bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chemieunterricht zwischen Alltag, Technik und Umwelt Unterstützungsmöglichkeiten im regionalen Verbund
Authors: Stäudel Lutz , Wöhrmann Holger
Published: May 2007

NICHT ERST SEIT Veröffentlichung der Ergebnisse der TIMS‐Studie, die deutschen Schülerinnen und Schülern lediglich einen Platz im internationalen Mittelfeld einräumt [1], fordern Chemiedidaktik [2], neugestaltete Lehrpläne [3] und eine Reihe von Verbänden eine Umorientierung des Chemieunterrichts [4]. Dringender als je zuvor wird dazu aufgerufen,

Dabei stand und steht durchgängig der Anspruch im Zentrum, Verstehen anzubahnen und vermittels exemplarischer Vertiefung an geeigneten Gegenständen den methodischen Zugriff, die Interpretationsleistung und die Reichweite des Fachs erkennbar zu machen. Handlungsfähigkeit in Alltag, Gesellschaft und Berufsleben auf der Basis gesicherten Wissens und reflektierter Entscheidungen sollte Ziel zumindest des Unterrichts in der Sekundarstufe I sein. Diesem Anspruch steht eine schwieriger werdende Praxis gegenüber mit steigender Arbeitsbelastung, einer durch sozialen Wandel und Medienkonsum veränderten Schülerschaft und einer Lehrerschaft, deren Durchschnittsalter ständig steigt. Innovationen bedürfen angesichts dieser Situation mehr als nur der verbalen Unterstützung.
Molecular organization and in vivo function of the cytoskeleton of amphibian erythrocytes
Authors: Lee Kyeng Gea , Kerr Louis M. , Cohen William D.
Published: May 2007

One prominent cytoskeletal feature of non‐mammalian vertebrate erythrocytes is the marginal band (MB), composed of microtubules. However, there have been several reports of MB‐associated F‐actin. We have further investigated the function of MB‐associated F‐actin, using newt erythrocytes having large, thick MBs. Confocal microscopy revealed a distinctive band of F‐actin colocalizing point‐ by‐point with MB microtubules. Furthermore, the F‐actin band was present in isolated elliptical MBs, but absent in membrane skeletons lacking MBs. F‐actin depolymerizing agents did not affect F‐actin band integrity in isolated MBs, indicating its non‐dynamic state. However, exposure to elastase resulted in F‐actin removal and MB circularization. These results provide evidence of a strong association of F‐actin with MB microtubules in mature ellipsoidal erythrocytes. To assess the true extent of mechanical stress on the cytoskeleton, erythrocytes were observed by video microscopy during flow in vivo. Moving with long axis parallel to flow direction, cells underwent reversible shape distortion as they collided vigorously with other erythrocytes and vessel walls. In addition, cells twisted into figure‐8 shapes, a cytoskeletal property that may provide physiological advantages during flow. Our results, together with those of others, yield a consistent picture in which developing erythrocytes undergo transition from spheroids to immature discoids to mature ellipsoids. The causal step in discoid formation is biogenesis of circular MBs with sufficient flexural rigidity to determine cell shape. F‐actin binding to MB microtubules then creates a composite system, enhancing flexural rigidity to produce and maintain ellipsoidal shape during the physical challenges of blood flow in vivo. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Myxoid/round cell and pleomorphic liposarcomas
Authors: Fiore Marco , Grosso Federica , Lo Vullo Salvatore , Pennacchioli Elisabetta , Stacchiotti Silvia , Ferrari Andrea , Collini Paola , Lozza Laura , Mariani Luigi , Casali Paolo G. , Gronchi Alessandro
Published: May 2007

BACKGROUND.

The objective of this study was to investigate prognostic factors and clinical outcome of myxoid/round cell and pleomorphic liposarcoma.

METHODS.

Three hundred twenty‐nine patients with localized myxoid/round cell or pleomorphic liposarcoma who underwent surgery at the Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (Milan, Italy) over 25 years were reviewed. The reates of local recurrence, distant metastases, and survival were studied.

RESULTS.

Two hundred fourteen patients presented with primary disease, and 115 patients had locally recurrent tumors. The disease‐specific survival rate was 75% at 10 years, and the local recurrence and distant metastases incidence were 25% and 15%, respectively. Presentation with recurrent disease, tumor size (>10 cm), tumor grade (French Federation of Cancer Centers grade II or III vs grade I), and positive surgical margins were independent predictors of death. Tumor site and radiation therapy also played a role, mostly related to their effect on local outcome. Pathologic grade and histologic subtype influenced distant metastases. Extrapulmonary metastases were associated with poorer postmetastatic disease‐specific survival.

