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Despite the sustained flourishing—both in terms of quantity and quality—of qualitative research in psychology, psychology's establishment 'gatekeepers' seem to still be wedded to the dogma that only experimental research and quantitative data are sufficiently robust to be taken seriously. In this paper we make the case against this contempt and call for qualitative research and data to be recognized as valid and epistemologically sound in its own right. Given that its ontology is based upon constructionist assumptions about the nature of the social world, its power to provide nuanced insight into the complexity of humankind is not a problem, but its greatest strength. Our paper therefore starts with a brief review of the ontological and epistemological differences between the two approaches to demonstrate that they are complementary rather than competition. We then make our case, based on two key strategies: first by shedding light on the fact that many (perhaps even most) of psychology's classic experimental studies actually collected qualitative data (in the form of debriefing interviews and the like) and used it to understand what was going on; and then by recent studies that have expressly sought feedback about the hypothesis being purportedly tested. We then recognize the extent to which contemporary researchers are expressing their frustration at the way that they are being forced into a methodological straight jacket, by carrying out their research in ways they view as inauthentic. We end with a call to kerb the methodological dogma that has taken hold of psychology, and to move to a more inclusive approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and political psychologists have focused on how liberals and conservatives differ from one another and have developed a vast literature on individual differences and fixed attributes that distinguish ideological groups. However, ideological orientations might be more contextual and flexible than what is often portrayed in research. We present a novel look at ideological variability as an intragroup phenomenon that makes liberals and conservatives nuanced, heterogeneous, and more similar to one another—important perspectives for reducing ideological stereotyping and polarization. In this paper, we review patterns showing ideological variability and overlap in thinking, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors across the lifespan, geographical regions, status groups, and diverse cultures around the world. By understanding the social psychological and situational factors associated with intragroup variability in ideology, we can develop more culturally inclusive models of ideology and map out better solutions to polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that a cultural context of racism in the United States influences the representation and outcomes of Black forgiveness. Previous research in psychology has focused on the positive social and emotional benefits of forgiveness; however, the consequences of Black forgiveness are not always straightforward. We review prior research and highlight real‐world examples that suggest Black people are often pressured and expected to forgive racism. This pressure to forgive overshadows calls for justice and encourages forgiveness as a more palatable, less antagonistic response to racism. Furthermore, we argue that this expectation suppresses Black emotions by stigmatizing negative emotional reactions to racism in favor of forgiveness. We conclude by proposing future lines of research in social psychology that do not reinforce a pressure for Black forgiveness, that foster a study of forgiveness that incorporates social justice, and that considers new lines of forgiveness research that are culturally sensitive to Black experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Race is a significant means through which individuals and groups relate to each other. A problematic instance of its significance is colonialism and all the destruction it brought with it. In this paper, I explore how knowledge about race and racism from settings that were erstwhile colonized can enrich current understandings and approaches to studying race and racism in social psychology. I advance the possibility of mutual learning and sharing of theoretical and methodological practices for researchers who examine race and racism in colonizing or settler‐colonial settings and those in erstwhile colonized settings. I do so by first, locating the centrality of Whiteness for the very development of race categories and the shaping of psychology as a discipline. Second, I discuss how race and racism are examined in (primarily) Euro‐American contexts, with a focus on engagement with Whiteness by Critical Race Psychologists and social constructionist researchers. Third, I outline alternative ways of engaging with race and race categories identified in erstwhile colonized places. I end with how this latter informs our understandings of race and racism, and possibilities for mutual learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social psychology has focused on patterns of inequality (e.g., discrimination, stereotyping, stigma, intergroup relations) that underlie well‐documented disparities, often without engaging with the structural and intersectional patterns underlying these experiences. In this paper, we draw on intersectionality theory and research to illustrate how approaches to studying inequity and disparities in social psychology reflect a Western perspective, and structures work to uphold the status quo. It is argued that structures within the research process need to be made visible, both in terms of how research questions are framed, as well as on the representation within institutions responsible for producing and disseminating work addressing disparities. Engaging with intersectionality theory and research, we suggest four strategies that address individual and structural approaches to better position social psychology to contribute meaningfully to the reduction of disparate outcomes affecting minoritized individuals and groups. We suggest (a) examining and addressing the sources of inequality (e.g., addressing racism rather than the effects of racism), (b) carefully attending to language and framing in both the causes and impact of inequality and discrimination to shift the status quo in social psychology research and in society, (c) addressing representation within social psychology research, namely in critically examining representation and assumptions made about research samples, and (d) addressing representation in the "structure" of institutions. We offer these approaches, informed by intersectional theory, as tangible strategies to address some of the structural