bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Children's understanding of public ownership
Authors: Cram Fiona , Ng Sik Hung
Published: May 2007

Children's understanding of public ownership was examined in two studies. In the first, descriptive study, children in three age groups (5–6, 8–9. and 11–12 years) were interviewed about ownership of their school and the city's buses. The hypothesis, that with increasing age the children's understanding of public ownership would change from being based on physical to abstract concepts, was supported. In the second, experimental study, a different sample of children (mean age = 7.5 years) from those in Study 1 were interviewed about bus ownership. Children who thought that the bus driver owned the buses were selected and formed into friendship dyads. Prior to interaction one member of each dyad was shown a video depicting a bus driver receiving instructions from another person whereas their partner viewed a neutral video unrelated to the bus driver Half of the dyads then discussed bus ownership, the remaining dyads discussed a neutral topic. The bus driver video alone was insufficient to enable children to infer that drivers did not own the buses. Peer discussion about bus ownership had a far greater positive effect. This effect was strongly related to the making of rejection and transaction statements that were indicative of an active reappraisal of the initial concept of bus ownership.
Towards a theory of collective phenomena. II: Conformity and power
Authors: Galam Serge , Moscovici Serge
Published: May 2007

A new theory of power is presented using the concept of symmetry breakdown in small and large groups. Power appears to result from the building up of conflicts within the group. Introduction and support of these conflicts requires an internal organization of the group. The organization‐associated complexity is a decreasing function of group size. Thus small groups have more difficulties in generating internal conflicts than large ones. This group dynamic is characterized by two states which are different in their nature. The group is first built within the paradigmatic state aimed to determine and reproduce group conformity The group challenge is then to reach the transitional state which enriches the group possibilities through the inclusion and stabilization of internal conflicts.
Effects of social value orientation on expecting and learning others' orientations
Authors: Iedema Jurjen , Poppe Matthijs
Published: May 2007

The influence of an individual's own social value orientation on the orientation expected from others and on the learning of others' social orientations was examined. The subjects (N = 148) were classified according to theirown social value orientation. The orientations they generally expected from others were assessed as well. Each subject learned the choices of five other persons, representing the orientations altruism, cooperation, equality, individualism, and competition. With respect to subjects' expectations of others' orientations the triangle hypothesis was not fully supported: only individualists expected their orientation in high frequencies. The false consensus hypothesis received more support. Generally an orientation was expected more frequently by subjects who themselves had that particular orientation than by subjects with other orientations. With regard to the learning of others' orientations support was found for the predictions derived from the triangle and the false consensus hypothesis. Cooperators and individualists were the best overall learners, followed by egalitarian and maximum subjects, and at the lowest level competitors. In addition, nearly every orientation was learned better by subjects who had that orientation than by subjects with a different orientation.
An ethnic bias in scientific citations
Authors: Greenwald Anthony G. , Schuh Eric S.
Published: May 2007

Recent experimental findings of subtle forms of prejudice prompted this search for a similar phenomenon outside the laboratory. In Study 1, with a sample of more than 12 000 citations by North American social scientists, names of both citing and cited authors were classified as Jewish, non Jewish, or other Author's name category was associated with 41 per cent greater odds of citing an author from the same name category Study 2 included over 17 000 citations from a much narrower research domain (prejudice research), and found a similar (40 per cent) surplus in odds of citing an author of the author's own ethnic name category. Further analyses failed to support two hypotheses — differential assortment of researchers by ethnicity to research topics, and selective citation of acquaintances' works — that were plausible alternatives to the hypothesis that the observed citation discrimination revealed implicit (unconsciously operating) prejudicial attitudes. Given the sociopolitically liberal reputation of social scientists (and of prejudice researchers especially), it seems unlikely that the observed bias in citations reflected conscious prejudicial attitudes.
Social representations, group affiliation, and projection: Knowing the limits of validity
Authors: Wagner Wolfgang
Published: May 2007

It is argued that social representations and similar constructs can only be conceived of as mental structures containing meta‐information about the group, within which the representation was formed and where it is part of social identity. The most important information will be to know the limits of its validity, that is, to know to which social group a representation pertains. Experiments on social projection have shown that people tend to project their opinions onto others, if they are perceived as being similar in background values. Such projection cannot be expected with idiosyncratic attitudes and beliefs. Consequently it is hypothesized that idiosyncratic and private attitudes, opinions, etc., are not attributed to specific social groups, whereas knowledge pertaining to social representations the subject subscribes to is projected onto the ingroup and less on the outgroup. This effect is expected to be independent of the relative number of people holding this opinion. This is what was found in a quasi‐experimental questionnaire study. Implications of the findings are discussed with regard to the definition and criteria ofsociul representations and to the structure of the theory.
Contextual determinants of strategic choice: Some moderators of the availability bias
Authors: Stapel Diederik A. , Reicher Stephen D. , Spears Russell
Published: May 2007