CONCLUSIONS.

Myxoid/round cell liposarcomas shared similar prognostic factors with other soft tissue sarcomas and had a relatively good clinical outcome. The presence of >5% of round cell component singled out a group of patients at greater risk of metastases and death but with a broad spectrum of disease aggressiveness. Extrapulmonary metastases were a peculiar pattern of myxoid/round cell liposarcoma that require special consideration for treatment and prognosis. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Relationship of abdominal obesity measured by DXA and waist circumference with insulin sensitivity in Hispanic and non‐Hispanic white individuals: The San Luis Valley Diabetes Study
Authors: Nelson Tracy L. , Bessesen Daniel H. , Marshall Julie A.
Published: May 2007

Background

To determine if dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures of trunk fat, a user‐defined abdominal region of interest (ROI) and waist circumference (WC) differ in their association with insulin sensitivity among Hispanics and non‐Hispanic whites (NHW) or explain any ethnic differences in insulin sensitivity.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study of data collected (1997–98) as part of the longitudinal San Luis Valley Diabetes Study was utilized. There were 664 non‐diabetic participants including 349 women (220 NHW, 139 Hispanic) and 305 men (197 NHW, 108 Hispanic), average age 63 years. Measurements included body mass index, WC and DXA measures of total and abdominal fat. Fasting glucose and insulin were used to estimate insulin sensitivity using the QUICKI index. A 2‐h oral glucose tolerance test was used to classify participants with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Results

Among women with NGT, Hispanics had lower insulin sensitivity, with DXA trunk fat explaining the most variance in QUICKI and 54% of the ethnic difference in QUICKI after adjusting for total body fat and lean mass. Among men with NGT, there were no differences between Hispanics and NHW in insulin sensitivity or any differences in the association of the abdominal fat measures with insulin sensitivity. Among men and women with IGT, the fat distribution variables explained little variance in QUICKI.

Conclusions

DXA measures of trunk fat provide additional information over WC and the DXA abdominal ROI measure about ethnic differences in insulin sensitivity between older Hispanic and NHW women with NGT. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The United Kingdom's sustainable development strategies: leading the way or flattering to deceive?
Authors: Russel Duncan
Published: May 2007

The United Kingdom (UK) is at the vanguard of European Union (EU) states pursuing strategies for sustainable development (SD). It has a long history of environmental policy coordination dating from the early 1990s, and in 1994 it became the first EU member to publish a SD strategy. This paper charts the development of the UK's successive SD strategies. It demonstrates that the pursuit of SD has been increasingly supported by apparent high‐level political backing and an expansive array of administrative processes, mechanisms and tools. However, despite this favourable environment, the analysis in this paper shows that SD, to date, has not significantly influenced UK policy making. Progress has been particularly hampered by: inconsistency in the government's definition of SD; questions over whether political backing is sustained and committed; and poor integration between the different administrative mechanisms, tools and processes to pursue SD. Consequently, SD is struggling to make headway against the dominance of traditional economic concerns in UK decision making. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Social significance of tasks, routines, and pragmatic schemas in distribution activities
Authors: Roux Jean‐Paul , Gilly Michel
Published: May 2007

Past research on social marking and pragmatic reasoning schemas suggests that cognitive processing modes are first elaborated by children when they are carrying out regulating social routines in the course of which they learn to produce the responses that satisfy the demand of their environment. The data of the two experimental studies reported here with 4–5 year old children, for object distribution tasks, show that the social routines evoked by the objects to be processed have a dual effect, influencing both the representation of the partition to be made, as well as the procedures used to make them. It can be hypothesised that the utilization of routine‐evoking tasks, which children are capable at a very young age, of accomplishing by activating efficient social‐goal oriented procedures, promote the attribution of an operative meaning to the linguistic expressions used to characterize the states to be attained, and the transformations to be applied in order to attain them.
Rebutting accusations: When does it work, when does it fail?
Authors: Koller Michael
Published: May 2007

