bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Physical aggression: Effects of ethnicity of target and directionality of aggression
Authors: Schwarzwald Joseph , Yinon Yoel
Published: May 2007

Physical aggression of members of a powerful majority ethnic group against an opponent either from a powerless and discriminated against minority or from their own group was tested as a function of aggression directionality and aggressor's attitudes. It was hypothesized that under bidirectional aggression where the opponent could aggress as well, members of the powerful majority group would adjust their aggressive responses to that of their opponent's regardless of his ethnic origin and regardless of aggressor's attitudes. However. under unidirectional aggression where the opponent was powerless, it was expected that those subjects who held unfavourable attitudes toward members of the minority group would be more aggressive against an opponent of that group than against an opponent of his own ethnic group. Subjects who had neutral attitudes would be equally aggressive toward all opponents. Ninety‐six 11th grade vocational high school male students of Western origin, were given the opportunity to administer electric shocks to an opponent who was either of Western or Oriental origin in a competitive situation, Subjects were selected according to their attitudes toward Oriental Jews. Half expressed negative attitudes, the other half neutral attitudes. Half of the subjects expected their opponent to reciprocate shocks, the others did not. Contrary to expectations it was found that the attitudes of subjects of Western origin towards Orientals did not effect their aggressive behaviour. When aggression could not be reciprocated, all subjects were more aggressive toward an opponent of Oriental than of Western origin. The findings showed that when aggression was bidirectional, all subjects adjusted their aggressive behaviour, to their opponents'. However, they were less aggressive towards an opponent of Oriental than of Western origin.
Alternative approaches to equity: Dissonance reduction pro‐social motivation and strategic accommodation
Authors: Van Avermaet Eddy , McCllntock Charles , Moskowitz Joel
Published: May 2007

Reviews, compares and evaluates a self‐justijication and a decision theoretical conceptualization of equity. It is argued that the latter approach reveals an important and often neglected distinction between equity as a goal of social interaction and equity as an interpersonal strategy employed in rhe pursuit of other valued goals. Associated problems of definition and measurement are discussed. After a review of relevant research it is concluded that equity serves predominantly as an accommodative interpersonal strategy, and that future research should focus on analyzing the various functional bases of equity, their relationships, and their eflects on behaviour.
Group performance as a function of group type, task condition and scholastic level
Authors: Kanekar Suresh , Libby Cynthia , Engels Jeff , Jahn Gretchen
Published: May 2007

Studied performance on a multiple‐solution anagrams task by two‐member nominal, pseudo, quasi, and real groups in relation to task conditions (set versus nonset) and school grades (10th, 11th, and 12th). Nominal groups were made up of individuals working alone. Pseudo groups were made up of members sitting together but working independently for individual scores. Quasi groups were made up of members who were working together for a common or shared goal but were not allowed to communicate with each other. Real groups were the usual teams of freely interacting and mutually consulting members. Five words were presented to the subjects in the set condition (unlike in the nonset co ndition) in order to channelize their problem‐solving activity in particular directions. The subjects were 192 male American high school students. The most important finding was that both nominal and pseudo groups produced more errors than real groups. Also the set condition generated more errors than the nonset condition. These and other findings were discussed and interpreted in the context of previous research.
The victim's reaction to an attack as a function of his perception of the attacker following a verbal insult
Authors: Orbach Israel
Published: May 2007

This study investigated the role of perception in the victim's behaviour following a verbal attack. It was expected that the victim's counterattack and evaluation of attacker would be influenced by: (a) the victim's level of aggressiveness; (b) the attacker's perceived level of aggressiveness; (c) the attacker's status (prestige in the classroom); and (d) retaliation threat for counterattack.

High and low aggressive subjects (victim's) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions differing in the attacker's attributed level of aggression and status. Half of the subjects in each condition received a retaliation threat treatment.

The victims were interacting with an assumed partner (attacker) in a guessing game during which they were insulted. After each insult the victim could counterattack by withholding a monetary reward from the attacker. At the end, the victim rated his attacker on aggressiveness, potency and social desirability. The results indicated that there were significant main effects of the victims level of aggressiveness, the attacker's status and retaliation threat. There was also a significant interaction between victim's and attacker's aggressiveness, for the two dependent variables. In addition, victim's behaviour was influenced by the interaction between attacker's status and his aggressiveness.
Similarity of attitudes and instrumentality as determinants of aggression by policemen
Authors: Lange Alfred , Verhallen Wim
Published: May 2007