Three studies explored how the influence of the ‘availability heuristic’ on frequency judgement is mediated and moderated by the perceived meaning of the task, the perceived relevance of information for the task, and the salience of differential memorability of information. All studies adapted the ‘fumous names ’paradigm (Tversky and Kahneman, 1973) in which subjects are required to listen to a list of names of known personalities of both sexes and then judge the frequency of men and women. The availability heuristic (Tversky and Kahneman, 1973) posits that classes whose instances are easy to imagine or recall will be perceived as relatively frequent, so that when names of one sex are more famous and thus memorable this category will be rated as more numerous even when it occurs less frequently. Consistent with the notion that the use of availability is sensitive to task interpretation, we showed that the availability effect is eliminated over successive trials (Study 1) and moderated when task instructions render different categories salient (Study 2). In the third study it is shown that conditions which facilitate awareness of the biasing relationship between gender and fame (memorability), decrease the use of the availability heuristic by moderating frequency estimates of the more famous category. Results of these studies emphasize the context‐bound and strategic aspects of judgement.
Prototypical similarity, self‐categorization, and depersonalized attraction: A perspective on group cohesiveness
Authors: Hogg Michael A. , Hardie Elizabeth A. , Reynolds Katherine J.
Published: May 2007

In contrast to traditional approaches that widely equate group cohesiveness with interpersonal attraction, self‐categorization theoryargues that self‐categorization depersonalizes perception in terms of the group prototype, and transforms the basis of interindividual attitude (liking) from idiosyncracy into prototypicality. An implication is that while attraction in interpersonal relationships relates to overall similarity, attraction among group members is based on prototypical similarity. To test this idea, subjects (N = 219) participated in an experiment in which they reported their attitude towards an individual who would be their partner, or a fellow group member (of either group ‘Visual’ or group ‘Tactile’) for a subsequent task. Subject‐target similarity varied on each of two dimensions: dimension ‘A’ was more prototypical of group ‘Visual’, and dimension ‘F’ of group ‘Tactile’. The independent variables of social orientation (interpersonal, group ‘Visual’, group ‘Tactile’), similarity on dimension A (A ±), and dimension F(F±) were manipulated in a 3 × 2 × 2 design. The three hypotheses tested in this experiment were generally supported. Subjects preferred prototypically similar group members to interpersonal partners, and downgraded prototypically dissisimilar group members (HI). Identification was positively related to target evaluation (H2), more strongly for prototypically similar than dissimilar targets (H3), and the identification‐attraction relationship was mediated by perceived prototypical similarity. Group‐based effects were independent of perceptions of overall similarity.
The minimal group paradigm: Categorization into two versus three groups
Authors: Hartstone Margaret , Augoustinos Martha
Published: May 2007

The minimal group paradigm (Tajfel, Billig, Bundy and Flament, 1971) has been influential in the study of intergroup relations. Thus far, most minimal group experiments have divided the subjects either into two groups, or have categorized them on two separate dichotomous dimensions in cross‐categorization experiments. This study examines the minimal group paradigm using three distinct and independent groups. Comparison of the results with three minimal groups with those of a baseline two‐group experiment shows that with a three‐group structure there is no significant ingroup bias. It is suggested that the two‐group minimal group experiment shows ingroup bias because subjects access a dichotomous categorization, and that this dichotomous categorization primes a competitive orientation. A two‐group context may be particularly efective in evoking an ‘us versus them’ contrast. Self‐categorization as a group member is more likely to occur in the presence of two groups whereas three minimal groups renders an ‘us–them’ contrastive orientation less salient. The absence of intergroup discrimination found in the present minimal group study may be limited to the behaviour of minimal or artificially created groups. In the real world of intergroup relations discrimination towards multiple outgroups is a well‐known phenomenon. While this study should be regarded as only preliminary research, further elaboration and specification of the conditions under which multiple group contexts may hinder intergroup discrimination is required.
Me, us and them: Political identification and the third‐person effect in the 1993 Australian federal election
Authors: Duck Julie M. , Hogg Michael A. , Terry Deborah J.
Published: May 2007

