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The article focuses on the divergent views on social psychology. In a paper by G.D. Richards, he emphasized that a rewritten history of social psychology include a historical account of the influence of early thinkers by providing important moments in the history of social psychology. In a paper by Peter Lunt, he discussed two alternative histories which include social psychology as part of psychology's history and social psychology as a separate area of study.

This paper explores the phenomenon of trust in the context of managerial relationships, particularly examining the extent to which trust, or lack of it, drives those relationships. The results of an exploratory study that highlights the significance of trust in this context are reported. The initial part of the paper sets out a relational continuum, extending between different relational types, drawing on theory already established in social psychology. The later sections report the results of the study that supports and extends the practical application of the proposed relationship continuum. Implications regarding the extent to which trust drives the framing and dynamics of different types of relationships, and broader factors that appear to characterise the relational domain of senior management, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several philosophers have recently claimed to have discovered a new and rather significant problem with virtue ethics. According to them, virtue ethics generates certain expectations about the behavior of human beings which are subject to empirical testing. But when the relevant experimental work is done in social psychology, the results fall remarkably short of meeting those expectations. So, these philosophers think, despite its recent success, virtue ethics has far less to offer to contemporary ethical theory than might have been initially thought. I argue that there are plausible ways in which virtue ethicists can resist arguments based on empirical work in social psychology. In the first three sections of the paper, I reconstruct the line of reasoning being used against virtue ethics by looking at the recent work of Gilbert Harman and John Doris. The remainder of the paper is then devoted both to responding to their challenge as well as to briefly sketching a positive account of character trait possession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My response to the discussions is organized from an evolutionary perspective on the development of theory within psychoanalysis. After briefly stating the premises of the paper, I discuss each commentary. I experience Aron's discussion as more evolutionary than Benjamin's or Ellman's. It seems clear that we all have our own agendas. The reader is invited to try them on for size in the spirit of ongoing dialogue that characterizes this journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the nature of educational studies is considered and discussed. Following some introductory comments, the paper deals with philosophy, psychology and sociology in relation to education. This is followed by a section on social psychology and the paper ends with a section on the history of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an elaboration of Stinchcombe's model of the structure of functional explanations, this paper attempts to integrate the notions of equilibrium structures, structural contradictions, and social conflicts. It proposes that two variables of an unquestionably empirical nature can account for the distinctions among the three structural forms: (1) the emergence of a double loop in the basic structure of functional systems and (2) the embodiment of systemic, mechanical forces in the intentions and actions of persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on our site investigation conducted in 2013, we found that the pedestrian red light crossing at the midblock connecting the campus of Southwest University and living area was low, where most of pedestrians are university students and staff. This paper reports a supplementary work applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to identify any psychological differences toward pedestrian red light crossing between university students and their peers. Three social groups participated in the investigation. The first group is the university students in Grade one (Group 1), the other two groups are their previous senior middle school classmates who are now working full time (Group 2) or who are now out of work and school (Group 3). The statistical results indicated The TPB components accounted for 42.9%, 55.3% and 55.4% of the variance of red signal crossing intention for Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 in the depicted road crossing scenario. The data also showed that there are obvious differences among the participants’ responses to “refrain from crossing” between university students and others, and the subsequent regression analysis revealed the ability to “refrain from crossing” played the most important role in the intention of red light crossing in the depicted scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the not-so-obvious but compelling reasons why the same supportive audiences that can help performers attain their highest potential also may increase performers' risk of choking under pressure. Drawing primarily from social psychology research and theory, we conclude that audience support magnifies performance pressure and induces performers to avoid failure rather than seek success during the most critical moments of performance contests. Although supportive audiences can inspire performers to excel when motivation would otherwise be lacking, audiences may also lead performers towards maladaptive self-monitoring and overcautiousness when the stakes are highest. The increased self-focus that supportive audiences induce can disrupt the automatic execution of the skills performers possess. Dispositional and situational moderators of the relationship between audience support and performance are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper begins with a critique of orthodox renditions of the social unconscious which (a) retain divisions between a personal sphere and a social sphere, and (b) which are said to be in conflict with each other. The ways in which these are instituted in various psychoanalytic and group-analytic theorizations are briefly delineated. Next, the two versions of the social unconscious (an orthodox and a radical) that are found in Foulkes are described. Elias's notion of process reduction is then used to deconstruct the philosophical basis of the orthodox version