The influences of two determinants of aggression were investigated by means of a two by two factorial design. Aggression was operationally defined in terms of the amount and intensity of obnoxious sounds which the subject delivered to the confederate while the latter was trying to perform a task involving estimation of distances. In order to manipulate the first independent variable one half of the group of subjects were led to believe that the victim was someone who had many attitudes similar to their own. The other subjects thought they had to cope with a partner whose attitudes were dissimilar. The second independent variable was manipulated by suggesting to one half of the group of subjects that they would be able to earn increasing sums of money (up to a fixed maximum) depending on the loudness of sounds they were prepared to deliver to their partner. In the non‐reward condition money was not mentioned. The subjects were young policemen. The data showed a strong effect of the similarity variable, with significantly more aggression being shown to a dissimilar partner. However, external reward did not lead to a clear increase of aggression. In the discussion attention is given to the relevance of these data to the problem of control of violence in our society.
Distraction, counterarguing and the internalization of attitude change
Authors: Romer Daniel
Published: May 2007

The hypothesis that distraction during a persuasive communication enhances the resulting attitude change by disrupting counterarguing was critically examined. Although previous research using Brock's postcommunication counterarguing index has shown that distraction inhibits counterarguing, the relationship was re‐evaluated in the present experiments with a more direct measure of counterarguing. In these experiments, the direct measure of counterarguing was shown to increase with distraction, contradicting hypotheses that attribute the distraction effect to counterarguing disruption. Furthermore, with a wide range of distraction, Brock's measure was nonmonotonically related to distraction. Since observed attitude change is also predicted to be nonmonotonically related to distraction, Brock's index was interpreted us a correlate rather than a mediator of measured attitude change. The results suggested that distraction actually inhibits the internalization of the message and that the apparently enhancing effects of distraction are a result of the demand characteristics and/or evaluation apprehension created by the experimental task of paying attention to both a message and a distractor. The implications of the results for the theoretical role of counterarguing in mediating the internalization of persuasive communications were discussed.
Sex differences in aggression: Are current notions misleading?
Authors: Da Gloria Jorge , De Ridder Richard
Published: May 2007

Studied experimentally the influence of norms and sex of subjects on aggressive behaviour in same sex dyads. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) subjects will react aggressively to an unpleasant state of affairs, if they interpret it as being the result of violation of a norm on the part of another; (2) female subjects will display more aggression than male subjects under conditions of repeated provocation while male subjects will be more aggressive under conditions of infrequent or no provocation. In a 2 × 2 × 2 complete factorial design (norm violation versus norm enforcement; male versus female; low versus high reward for performance) 20 same sex pairs of students performed alternatively a sensory‐motor task (victim) and a shock delivery task (aggressor). As predicted, subjects who consider other's behaviour to be a norm violation aggress more often (p <.0001). A significant interaction between sex of subject and norm violation is found in support for the second hypothesis (p <.05). It is concluded that positions grounded on the S‐R paradigm are misleading for the understanding of sex differences in aggression.
Polarization of attitudes in homogeneous and heterogeneous groups
Authors: Paicheler Geneviève
Published: May 2007

The present research involves both the relationship between norms and polarization‐hence the utilization of the same experimental paradigm and the investigation of intergroup relations. The homogeneity‐heterogeneity variable is determined by the composition of the discussion groups: all‐male, all‐female, and mixed groups. Confederates of both sexes, defending different normative positions were introduced in the groups. The polarization effect, confirmed in the homogeneous groups, does not appear following the discussion in the heterogeneous groups, but arises as soon as the subjects are confronted with one another. This variation is interpreted as a process of resolution of differences within the subjects's own group as well as in relation to the norms. The norms also determine the variations of influence of the confederates according to their sex and role. In short, in the discussion on male‐female relations, more radicalism is expected of the women, and more traditionalism of the men.
The construction of economic reality by some Glaswegian children
Authors: Jahoda Gustav , France Anatole
Published: May 2007

Studied the development of the inderstanding of elementary economic systems in 120 working class children of both sexes aged between 6 and 12. Methods employed included a procedure whereby children had to detect absurdities, a task in which the children played the role of shopkeeper, and semi‐structured interviews. It was shown that the youngest children already had the basic idea of the wage‐system, i.e. selling one's labour, but were confused about the monetary transactions in a shop and failed to appreciate that a shopkeeper has himself to pay for goods. When this began to be understood children thought that goods were bought and sold at the same price; hence they conceived of two parallel but unconnected systems, which led them to believe that the payment for shop assistants came from some external source. Grasp of the way the two systems intermesh was not reached until about 11, unless direct questioning triggered off earlier insight. Findings are discussed in the light of the modified Piagetian approach put forward by Furth et al. (1976).
The balance between fairness and discrimination
Authors: Branthwaite Alan , Doyle Susan , Lightbown Nicholas
Published: May 2007