Three studies address the question of how observers react to rebuttal statements and which variables are crucial in determining observers' evaluations of the initiator of the rebuttal. The first study showed that devaluation of the initiator of the rebuttal was higher when observers were confronted with the isolated rebuttal than when observers first learned about an existing accusation and then about the corresponding rebuttal. The second study qualified this finding by revealing that the devaluating effect of an isolated rebuttal was especially pronounced if the event in question was of high impact for observers. The third study included an additional variable, namely, the credibility of the source of the accusation. The drop in devaluation from rebuttal‐only to accusation + rebuttal conditions was obtained only for high impact observers when the accusation came from a noncredible source. The findings are explained within a framework of attributional and belief perseverance notions. Implications are discussed.
Cognitive models of class structure and explanations of social outcomes
Authors: Evans Geoffrey
Published: May 2007

In this paper we argue that people's explanations of a wide range of social outcomes occur within a framework of expectations derived from beliefs about the pervasive influence of social class on individuals' life‐chances. This claim is tested by examining the effect of varying the social class origins of vignette characters on judgments and explanations concerning their outcomes. Four domains of social activity are examined: occupational attainment, educational achievement, relationship success, and unemployment. In all of these areas, the class background of the characters was found to be associated with different outcome expectations, future expectations, judgments of responsibility and differences in the ways in which outcomes were explained. The results are consistent with the claim that people have cognitive models in which social class background is associated with particular social outcomes across a range of activities, and that these models are reasonably accurate representations of the relationships between social class and life‐chances. This suggests that contrary to theories which have stressed the individualistic nature of belief systems in western societies, social class forms an important part of the popular representation of the influences on occupational, educational and relationship success.
Strength in positive and negative political attitudes
Authors: Lindeman Marjaana
Published: May 2007

The aim of the study was to examine whether positive‐negative asymmetry can be found in the strength of political attitudes. Two hundred and eleven subjects participated in the study. Attitudes toward political parties were examined by means of a questionnaire with three strength measures. As was expected, attitude intensity, centrality and behaviour were found to be linked together in positive attitudes but not in negative attitudes.
Attitude change following persuasive communication: Integrating Social Judgment Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model
Authors: Siero Frans W. , Doosje Bert Jan
Published: May 2007

An experiment was conducted to examine the influence of the perceived extremity of a message and motivation to elaborate upon the process of persuasion. The first goal was to test a model of attitude change relating Social Judgment Theory to the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The second objective was to develop an instrument to measure attitude structure (latitudes of acceptance, non‐commitment, and rejection) that allowed for a more refined assessment of the discrepancy between the position advocated in a message and the recipient's initial attitude. The main dependent variable was the attitude towards the use of automobiles in relation to environmental issues. Subjects were confronted with a message located in their own latitude of acceptance, rejection or non‐commitment. Shortly after, a second measurement of attitude took place. The results showed that messages within the latitudes of non‐commitment gave rise to the greatest attitude change. The data support the susceptibility hypothesis that subjects elaborate messages mainly in the latitude of non‐commitment.
Effects of intergroup similarity on intergroup relations
Authors: Roccas Sonia , Schwartz Shalom H.
Published: May 2007

We examined the impact of intergroup similarity on two aspects of intergroup relations. Drawing on social identity and belief congruence theory, we hypothesized that — at high levels of intergroup similarity — increasing similarity has dual, seemingly opposed effects: It increases ingroup favouritism in evaluations but also increases readiness for social contact with the outgroup. We further hypothesized that both effects are moderated by the strength of individuals' identification with their ingroup. Finally, we hypothesized that there is ingroup favouritism on dimensions relevant for defining the group, but outgroup favouritism on dimensions irrelevant for this purpose. One hundred and forty‐nine students from two prestigious high schools, who were assigned to one of three levels of manipulated similarity between their schools, evaluated both schools on dimensions relevant and irrelevant to the school context and expressed their readiness for social contact with the other school. Ingroup favouritism appeared on relevant dimensions and outgroup favouritism on irrelevant dimensions. As predicted, for those highly identified with their ingroup, intergroup similarity led to greater ingroup favouritism in evaluations on relevant dimensions but to increased readiness for outgroup social contact. Implications for interpreting inconsistent results of past research and for specifying conditions for intergroup bias are discussed.
Mood influences on health‐related judgments: Appraisal of own health versus appraisal of unhealthy behaviours
Authors: Abele Andrea , Hermer Petra
Published: May 2007

An experimental study assessed the impact of positive versus negative mood inductions on health‐related judgments with respect to both self‐appraisal of health (present health status, future health risks, unrealistic optimism), and appraisal of unhealthy behaviours' noxiousness compared to an untreated control condition. With respect to self‐appraisal of health it was hypothesized that there should be stronger effects of negative mood than of positive mood, but that there should also be a mood by specific judgment task interaction. With respect to unhealthy behaviours' noxiousness ratings it was assumed that positive mood leads to higher noxiousness ratings than negative mood.

