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We propose genetic social psychology as a theoretical framework to render intelligible both the suppression of the expression of prejudice and prejudice reduction in childhood. In particular, we explore the role of positive in-group norms in prejudice reduction in childhood and adolescence and their interplay with realistic and symbolic threats and subgroup identification in the post-conflict setting of Cyprus in a sample of 303 (51.5% female) 7-12-year-old students (mean age = 8.73 SD = 1.58) and 387 (60.2% female) 12-17-year-old students (mean age = 14.24 SD = 1.45) collected from a random sample of thirty-nine schools in the Greek Cypriot community. The following hypotheses were tested (a) threats and social identification will form a closer link with prejudice in older than younger children (H1), (b) positive in-group norms will "trump" threats in relation to the expression of prejudice in older children (H2), (c) strength of identification would enhance the effect of positive in-group norms in the expression of non-prejudicial views (H3), and finally (d) strength of identification would enhance the impact of positive norms on prejudice reduction in childhood, through a deeper conversion process of threat reduction, whereas on the contrary, it will diminish their impact in adolescence through ideological resistance (H4). We found broad support for our hypotheses and discuss practical implications of the findings for education.

Objective: People's psychological tendencies are attuned to their sociocultural context and culture‐specific ways of being, feeling, and thinking are believed to assist individuals in successfully navigating their environment. Supporting this idea, a stronger "fit" with one's cultural environment has often been linked to positive psychological outcomes. The current research expands the cultural, conceptual, and methodological space of cultural fit research by exploring the link between well‐being and honor, a central driver of social behavior in the Mediterranean region. Method: Drawing on a multi‐national sample from eight countries circum‐Mediterranean (N = 2257), we examined the relationship between cultural fit in honor and well‐being at the distal level (fit with one's perceived society) using response surface analysis (RSA) and at the proximal level (fit with one's university gender group) using profile analysis. Results: We found positive links between fit and well‐being in both distal (for some, but not all, honor facets) and proximal fit analyses (across all honor facets). Furthermore, most fit effects in the RSA were complemented with positive level effects of the predictors, with higher average honor levels predicting higher well‐being. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the interplay between individual and environmental factors in honor as well as the important role honor plays in well‐being in the Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates images in communication processes as manifestations of social representations. Focusing on the conflict-affected society of Cyprus, it studies the images used in 76250 tweets related to the Cyprus problem during the intensification of the negotiations in the period between September 2016 – July 2017. Through social network visualisation we identify the most prominent images used to construct meaning about the Cyprus problem as well as the clusters created through the image tweeting. The results show that most of the images tweeted about the Cyprus problem are institutioalised manifestations of social representations that contribute to meanings that are not conducive to the peace process in Cyprus. They instead enhance the social imaginary of Cyprus being determined by a loop of unsuccessful peace efforts that are always distant from the grassroot of society and by the concept that a solution will arrive to Cyprus as an external force sourced from the political elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study revisits the complexities of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) through an experimental investigation of the role of social identity dynamics in asymmetric social interaction around a cognitive Piagetian task in two age groups. Children from two age groups (6 and 10 years old) first solved a spatial transformation task individually (pretest) and then worked in same- or mixed-gender pairs with a partner who was more advanced in task knowledge. In the posttest phase, participants again solved the task individually. At posttest, the six-years old participating in interaction, performed better than those in control groups, who did not engage in interaction. However, there were no differences in the posttest performance of the ten-years old who participated in interaction and those who did not. Moreover, the effect of gender composition on the dynamics of the interaction was different in the two age groups. The social gender identity dynamics formed in the interactions of the six-year olds related to cognitive progress outcomes, but at 10 years social construction of knowledge was equally successful in promoting cognitive development compared to asymmetric social interactions and gender identity dynamics did not have the same formative influence.

Social psychology's disconnect from the vital and urgent questions of people's lived experiences reveals limitations in the current paradigm. We draw on a related perspective in social psychology1—the sociocultural approach—and argue how this perspective can be elaborated to consider not only social psychology as a historical science but also social psychology of and for world-making. This conceptualization can make sense of key theoretical and methodological challenges faced by contemporary social psychology. As such, we describe the ontology, epistemology, ethics, and methods of social psychology of and for world-making. We illustrate our framework with concrete examples from social psychology. We argue that reconceptualizing social psychology in terms of world-making can make it more humble yet also more relevant, reconnecting it with the pressing issues of our time. We propose that social psychology should focus on "world-making" in two senses. First, people are future-oriented and often are guided more by what could be than what is. Second, social psychology can contribute to this future orientation by supporting people's world-making and also critically reflecting on the role of social psychological research in world-making. We unpack the philosophical assumptions, methodological procedures, and ethical considerations that underpin a social psychology of and for world-making. Social psychological research, whether it is intended or not, contributes to the societies and cultures in which we live, and thus it cannot be a passive bystander of world-making. By embracing social psychology of and for world-making and facing up to the contemporary societal challenges upon which our collective future depends will make social psychology more humble but also more relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the distinct meanings of "internalization" and "interiorization" as ways of rendering intelligible the social constitution of the psychological in a line of research that started with Piaget and extended into a post-Piagetian reformulation of intelligence in successive generations of studies of the relations between social interaction and cognitive development. While the same clarity cannot be found in Vygotsky's work, the emphasis on the cultural embeddedness of cognitive activity in contemporary cultural psychology has also been a significant influence on the evolution of this work. This paper proposes a further integration of these perspectives by developing the idea of "operativity-in-context" as a means of retaining the advantages of Piaget's structural analysis of cognition whilst recognizing the situational and cultural constraints on cognitive functioning.

While the productive role of social interaction between peers in promoting cognitive development has been clearly established, the communicative processes through which this is achieved is less clearly understood. Earlier work has established that different types of conversation become established between children as they work together on a problem, and that these types have different implications for the progress of a non-conserver. The paper focuses on the forms of recognition that emerge within these different conversation types. It reports further analyses of a study in which 226 6.5- to 7.5-year-old children were presented with a Piagetian task of conservation of liquid. Conservers and non-conservers were asked to discuss in pairs their conflicting answers and agree upon a joint response. Cognitive progress was assessed by pre- to post-test gains. Analyses of the conversational moves made by each of the participants to the conversation indicates that both non-conservers and conservers not only make characteristic contributions, but that these contributions vary across the conversation types, and hence also relate differentially to the non-conserver's progress. More detailed qualitative analyses of the different conversation types provide insights into the ways in which different forms of recognition emerge through these interactions. These results are discussed in relation to a socio-cognitive account of development.