Research on intergroup relations by Tafel and others (e.g. Tafel et al., 1971; Billig and Taifel, 1973) has indicated that there are two opposing norms governing intergroup behaviour‐ norm for discrimination and a norm for fairness. The behaviour that results from social categorization represents a compromise between these opposing norms. The norm for discrimination is explained in terms of social comparison processes and the need to achieve a positive ingroup identity (Turner, 1975). Along similar lines, another study suggests that discrimination is strongest on the part of the self‐perceived underdog in order to assert its independent and individual identity (Branthwaite and Jones, 1975). The origin of the norm for fairness has received less attention but may be attributed to general moral judgements.

Since there are opposing norms for discrimination and fairness and the observed behaviour is a resultant of the two, an explanation of intergroup behaviour cannot focus on fairness or discrimination alone, but it must take into account the balance between these forces. The relative strength of the two norms is a question of some importance, together with the factors which influence the relative strengths. This paper examines this issue and presents evidence from two studies that the status of the groups is an influence on the strength of the norm for discrimination. Both studies employed the Taifel matrix method: one in an experimental situation where the status of the groups was manipulated by the research procedures; the other in a more natural setting.
Retaliatory aggression in individuals and groups
Authors: Jaffe Yoram , Yinon Yoel
Published: May 2007

Retaliatory aggression in individuals and groups was compared. Physically and verbally attacked males in group or individual conditions were given the opportunity to retaliate against their tormentor by administering him electric shocks in the context of a bogus learning experiment. Groups retaliated much more severely than did individuals. Analysis of the group decision‐making dynamics suggested the process of social modelling as a mediator of group aggression. Additional data suggested the mediating influence of diffusion of responsibility as well.
The effects of status differences, favoured treatment and equity on intergroup comparisons
Authors: Commins Barry , Lockwood John
Published: May 2007

Studied the effects of status and treatment differentials on in‐group bias in an intergroup comparison experiment. The status differential conditions were formed by alleged differences in performance on a prior task between in and out‐group. The treatment differential conditions were formed by experimenter's manipulation of a points differential between the in and out‐groups. One hundred and fourteen undergraduates were each assigned to one of nine conditions in a 3 × 3 design of high equal low status and favour no favour disfavour. Results indicate a significant status effect (p < 0.01), with in‐group bias increasing with status, and a significant favour effect (p < 0.01), with in‐group bias decreasing with favour. There is no significant interaction (F < 1). Particular conjunctions of status and treatment represented three conditions oft equity, inequitable advantage, inequitable disadvantage. Contrary to predictions from equity theory, but in accord with predictions from social comparison theory, results indicate in‐group bias in all three conditions.
Inferences about others from their reports about themselves
Authors: Trope Yaacov , Burnstein Eugene
Published: May 2007

Subjects in this study were asked to infer an attribute of a target person on the basis of his report about himself: Two informational determinants of such inferences were varied: (a) reliability of the report, i.e. the belief that the target person would correctly report events that had actually occurred and (b) diagnosticity of the actual events, i.e. the belief that the actual events are indicative of the attribute. Normative considerations require that the effect of diagnosticity be dependent on reliability so that as reliability increases, judgment should become less regressive, i.e. vary more as a function of events' diagnosticity. The results indicate that subjects employed a simple but inappropriate averaging rule in combining reliability and diagnosticity information. This rule, like many other simplifying judgmental heuristics, resulted in inferences that were more extreme than warranted by normative models. The inappropriate combination of reliability and diagnosticity information may thus contribute to observers' tendency to over‐attribute personal characteristics to others.
The incompleteness of ethogenics
Authors: Totman Richard
Published: May 2007

The [ethogenic] analysis of human social behaviour proposed by Harré and Secord is based on the idea of man as a freely choosing purposeful agent, contrasted with the mechanistic, or deterministic, conception of man which is the basis of most traditional research and theory in social psychology.

The idea that a person's social behaviour is governed by social rules is central in the ethogenic scheme. But the same idea is also implicit in much traditional research and theory. A consideration of the concept of social rule in the study of social behaviour helps to clarify the relation in which ethogenics stands to traditional social psychology and highlights a fundamental difference between them in their respective fields of enquiry. Harré and Secord's claim that the ethogenic paradigm should replace traditional models is misplaced because the two approaches are demonstrably compatible. Indeed, the necessity of a causal mechanistic account can actually be derived from certain assumptions of the ethogenic paradigm itself.