The findings show that 23 per cent of the rating variances can be explained by the mood factor. In accord with the predictions self‐appraisal of health was more negative under negative mood, but — with one exception — not more positive under positive mood than in the respective control condition. The exception relates to a measure of unrealistic optimism. Also in accord with the prediction positive mood led to higher noxiousness ratings of unhealthy behaviours than negative mood. All mood effects were independent of the respondents' sex, health locus of control and of the number of illness days during the previous year.

Under an applied perspective it is discussed how negative mood may exert a double detrimental influence on health care, whereas positive mood does not lead to a ‘happy go lucky’ attitude.
Numerical support, information processing and attitude change
Authors: De Dreu Carsten K. W. , De Vries Nanne K.
Published: May 2007

In two experiments we studied the prediction that majority support induces stronger convergent processing than minority support for a persuasive message, the more so when recipients are explicitly forced to pay attention to the source's point of view; this in turn affects the amount of attitude change on related issues. Convergent processing is the systematic elaboration on the sources position, but with a stronger focus on verification and justification rather than falsification. In Experiment 1 it was found that numerical support is related to information processing as predicted: The greater the support, the more convergent the processing. Experiment 2 replicated this result, and furthermore confirmed our expectations regarding attitude change: The more convergent processing occurs, the less subjects change their attitude on related issues.
The role of emotion in social judgments: An introductory review and an Affect Infusion Model (AIM)
Authors: Forgas Joseph P
Published: May 2007

This paper presents an overview of current evidence for the role of affect in social judgments, and the work represented in this Special Issue in particular A new integrative theory, the Affect Infusion Model (AIM) IS outlined as a comprehensive and parsimonious explanation of these effects. The model assumes that the degree of affect infusion into judgments varies along a processing continuum, and identifies four alternative processing strategies: (a) direct access, (b) motivated, (c) heuristic, and (d) substantive processing. Consistent with the empirical material reviewed here, the AIM predicts that judgments requiring constructive, generative processing (heuristic and substantive strategies) are more likely to be infused' by affect than are simple, reconstructive judgments (direct access and motivated processing). The role of target, judge and situational features in recruiting different processing strategies is considered, and evidence supporting the model is reviewed.
Negative affect and social judgment: The differential impact of anger and sadness
Authors: Bodenhausen Galen V , Sheppard Lori A. , Kramer Geoffrey P
Published: May 2007

The overwhelming majority of research on affect and social information processing has focused on the judgments and memories of people in good or bad moods rather than examining more specific kinds of emotional experience within the broad categories of positive and negative affect. Are all varieties of negative affect alike in their impact on social perception? Three experiments were conducted to examine the possibility that different kinds of negative affect (in this case, anger and sadness) can have very different kinds of effects on social information processing. Experiment I showed that angry subjects rendered more stereotypic judgments in a social perception task than did sad subjects, who did not differ from neutral mood subjects. Experiments 2 and 3 similarly revealed a greater reliance upon heuristic cues in a persuasion situation among angry subjects. Specifically, their level of agreement with unpopular positions was guided more by the credibility of the person advocating the position. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact of emotional experience on social information‐processing strategies.
Are you what you feel? The affective and cognitive determinants of self‐judgments
Authors: Levine Stephen R. , Wyer Robert S. , Schwarz Norbert
Published: May 2007

Subjects recalled an affect‐eliciting event that had occurred to them in either an achievement situation or an interpersonal situation. Recalling a positive or negative achievement experience (for which Subjects appeared to take personal responsibility) influenced judgments of their competence in achievement situations. Whereas thinking about a positive or negative interpersonal experience (for which subjects appeared to deny responsibility) did not influence judgments of their competence in social situations. On the other hand, both types of affect‐eliciting experiences influenced subjects' judgments of their competence in the domain to which these experiences had no direct implications, and also judgments of their general self‐esteem. Implications of these results for a more general conceptualization of self‐esteem and its stability are discussed.
Excuse‐making and blaming as a function of internal—external locus of control
Authors: Wang Dengfeng , Anderson Norman H.
Published: May 2007