of the social unconscious. The thoughts of Radical Foulkes are extended by drawing on Elias and Matte-Blanco, bringing the notion of power into the theoretical schema. This is followed by an examinantion of the impact of the notion of power on Foulkes's conception of the communicational field. Finally, the article describes the consequences of the impact of power on the construction of the psyches of individuals as well as interpersonal relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how consistently-evaluated performance and status characteristics structure .social inequalities. Berger, Fisek, Norman. and Zelditch (1977) have presented a theory of expectation formation in multicharacteristic situations. The present paper extends the scope of that theory in addressing the problem of whether status stereotypes are reinforced by information concerning the competence of an actor. We argue that actors strive to validate inferences formed on the basis of differential evaluations associated with status characteristics. When this occurs, differential evaluations are strengthened and the organizing influence of status characteristics is increased. In this manner, validated status stereotypes may exacerbate inequalities in social interaction. Experimental results are consistent with the theory's predictions: inequalities in influence created by performance or status differences alone were significantly exacerbated when subjects were distinguished by consistently high or consistently low evaluations on both characteristics. Implications of this study for expectation states theory and for practical attempts to resolve inequalities in contemporary society are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some readers might ask whether this approach does not move beyond the strict conclusions of laboratory and field experimental research. Of course it does. To put any science into practice, one must go beyond the strict confines of experimental conditions. If it is found in the process that certain generalizations do not hold or do not hold as well as believed initially, this knowledge can be cycled back into experiments to reveal what additional factors have come into play. It seems both desirable and feasible to include more techniques for application in introductory social psychology courses. Five techniques for doing so have been reviewed in this paper: lectures, readings, letters, discussion questions, and examination questions. Using them all simultaneously weaves student application consistently throughout the entire fabric of the course. To me these techniques seem pedagogically sound, but I welcome comments from others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moscovici has ushered in the 'era of social representations', widely welcomed as a European alternative to what are increasingly regarded as the shortcomings of mainline' American social psychology. The rapid and enthusiastic adoption by many psychologists of Moscovici's theoretical approach has not so far evoked a great deal of critical appraisal of the ideas he put forward. The present paper seeks to make a start in filling this gap by an examination of the conceptual structure and sonic of its underlying assumptions. There appear to be a number of internal inconsistencies and some doubt concerning the logical status of social representations'. It is suggested that clarification of such issues, together with the establishment of closer links with the findings of neighbouring disciplines, would help to strengthen what is undoubtedly one of the most stimulating new departures in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The articles in this special issue cover a range of critical issues and approaches in social psychology. Two of their common features are: (a) their restatement—in various forms—of the unresolved epistemological problems that continue to inform critical discussions of social psychology; and (b) the rarely debated question of just what makes social psychology social. These two questions are interlocking: the undecided nature of the latter eventually creates an impassable barrier to resolving the former. Focusing on a cross-section of issues derived from the social psychology literature presented in this issue, I introduce the problematic and contested nature of the domain of social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of two social psychological perspectives-efficacy-trust and relative deprivation--on individual participation in anti-busing protest in a survey of South Boston residents. Previous works relating attitudes to the protest participation decision do not recognize that different types of protest are available and therefore fail to clearly discern the effect that particular attitudes have on specific protest activities. Findings include: (1) that support exists for identifying three separate types of protest: individual instrumental protest, individual expressive protest, and collective protest; (2) that the political efficacy-trust perspective best predicts individual instrumental protest; (3) that relative race deprivation best predicts individual expressive protest; and (4) that relative status deprivation best predicts engaging in collective protest. These results support viewing the two attitudinal perspectives tested here as complementary rather than competitive in explaining protest participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have generally contended that high-status members of a group are less likely to incur sanctions for deviant behavior than are low-status group members. Traditional explanations for this phenomenon do not adequately specify the processes which underly such differential treatment, nor can they account for the less frequent instances in which high-status individuals are actually more harshly sanctioned. This paper focuses on the perceptual work facing the potential sanctioner, and uses attribution theory as a framework for understanding the specific areas of advantage enjoyed by high-status group members. An examination of each stage in the attribution process allan's a reconceptualization of the sanctioning process as dynamic, and context-bound. Thus, using the same theory, we also specify the conditions under which we would expect the potential sanctioner to levy more harsh sanctions against the high-status deviant. Finally, factors which increase the likelihood of bias or distortion in the attribution process are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparisons of factor analytic results based on a matrix of total (individual) correlations and three matrices of between-groups (ecological) correlations revealed fundamental differences