It is shown that important headway may be made in social psychology, particularly in relation to the study of physical and mental illness, by acknowledging the compatibility of the two approaches.
When rigidity does not fail: Individualization and psychologization as resistances to the diffusion of minority innovations
Authors: Mugny Gabriel , Papastamou Stamos
Published: May 2007

Studied the impact of individualization and psychologization of minorities upon their influence. In Experiment I, 72 Swiss male and female 15‐year‐old students read a text on pollution prepared in a 2 × 2 ANOVA‐design (one/ two sources, rigid/flexible style) and reported their impression of the content. As below, attitude was measured before and after reading. In Experiment II, 24 second‐year Swiss psychology students judged the presumed author of an anti‐militaristic tract by adjectives with either merely political or political and psychological connotations. Results indicate that the strong difference between flexible and rigid style appears with one source only, but that independent of the number of sources, a rigid style obtains a less positive image. Change of attitude in moderate subjects judging with political adjectives only vanished in those using psychological adjectives in addition. As a rigid minority only tacks influence when individualized and as psychologization constitutes an ideological functioning of resistance to social change, psychological research, by its current strategies, might be participating in such resistance.
Fairness or discrimination in intergroup behaviour? a reply to Branthwaite, Doyle and Lightbown
Authors: Turner John C.
Published: May 2007

Branthwaite, Doyle and Lightbown (1979) argue that minimal intergroup behaviour represents a compromise or balance between fairness and discrimination, that fairness and discrimination are opposed, generic norms of intergroup relations and that one factor affecting their relative weight is status position since, apparently, different status groups attempt to equalize their positions by varying the degree to which they are fair or discriminatory. This reply reviews evidence to show that minimal groups are never fair but always discriminatory to varying degrees and that a generic norm of intergroup fairness is unnecessary to explain why that discrimination rarely approaches maximum. It also argues that the concept of opposed, generic norms has neither empirical nor theoretical value. Finally, it cites findings that the basic tendency in intergroup behaviour is not to equalize but to accentuate evaluative differences between groups (whether of similar or different status) in favour of the ingroup.
The effects of daily newspapers on their readers—Exemplary presentation of a study and its results
Authors: Bortz JÜRgen , Braune Paul
Published: May 2007

Investigated in a long term study the effects of daily newspapers. A field experiment was carried out in which newspapers with different political standpoints were allocated to the 760 subjects (male students). The effect criteria measured were both specific and general political attitudes, images of politicians, and judgmental tendencies. The analysis of media effect extended to both differential and general effects.

Clear attitude changes consistent with the opinions presented in the newspapers could be established in attitude spheres where the arguments presented were of a more controversial nature. Analogous effects could only partially be observed as regards the image of well known politicians.

If features of the subjects' judgmental process are taken as effect criteria (use of dimensions), no newspaper related effects can be observed.

In spite of considerable devaluation of one newspaper by the subjects, there were no boomerang effects. This ties in with the fact that practically no differential attitude changes (e.g. relating to dogmatism or political interest) could be established.

Taking into account the historical background to our study, we conclude that the effect of the daily newspapers examined here was more or less confined to attitudes towards more salient issues.

Finally, we have outlined general hypotheses which can be the starting point for the analysis of long term cumulative media effects.
Future orientation of institutionalized and noninstitutionalized delinquents and nondelinquents
Authors: Trommsdorff Gisela , Lamm Helmut
Published: May 2007

The present study is an analysis of the relationship between delinquency, institutionalization and future orientation, based on a social‐learning theoretical framework. Two hundred and forty male adolescents (institutionalized and noninstitutionalized delinquents and nondelinquents) answered open and structured questions concerning their anticipations and evaluations of the future. The data were analysed by analyses of variance and t‐tests and partly confirm the hypotheses: Delinquents structure their future in a less differentiated, less extended, and more internal way than nondelinquents. This was especially true for the institutionalized delinquents. However, delinquents structured their fears concerning their personal development more extensively than nondelinquents. Future orientation varied according to the length of institutionalization in different domains of life. These results do not support the dominant assumption of the literature that delinquents have an unrealistic future orientation. Rather, it is shown here that institutionalized delinquents anticipate rather negative future events which they expect to occur shortly after the time of their release. However, the present results have to be cautiously interpreted on account of the special selection of the sample and the rather short duration of institutionalization. Also, the method of a differentiated measurement of future orientation used here is hardly practiced in the literature though such a conceptualization as a multidimensional construct seems to be theoretically fruitful.
Intergroup alliances and rejections within a protest movement (analysis of the social representations)
Authors: Dl Giacomo J‐P.
Published: May 2007

