I study how worldviews influence social behavior and trust. In one project, I find that people with a competitive worldview—a view of the social world as constant struggle for status and resources—expect lower relationship costs for dominant behavior and are, in turn, more likely to behave dominantly toward others (Baltiansky & Ames, working paper). In another, I find that negotiation counterpart labels matter; viewing a counterpart as an ‘opponent’ rather than a ‘partner’ increases competitive behavioral intentions in hypothetical everyday negotiations (Baltiansky & Ames, working paper). This stream of research underscores the impact of beliefs about human nature on interpersonal trust.

I study the antecedents of political discontent, its impact on political behavior, and its potential for interest-based coalition building in society. In one project, I leverage a novel data-driven approach to measure the belief that the social contract between a state and its citizens is broken. I find that a broken social contract is associated with anti-establishment sentiment, distrust in institutions, and support for radical change (Baltiansky & Matz, in prep). In another, I find that endorsement of class-based zero-sum beliefs—that the upper class gain at the expense of the working class—predicts working class solidarity, which in turn, informs support for economically progressive policy (Baltiansky & Brown, in prep).

I study how economic worldviews about the free market inform beliefs about social relationships. Specifically, I examine how neoclassical economic beliefs (e.g., viewing individuals as utility-maximizers) influence social behaviors and attitudes. In one project, I find that people who see happiness as an exchangeable resource are less likely to help others (Baltiansky, Santos, & Zaki, working paper). In another, I find that taboo transactions—those that violate deeply held moral norms—are perceived as zero-sum, despite being voluntary (Baltiansky & Davidai, working paper). In these transactions, sellers’ perceived harm is attributed to lack of information and irrationality. These phenomena lie under the broader concept of Market Cognition—the psychological effects of engaging with market exchange as a primary form of human interaction (Zaki, Neumann, & Baltiansky, 2021).