Three days prior to the 1993 Australian federal election 54 Australian university students who identified with one of the two major political parties were surveyed regarding their perceptions of media campaign impact on self and others. Results provided evidence of a third‐person effect (Davison, 1983) wherein respondents judged others us more influenced by the election campaign than themselves. Consistent with predictions derived from social identity theory and self‐categorization theory (e.g. Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher and Wetherell, 1987), political ingroup members were also judged as less injuenced by campaign content than political outgroup members. Respondents who identified strongly with their preferred party judged self and ingroup members as less influenced by campaign content than did other respondents, and showed more evidence of positive intergroup differentiation. At the same time, however, these respondents exaggerated self–ingroup differences, challenging the theoretical assumption that intergroup diferentiation is associated with ingroup assimilation. Judgements of media impact on self and other also depended on the direction of the campaign message. Respondents believed ‘voters in general’ were persuaded in line with the intent of campaign content, while outgroup members were seen to be persuaded by material favouring their own side but to be uninfluenced by counter‐attitudinal content. Election propaganda, irrespective of direction, was seen to amplify existing party preferences in self and ingroup members. Hence the relative invulnerability of self to media impact was pronounced when respondents judged the impact of pro‐outgroup messages. Results suggest that perceptions of self–other differences in media vulnerability are influenced by the subjectively salient social relationship between self and other, and are governed by motivational needs, such as self‐esteem, social‐identity, and differentiation from others (cf. Brewer, 1991; Hogs and Abrams, 1993).
Towards a theory of collective phenomena. III: Conflicts and forms of power
Authors: Galam Serge , Moscovici Serge
Published: May 2007

This paper further develops a new theory of power advanced by the authors in two previous papers (Galam and Moscovici, 1991, 1994). According to this theory power results from the build up of conflicts within a group, these conflicts requiring a degree of organizational complexity which is itselfa decreasing function of group size. Within this approach, power appears to be a composite of three qualitatively different powers, institutional, generative and ecological. Levels and relationships among these forms of power are considered as a function of the diversity of the group. There exist also three states of organization associated with power evolution. At the group initial stage is the paradigmatic state. Creation and inclusion of conflicts are accomplished in the transitional state through the building of complexity. At a critical value of diversity, the group moves into the agonal state in which institutional power vanishes simultaneously with the fusion of generative and ecological powers.
Organization of person memory and retrieval processes in recognition
Authors: Petzold Peter , Edeler Brigitte
Published: May 2007

The main concern of the present study was the question whether behavioural information and traits could be accessed independently. In a modified recognition experiment person descriptions were presented; later, a behaviour or a trait was presented as test item and subjects had to decide whether the behaviour was included in the description or the trait could be inferred. The decision time for behaviours as test items turned out to be independent of the number of traits inferrable. This finding supports two‐memory conceptions of person memory according to which of two kinds of representations are available. One representation is trait‐based and in the other one behavioural information is available. This conclusion was confirmed by the result that the decision time for traits as test items is partially invariant with respect to the number of behaviours included in the person description. Distinct individual diferences in the relation between decision time for traits as test items and the number of behaviours appeared which imply individual decision strategies in recognizing persons.
How good is good luck? The role of counterfactual thinking in the perception of lucky and unlucky events
Authors: Teigen Karl Halvor
Published: May 2007

Spontaneous references to ‘luck’ (e.g. in the mass media) frequently occur in connection with narrow escapes from accidents. The hypothesis that lucky events are not always positive, to the same degree as unlucky events are negative, was tested by asking Norwegian and Polish students to describe incidents of good and bad luck from their own lives, These stories were subsequently evaluated by the narrators and by a group of judges. Ratings showed unlucky events to be uniformly negative whereas lucky events varied widely in attractiveness. Both were characterized by the idea that the outcome could easily have been a dramatically different one. In a parallel set of studies, pleasant and unpleasant experiences from students' everyday life were collected (without specific reference to luck) and evaluated along the same dimensions. The results confirm that unlucky and unpleasant events have more in common than lucky and pleasant ones. Pleasant and unpleasant events can be imagined to have opposite alternative outcomes, but these are felt with less immediacy than in the case of luck. It is concluded that luck attributions typically occur in situations that could easily have taken a worse turn. How lucky depends upon how easily and how much worse.
Contextualizing social identity in considerations of what it means to be a nurse
Authors: Millward Lynne J.
Published: May 2007