Studied the development of a student protest movement which, after an initial success, rapidly declined. Opinion surveys were conducted simultaneously with an analysis of the social representations which our population (i.e. male and female university students) held about itself, its potential partners and the proposed strategies. For this latter method, different words related to the protest movement were used as stimuli for a free association task. Similarities between dictionaries were analysed according to Johnson's clustering method and Kruskal's multidimensional scaling method. The structure of social representations allows us to explain the lack of success of the protest movement in terms of intergroup differentiation: the students refused an alliance with the leaders of the movement and rejected their strategies because they progressively defined them and their culture as foreign to and incompatible with themselves. The concept of social representation is discussed in light of the findings.
The goal structure of situations
Authors: Graham Jean Ann , Argyle Michael , Furnham Adrian
Published: May 2007

An empirical method for analysing the goal structure within and between persons in different social situations is described. The method involves establishing the main goals of occupants of situational roles and then finding out how the different goals inter‐relate in terms of degree and type/direction of conflict and compatibility.

Principal components analyses were carried out on ratings of importance of goals of those in different situational roles. Criteria of high factor loadings combined with high mean importance ratings were used to produce the main higher order goals for each of the roles. The goals for the six roles studied were, in each case except one: social acceptance/developing relationships, own well being and achieving a specific situational task goal. However, the precise nature of these goals is rather different in the different situations.

Inter‐relationship of goals was studied using ratings of conflict or compatibility between pairs of goals within and across roles of each situation. The results were used to describe the goal structures of the different situations. The situation with the most conflict between goals was, as expected, the complaint. Ways were suggested in which knowledge of the goal structure, particularly the points of conflict, could help with skilful handling of potentially difficult social situations.
The plausibility of the implausible: A critique of Snyder and Swann (1978)
Authors: Semin Gün R. , Strack Fritz
Published: May 2007

Snyder and Swann (1978) advance an argument that individuals display a cognitive bias in testing hypotheses about the personal attributes of other people, i.e. they seek out information which is supportive of their hypothesis (hypothesis‐confirming strategy). It is argued here that these authors confound the hypothesis a person might entertain (belief) with a hypothesis the person is asked to test (assigned task). The findings of two experimental studies in which task and belief were manipulated independently suggest that Snyder and Swann's (1978) results are due to the task manipulation and not to an hypothesis‐confirming bias.
Social comparison on two dimensions
Authors: Van Knippenberg A. , Wilke H. , De Vries N. K.
Published: May 2007

In this experiment social comparison on two task dimensions has been studied. The subjects received bogus feedback on their performance on two tests, one allegedly measuring creativity, the other alertness. By means of this feedback four relative position conditions were induced: scoring high on both tests, scoring low on both tests, scoring high on creativity and low on alertness, and vice versa. Anticipating either a co‐operative or a competitive game, the subjects indicated their preference for one or the other task dimension and also expressed their preference for a comparison person. It was found that, as predicted, the subjects preferred and valued comparison dimensions on which they occupied a favourable position. With respect to preference for a comparison person, compensatory choices were obtained: on the dimension on which the subject performed well, they preferred an inferior other. On the dimension on which they performed poorly, they preferred a superior other. This pattern of choices was found in co‐operation as well as in competition. Finally, upward preference was stronger in co‐operative than in competitive conditions, particularly on the dimension on which the subject's own score was low. These and other results were discussed in relation to theoretical social comparison notions.
The equal division kernel: An equity approach to coalition formation and payoff distribution in N‐person games
Authors: Crott Helmut W. , Albers Wulf
Published: May 2007

Most existing models of coalition formation and payoff distribution in groups rest upon normative considerations and are ambiguous in their predictions insofar as they do not determine which of several coalitions will most probably result. The paper sketches the basic features of a model derived from social psychological exchange‐and equity‐theory which predicts coalitions and payoff distributions for a variety of situations. The evaluation of the model by the results of several experiments indicates that it provides a reasonable starting point for further theoretical developments that are based empirical studies.
The child's conceptions about means of production and their owners
Authors: Berti Anna Emilia , Bombi Anna Silvia , Lis Adriana
Published: May 2007