Two studies examined differences in excuse‐maktg and blaming by subjects with internal or external locus of control. In Study I, 39 internals and 30 externals judged acceptability of various excuses in three situations and also assigned blame for cheating and lying in other situations. Externals were uniformly more prone to use excuses than internals, both for other actors and for themselves. Also, externals tended to assign less blame for cheating and lying. In Study II, 24 internals and 32 externals divided blame among themselves, another person, and ‘no one to blame’ in 10 joint‐responsible situations. Externals assigned more blame to the other person and less to themselves, but approximately the same blame to ‘no one’ Externals also had higher tendencies to blame others and were more sensitive to being blamed. These results point to a ‘missing dimension’ of interpersonal relations in studies of excuse‐making and blame.
Social representations and intergroup conflicts: Who's smoking here?
Authors: Echabe Agustin Echebarria , Guede Emilia Fernandez , Castro J. Luis Gonzalez
Published: May 2007

We studied the influence of explicitating a social conflict between smokers and nonsmokers on the social representations held about tobacco. Two representations were found: a psychological' representation which was defined by psychological explanations of the causes of beginning to smoke, a characterization of smokers as psychologically disturbed, and negative feelings towards smokers; a second defensive representation which attributes smoking to social factors, and hold both a positive stereotype of smokers and positive feelings towards smokers. The percentage of smokers who adhere to the defensive representation increased significantly when the conflict was made salient. Non‐smokers were not influenced by the explicitation of the social conflict. The structure of each representation was analyzed. It was found that in the psychological' representation the structuring element was the negative stereotype of smokers. By contrast, the structuring element in the defensive representation was identification with smokers. The implicatlons of this data for theories of both intergroup relations and social representations are discussed.
Political distinctiveness: An identity optimising approach
Authors: Abrams Dominic
Published: May 2007

According to Optimal Distinctiveness Theory and Self‐Categorization Theory possible self‐definition as a member of contextually moderately distinctive social categories should be more central to identity than association with very general or with highly unique social categories. Data from a large scale cohort survey of 4156 18–21‐year‐olds were analysed to test this hypothesis. Respondents self‐reported political affiliations were classified according to the social popularity (size and support) accorded each party The data are consistent with the hypothesis that minority political parties should provide more central and important bases of social identity Supporters of minority parties showed greatest commitment, perceived their parties to be more representative of themselves, and were less likely to simply conform to parental political views. Minority supporters were also significantly more likely to discuss politics with their friends. Additional data from Scotland confirmed that identification with Scotland was more strongly associated with support for the Scottish Nationalist Party than with support for other minority or majority parties. These data provide convergent evidence that minority parties may attract members through their capacity to provide a meaningful social identity.
Inferring interpersonal attitudes: Hypotheses and the information‐gathering process
Authors: Wojciszke Bogdan
Published: May 2007

In two experiments subjects inferred perceivers attitudes toward target girls of varied physical attractiveness. Subjects could select traits from a provided list and ask whether the perceiver ascribed to the target each of those traits. After each question they received feedback about the perceiver s trait ascriptions. The nature of the traits being asked for was analysed. It was predicted and found that subjects searched for information on ascriptions of extremely rather than mildly evaluative traits (the diagnosing strategy) and for ascrrptions of traits highly probable under implicit hypotheses based on the target's attractiveness (desirable traits when the target was attractive but undesirable ones when she was unattractive — the positive‐test strategy) Experiment 2 also showed that attractiveness‐based hypotheses governed information gathering only in an initial phase of this process and were later replaced by newly developed hypotheses based on the feedback information. Implications of these findings for information gathering in general, and for inferring interpersonal attitudes in particular were discussed.
Market forces, negotiator frames and transaction outcomes
Authors: Olekalns Mara , Frey Bernhard F
Published: May 2007