issues underlying inequality and disparities that can be addressed within social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social psychology, stereotypes have generally been viewed as overgeneralized beliefs about social groups in society. Although stereotypes—especially those that are negative— tend to be recognized as contributing to prejudice and discrimination of marginalized communities, they are often conceptualized as containing a “kernel of truth.” Meanwhile, there has been relatively little consideration of the historical and cultural origins of racial stereotypes. This is an important oversight given that stereotypes have and continue to be used as a means to excuse and reinforce the systemic oppression of communities of color. Thus, the current paper uses a historical framework to review major stereotypes that have targeted communities of color throughout U.S. history, with a focus on stereotypes of Black people. In doing so, we conceptualize racial stereotypes as propaganda that have historically functioned to support oppressive societal systems in the U.S. by both (a) shaping public perceptions and expectations and (b) by influencing the thoughts and behavior of members of stereotyped groups. By situating stereotypes within their historical and cultural frames, readers can recognize the way stereotypes reinforce systems of oppression. We conclude with research implications and encourage stereotyping scholars to foreground the social construction of stereotypes and the function that  they serve by contextualizing their work in the social and historical context in which stereotypes emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative impact of economic inequality on social issues and wellbeing is of importance to social psychology that historically has an interest in social justice. Social Identity Theory is explored as an approach that acknowledges the wider context of social issues. The use of experiments encounters challenges in categorizing wealth and how individuals account for extreme wealth. Mainstream research agendas in psychology are not neutral and draw upon current ideology (such as neoliberalism) that can often maintain inequality. These difficulties are addressed by Critical Social Psychology driven by a social justice agenda that challenges the acceptance of neoliberal values. The application of Critical Social Psychology to wealth inequality is demonstrated with research using UK media data. Critical feminist psychology is discussed to explore the role of class and how to challenge the stigmatization of working‐class people. Finally, this paper outlines how Discursive Psychology addresses how extreme wealth and the practices of the super‐rich are warranted. A discursive approach questions the acceptance of wealth inequality as an everyday assumption and demonstrates how dominant discourse draws upon individualism. Furthermore, Discursive Psychology has examined how accountability for problematic practices, such as tax avoidance that maintain inequality, are managed in media broadcasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When people face difficult life events, such as cancer or bereavement, they fare better when they receive support. These "experiencers" are likely to seek and receive support from a wide range of people, from close others to acquaintances. Indeed, the social support literature has long acknowledged the value of having a diverse support network. Research suggests that experiencers often perceive "weak ties" (i.e., acquaintances) as sources of support, and that experiencers sometimes prefer to get support from weak ties rather than strong ties. Providing support can be challenging for all kinds of supporters, however weak ties may be more likely than strong ties to allow worries about their inability to provide effective support to stop them from providing any support at all, thus depriving experiencers of opportunities for additional support. In this paper, we focus on the fact that often the provision of support occurs via a social interaction. We draw on the social psychology literature on minimal social interactions to suggest reasons why potential weak tie supporters might doubt their ability to provide effective support, and to generate advice to encourage potential supporters to reach out. Finally, we suggest future areas of research, with the ultimate goal of helping to expand the support that is available for people experiencing difficult life events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the presence and absence of Frantz Fanon in the field of social and political psychology. Our work is guided by an assemblage of methods— a critical analysis of mainstream scholarship, a collective interrogation with a transnational gathering of colleagues and friends, and a deep reading of Fanon's texts on struggle, internalized oppression, violence and a new humanism. Through this, our paper is a call for radical disciplinary reflection on why Fanon has been ruthlessly exiled from social/political psychology, the potential his writings hold for courses, scholarship, and struggle, and how we might more boldly theorize, as he did, from within the fire of struggles for justice and liberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of political polarization, in both its ideological and its affective expressions, has garnered significantly more interest over the last years. But despite recent research on the conceptualization, measurement, causes, and consequences of this socio‐political phenomenon, and some tentative interventions to mitigate it, relevant new avenues remain surprisingly underdeveloped. Indeed, scholarship in the field of political polarization, mainly in the case of affective polarization, frequently uses cognitivist approaches to make sense of the growing antipathy between different social and political groups. However, the bulk of this work seems to overlook valuable insights into the psychology of intergroup conflict, stereotyping, prejudice reduction, and discourse studies. The aim of this paper is to underline the main gaps in the political polarization literature, to subsequently argue how knowledge linked to the tradition of critical social psychology can help in filling them. Ultimately, the article aims to contribute to the psychosocial study of political polarization and to the design, if necessary, of interventions to counter its detrimental consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the questions of what populism is and how populist leaders mobilize their followers have been the subject of extensive debate. While the social psychology literature holds unique theoretical tools that can be used to explain leader‐follower dynamics, these have not yet been applied to understand populism and populist