Investigated the child's social ideas, namely notions about production means (factory, public transportation, farmland) and family influence on notion acquisition. 120 children of jive age groups (4 to 13 years) were clinically interviewed (sensu Piaget). Children's parents, workers and housewives of an Italian industrial centre, answered to questionnaires inquiring background information on parents and child and appraisal of child's level of understanding. Interview answers were classified on ten level sequences concerning father's job, home ownership, function and ownership of production means and produce. Correlational analyses and separate ANOVAs [5(age) × 2(sex) × 3(production mean)] in three subject areas (owner of production mean, of produce, and produce use) of interview answers reveal that children's ideas about different production means develop with differing rhythms through the same level sequences, which are clearly related to the general characterstics of intelligence described by Piaget. Questionnaires show that parents tend to furnish their children with the degree of information concerning jobs appropriate to the level of development at which the parents believe their children to be.
Social representations, social attribution and social identity: The intergroup images of ‘public’ and ‘comprehensive’ schoolboys
Authors: Hewstone Miles , Jaspars Jos , Lalljee Mansur
Published: May 2007

Investigated the relationship between social representations, intergroup causal attributions and the search for a positive social identity in two rival groups from British secondary education.

Part I studied the shared social beliefs 0f 20 ‘Public’ (PS) and 20 ‘Comprehensive’ (CS) schoolboys (age 16 years) concerning similarities and differences between the two types of schoolboy. Each subject wrote a short essay on the topic and these essays were content‐analysed into 13 differences and 4 similarities between the two types of school. The two groups agreed on a number of points, but consensus within each group on a number of beliefs revealed distinct social representations.

Part II studied the effect of group membership and social categorization on causal attributions for success and failure in examinations. Twenty‐four PS and 24 CS boys {age 16–17 years) were used in a 2 (school of subjects) × 2 (school of stimuli) × 2 (success/failure) design, with one between and two within‐subject factors. Each subject read four background descriptions of candidates for university entrance, then made a number of ratings. On the page following each description, subjects attributed the candidate's performance to ability, effort, task difficulty and luck; a confidence rating was also made. Analyses of variance suggested that second‐order interactions between group membership of the subjects, social categorization of the stimuli and achievement outcome were most important. Public schoolboys differentiated themselves from the CS boys by means of ability (p < 0.08 and effort (p < 0.0005) attributions; CS boys differentiated in tern of luck (p < 0.06).

Part III studied social identity processes in the same 48 subjects. Each subject read a 20—item questionnaire based on Part I, with 10 traits classified as Public and 10 as Comprehensive; within each set of traits half were autostereotype and half heterostereotype traits. Subjects made group‐ratings, evaluations and self‐ratings on each trait. Analyses of variance [2 (schools) × 2 (items) × 2 (stereotype)] were computed on each dependent measure. For the group ratings a main effect of items (p < 0.0001) revealed that PS and CS items were differentially ascribed to the two groups. In addition, CS boys valued CS‐autostereotype items most highly (p < 0.05) and rated themselves higher on CS items (p < 0.0001).

Results are discussed in terms of the influence of social representations on both causal attributions and intergroup differentiation; the existence of intergroup biases in achievement attributions; and the different modes of differentiation chosen by the different status groups. Social Identity Theory is seen as a valuable framework with which to consider these findings.
Favouritism, fairness and joint profit in long‐term relationships
Authors: Hewstone Miles , Argyle Michael , Furnham Adrian
Published: May 2007

This study was designed to test a number of hypotheses about the use of FAV and other strategies as measured by the intergroup ‘matrices’ in four long‐term relationships‐with spouse, child, friend and workmate. Forty subjects filled in matrices giving three measures of self‐favouritism (FAV), and one each of fairness (F) and maximum joint profit (MJP), in relation to the allocation of money and time. It was found that FAV was not used for spouse, and was used less for child than for the non‐family relationships (p < 0.01, p < 0.05). There was also an influence of altruism (A) against FAV, when time was distributed between spouse (p < 0.01) or child (p < 0.001) and the self. F was used most for spouse, followed by child, friend and workmate (p < 0.001), and was used more by females in distributing money (p < 0.01). MJP was not used at all for money, but was used to some extent for time.
Explanations for unemployment in Britain
Authors: Furnham Adrian
Published: May 2007