in factor patterns when the unit of analysis shifted from individuals to aggregates. The major difference involved the marked tendency for a highly individualistic General Ability Factor derived from the matrix of total correlations to become more and more sociological in content as individuals were aggregated. Results are discussed in terms of their bearing on the problem of determining the "appropriateness" of a given unit of analysis, individuals vs. aggregates, for certain levels of inquiry, i.e., psychological vs. sociological. It is concluded that whether the researcher should heed the traditional warning about the use of aggregate data relationships as a basis for making inferences concerning individuals ought to depend in part on whether his interest is in psychological or sociological propositions about individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an early holocultural study of the relation of art style to social organization Fischer found that artists in societies characterized by polygynous marriage systems and male solidarity in residence tended to produce art products in which curved lines were present more often than straight lines. To explain these findings Fischer advanced a psychological variable he labeled “male security.” This paper suggests that Fischer's conceptualization of this variable is not adequate and decomposes the variable into two components: male security in the domain of heterosexual interaction and male security in the domain of father-son interaction, Cross-cultural statistical tests indicate that the latter may be more important than the former in explaining the line shape preferences of a society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews survey research explaining the social patterns of distress. There are four basic patterns: (a) The higher one's social status the lower one's distress; (b) women are more distressed than men; (c) married persons are less distressed than unmarried persons, and: (c) the greater the number of undesirable events in one's life the greater one's distress. The major forms of distress are malaise (such as lethargy, headaches, and trembling hands), anxiety (such as feeling afraid, worried, or irritable), and depression (such as feeling sad, worthloss, or hopeless). Sociological theory suggests that alienation, authoritarianism, and inequity produce distress. The research indicates that distress is reduced by control, commitment. support, meaning, normality, flexibility, trust, and equity. The presence or absence of these accounts for the social patterns of distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noting the emergence of ethnographic or fieldwork methods as the preferred methodology of many researchers in the sociology of deviance, this article focuses on a particular problem which occurs when such methods are adapted to the study of deviant groups, namely the strains that develop in researchers' relationships with professional colleagues and significant others, particularly family and friends, outside of academia. The article is based on the authors' observations of others' reactions to their research on the homosexual or gay subculture, informal conversations with sociologists who have done fieldwork among stigmatized groups, and more general observations of the ways in which sociology is practiced. The authors seek to increase awareness of the problem especially among those who will do similar studies in the future, and to offer practical suggestions that may be employed to reduce the possibility of labeling and its accompanying problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prejudice against citizens with right-aligned political views in western cosmopolitan cities was explored, and possible interventions proposed. Literature and theories were reviewed, with social psychological and sociological theories compiled that explain the reasons for this prejudice and an intervention to solve this problem. Scientific research in social sciences is dominated by bias from left-aligned researchers in social psychology and psychology. Dysfunctional scientific processes prominent in this area of sciences are due to the sacralization of social science. A significantly small percent of social and personality psychologists identify as politically conservative. A significant amount of errors and distortions were found in sociology textbooks. Media and corporation biases toward leftaligned political views were found, and right-aligned individuals are out-group members in cosmopolitan cities. Inoculation by media assignments and critical literacy education is proposed, that could prevent school students from being influenced by stealth messages and propaganda. Media campaigns targeting the full spectrum of political views is proposed, that could help reduce biases of citizens. A family and community health class is proposed, that could improve student's psychological, family, and social health. Youth and adult clubs are proposed, that could help reduce animosity between social groups, and promote solidarity and community health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on culture identity and dress. The sociology of dress is a vibrant field, exploring intriguing theoretical, methodological, and empirical domains. During the mid-twentieth century, clothing scholars began investigating the sociological and psychological implications of dress and appearance. In 1989, a group met to discuss the direction of the analysis of dress. The published papers from that meeting considered a wide range of topics, including identity, social psychology, cultural anthropology and sociology, semiotics, affect and cognition, social construction of gender, literary analysis, as well as qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Recent textbooks in the area continue to thaw from sociology and other fields to refine theories of dress and human behavior. Related to the misperception that dress only applies to the psychology of the self is the notion that dress is trivial both substantively and theoretically. Perhaps sociologists' neglect of dress might also be linked to a misperception that it is nonrational behavior similar to other actions that do not lend themselves to systematic analysis. Again these articles provide a contrasting view. In organizational and institutional settings, such as greedy organizations, total institutions, and mass media, dress and all it symbolizes are debated and discussed in ways that can be studied scientifically. Further, all of the articles have identified patterns in how dress is used in identity embracing and distancing that can be incorporated into broader theoretical frameworks.