leadership. In this paper, we aim to discuss populism as a social‐psychological concept and provide a comprehensive approach to examine the interactions between populist leaders and followers by using the identity leadership model (see New Psychology of Leadership, Haslam et al., 2020). Accordingly, we propose an integrative model in which we suggest that populism should be treated as a social‐psychological concept based on (i) strong ingroup identification; (ii) interactive leadership processes that open spaces to followers for enacting their ingroup identity that end up with mobilization against vertical (e.g., elites) and horizontal (e.g., minorities, refugees, opponents) outgroups; (iii) leader's ingroup prototypicality and identity entrepreneurship that is boosted by using shared grievances, narratives of collective victimhood, and the destabilization of mainstream opponent leaders. Furthermore, by discussing real‐world examples and recent studies, we aim to show how the content of what it means to be 'us' and what is seen as moral to 'us' can be shaped by populist leaders for mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meaningfully connecting with others is critical to the well‐being of individuals. What phenomena contribute to and stem from social connection? In this paper, we integrate emerging work that uses neuroimaging and social network analysis with theories that explore the links between shared reality and social connection. We highlight recent work suggesting that the extent to which people have aligned mental processing and shared subjective construals to those around them—as shown by neural similarity—is associated with both objective and subjective social connection. On the other hand, idiosyncrasies are linked to difficulties with social connection. We conclude by suggesting how the links between shared understanding and social connection can be productively used as a framework to study psychosocial phenomena of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formative framework in prejudice confrontations research has focused on the utility of confrontations to activate one's self‐regulation strategies to interrupt unintentional prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. As this framework remains dominant in the literature, little research has examined everyday people's theories about prejudice that diverge from this framework and accounted for these theories in investigating confrontation rates and outcomes. In this paper, we review key lay theories of prejudice and discuss the ways in which they may influence prejudice confrontations. First, we summarize lay theories regarding the prevalence, origins, and controllability of prejudice. Next, we consider how lay theories of prejudice may factor into the circumstances under which people confront prejudice, goals that people may hold when confronting, and outcomes of confronting for confronters and perpetrators. Throughout, we highlight fundamental research questions and hypotheses that integrate lay theories of prejudice and prejudice confrontations. We propose that better understanding lay theories of prejudice and how they influence prejudice confrontations may help to advance translational and theoretical research in social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 3 decades, cultural psychologists have empirically investigated the influence of cultural meaning systems on human psychology. Under the rubric of holistic versus analytic thought, researchers have demonstrated that there are substantial cultural variations in social cognition, and that such variations are observable even in so-called fundamental psychological processes, such as attention. The aim of this paper is to review 3 major themes in culture and attention: (1) culture and attention to nonsocial scenes, (2) culture and attention to social scenes, and (3) culture and aesthetics. The paper also discusses 4 major strands of research that could be considered important candidates to further advance the understanding of culture and attention: (1) research on 'culture ➔ human psychological processes,' where we investigate how culture influences modes of attention; (2) research on 'human psychology ➔ cultural processes,' where we investigate how those who hold a specific mode of attention create cultural products and tangible representations of culturally shared meanings; (3) research on cultural neuroscience, where we investigate underlying mechanisms and processes of specific modes of attention; and (4) research on cultural transmission processes, where we investigate how specific modes of attention is taught by adults and internalized by children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the crisis in social psychology as a multifaceted process. The epistemological, theoretical, and methodological tensions and controversies that arise in the extensive, reflexive debate on the crisis in social psychology are considered in their interconnections with psychological practice. The paper argues that despite the dominant tendency to return to 'business as usual', the increasing disunity and fragmentation of social psychology only indicate that its crisis has deepened. The paper offers a critical account of the main strategies for the resolution of the crisis in social psychology and suggests a dialectical perspective as a tool for a critical reflection on important theoretical and methodological issues of psychology as a discipline (the relationship between theory and practice, relationship between individual and society, empiricism, etc.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The behavioral immune system is a motivational system that helps minimize infection risk by changing cognition, affect, and behavior in ways that promote pathogen avoidance. In the current paper, we review foundational concepts of the behavioral immune system and provide a brief summary of recent social psychological research on this topic. Next, we highlight current conceptual and empirical limitations of this work and delineate important questions that have the potential to drive major advances in the field. These questions include predicting the ontological development of the behavioral immune system, specifying the relationship between this system and the physiological immune system, and distinguishing conditions that elicit direct effects of situational pathogen threats versus effects that occur only in interaction with dispositional disease concerns. This discussion highlights significant challenges and underexplored topics to be addressed by the next generation of behavioral immune system research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychological barriers to conflict resolution stem, in part, from defensive responses to feelings of