This paper describes research which provide the context for a discussion of how social representations can circumscribe identity possibilities and render feasible certain groups evaluations. Specifically, a research approach is advocated in which Social Identity and Social Representation Theory are integrated within single complementary paradigm, (Breakwell, 1993). A brief but critical examination of both theoretical traditions is ofered as the backdrop to this. A case study is described as a means of illustrating the unique potential of the integrated paradigm to predict and explain the meaning of social identity and the evaluations it affords. An investigation is then described involving 178 nurses ranging from Trainee to Charge Nurse status. Nurses were invited to use Q‐sorts to describe the meaning of their group membership. As predicted from having identified the types of social representation of nurses available, two diferent identity orientations emerged: a communal‐interpersonal (Patient Centred) and instrumental‐intergroup (Professional Distinctiveness). The communal‐interpersonal identity orientation was most typical of the lower status trainee nurses and also female nurses. In turn, higher status nurses and also male nurses, articulated a primarily instrumental‐intergroup identity orientation. The evaluations signalled by group membership were also predictable from the identity orientations exhibited.
On being more than just a part of the whole: Regional identity and social distinctiveness
Authors: Simon Bernd , Kulla Claudia , Zobel Martin
Published: May 2007

This article reports the results of a questionnaire study that examined the relationship between regional identification and perceptual accentuation of ingroup distinctiveness in a natural field setting. Respondents were male inhabitants of the Saarland which is a small German state. Half the respondents were members of the leading political party of the Saarland, while the other respondents were members of the major opposition party. As expected, the former showed more pronounced regional identification than the latter. Our main prediction was that a higher level of regional identification would be accompanied by stronger accentuation of positive distinctiveness of the regional ingroup relative to the national ingroup. The prediction was confirmed, both in terms of intergroup differentiation and perceived group homogeneity. Additional results suggest that, depending on the level of social identification, perceived group homogeneity may be either positively or negatively related to familiarity with the ingroup. Finally, we discuss the applicability of social identity theory to social contexts comprising differentially inclusive ingroups instead of mutually exclusive ingroups and outgroups.
Majority and minority influence using the afterimage paradigm: A replication with an unambiguous blue slide
Authors: Martin Robin
Published: May 2007

This study re‐examines the afterimage paradigm which claims to show that a minority produces a conversion in a task involving afterimage judgements (more private influence than public influence) as opposed to mere compliance produced by a majority. Subsequent failures to replicate this finding have suggested that the changes in the afterimages could be attributed to increased attention due to an ambiguous stimulus coupled with subject suspiciousness. This study attempted to replicate the original experiment but with an unambiguous stimulus in order to remove potential biases. The results showed shifts in afterimages consistent with the increased attention hypothesis for a minority and majority and these were unaffected by the level of suspiciousness reported by the subjects. Additional data shows that no shifts were found in a no‐influence control condition showing that shifts were related to exposure to a deviant source and not to response repetition.
Timing of schema activation and memory: Inhibited access to inconsistent information
Authors: Dijksterhuis Ap , Van Knippenberg Ad
Published: May 2007

In the present experiment, recognition of consistent and inconsistent information was measured as a function of time of schema activation. A schema was either activated before or after encoding, or not at all. Schema activation after encoding reduced recognition of inconsistent information while schema activation before encoding enhanced it (in comparison to the no schema control condition). Recognition of consistent information appeared to be unaffected by time of schema activation. It is argued that an a posteriori activated schema inhibits access to inconsistent information. In the Discussion a tentative theoretical explanation is provided.
The theory of planned behaviour and exercise: An investigation into the role of prior behaviour, behavioural intentions and attitude variability
Authors: Norman Paul , Smith Lawrence
Published: May 2007

This paper reports a prospective study which applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to the prediction of exercise behaviour over a six‐month period. The study addressed a number of issues which have been identified in the literature on the TPB; these being the role of prior behaviour in the TPB, the distinction between desires and self‐predictions, and the question of attitude variability. The findings showed prior behaviour to be the strongest predictor of exercise behaviour at six months. Contrary to expectations, the self‐prediction measure was not found to be a better predictor of behaviour than the desire measure. Attitude variability was found to be related to perceptions of control. However, attitude variability was not found to moderate relationships between components of the TPB. The implications of the results for the development of the TPB are discussed.
Testing alternative explanations for mortality salience effects: Terror management, value accessibility, or worrisome thoughts?
Authors: Greenberg Jeff , Simon Linda , Harmon‐Jones Eddie , Solomon Sheldon , Pyszczynski Tom , Lyon Deborah
Published: May 2007