We present a lab-in-the-field experiment and surveys of marginalised Roma children in Slovakia to examine whether reminding Roma of their ethnicity reduces their performance in a cognitive task. Research on social identity and stereotypes has documented that when individuals feel that their social group is negatively stereotyped in a domain, their performance declines, which can reinforce discrimination. In an effort to break the cycle of negative stereotypes, we remind Roma subjects of either Roma or non-Roma role models. We find that the activation of a Roma’s ethnicity reduces cognitive performance. In contrast, Roma exposed to Roma role models outperform those reminded of their ethnicity and of non-Roma role models. We then attempt to understand the channels through which social identity and role models affect performance. We show that priming the identity of a Roma has a direct effect on confidence, decreasing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complexity in nature has been broadly found not only in physical and biological systems but also in social and economic systems. Although many studies have examined complex systems and helped us understand real-world complexity, the investigation to the legal complexity has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we introduce a novel approach to studying complex legal systems using complex network approaches. On the basis of the bipartite relations among Constitution articles and Court decisions, we built a complex legal network and found the system shows the heterogeneous structure as generally observed in many complex social systems. By treating legal networks as unique political regimes, we examine whether structural properties of the systems have been influenced as the society changes, or not. On one hand, there is a core structure in all legal networks regardless of any social circumstances. On the other hand, with relative comparison among different regimes’ networks, we could identify characteristic structural properties that reveal their identity. Our analysis would contribute to provide a better understanding of legal complexity and practical guidelines for use in various legal and social applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents aged 10–19 represent one sixth of the world’s population and have a high burden of morbidity, particularly in low-resource settings. We know little about the potential of community-based peer facilitators to improve adolescent health in such contexts. Methods: We did a systematic review of peer-facilitated community-based interventions for adolescent health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We searched databases for randomised controlled trials of interventions featuring peer education, counselling, activism, and/or outreach facilitated by young people aged 10–24. We included trials with outcomes across key areas of adolescent health: infectious and vaccine preventable diseases, undernutrition, HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, unintentional injuries, violence, physical disorders, mental disorders and substance use. We summarised evidence from these trials narratively. PROSPERO registration: CRD42016039190. Results: We found 20 studies (61,014 adolescents). Fourteen studies tested interventions linked to schools or colleges, and 12 had non-peer-facilitated components, e.g. health worker training. Four studies had HIV-related outcomes, but none reported reductions in HIV prevalence or incidence. Nine studies had clinical sexual and reproductive health outcomes, but only one reported a positive effect: a reduction in Herpes Simplex Virus-2 incidence. Three studies had violence-related outcomes, two of which reported reductions in physical violence by school staff and perpetration of physical violence by adolescents. Seven studies had mental health outcomes, four of which reported reductions in depressive symptoms. Finally, we found eight studies on substance use, four of which reported reductions in alcohol consumption and smoking or tobacco use. There were no studies on infectious and vaccine preventable diseases, undernutrition, or injuries. Conclusions: There are few trials on the effects of peer-facilitated community-based interventions for adolescent health in LMICs. Existing trials have mixed results, with the most promising evidence supporting work with peer facilitators to improve adolescent mental health and reduce substance use and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online communities, which have become an integral part of the day-to-day life of people and organizations, exhibit much diversity in both size and activity level; some communities grow to a massive scale and thrive, whereas others remain small, and even wither. In spite of the important role of these proliferating communities, there is limited empirical evidence that identifies the dominant factors underlying their dynamics. Using data collected from seven large online platforms, we observe a relationship between online community size and its activity which generally repeats itself across platforms: First, in most platforms, three distinct activity regimes exist—one of low-activity and two of high-activity. Further, we find a sharp activity phase transition at a critical community size that marks the shift between the first and the second regime in six out of the seven online platforms. Essentially, we argue that it is around this critical size that sustainable interactive communities emerge. The third activity regime occurs above a higher characteristic size in which community activity reaches and remains at a constant and higher level. We find that there is variance in the steepness of the slope of the second regime, that leads to the third regime of saturation, but that the third regime is exhibited in six of the seven online platforms. We propose that the sharp activity phase transition and the regime structure stem from the branching property of online interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active learning in college classes and participation in the workforce frequently hinge on small group work. However, group dynamics vary, ranging from equitable collaboration to dysfunctional groups dominated by one individual. To explore how group dynamics impact student learning, we asked students in a large-enrollment university biology class to self-report their