self-threat. Self-affirmation theory proposes that affirmations of global self-worth-often achieved by writing or reflecting on core values-can broaden individuals' perspectives and potentially reduce biases in their intergroup judgments. In this paper, we review the extant literature on the use of self-affirmation to potentially reduce intergroup biases in order to shed light on the role of self-threat in perpetuating conflict. Self-affirmation has been shown to impact 3 key aspects of intergroup conflict: (a) the strength with which conflict-supporting beliefs are held, (b) the biased processing of conflict-relevant information, and (c) the resistance to seeing common ground in negotiations. Discussion centers on the limits as well as the potential of self-affirmation to promote openness and conflict resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals contend with a variety of threats in daily life and may attempt to deal with them using various cognitive strategies. Two constructs borne from different literatures, purpose in life and self-affirmation, serve to promote well-being and to protect individuals from such threats. While self-affirmation has often been examined as a manipulation, purpose has, until recently, been considered a dispositional resource. However, both self-affirmation and purpose seem to confer similar advantages in response to threat. This paper reviews the evidence for the protective benefits of both purpose in life and self-affirmation, describes the mechanisms by which each confers these advantages, and considers the boundary conditions of each. Key similarities and differences are discussed, and we argue that there are broad gaps in the literature regarding where and when these constructs might operate differentially, or why these differences exist. We conclude with a call to researchers to explore empirically how and when these important interventions might be differentially beneficial to those who cultivate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically reviews how feminist academic psychologists, social scientists, and media scholars have developed Rosalind Gill's generative construct 'postfeminist sensibility.' We describe the key themes of postfeminist sensibility, a noncoherent set of ideas about femininity, embodiment, and empowerment circulating across a range of media. Ideas that inform women's sense of self, making postfeminist sensibility an important object for psychological study. We then consider research that drew on postfeminist sensibility, focusing on new sexual subjectivities, which developed analysis of agency, empowerment, and the possibilities and limitations in taking up new subjectivities associated with postfeminism, as well as who could take up these subjectivities. We show how such work identified complexities and contradictions in postfeminist sensibility and offer suggestions for how this work might be further developed, particularly by intersectionality-informed research. In the final section, we address contemporary debates surrounding postfeminism. We consider challenges and counterarguments to postfeminist sensibility as a useful term for describing contemporary patterns of sense-making on gender, making the case for continuing research on postfeminist sensibility in the areas of digital cultures, a transformative imperative that includes the mind as well as the body, transnational postfeminism, and new forms of feminist activism. We conclude that such work would benefit from considering the ways that different technologies mediate the ideas and practices associated with postfeminist sensibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rich literature on implicit partner evaluations, there has been scant attention to a defining feature of significant other mental representations-their affective complexity. Recent findings (Zayas & Shoda, 2015), however, provide an empirical demonstration that significant others automatically and simultaneously activate positive and negative evaluations-a phenomenon we refer to as implicit ambivalence. A primary aim of this paper is to extend extant theory by elaborating on the features of the dyadic context that may contribute to the formation of implicit ambivalence. Particularly, drawing from research from relationship science, social cognition, and social neuroscience, we focus on the ability of significant others to dynamically and simultaneously confer rewards and threats, the attunement of perceivers to potential social rewards and social threats, and aspects of sense-making of another person's mind that may give rise to implicit ambivalence. From this new perspective, implicit ambivalence is not a pathological or rare state. Quite the opposite, implicit ambivalence may be a normative, typical process, that is triggered even by people who are highly positive in one's network. We identify future directions for social cognition and relationship science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is great potential to mine social psychological theory and explore the human experience of thoughts in tension. The work in cognitive dissonance reveals how cognitive inconsistencies and the consequential aversive psychological state of dissonance may affect one's understanding of the relations between self and other, creating openings for more inclusive social boundaries. The phenomenon of the 'tension state' has potential links to notions of the dialogic space, reframing cognitions and altering social relations toward new interpretations of social givens. I discuss cognitive and relational dissonance in a case study on school desegregation and raise the possibility that desegregated school settings might create opportunities for cognitive openings, new understandings, and space for solidarity. Linking the long and rich theoretical history of cognitive dissonance to critical social theory, the paper advances a related and new concept of generative dissonance. This construct underscores the interruption of cognitive cohesion and the production of new ways of thinking and new social relations. These forms of cognitive and relational rupture generate openings with embodied relational implications, creating the possibility for reframing social problems and reconfiguring human relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to give an outline of the discursive psychological literature focussing on prejudice and race talk and to show how recent findings suggest a development in this understanding. The paper begins with an outline of the discursive approach and the way in which it conceptualises race talk. Next, an overview of the ways in which people attempt to make prejudicial arguments so as to prevent them from appearing to be prejudiced, because of a norm against prejudice, is presented. It is then shown how