Previous research has shown that reminding subjects of their mortality encourages negative reactions to others whose behaviour or attitudes deviate from the cultural worldview (e.g. Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon, Rosenblatt, Veeder, Kirkland and Lyon 1990; Greenberg, Simon, Pyszczynski, Solomon and Chatel 1992; Rosenblatt, Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski and Lyon 1989). According to terror management theory, these findings result from a heightened need for faith in the cultural worldview that is activated by reminders of one's mortality. Study I assessed the plausibility of an alternative explanation which posits that mortality salience simply primes individuals' values. Whereas mortality salience led to harsher bond recommendations for a prostitute, a procedure that directly focused subjects on their values did not. Studies 2 and 3 assessed the possibility that reminding subjects of any worrisome future concern would produce the same effect as a reminder of mortality. In both studies, mortality salience led to negative reactions to a deviant and had no effect on self‐reported affect, whereas other worrisome thoughts had no effect on reactions to a deviant but did create negative affect. Thus, consistent with terror management theory, mortality salience effects seem to result exclusively from thoughts of death.
Relating covariation information to causal dimensions through principles of contrast and invariance
Authors: van Overwalle Frank J. , Heylighen Francis P.
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the proposition that covariation information guides judgments about the dimensionality of attributions on the basis of causal principles of contrast and invariance, which are derived from Mill's methods of difference and agreement respectively. It is argued that the standard attribution categories specified in earlier research (e.g. person, occasion and stimulus) represent just one extreme of the attributional dimensions and require the principle of contrast, whereas additional attributional categories reflecting the opposite extreme of the dimensions (e.g. external, stable, general) require the principle of invariance. In three studies, subjects were given covariation information, and were asked to rate the properties of the likely cause along the dimensions of locus, stability, globality and control. In line with the predictions, consensus with others, consistency in time, distinctiveness between stimuli and contingency of one's actions showed the strongest effects on judgments of locus, stability, globality and control respectively. Similar results were obtained in a fourth study, where subjects had to judge the influence of eight causes with varying dimensional properties. Moreover, these judgments were rated somewhat higher given causes requiring the principle of invariance rather than the principle of contrast.
Conflict between incompetences and influence of a low‐expertise source in hypothesis testing
Authors: Butera Fabrizio , Mugny Gabriel
Published: May 2007

In a 2–4–4–like reasoning task, 69 subjects tested hypotheses following exposure to a low‐expertise source proposing an alternative hypothesis. Subjects compared self‐ and source's competence either independently or interdependently. Results show that interdependence leads subjects to assert self‐validity and the source's invalidity, and to test hypotheses through confirmation. Independence produces a conflict between incompetences, i.e. doubt concerning self‐ and source's validity, leading to disconfirmatory testing.
The perception of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity: On the confounding of group size, level of abstractness and frame of reference. A reply to Bartsch and Judd
Authors: Simon Bernd
Published: May 2007

In this reply, I criticize Bartsch and Judd's (1993) article on several grounds. First, they under‐utilize the efforts undertaken in prior work to rule out the possibility of an inverse relation between group size and perceived group homogeneity as an alternative explanation of the observed ingroup homogeneity effect. Secondly, Bartsch and Judd's design doubles and thus aggravates the confounding problem. By trying to avoid the target group size confound, they end up with two other confounds involving level of abstractness and frame of reference. Finally, I criticize Bartsch and Judd's methodological advice to avoid within‐subjects comparisons of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity in minority–majority contexts. Quite on the contrary, I highlight the socialpsychological significance of these comparisons.
Images of politics: A multidimensional analysis of implicit representations of political parties in a newly emerging democracy
Authors: Forgas Joseph P. , Laszlo Janos , Siklaki Istvan , Moylan Stephanie J.
Published: May 2007

What sorts of features define people's implicit cognitive representations about the political domain in a newly emerging democracy, with no previous experience of multi‐party politics? This study used a multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach to investigate the dimensional structure of, and individual differences in, cognitive representations of the party political space before the recent first free elections were held in Hungary. It was found that three cognitive dimensions explained subjects' intuitive view of political parties, evaluation, conservatism, and an urban–rural dimension. Significant individual differences in the use of these dimensions linked to gender, education, and city versus country background were also found. The relationship between implicit cognitive representations about parties and political attitudes and behaviour are discussed, and the implications of the findings for our understanding recent political developments in Eastern Europe are considered.
Perceived consensus of one's social value orientation in different populations in public and private circumstances
Authors: Iedema Jurjen , Poppe Matthijs
Published: May 2007