experience during in-class group work. Specifically, we asked students whether there was a friend in their group, whether they were comfortable in their group, and whether someone dominated their group. Surveys were administered after students participated in two different types of intentionally constructed group activities: 1) a loosely-structured activity wherein students worked together for an entire class period (termed the ‘single-group’ activity), or 2) a highly-structured ‘jigsaw’ activity wherein students first independently mastered different subtopics, then formed new groups to peer-teach their respective subtopics. We measured content mastery by the change in score on identical pre-/post-tests. We then investigated whether activity type or student demographics predicted the likelihood of reporting working with a dominator, being comfortable in their group, or working with a friend. We found that students who more strongly agreed that they worked with a dominator were 17.8% less likely to answer an additional question correct on the 8-question post-test. Similarly, when students were comfortable in their group, content mastery increased by 27.5%. Working with a friend was the single biggest predictor of student comfort, although working with a friend did not impact performance. Finally, we found that students were 67% less likely to agree that someone dominated their group during the jigsaw activities than during the single group activities. We conclude that group activities that rely on positive interdependence, and include turn-taking and have explicit prompts for students to explain their reasoning, such as our jigsaw, can help reduce the negative impact of inequitable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imitation–matching the configural body movements of another individual–plays a crucial part in social interaction. We investigated whether automatic imitation is not only influenced by who we imitate (ingroup vs. outgroup member) but also by the nature of an expected interaction situation (competitive vs. cooperative). In line with assumptions from Social Identity Theory), we predicted that both social group membership and the expected situation impact on the level of automatic imitation. We adopted a 2 (group membership target: ingroup, outgroup) x 2 (situation: cooperative, competitive) design. The dependent variable was the degree to which participants imitated the target in a reaction time automatic imitation task. 99 female students from two British Universities participated. We found a significant two-way interaction on the imitation effect. When interacting in expectation of cooperation, imitation was stronger for an ingroup target compared to an outgroup target. However, this was not the case in the competitive condition where imitation did not differ between ingroup and outgroup target. This demonstrates that the goal structure of an expected interaction will determine the extent to which intergroup relations influence imitation, supporting a social identity approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Klein (2014) argues that the replication crisis in social psychology is due—at least in large part—to the tendency of psychological theories to be ill-specified. We disagree. First, we use both historical and contemporary examples to show that high-quality replication is possible even in the absence of a well-specified theory; and, second, we argue that it is typically auxiliary assumptions, rather than theories themselves, that need to be more clearly specified in order to understand the implications of a given replication effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout human history, social groups have invested immense amounts of wealth and time to keep threatening out-groups at a distance. In the current research, we explored the relationship between intergroup threat, physical distance, and discrimination. Specifically, we examined how intergroup threat alters estimates of physical distance to out-groups and how physical proximity affects intergroup relations. Previous research has found that people judge threatening out-groups as physically close. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined ways to attenuate this bias. In Study 1 a secure (vs. permeable) US-Mexico border reduced the estimated proximity to Mexico City among Americans who felt threatened by Mexican immigration. In Study 2, intergroup apologies reduced estimates of physical proximity to a threatening cross-town rival university, but only among participants with cross-group friendships. In Study 3, New York Yankees fans who received an experimental induction of physical proximity to a threatening out-group (Boston Red Sox) had a stronger relationship between their collective identification with the New York Yankees and support for discriminatory policies toward members of the out-group (Red Sox fans) as well as how far they chose to sit from out-group members (Red Sox fans). Together, these studies suggest that intergroup threat alters judgment of physical properties, which has important implications for intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social psychology is fundamentally the study of individuals in groups, yet there remain basic unanswered questions about group formation, structure, and change. We argue that the problem is methodological. Until recently, there was no way to track who was interacting with whom with anything approximating valid resolution and scale. In the current study we describe a new method that applies recent advances in image-based tracking to study incipient group formation and evolution with experimental precision and control. In this method, which we term “in vivo behavioral tracking,” we track individuals’ movements with a high definition video camera mounted atop a large field laboratory. We report results of an initial study that quantifies the composition, structure, and size of the incipient groups. We also apply in-vivo spatial tracking to study participants’ tendency to cooperate as a function of their embeddedness in those crowds. We find that participants form groups of seven on average, are more likely to approach others of similar attractiveness and (to a lesser extent) gender, and that participants’ gender and attractiveness are both associated with their proximity to the spatial center of groups (such that women and attractive