Although implicit framing differences have been advanced as an explanation of the buyers advantage, two necessary preconditions must be met to sustain this model: a demonstration that negatively‐framed negotiators are advantaged in negotiations and that buyer role labels invoke a negative frame. A modification of Neale, Northcraft, Magliozzi and Bazerman s (1986) simulation created a role‐neutral setting in which positively‐framed negotiators bargained against negatively‐framed negotiators, thus testing the first of these preconditions. Experiment 1 found no differences in the outcomes of positively‐ and negatively‐framed negotiators, a finding that could be attributed to relatively low market competitiveness. A second experiment, by creating power imbalanced negotiation markets, sought to increase market distributiveness and strengthen framing effects. Results showed that both high power and negatively‐framed negotiators were significantly advantaged, providing conditional support for the implicit framing model, However unlike role, frame interacted with power suggesting that the two variables are not functionally equivalent. These findings are interpreted to suggest that factors other than implicit framing differences account for the buyers advantage. More generally these results suggest that frame is responsive to situational variables and that such variables, by influencing negotiation processes, mediate the relationship between negotiator frames and negotiation outcomes.
Expertise in performance, or interest in the performing person? Some evidence for mutual exclusiveness
Authors: Wicklund Robert A. , Braun Ottmar L. , Waibel Mira Christiane
Published: May 2007

What is the relation between the smoothness of performance within a specific realm and interest in person descriptors pertinent to that realm? Although it would be reasonable to think that competent people are also actively interested in the ‘personalities’ of their competence realms, the present pair of studies shows just the opposite. Study I, examining people from a broad range of occupations and hobbies, shows a strong relationship between competence in an area and the rejection of the utility of person descriptor language (personality traits, external person qualities) for that area. Complementing this phenomenon, an emphasis on area‐specific person descriptors is found to the extent that subjects are inexperienced in the performance area. The second study involves an experimentally‐induced threat to competence among business majors and assesses their subsequent orientation toward business‐relevant person descriptors (traits and external, i.e. physical characteristics). The results show that threat to competence increases subjects' orientation toward such person descriptors. and in addition, the competence‐threatened group also evidences more subjectively‐perceived consistency among those person descriptors. The studies were carried out on the basis of a notion of static/dynamic orientation (Wicklund, 1986a, b), which provides a starting point for the thesis that incompetence is associated with concern with the personality traits and external characteristics of competent people.
Inferring competence from incompetence: An ironic process associated with person descriptors
Authors: Waibel Mira Christiane , Wicklund Robert A.
Published: May 2007

To what extent is a competently‐functioning person also interested in the person descriptors associated with that competence? A thesis by Wicklund (1986a, b ) charges that a dwelling on static person qualities (overt appearance; superficial traits) is often to be found among individuals who are themselves incompetent in the performance area in question: several studies in recent years have supported this thesis, and one of these provides the basis of the present work: Wicklund, Braun and Waibel (1993) found that athletes, scientists, farmers and other groups were disinclined to characterize their performance areas in terms of the static traits of the expert. In sharp contrast, respondents who were relatively non‐skilled in a performance area (‘distant’ area) were inclined to depict the area in terms of static elements, such as overt appearance and traits.

Each of the present subjects received two protocols from one of these previous subjects (above). In one protocol the earlier subject had depicted his own area (and thereby mentioned, on the average, relatively few static person descriptors); in the other protocol he depicted a ‘distant’ performance area (and usually made reference to one or more person descriptors). The present subjects' task was to infer the original subjects' competence in those two areas, and given that our subjects were inactive in both areas, they came systematically to the incorrect conclusion: they reacted to protocols laden with person descriptors as signalling the author's actual competence, a phenomenon consistent with the descriptions of technical societies in Sennett (1977) Subjects who evidenced some degree of competence in the pertinent areas did not commit this error.
Non‐ideal fit to a performance demand and the emergence of performance‐related person categories
Authors: Koller Michael , Wicklund Robert A.
Published: May 2007

Three studies were conducted in order to investigate antecedents of individuals' preoccupation with person descriptors, such as personality traits, physical‐ethnic characteristics, or external characteristics, In Studies 1 and 2 subjects had to rate, for a given list of traits, how important each of the traits was as a prerequisite for performance within an academic context. Subjects who were relatively inexperienced in writing term papers (Study 1) or in taking major exams (Study 2) showed a higher mean in rated importance of the traits than did those who were relatively experienced. However, no differences between experienced and inexperienced subjects occurred if they had to rate the same trait list with respect to each trait's general desirability, i.e. where the traits were simply rated as such, without any reference to a performance realm. This finding clarifies an important aspect of the theory underlying this work. In the third study subjects were encouraged to make use of overt, visible aspects in describing how to recognize a foreign language speaker The number of physical ethnic and material characteristics mentioned in subjects' descriptions was positively correlated with the number of mistakes subjects made in a foreign‐language translation task, particularly when subjectively felt press with respect to translating was high and subjects' performance in translating was salient. Implications of these findings are discussed within a conceptual framework dwelling on the societal origins of the use of person‐descriptor terms (Wicklund, 1986a, b).
Effects of gain—loss frames on satisfaction with self–other outcome‐differences
Authors: De Dreu Carsten K. W , Lualhati Joselito C. , McCusker Christopher
Published: May 2007