Psychological studies on unemployment in the 1930's and the 1970's and 1980's have concentrated on the psychological impact of unemployment on such things as people's health, self‐esteem and social interaction. Furthermore studies have, not unnaturally, concentrated almost exclusively on the unemployed neglecting the employed altogether. Very few studies have concerned the range and determinants of lay explanations or attributions about the causes of unemployment. This study set out to examine differences in the explanations for unemployment as a function of whether people were employed or unemployed, as well as their age, sex, education and voting pattern, The results showed a predictable pattern of differences between the employed and unemployed, the former believing more in individualistic explanations and less in societal explanations than the latter. Whereas there were few sex and age differences, education and vote revealed numerous differences in explanations for unemployment. As in the case with explanations for poverty, Conservatives found individualistic explanations for unemployment more important than Labour voters who in turn found societal explanations more important than Conservative voters. Results were discussed in terms of the psychology of explanations, political socialization and the experience of unemployment. Problems in this study as well as the limitations and difficulties in research of the kind were also discussed.
Interpersonal and intrapersonal justice: The effect of subject and confederate outcomes on evaluations of fairness
Authors: O'Malley Michael N.
Published: May 2007

Subjects were asked to make justice judgments based on different comparison standards—intrapersonal and interpersonal standards. The intrapersonal standard of entitlement was induced through a promise. Subjects were either given more than ($4.00), less than ($1.00), or exactly ($2.50) the reward promised for completion of an assigned task. By providing subjects access to information pertaining to a confederate co‐worker's outcomes, subjects were able to evaluate the equitableness (an interpersonal standard) of the distribution. Confederates also received one of three levels of reward (i.e. $1.00, $2.50, or $4.00). It was found that evaluations of fairness depend on the criteria used in making the assessment; if intrapersonal comparisons are employed, subjects produce justice judgments quite different from those grounded on an interpersonal referent. A main effect for subject outcome was obtained when the prevailing standard was intrapersonal and an interaction between subject and confederate outcomes was found when the prevailing standard was interpersonal. One implication of these results is that it is possible for an equitable distribution to still be considered unjust.
The informational basis of social judgements: Under what conditions are inconsistent trait descriptions processed as easily as consistent ones?
Authors: Schul Yaacov , Burnstein Eugene , Martinez James
Published: May 2007

This paper is concerned with the conditions under which an effort k made to reconcile inconsistent arguments in a message. It assumes, first, that reconciliation requires additional processing; and second, that it does not occur automatically but only when the set of inconsistent arguments are informative and must be integrated in the representation of the judgment. Subjects were given trait descriptions that varied in consistency as well as in informativeness. Their task was to use these descriptions in forming a judgement about a hypothetical person. It was found that the impact of consistency on the ease with which the judgement was made, as indicated by its latency, was more pronounced when the descriptions were highly informative than when they were relatively uninformative: It took much longer for an inconsistent set of trait descriptions to give rise to a judgement than a consistent set if the set was informative; if the descriptions were uninformative, the difference in the latency of judgement diminished considerably. These effects support the hypothesis that the amount of processing invested in reconciling inconsistencies among arguments is determined by the informativeness of these arguments. After making their judgement, subjects were given a surprise recognition memory test. The results provided further support for the notion that highly informative arguments are elaborated to a larger extent than uninformative arguments, namely, recognition memory for the former was superior to that for the latter.
An experimental study of social performance and delay on the testimonial validity of story recall
Authors: Stephenson Geoffrey M. , Wagner Wolfgang , Brandstatter Hermann
Published: May 2007

Sixty adults from the city of Linz took part in this experiment. They read a story—The War of the Ghosts—in pairs, and were required to reproduce it either jointly, in dyads, or singly, and either immediately following or one week later. In addition they were asked a number of specific questions about the story, and gave various ratings of confidence and completeness. As predicted, social (dyadic) performance increased confidence, completeness and the incidence of implicational errors (errors which do not contradict the original). Delay significantly diminished confidence. Analyses of confidence for right and wrong answers indicated that subjective testimonial validity was substantial in all conditions. Analyses of objective testimonial validity showed that dyads are more trustworthy than individuals when they are correct, but are less trustworthy when they happen to be wrong. They overall conjidence I accuracy correlation across conditions of +0.6 masks the fact that the greatest obstacle to valid testimony is inappropriate confidence in wrong answers, especially in dyads, and especially immediately after the event. The incidence of implicational errors was highly related positively to measures of confidence and accuracy, whereas confusional errors were independent. Implicational errors are regarded as an especially important element in schematic recall, and are an important aspect of the superiority of social performance.
Newspaper coverage of diseases and actual mortality statistics
Authors: Kristiansen Connie M.
Published: May 2007

The number of newspaper articles about various diseases and the amount of attention given to these diseases by 7 British national daily newspapers were compared with the actual mortality statistics for these diseases. Spearman rank correlations showed that there was no correspondence between the press's coverage of disease and mortality statistics.
Egotism and evaluation in self and other attributions for achievement related outcomes
Authors: Boski Pawel
Published: May 2007

A critical appraisal of the existing motivational versus cognitive controversies in the area of attributional research led to the formulation of a model which contains the dimension of Evaluation conceptualized independently from Locus of causality.