The present research examined the influence of subjects' own social value orientation, private or public circumstances, and whether the target population was specific or general on the frequency that subjects expected their own orientation among other people. In this way, the generality of the triangle hypothesis was evaluated by varying subjects‘ identifiability and the target populations’ specificity. In accordance with the triangle hypothesis, pro‐self people expected their orientation more frequently than pro‐social people. As predicted by the three‐tiered theory of opinion formation, subjects expected their orientation more often in public than in private circumstances. Furthermore, the triangle hypothesis was supported for the general population, but not for the specific population. In addition, support was found for the false consensus hypothesis, as subjects of each social orientation expected the occurrence of their orientation more frequently than others did. The results make new interpretations possible of previous research into the triangle hypothesis.
Contextual changes in the prototypicality of extreme and moderate outgroup members
Authors: Haslam S. Alexander , Oakes Penelope J. , McGarty Craig , Turner John C. , Onorato Rina S.
Published: May 2007

Previous social categorization research has tended to treat prototypicality (the degree to which a stimulus is representative of a category) as a fixed stimulus property. In contrast, self‐categorization theory sees prototypicality as an aspect of the categorization process that is dependent on features of the social context within which categorization takes place. To test this view two experiments (Ns = 256, 73) examined the perceived representativeness of extreme and moderate members of the same target outgroup in conditions which manipulated the salience of intergroup division. As predicted, the extremist was seen to be relatively more representative of the outgroup than the moderate to the extent that intergroup differences were salient. In Experiment 1 the extremist's message was also seen to be less important in low salience conditions and in Experiment 2 shifts in prototypicality were associated with changes in the evaluation of individual targets. Implications for the analysis of social categorization and stereotyping are discussed.
Intention‐behaviour consistency: Effects of consideration set size, involvement and need for cognition
Authors: Pieters Rik G. M. , Verplanken Bas
Published: May 2007

This study focuses on the strength of the relationship between behavioural intentions and actual behaviour in a multi‐alternative choice context. Two separate moderating processes of intention‐behaviour consistency were hypothesized, i.e. the amount of reasoning during intention formation, and the degree of confidence in the intention. Involvement (as an issue‐specific factor), and need for cognition (as an individual difference factor) were investigated as antecedents of amount of reasoning. confidence in the intention was predicted from the size of the consideration set (i.e. the number of alternatives that one considers for choice), and involvement. The study comprised a longitudinal two‐wave survey conducted before and after national elections in The Netherlands, in which pre‐election voting intentions were compared with actual voting behaviour. A high degree of intention‐behaviour consistency was found, which was significantly related to both amount of reasoning and confidence. The expected relations were found. The results extend current process models of attitude–behaviour relations. Furthermore, the results indicate that processes related to the consideration set size and content account for variance in intention‐behaviour consistency in choice contexts that cannot be accounted for by traditional attitude‐behaviour perspectives.
Surviving a failure: Efficacy and a laboratory based test of the hopelessness model of depression
Authors: Houston Diane M.
Published: May 2007

Abramson, Metalsky and Alloy's (1989) revision of the reformulated model of helplessness and depression to hopelessness theory introduced the possibility of additional diatheses for depression. The present paper describes a laboratory‐based test of the hopelessness model which provides an opportunity to explore the role of efficacy in relation to the new model and to extend its application to anxiety. Undergraduate students were asked to complete a general ability test and received false feedback which led them to believe that they had performed less well than they had anticipated. Attributional style was found to be predictive of increase in anxiety following failure feedback. The interaction between attributional style and eficacy was found to predict depression. Among subjects who were low in efficacy attributional style was significantly related to depression. While the study provided partial support for hopelessness theory it indicates a role for the assessment of efficacy as a moderator variable within the model.
Mere ownership: Affective self‐bias or evaluative conditioning?
Authors: Feys Jos
Published: May 2007

Experimental evidence is presented supporting Nuttin's (1985, 1987) conclusion that the name letter effect (i.e. a preference for letters occurring in the own name above not‐own name letters) is an affective consequence of mere ownership. We argue that ‘evaluative conditioning’ (e.g. Martin & Levey, 1987) was not fully eradicated by Hoorens (1990) as an alternative explanation for the name letter effect. In the present experiment, we tried to separate evaluative conditioning from ownership induction. An essential requirement for ‘mere’ ownership postulated by Nuttin (1987) is that the preferences for owned versus noi‐owned objects are measured or obtained in absence of subjects' awareness of their belongingness to self. This criterion was perhaps not fully satisfied. However, our results are more in agreement with the mere ownership view than with an account solely based on evaluative conditioning. The mere ownership effect (i.e. a preference for any object belonging to the self above any similar object belonging to another) is described as disclosing a purely affective self‐bias.
Counterfactual processing: Test of an hierarchical correspondence model
Authors: Klauer Karl Christoph , Jacobsen Thomas , Migulla Gerd
Published: May 2007