challenges are being made to this norm against prejudice so that in some cases, prejudice can be viewed as acceptable, and in others, the taboo against prejudice is presented as being discriminatory on the grounds of preventing freedom of speech and proper debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we review and integrate the contemporary literature on the societal effects of income inequality, drawing on social, personality, developmental, and organizational psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and public health. Living in highly unequal regimes is associated with both increased mistrust and increased anxiety about social status; these psychological mechanisms help explain some of the negative outcomes associated with income inequality, such as lower happiness, lower social cohesion, weaker morality, higher mortality, worse health, and weaker governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on achievement goals usually defines mastery goals as the desire to acquire knowledge, and performance goals as the desire to outperform (or not to underperform) others. Educational contexts are most of the time social contexts, involving various persons and groups, of various hierarchical positions, and various cultural and ideological contexts. Surprisingly, most research in the achievement goal field has been conducted at an individual level of analysis. In the present paper, we will review the social consequences and antecedents of goal endorsement. This research indicates that goals strongly affect the way one behaves with co-learners. Moreover, it suggests that more than merely individual dispositions, goals reflect the social relation students have with other persons, institutions, and with the society to which they belong. We conclude this paper by setting an agenda for future achievement goal research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social scientists have long been interested in understanding how socioeconomic status (SES) affects the way people think, feel, and behave. Neuroscience has provided new tools (fMRI, EEG, and ERP) to allow us to answer these questions, demonstrating, for example, that lower SES is linked to stronger mirror neural responses, greater mentalizing, enhanced vigilance to threat, and lesser likelihood to spontaneously infer traits based on limited information. The present paper (i) reviews evidence that SES affects neural responses involved in a wide range of psychological processes, (ii) highlights the value of neural methods in investigations of SES, (iii) discusses cultural neuroscience as a potential framework to understand why SES has the effects it does on the brain, (iv) considers previous developmental neuroscience findings regarding SES and attention in light of cultural neuroscience, and (v) discusses future challenges, opportunities, and questions for this emerging field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews several psychosocial theories that have been applied to the study of adolescent health behavior. Some of these theories have existed for several decades and, though not originally intended for this purpose, have proven quite useful in predicting and explaining many different types of health-relevant behaviors. During the last 10-15 years, however, there has been a significant increase in the application of social psychological theories to the examination of what is increasingly being seen as a social-psychological phenomenon: health risk behavior among adolescents. This interest has been prompted, in part, by an appreciation of the value of dual-processing principles in explaining these behaviors, and, in particular, a recognition that much adolescent health risk behavior: a) is not always planful or premeditated, and b) involves both heuristic and analytic processing. The paper includes discussion of how dual-processing principles and social-psychological theories can inform intervention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between bodies and space is not one that often concerns social psychology, or for that matter, the social sciences more broadly (cultural geography being an exception). This is largely due to bodies and space being facets of the world that are not usually considered as psychological. The former are traditionally seen as biological whilst the latter are thought of as geographical. In this paper, I will explore the idea that bodies and space are intrinsic to social psychological living, and as such, both should enter the list of key concerns for the discipline. Moreover, I will suggest that bodies and space are best thought of as products of inter-connecting processes, rather than separate entities each with their own inherent properties. In doing so, the work of relational process philosophy will be drawn upon to ground the arguments made. The aim of the paper is to offer an understanding of social psychological experience as grounded in processes that are at the same time, embodied and spatialised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews current debates and findings surrounding leadership in times of uncertainty as framed by the social identity theory of leadership. The past decade has witnessed reinvigorated social psychological research on leadership by focusing on the identity function of leadership, as well as group-based and prototype-based influences. This line of research overwhelmingly confirms that group prototypical leaders are preferred over less prototypical leaders. Integrating uncertainty-identity theory, recent evidence illustrates self-conceptual uncertainty can strengthen or weaken/negate the prototypical leader advantage. This novel line of research also demonstrates how and when uncertainty can alter perceptions of and preferences for different, and sometimes 'nasty' leaders-contradicting contemporary organizational behavior and leadership theories, which argue that people (almost always) prefer transformational, charismatic, or authentic leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In reviewing self-categorization theory and the literature upon which it is based, we conclude that individuals' attempts to form social categories could lead to three kinds of self-categorization. We label them intergroup categorization, ingroup categorization, and outgroup categorization. We review literature supporting these three types and argue that they can help to explain and organize the existing evidence. Moreover, we conclude that distinguishing these three kinds of self-categorization lead to novel predictions regarding social identity, social cognition, and groups. We offer some of those predictions by discussing their potential causes (building from optimal distinctiveness and security seeking literatures) and implications (on topics including