individuals are more likely than men and unattractive individuals to end up in the center of their groups). Furthermore, participants’ proximity to others early in the study predicted the effort they exerted in a subsequent cooperative task, suggesting that submergence in a crowd may predict social loafing. We conclude that in vivo behavioral tracking is a uniquely powerful new tool for answering longstanding, fundamental questions about group dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that faces are rapidly and even unconsciously categorized into social groups (black vs. white, male vs. female). Here, I test whether preferences for specific social groups guide attention, using a visual search paradigm. In Experiment 1 participants searched displays of neutral faces for an angry or frightened target face. Black target faces were detected more efficiently than white targets, indicating that black faces attracted more attention. Experiment 2 showed that attention differences between black and white faces were correlated with individual differences in automatic race preference. In Experiment 3, using happy target faces, the attentional preference for black over white faces was eliminated. Taken together, these results suggest that automatic preferences for social groups guide attention to individuals from negatively valenced groups, when people are searching for a negative emotion such as anger or fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four studies examined how mental abstraction affects how people perceive their relationships with other people, specifically, how these relationships may be categorized in social groups. We expected that individuals induced to think abstractly would report fewer more global social groups, compared to those induced to think concretely, who would report more specific groups. However, induced abstract mindset did not affect how people structured their social groups (Study 2–4), despite evidence that the mindset manipulation changed the level of abstraction in their thoughts (Study 3) and evidence that it changed how people structured groups for a control condition (household objects, Study 4). Together, these studies suggest that while the way people organize their relationships into groups is malleable; cognitive abstraction does not seem to affect how people categorize their relationships into social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study shows that people's ability to inhibit implicit associations that run counter to their explicit views varies in a circadian pattern. The presence of this rhythmic variation suggests the involvement of a biological process in regulating automatic associations—specifically, with the current data, associations that form undesirable social biases. In 1998, Greenwald, McGhee, and Schwartz introduced the Implicit Association Test as a means of measuring individual differences in implicit cognition. The IAT is a powerful tool that has become widely used. Perhaps most visibly, studies employing the IAT demonstrate that people generally hold implicit biases against social groups, which often conflict with their explicitly held views. The IAT engages inhibitory processes similar to those inherent in self-control tasks. Because the latter processes are known to be resource-limited, we considered whether IAT scores might likewise be resource dependent. Analyzing IAT performance from over a million participants across all times of day, we found a clear circadian pattern in scores. This finding suggests that the IAT measures not only the strength of implicit associations, but also the effect of variations in the physiological resources available to inhibit their undesirable influences on explicit behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that human infants and young children are sensitive to the boundaries of certain social groups, which supports the idea that the capacity to represent social categories constitutes a fundamental characteristic of the human cognitive system. However, the function this capacity serves is still debated. We propose that during social categorization the human mind aims at mapping out social groups defined by a certain set of shared knowledge. An eye-tracking paradigm was designed to test whether two-year-old children differentially associate conventional versus non-conventional tool use with language-use, reflecting an organization of information that is induced by cues of shared knowledge. Children first watched videos depicting a male model perform goal-directed actions either in a conventional or in a non-conventional way. In the test phase children were presented with photographs taken of the model and of a similarly aged unfamiliar person while listening to a foreign (Experiment 1) or a native language (Experiment 2) text. Upon hearing the foreign utterance children looked at the model first if he had been seen to act in an unconventional way during familiarization. In contrast, children looked at the other person if the model had performed conventional tool use actions. No such differences were found in case of the native language. The results suggest that children take the conventionality of behavior into account in forming representations about a person, and they generalize to other qualities of the person based on this information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a new experimental design to test whether or not individuals engage in conflict between social groups because they seek to harm outgroup members. Challenging prominent social psychological theories, we did not find support for such negative social preferences. Nevertheless, subjects heavily engaged in group conflict. Results support the argument that processes that act within social groups motivate engagement in conflict between groups even in the absence of negative social preferences. In particular, we found that “cheap talk” communication between group members fuels conflict. Analyses did not support the notion that the effect of communication results from guilt-aversion processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social groups of interacting agents display an ability to coordinate in the absence of a central authority, a phenomenon that has been recently amplified by the widespread availability of social networking technologies. Models of opinion formation in a population of agents have proven a