Bouts, Spears and van der Pligt (1992) recently proposed an hierarchical correspondence model of counterfactual processing. They argue that counterfactual processing is governed by the correspondence between events and outcomes along three dimensions: the causal relationship of events and outcomes, their evaluative tone and their normality. Causal relationship, valence and normality of events and outcomes were varied in a factorial design within two story contexts. As in previous studies, subjects' mental simulations are found to be guided by the causal relationships and by correspondence in terms of normality. In contrast to Bouts et al. the data indicate that the evaluative tone does not have a strong impact. The findings are discussed in relation to the story used by Bouts et al. and in relation to the hierarchical correspondence model.
Categorizing common behavioural antecedents as expressed in everyday language
Authors: Baumgartner Hans
Published: May 2007

In an effort to explore the meaning of action‐relevant constructs and to uncoverphenom‐ enological similarities and differences among commonly hypothesized antecedents of people's actions, 222 subjects in two studies categorized a variety of statements expressing motivations for doing things (e.g. I'd like to do it, I will do it, I'll try to do it). Cluster and principal‐components analyses yielded an interpretable structural representation consisting of seven different behavioural antecedents: attitudinal determinants of behaviour, social‐normative pressures, self‐efficacy considerations, weak motivational incentives to act, behavioural attempts to reach a goal, intentional influences on behaviour, and volitional considerations reflective of a determination to act. The results are related to previous attempts at specifying distinct antecedents of action, and implications are drawn for future research on the aetiology of human behaviour.
A Q methodological study of rebelliousness
Authors: Stenner Paul , Marshall Harriette
Published: May 2007

Through the use of the notion of rebelliousness, the argument is raised and developed that conventional social psychological research tends to downplay investigation of intangible, ‘fuzzy’ issues in favour of the study of more clearly operationalizable constructs. The thesis is developed that slippery social categories should concern us both for their own sake (because social knowing is fuzzy) and because they require of investigation analytics that have a sensitivity to the social and historical circumstances which impinge upon psychological processes. A Q methodological study into construals of rebelliousness is reported, which reveals eight interpretable factors explicated as ‘the ambivalent rebel’, ‘the antirebel’, ‘rejecting rebelliousness: the free thinker’, ‘rebellion as social change’, ‘shockable and anti‐confrontational’, ‘positive support for the rebel’, ‘rebel with a cause’ and ‘strong‐willed confrontational rebel’.
Positive distinctiveness and social discrimination: An old couple living in divorce
Authors: Mummendey Amélie
Published: May 2007

The paper highlights the relation between positive distinctiveness and social discrimination as key concepts in Social Identity Theory. The often replicated finding of mere categorization leading to ingroup favouritism and outgroup discrimination plays a major role in supporting the view that discrimination is functional for a positive social identity. The paper confronts the mere categorization effect with recent findings which throw severe doubts on its robustness. Particularly the failure to extrapolate categorization effects to intergroup behaviour involving aversive stimuli (the positive–negative–asymmetry of social discrimination) lead to the plea for further specifications of SIT and its validity.
Memory for stereotype‐consistent and stereotype‐inconsistent information as a function of processing pace
Authors: Dijksterhuis Ap , Van Knippenberg Ad
Published: May 2007

Additional evidence is obtained for the notion that stereotypes guide information processing and judgment inference under high processing demands. Subjects were provided with behavioural information about members of a social group. When presentation pace was high, subjects recalled more stereotype‐consistent information than stereotype‐inconsistent information, while this pattern was reversed under conditions of low presentation pace. Furthermore, judgments were more stereotypic when presentation pace was high.
Social categorization as a function of priming
Authors: van Twuyver Mariette , Van Knippenberg Ad
Published: May 2007

The present study investigates the effect of priming on the use of social categorizations. Using sex and race as stimulus categorizations, previous studies failed to confirm the hypothesis that priming one of the two available categorizations would enhance the use of the primed categorization relation to the not‐primed categorization. As suggested by Stangor, Lynch, Duan and Glass (1992). a momentary increase in accessibility may be insufficient to further enhance the use of highly accessible categorizations like race and sex, but it may be expected that priming will increase the use of categorizations which are less habitually used in daily life. The results of the present experiment support the hypothesis that, when the stimulus categorizations are weakly accessible (university major, university town), the relative use of the previously primed categorizations does indeed increase, compared to the alternative, not‐primed, categorization.
‘Zeitgeist’and minority influence—where is the causality: A comment on Clark (1990)
Authors: Perez Juan A. , Papastamou Stamos , Mugny Gabriel
Published: May 2007

