic anxious attachment to their social group. Notably, these concerns are exaggerated when considering the social costs of missing an event for oneself (vs. a friend). Given the social underpinnings of FOMO, reaffirming one's social belonging by reflecting on past social connection provides temporary relief. By revealing a novel, situational antecedent of FOMO and the underlying cognitions, this research demonstrates that current well-being is informed not only by…

How to read this list

The cohort is every article, review and book chapter OpenAlex attributes to Journal of Personality and Social Psychology with publication year 2024, excluding retracted works and paratext such as editorials and errata. The top 10 by citation count are listed; the percentile is the rank divided by the cohort size. 10 of the 10 entries have an abstract in OpenAlex. Counts were read on 29 October 2026 and will not be updated on this page, so a quoted rank stays verifiable. Full rules on the methodology page.

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