The model was tested, with Nigerian undergraduate students serving as subjects, in an experiment on self versus other attributions for success and failure outcomes.

The data revealed two major findings: (1) Positive evaluation, and not attributional asymmetry, is the pattern of self‐perception in the achievement‐related contexts; (2) The pattern of positive evaluation in other‐perception is self‐outcome mediated, it shows a high level of generalization in the co‐shared experience and an egotistic reversal if opposite outcomes occur.
Current social psychological perspectives on justice
Authors: Deutsch Morton
Published: May 2007

In the context of a comparative review of four recently published books on justice, the author provides an assessment of the current state of the field. He specifically discusses the role of equity theory, the variety of distributive principles, the role of justice in social behaviour, the broadening of perspectives in the field, and some remaining gaps and weaknesses in the literature. In concluding, the work of the leading theorists in the area is evaluated.
Better or just different? Positive social identity by discrimination against, or by differentiation from outgroups
Authors: Mummendey Amélle , Schreiber Hans‐Joachim
Published: May 2007

The object of this study is to explore to what degree the question of ingroup favouritism, brought to light in the framework of ‘social identity theory’, is dependent upon the methods used for measuring this variable. The influence of this factor on ingroup bias was tested under the following three conditions: ‘complementary assessment’, ‘separate assessment’ and ‘choice of dimensions’. This last condition gave the subjects the opportunity to choose which dimensions would be used for assessment. It was found that the degree of ingroup bias is different for each of the three conditions. The results indicate that it is only under certain circumstances that the ingroup distinguishes itself as ‘better’ at the expense of the outgroup. This occurs only if the subjects are not given the opportunity to assess both groups on non‐corresponding dimensions, and therefore do not have the possibility to rate them ‘equally good’ but ‘different’.
Rotter's I. E.‐Scale and Socio‐Political Action‐Taking: The balance of 20 years of research
Authors: Klandermans P. G.(Bert)
Published: May 2007

Besides Rotter's hypothesis that internals are more likely to participate in sociopolitical action than externals, in this paper the hypothesis is formulated that externals are more likely to participate in socio‐political action than internals. Both hypotheses can be justified from a value‐expectancy theoretical point of view. These hypotheses are called the efficacy hypothesis and the power‐formation hypothesis respectively. The assumption is made that the power‐formation hypothesis holds true for people who are convinced that they are powerless, on objective and for ideological grounds, and that the efficacy hypothesis holds true for people who do not have that conviction. Conditions under which a relationship between I. E. and socio‐political action‐taking can be expected were derived from both hypotheses. Thirty‐one studies on I. E. and action‐taking were reviewed. Five studies confirmed the efficacy hypothesis, four studies confirmed the power‐formation hypothesis. Nineteen studies revealed no relationship between I. E. scores and action‐taking. The explanations that various authors give for the absence of a relationship were examined. It was investigated whether explanations that held true for studies other than the ones for which they were formulated would fit into the theoretical framework developed in this article. This appeared to be the case. The implications for further research are discussed.
Scaling occupational prestige by magnitude estimation and category rating methods: A comparison with the sensory domain
Authors: Orth Bernhard , Wegener Bernd
Published: May 2007

In a field study, models for magnitude estimation and for category ratings are applied to the scaling of occupational prestige. The two respective models provide sufficient conditions for magnitude estimates to yield logarithmic interval scales and for category ratings to lead to interval scales. Both models are found to hold reasonably well for the majority of respondents. As implied by a third model, the relation between magnitude estimation and category rating scales can well be described by a generalized power function. Although overall results do not favour one method over the other individual data analyses reveal substantial interindividual differences with respect to the capability of performing magnitude estimates and category ratings, respectively. The findings are compared to results recently found in psychophysical laboratory experiments, and it is concluded that the individual scale properties the two methods provide do not differ across the attitudinal and the sensory domains.
The relationship between children's sociometric status and ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion
Authors: Edwards Roselyne , Manstead A. S. R. , Macdonald Christopher J.
Published: May 2007

This study explored the relationship between children's sociometric status (SMS) and ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions. As expected, high SMS children obtained significantly higher emotion recognition scores than did low SMS children. However, there was an unanticipated inverse correlation between low SMS children's recognition scores from adult photgraphs and child photographs. Possible reasons for the observed relationships are discussed.