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The author comments on the study about the phenomenon concept of creep, wherein she thanks doctor Nick Haslam for the research conducted. She mentioned that Haslem does not identify all the problem of concept creep to science. She also noted that domestic violence and drunk driving are legally and popularly recognized.

This paper applies a social-ecological theory of power to posit that individual HIV-related vulnerability stems from how power is leveraged across situations over time. The current study identified six power domains and explored how the interchangeability of power shapes HIV-related vulnerability among men who have sex with men of colour. Data were collected as part of a mixed-methods study on the social networks and experiences of racial/ethnic and sexual minority status. A total of 35 Asian/Pacific Islander, Black and Latino men who have sex with men were recruited and individual in-depth interviews were conducted. Results showed that men who have sex with men of colour actively traded upon various domains to alter their relative power within a given situation. Results suggest that power interchangeability, or the degree to which power from one domain can be leveraged to gain power in another, may shape HIV-related vulnerability. Findings offer a dynamic understanding of the nature of HIV risk as derived from everyday power exchanges and provide theoretical foundation for future work on individual resilience against HIV-related risks over time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present research incorporates both intergroup and interpersonal approaches to power to examine influence tactics in organizations. Both approaches suggest that there should be coordination between supervisors and subordinates in the workplace for the smooth functioning of organizations. Study 1 tested how employees' social dominance orientation corresponds to what interpersonal influence tactics employees view as acceptable for supervisors. Study 2 tested how employees' SDO corresponds to interpersonal influence tactics they would use on subordinates. Complementarily, results showed that the higher participants were on SDO, the more they endorsed harsh tactics as legitimate. Implications for integrating power theories are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I concur with Jost and Kruglanski (this issue) that the rift between social constructivist and experimental social psychology is bigger than it need be. I do so by showing that many social-psychological theories predict why we have the rift that we do. I use this method to point out that self-reflexivity is possible and desirable. This is especially the case when we try to consider how our own political and historical context influences our work. I give examples from my teaching of social psychology, and of contemporary research that has been informed by both social constructivist criticisms and by knowledge of experimental methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses the sexual orientation beliefs of students and their relationship to anti-gay attitudes and biological determinist arguments. Sexual orientation beliefs; Biased assimilation of biological arguments; Variations of beliefs along immutability and fundamentality dimensions.

The article looks at a study which investigated three varieties of differential intergroup social allocation in a sample of American students as a function of degree of in-group legitimacy, self-esteem, sex and social dominance orientation within a standard minimal-groups experimental paradigm. Social identity theory (SIT) has increasingly influenced how the dynamics and sources of intergroup discrimination are viewed. SIT's basic position is that when the out-group is considered of equal or lower status, even without a prior history of intergroup contact, there will be evaluative and behavioral discrimination in favor of the in-group. Congruent with SIT, self-esteem was a relatively strong predictor of two forms of differential group allocation. The higher the subjects' level of trait self-esteem, the greater the difference in perceived competence between in-group and out-group and the less willing subjects were to cooperate than to compete with the out-group. The results also provided some support for SDT. Most simply, there was a modest yet statistically significant tendency for men to have greater levels of social dominance orientation than women. This gender difference is given further credence because of its consistency with previous findings with slightly different measures of social dominance orientation and because of the situational and cultural invariance of these differences.

Comments on an article regarding prejudice against discrimination, published in the February 1992 issue of 'Psychological Inquiry.' Insistence that there is something good about prejudice; Social psychological research addressing questions of discrimination; Validity of each person's self-apparent view.

Comments on Constantine Sedikides and John J. Skowronski's law of cognitive structure activation. Influence of the law on human behavior; Objections to Sedikides and Skowronski's interpretation of the law; Relation between moods and emotions; Connection of the law of cognitive structure activation to personality and life-course.

This article compares symbolic racism and social dominance theories by reanalysis of data from a national probability sample of 234 White Americans and by using observed-variables, structural equation models. Criticism of the symbolic racism (SR) theory have been both conceptual and theoretical. One conceptual criticism questions the necessity of the concept of symbolic racism itself. Some empirical evidence indicates that what is being called symbolic racism is nothing more than old-fashioned racism elicited through less offensively worded questionnaire items. A conceptual view criticizes the symbolic racism literature for containing a great deal of conceptual confusion regarding the meaning of central concepts and the casual interconnections among these concepts. A theoretical criticism of SR theory comes from the group-conflict school. SR theory maintains that certain issues of public policy are not driven by rational self-interest but by symbolic attitudes. Racial attitudes and political ideology do determine one's position on certain racially relevant issues of public policy.