very useful tool to investigate these phenomena that arise independently of the heterogeneities across individuals and can be used to identify the factors that determine whether widespread consensus on an initial small majority is reached. Recently, we introduced a model in which individual agents can have conservative and partisan biases. Numerical simulations for finite populations showed that while the inclusion of conservative agents in a population enhances the population's efficiency in reaching consensus on the initial majority opinion, even a small fraction of partisans leads the population to converge on the opinion initially held by a minority. To further understand the mechanisms leading to our previous numerical results, we investigate analytically the noise driven transition from a regime in which the population reaches a majority consensus (efficient), to a regime in which the population settles in deadlock (non-efficient). We show that the mean-field solution captures what we observe in model simulations. Populations of agents with no opinion bias show a continuous transition to a deadlock regime, while populations with an opinion bias, show a discontinuous transition between efficient and partisan regimes. Furthermore, the analytical solution reveals that populations with an increasing fraction of conservative agents are more robust against noise than a population of naive agents because in the efficient regime there are relatively more conservative than naive agents holding the majority opinion. In contrast, populations with partisan agents are less robust to noise with an increasing fraction of partisans, because in the efficient regime there are relatively more naive agents than partisan agents holding the majority opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aggregation of woodlice in dark and moist places is considered an adaptation to land life and most studies are focused on its functionality or on the behavioural mechanisms related to the individual's response to abiotic factors. Until now no clear experimental demonstration was available about aggregation resulting from inter-attraction between conspecifics. Methodology/Main Findings: We present the dynamics of aggregation not previously described in detail in literature as being independent of the experimental conditions: homogeneous and heterogeneous environments with identical or different shelters. Indeed whatever these conditions the aggregation is very quick. In less than 10 minutes more than 50% of woodlice were aggregated in several small groups in the homogeneous environment or under shelters in the heterogeneous environment. After this fast aggregation woodlice progressively moved into a single aggregate or under one shelter. Conclusions/Significance: Here we show for the first time that aggregation in woodlice implies a strong social component and results from a trade-off between individual preferences and inter-attraction between individuals. Moreover our results reveal that the response to the heterogeneities affects only the location of the aggregates and not the level of aggregation, and demonstrate the strong inter-attraction between conspecifics which can outweigh individual preferences. This interattraction can lead to situations that could seem sub-optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay assesses T u Weiming’s notion of transcendence in terms both of its legitimacy as an interpretation of Confucianism and of its viability as an answer to modern challenges. An examination of Tu’s hermeneutical assumptions in his Zhongyong commentary leads to a discussion of his locating transcendence in the subjectivity of the junzi, the profound person. Calling the self-cultivation “self-knowledge,” Tu makes explicit the religious character of the xin, the basis of self-cultivation, and its transcendent character, because it is endowed from heaven. However, because the xin is irreducibly human, this transcendence is also immanentized. From the xin a fiduciary community is formed, hence the “covenantal” nature of Confucian religiousness. The essay ends with the question: Because Tu does not elaborate on cultivating a community’s intersubjectivity, does it make the realization of the transcendent xin a “deferred potentiality,” without mooring in the actual formation of human community? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Role congruity theory (e.g., Eagly & Diekman, 2005 ) posits that a group will be positively evaluated when its characteristics are perceived to align with the requirements of the group's typical social roles. Social roles may thus form the basis of norms that prescribe valued behavior for men and women. Three experiments explored the relationship between perceived social roles and the prescriptive content of gender stereotypes by examining perceptions of cross-temporal role change. In the first study, participants evaluated the gender-stereotypic traits of past, present, and future men and women. In the second study, participants evaluated descriptions of consensually perceived trends for men and women. In the third study, participants read experimentally manipulated descriptions of role changes in a novel society and evaluated the traits of future citizens. Perceptions of cross-temporal changes in social roles (whether naturally occurring or experimentally manipulated) were associated with differential valuing of role-congruent characteristics. In general, participants' responses reflected a pattern of anticipated accommodation to shifts in social roles, with greater value projected for characteristics that facilitate role success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminological research on self-control focuses mainly on self-control failure. Such research has not, however, investigated the consequences of exercising self-control for the individual doing so. The present study investigates this issue within the framework of both criminological self-control theory and research on self-control depletion from social psychology, which depicts self-control as akin to a “muscle” that is “depletable” by prior use [Muraven and Baumeister (2000) Psycholog Bull 126:247–259]. Results are presented from a laboratory experiment in which students have the opportunity to cheat. Both “trait self-control,” as measured by the Grasmick et al. [(1993) J Res Crime Delinq 30:5–29] self-control inventory, and “self-control depletion” independently predicted cheating. The implications of these findings are explored for criminological perspectives on self-control and offender decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different aspects of a case will be emphasized depending on the theoretical lens used to understand it. Intersubjectivity theory will be used in case discussion to illustrate how our focus in the case shifts with different theoretical orientations. By using intersubjectivity, the multiple subjectivities: patient, therapist and supervisor's influence on the therapeutic process are highlighted. Case material is discussed in the context of death and loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading means relating in an influencing way in the interpersonal space. Dreams told may have this same quality – they both result from ill-contained emotions and push the group into shared moods, sometimes pathological. Four relational disorders are described, underlying an interpersonal approach to malfunctioning patterns. In the selfless relational disorder a community's pathological interaction with its ‘heroes’ is described. Raised to identify themselves with the aims of the group to the point of self-sacrifice, these special kinds of leader are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I introduce an emotion paradox: People believe that they know an emotion when they see it, and as a consequence assume that emotions are discrete events that can be recognized with some degree of accuracy, but scientists have yet to produce a set of clear and consistent criteria for indicating when an emotion is present and when it is not. I propose one solution to this paradox: People experience an emotion when they conceptualize an instance of affective feeling. In this view, the experience of emotion is an act of categorization, guided by embodied knowledge about emotion. The result is a model of emotion experience that has much in common with the social psychological literature on person perception and with literature on embodied conceptual knowledge as it has recently been applied to social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speaking involves "linearizing" a message into a string of words. This process leaves us vulnerable to being interrupted in such a way that the aborted turn is a misrepresentation of the intended message. Further, because we linearize our messages in standard ways, we are recurrently vulnerable to interruptions at particular turn-construction junctures, and consequently to recurrent types of self-misrepresentation. These vulnerabilities can be exploited strategically when an interrupter responds to the truncated turn in a way that might not have been possible if the turn had run to completion: I refer to interruptions of this sort as "opportunistic." I explore the connection between linearization and opportunistic interruptions using data from two institutional settings characterized by confrontational exchanges: Supreme Court oral arguments and Pentagon press briefings. The extracts illustrate how speakers open themselves to opportunistic interruptions through projection of incipient options, actions, reasons, consequences, opinions, and restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the powerful influence that observed social behavior has on subsequent social behavior. What is surprising is how little people take note of this form of influence at three crucial decision points: when, as observers, they decide how to interpret the causes of their own actions; when, as tacticians, they decide how to influence the actions of others; and when, as experts, they decide whether to seek the input of others. Finally, even the best problem-solver operating alone will be beaten to a demonstrably correct solution by a cooperating unit.

The article comments on the too tacit wisdom of social psychology, telling less than one can know. A social psychological model of behavior is presented that can well take its place as a powerful explanatory tool beside the economic, or the evolutionary, or the medical models of behavior. A research argues that the three legs of social psychology are: the situation is powerful; social reality is not given but construed; and there are dynamic forces at work in the social world. Another study lists the following big ideas in social psychology: people construct their social reality; social intuitions are powerful, sometimes dangerous; attitudes shape behaviors; social influences shape behavior; and dispositions shape behavior.

The article discusses seven possible wisdoms produced by social psychology. The first wisdom is that reinforcement usually works. The second wisdom is that the head is an extension of the heart. The third wisdom is that people care about themselves, and more. The fourth wisdom is that people see different and the same. The fifth wisdom is that people see the world through their own eyes. The sixth wisdom is that bad is done by people doing good. The seventh wisdom is that experiments allow people to see the unseen.

Two experiments tested the notion that considering multiple criteria for social categorization can reduce intergroup bias. In both experiments, participants were required to consider alternative ways in which people could be classified, other than an initially salient intergroup dichotomy. In Experiment 1, the authors found that generating alternative social classifications that were unrelated to an initial target dichotomy reduced intergroup bias compared to a control condition. In Experiment 2, this effect was replicated and the authors found that unrelated, but not related, categorizations were necessary to reduce bias. This article adds support to the view that increasing categorical complexity is a useful tool in bias reduction. These findings are discussed in the context of a developing model of multiple categorization effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern process of individualization takes place both at an institutional and an individual level. The challenge for the subject is to learn to personally manage this task in the context of institutional individualization. In this article, the contribution of social psychology to the analysis of this subject challenge is investigated in terms of the requirements of individualization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]