Does the mood of the time (Zeitgeist) facilitate the influence minorities are able to exercise, or is it itself direct product of minority influence? It is argued, from a social psychological definition of the minority–majority relation, that the former interpretation fails to explain many of the observed effects and in particular the conversion effect. A model is offered that is consistent with the second interpretation.
On being excommunicated from the European view of minority influence: A reply to Perez et al.
Authors: Clark Russell D.
Published: May 2007

I agree with Perez et al.'s (in press) assessment of the literature on minority influence. While there are crucial differences between majority and minority influence research, I think the time has come for a reconsideration of the necessity and fruitfulness of the extreme dichotomy between majority and minority influence. The Clark (1990) study is only a step in that direction.
Seismic design of RC structures: A critical assessment in the framework of multi‐objective optimization
Authors: Lagaros Nikos D. , Papadrakakis Manolis
Published: May 2007

The assessment of seismic design codes has been the subject of intensive research work in an effort to reveal weak points that originated from the limitations in predicting with acceptable precision the response of the structures under moderate or severe earthquakes. The objective of this work is to evaluate the European seismic design code, i.e. the Eurocode 8 (EC8), when used for the design of 3D reinforced concrete buildings, versus a performance‐based design (PBD) procedure, in the framework of a multi‐objective optimization concept. The initial construction cost and the maximum interstorey drift for the 10/50 hazard level are the two objectives considered for the formulation of the multi‐objective optimization problem. The solution of such optimization problems is represented by the Pareto front curve which is the geometric locus of all Pareto optimum solutions. Limit‐state fragility curves for selected designs, taken from the Pareto front curves of the EC8 and PBD formulations, are developed for assessing the two seismic design procedures. Through this comparison it was found that a linear analysis in conjunction with the behaviour factor q of EC8 cannot capture the nonlinear behaviour of an RC structure. Consequently the corrected EC8 Pareto front curve, using the nonlinear static procedure, differs significantly with regard to the corresponding Pareto front obtained according to EC8. Furthermore, similar designs, with respect to the initial construction cost, obtained through the EC8 and PBD formulations were found to exhibit different maximum interstorey drift and limit‐state fragility curves. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inelastic response analysis of reinforced concrete structures using modified force analogy method
Authors: Chao Shu‐Hsien , Loh Chin‐Hsiung
Published: May 2007

A modified force analogy method (MFAM) is developed to simulate the nonlinear inelastic response of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Beam–column elements with three different plastic mechanisms are utilized to simulate inelastic response caused by moment and shear force. A multi‐linear hysteretic model is implemented to simulate the nonlinear inelastic response of RC member. The P‐Δ effect of the structure is also addressed in MFAM. Static and dynamic inelastic response of structure, damage condition and failure type for structural element, structural limit state and collapse time can also be simulated using MFAM. Compared with the general algorithm, the MFAM provides less computational time especially in the case of large structural system. It is also easier to be written as computer program. Three test data groups, which include cyclic loading test data of a non‐ductile RC bridge column, a two‐storey RC frame, and dynamic collapse test data of a non‐ductile RC portal frame, are selected to confirm the effectiveness of applying MFAM to simulate the inelastic behaviour of structures. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Experimental investigation of conditions of lateral shear reinforcements in RC columns accompanied by buckling of longitudinal bars
Authors: Sato Yuichi , Ko HuneBum
Published: May 2007

This study presents a cyclic load test of four RC columns to obtain data on stresses and strains on lateral shear‐reinforcing bars that contact buckled longitudinal reinforcing bars. The specimens include columns laterally jacketed with all‐elastic fibre‐reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets. The buckling lengths and modes in the longitudinal bars of the four column specimens stabilized at a buckling deflection (= lateral deformation of buckled longitudinal bar) from 0.3 to 0.6 mm. The yield portion ratio rby of shear reinforcement around the buckled longitudinal bars was introduced as an index of the development of buckling conditions. Here, the yield portion ratio rby was defined as the ratio of the length of the region where the shear reinforcements yield lby, to the buckling length lb. The rby values of the tested columns ranged from 0.45 to 0.76. The test results show that the buckling stress and the specific compressive stress of the longitudinal bars in the columns were smaller than those of the bare bars. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.