prototype complexity, self-stereotyping, stereotype formation, intergroup behavior, dual identity, conformity, and the psychological implications of perceiving uncategorized collections of people). This paper offers a platform from which to build theoretical and empirical advances in social identity, social cognition, and intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What can stigmatized individuals do to reduce stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination when they interact with a biased individual? This paper reviews the social psychological literature that examines how targets can be active agents of prejudice reduction for themselves and their group. The extant literature indicates that a target's direct confrontation of bias can reduce prejudice and discrimination against the target's group but that this strategy can also backlash in the form of increased prejudice and discrimination against the target. Other research indicates that presenting a common-identity, self-enhancing feedback, and a self-affirmation can reduce bias against the target but that they may not reliably change bias against the target's group. We conclude by discussing the need for research on the processes by which stigmatized targets decide to use a given bias-reduction strategy and on the processes by which specific strategies are effective, either alone or in combination, when delivered by a stigmatized target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I make a critical plea for the rehabilitation of the theoretical conception of the intrinsically social dimensions of cognition, emotion, and behavior shared by early social psychologists but progressively neglected and abandoned in the last century. Some critical implications of this theoretical conception are considered, including its relation to contemporary theories of social cognition and the restrictive methodological prescriptions of experimental social psychology. Finally, I consider the relation between this conception and alternative theoretical traditions in social psychology, such as social representation theory and 'social identity' theory, cultural psychology, and social constructionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reflects on the advancement of the psychologisation of Western society through the notion of « the therapeutic ethos» and discusses political and moral implications of its 'triumph'. It is argued that the attempt to exorcise a 'therapeutic Zeitgeist' showcases the problems of critique of contemporary culture. The Zeitgeist reveals itself as much in the tools of critique as the objective of critique. I therefore conclude that popular critical methods like discourse analysis have itself become a hegemonic discourse, which rarely equals its philosophical originator Michel Foucault's imaginative radical ambition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do group members cope with misconduct by members of their own group? Strong evidence for a positive bias in people's evaluations of their own group and its members suggests that an ingroup perpetrator is likely to be treated more leniently than an outgroup perpetrator. However, research has also demonstrated a 'Black Sheep-Effect', such that ingroup members who deviate negatively from relevant ingroup norms are evaluated and punished even more harshly than outgroup deviants. Both reactions - positive ingroup bias and the Black Sheep Effect - may serve the same goal, namely maintaining positive regard for the ingroup. In this paper, we present several moderators that have been shown to affect responses to negative ingroup deviance. We propose a model that incorporates and organizes these moderators in order to predict whether negatively deviant ingroup members will receive especially lenient or rather harsh and negative evaluations from their fellow ingroup members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early parts of the 20th century, character made up a major part of psychology, specifically of personality psychology. However, an influential observational study of children's moral behavior, conducted by Hartshorne, May, and colleagues in the 1920s, suggested that consistency in morality-related behavior was lower than many people expected. Some psychologists interpreted such results to mean that there was no consistency in moral behavior and thus that there were no stable, meaningful individual differences in moral behavior - character did not exist. Recent years have witnessed a reinvigoration of character, ethics, and morality as objects of psychological study. Our purpose in this paper is to contribute to this reinvigoration by reviewing the use of the concept of 'character' within psychology, considering whether the evidence supports the notion of moral character as a psychological construct, and suggesting new prospects for research on moral character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-affirmation theory proposes that individuals possess a flexible self-system, such that they can respond to threats in one domain of life by affirming self-worth in other domains. In social psychology research, this has been examined in studies where people affirm important values in the context of self-threatening events or information. This paper reviews the literature demonstrating the effects of values affirmations and proposes a theoretical account to understand how self-affirmations reduce defensiveness in response to threats to individuals' health, attenuate physiological stress responses to laboratory and naturalistic stressors, and improve academic performance among individuals experiencing identity threat. The proposed model has three components: Self-affirmations boost self-resources, broaden the perspective with which people view information and events in their lives, and lead to an uncoupling of the self and the threat, reducing the threat's impact in affecting the self. This model helps explain what occurs when individuals affirm values in the context of threats, and how self-affirmations may instantiate lasting effects through changing the nature of ongoing experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cortisol, a neuroendocrine hormone measurable in saliva, responds to internal and external triggers. In providing a peripheral 'window on the brain', it has been increasingly incorporated into social psychological studies. Cortisol secretion can be studied in two main ways, examination of acute stress reactivity and examination of the basal circadian patterns. These can inform aspects of acute and chronic stress exposure and relationships with health. Within non-clinical populations, cortisol effects are largely driven by differences in the perception of threat. For social psychologists, this provides an interesting avenue for the investigation of social factors that mediate perceptions of threat, such as social support, relationship processes, and group dynamics in acute and chronic stress. This paper provides a background to understanding the regulation and function of cortisol, and issues arising in relation to its measurement in saliva. It discusses and makes recommendations on the use of appropriate cortisol measures in the study of both acute and chronic stress. Used and interpreted appropriately, stress reactivity and basal ambulatory measures of salivary cortisol can provide a valuable adjunct to self-report and observation in social psychological research. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression and anxiety are independent risk factors for the onset of cardiovascular disease, independent of classical risk factors, such as smoking, obesity, or hypertension. The present paper argues that the tendency to avoid difficult thoughts and feelings helps explain this relationship. There is a strong positive relationship between experiential avoidance and negative affectivity. Experiential avoidance is also related to several health behaviors recognized for increasing cardiovascular risk and may help functionally explain why individuals engage in problematic behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, and binge eating. Treatments that undermine experiential avoidance could be useful psychosocial approaches to cardiovascular risk reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not all social groups survive the passage of time. Groups once in existence are now but memories of the past. If history is any indication, other social groups are likely to experience a similar fate and join the list of groups that once were. The concern that one's group might one day join such a list is the focus of this paper. Specifically, we examine the social psychology of collective angst - a group-based emotion that stems from concern for the future vitality of one's social group. We begin by discussing the anatomy of collective angst and how it differs from other collective emotions. We then outline factors that foster collective angst. Importantly, we provide a novel theoretical framework outlining both constructive and destructive means by which members may defend against a future that does not include their group. For example, we examine collective angst as a facilitator of, among other things, ingroup cohesion and outgroup aggression. Finally, we discuss how collective angst has manifested on the world stage as well as implications for relations within and between groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some questions directed to: (1) problematise researchers, practitioners and students, about ideas and practices in Community Psychology (CP), that are becoming naturalized as the perfect o the best models and processes; (2) allowing traditional practices to be sheltered under the name of critical, transforming, participatory and liberating CP. Critical questions about two types of issues are asked: Those related to horizon, limits, and theoretical scope of CP, and those related to the canonization of PC methods and techniques. The distinction between what is radical and what is critical is argued. Reflexive discussion in order to find how a theoretical or methodological conception introduces forms of oppression, or exclusion, as well as deconstruction of ways to ignore values and principles, even in the name of a transforming, liberating, participatory CP, is concluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of philosophical and psychological perspectives converge to suggest that a happy and meaningful life is the product of living in accord with one's true self. This idea similarly appears throughout literature, film, and folk wisdom. The current paper examines both theoretical and lay conceptions of the true self and reviews the empirical evidence that supports its role in psychological health, with a particular emphasis on current research that demonstrates that both the accessibility and ease of thinking about one's true self-concept is associated with the experiences of meaning and satisfaction. The merits of different approaches to defining the true self, measurement issues, and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss how social psychology might go about studying social hostility in public life that goes beyond mere disagreement on political matters. The paper addresses the case of online misogyny against women active in public life. In the context of a profound coarsening of political debate in Britain and elsewhere, women who are active in public life come regularly up against a barrage of abuse and intimidation online. The paper argues that manifestations of misogyny cross ideological lines and takes an array of forms. Misogyny is a specific class of prejudice that harms the dignity of women by calling into question women's (human) rights to participation in public life, freedom of expression, and personal safety. In order to fully understand the intricacies of online misogyny, social psychologists need to draw upon more directly on communications and media theories of mediated communication and connective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People of color struggle within academia and in the streets for recognition, freedoms, and life itself. I write this paper in response to a real incident in my department that left me in real doubt about how scholarship, research, and the academy affect that state of affairs. I begin by trying to understand how the ways psychologists understand difference might be epistemologically unjust. Critical Social and Personality Psychology offers a clear indictment of the wrongs done by psychology to the representation of people of color and perhaps more harmfully, the remedies to their clearly disadvantaged situations. When people come together across identities to work against these distortions and harms, conflicts still arise within the alliance. That is the focus of this paper. Pragmatism proves a resource in these circumstances. It adds to Critical Social and Personality Psychology by understanding identity as not only relational but also mutable and multiple. Pragmatism emphasizes the truth claims of broad inclusion and epistemological justice as well as the moral claims. Pragmatists treat these two as inevitably intertwined. This paper explores how pragmatists of color and women address key issues of the behavior, social practices, modes of thought, and challenges of inequalities they/we face. These thinkers have observed that being dominated produces both the epistemological strengths of "double consciousness" and brute vulnerability in the struggle over material and conceptual ownership of the geographies of bodies, public spaces, homes, communities, and even nations and continents. The implications for pragmatist ways of knowing and acting are then considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper advances a critical social psychological approach to the study of citizenship. It builds upon recent social psychological work on the subject, particularly in discursive and rhetorical psychology but also other critical approaches such as social representations theory. The paper also borrows insights from the interdisciplinary field of citizenship studies in order to conceptualise citizenship in both its conventional (enacting well‐established scripts of political action) and its transformative aspects (making rights claims that are disruptive of established scripts). The paper is divided in five sections. The first section considers the relationship between social psychology and citizenship; the second section offers a conceptualisation of citizenship that takes under consideration citizens' practices from the ground up and constraints posed by existing norms and laws; the third section considers the value of adding citizenship into the social psychological conceptual toolkit. The fourth more substantive section advances a critical social psychological approach to citizenship which focuses on the study of the different ways that "ordinary" political actors engage with political matters in the mundane practices of everyday life. The last section concludes the paper and makes some suggestions for future directions, such as the study of emerging forms of citizenship through a more nuanced examination of intersecting political affiliations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the construct of hybridity as conceptualized in postcolonial theory and its application within and beyond the field of critical social psychology. Hybridity emerged in postcolonial theory as an alternative to racial/racist purisms, questioning "natural" and complete definitions of identity and instead suggesting movement and mediation as central to identity‐making. The objectives of this paper are twofold: First, I trace the genealogy of hybridity discourse from its origins as a critique of cultural imperialism, to its explicit and implicit invocations serving projects of assimilation and nation‐building. Second, building on the work of critical race scholars, critical social psychologists, and Caribbean feminist scholars who emphasize the role of power in the production of difference, I anchor my analysis of the malleability of hybridity in traveling notions of Indo‐Caribbean identity from the Caribbean region to the U.S. More broadly, I illuminate the tensions involved in reclaiming multiple notions of origin and organizing transnational commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the concept of social citizenship, which was first theorized in the late 1940s alongside the creation of the UK welfare state and concerns citizens' rights to a basic income and standard of living. It suggests that social citizenship—particularly welfare provision—is a useful and important topic for social psychological research, albeit one that has been largely overlooked. We provide an overview of key developments in social citizenship and consider the impact of 30‐plus years of neoliberal governance in Western democracies, which has resulted in ongoing changes to how welfare rights and responsibilities are configured, such as policies that make social citizenship rights contingent on conduct. We outline social scientific work that examines these shifting ideas of citizenship, personhood, welfare, and conditionality and make the case for a critical discursive psychological approach, which we illustrate with a brief empirical example. We suggest that critical discursive social psychology is particularly well‐placed to examine how psychological assumptions are built into both policy and lay discourse and how these can legitimate interventions designed to work on the conduct of the unemployed, such as therapeutic and behavior change initiatives. Finally, we argue that psychology is faced with a choice; while there are opportunities for the discipline to contribute to the design and implementation of such initiatives, to do so requires accepting the basic values of the underpinning neoliberal agenda. Instead, it is vital to place these assumptions under the critical microscope and explore how they work to obscure structural disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adults in the Western world have adapted to financial constraint by sharing accommodation and combining resources. Far from traditional stigma associated with these households the social benefits are considered on a par with economic pragmatism. Until recently the literature on young peer group‐living was sparse. Due to a rise in research interest, the area is experiencing a period of invigoration, particularly with regard to how interpersonal relationships work in the close confines of domestic intimacy. The paper provides an overview of what is currently known about the social psychology of young adult house sharing. The concept of sharing is introduced, followed by possible reasons for the lack of research. Next, the extant research is reviewed and this includes construction of preferred and desirable flatmates; avoiding complications; social psychological advantages; conflict; and how the social dynamics of peer group households are perceived. A fine balance between acceptable and objectionable behaviour is necessary across a number of spheres. Further studies are needed to contribute to better understanding of young adults who share and document the delicate dynamics associated with these unique domestic arrangements. Peer group living needs to be clearly represented if government policies are to offer youth housing not predicated on the normative assumptions of household composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses how social representations of gender and their development in childhood relate to the structuring of communication on collaborative problem solving in the educational context and the consequences of such communication dynamics for learning and cognitive development. In the theoretical framework and the empirical work outlined an emphasis is given on the articulation of different levels of analysis (intra-personal, inter-personal, inter-group/positional and ideological/social representations) (Doise, W. 1986. Levels of Explanation in Social Psychology: European Monographs in Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) in a way that explanatory power is increased for understanding the often contradictory findings in the literature around gender talk in mixed-sex dyads in the educational context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]