This research concerned satisfaction with outcome‐differences (advantageous inequity, equity, or disadvantageous inequity) as a function of the individual's gain or loss frame, other's gain or loss frame, the cooperative or noncooperative nature of the relationship, and their interactions. After reading a scenario, subjects rated on a satisfaction‐dissatisfaction scale a series of outcome‐pairs providing themselves and another party with outcomes. Consistent with Equity Theory, results showed that gain framed individuals found equity more pleasing than advantageous inequity, which in turn was preferred over disadvantageous inequity, but only when the decision making context was coopera‐ tive rather than noncooperative. In a noncooperative context, gain framed individuals were as pleased with equity as with advantageous inequity. Contrary to Equity Theory, but consistent with Prospect Theory, loss framed individuals were relatively insensitive to outcome‐differences and the nature of the relationship. Results finally suggested that advantageous inequity was preferred less when the other party had a loss rather than gain frame, albeit only under cooperative circumstances.
On the consequences of deindividuation manipulations for the strategic communication of self: Identifiability and the presentation of social identity
Authors: Reicher S. , Levine M.
Published: May 2007

According to traditional models of deindividuation, lowered personal identifiability leads to a loss of identity and a loss of internalized control over behaviour This account has been challenged by arguing that manipulations of identifiability affect the relative salience of personal or social identity and hence the choice of standards to control behaviour The present study contributes to an extension of this argument according to which identifiability manipulations do not only affect the salience of social identity but also the strategic communication of social identity. Reicher and Lvine (1993) have shown that subjects who are more identifiable to a powerful outgroup will moderate the expression of those aspects of ingroup identity which differ from the outgroup position and which would be punished by the outgroup. Here we seek to show that in addition, subjects who are more identifiable to a powerful outgroup will accentuate the expression of those aspects of ingroup identity which differ from the outgroup position but which would not be punished by the outgroup. This is because, when identifiable, subjects may use such responses as a means of publicly presenting their adherence to group norms and hence as a means of establishing their right to group membership. A study is reported in which 102 physical education students are either identifiable (I) or not identifiable (NI) to their academic tutors. They are asked to respond on a number of dimensions where pilot interviews show the ingroup stereotype to differ from outgroup norms. Expressions of difference from the outgroup position would lead to punishment on some of these dimensions (P items) but would not lead to punishment for others (NP items) The predicted interaction between identifiability and item type is highly significant. As expected, for NP items identifiability accentuates responses which differentiate the ingroup stereotype from outgroup norms. All these results occur independently of shifts in the salience of social identity. The one unexpectedfinding is that, for P items, identifiability does lead to decreased expression of the ingroup stereotype, but the diference does not reach significance. Nonetheless, overall the results do provide further evidence for the complex effects of identifiability on strategic considerations underlying the expression of social identity in intergroup contexts.
Judgements of compensation for misfortune: The role of expectation
Authors: Ritov Ilana , Baron Jonathan
Published: May 2007

In three questionnaire studies, we asked subjects how much compensation should be provided, by a third party, to an accident victim. We tested the hypothesis, derived from norm theory, that compensation would be greater when the injury was less to be expected, e.g. when the injury was caused by failure ‐ as opposed to success ‐ of a safety routine. To rule out the possibility that such expectation effects depended on subjects' anticipations of the reactions of the parties involved in the accident. the parties were said to be ignorant of factors that could affect these reactions. Effects of expectation were still found, even when subjects themselves judged the accident to be equally serious in all conditions. Information about what would have happened in the absence of the cause (e.g. if the routine had succeeded instead of failed) affected compensation. as predicted by norm theory, but expectation effects were found even when this information about counterfactuals was held constant, so norm theory cannot account for all the results. We suggest that subjects are applying simple heuristics unreflectively Subjects may also have attempted to fulfil an implicit social contract through their awards. The results cannot be explained through the hypothesis that compensation was optimal: the accident was the same, and it had no deterrent effect, so optimal compensation should be the same in all cases.
Social categorization processes as dependent on status differences between groups: A step into adolescents' peer‐groups
Authors: Kirchler Erich , Palmonari Augusto , Pombeni Maria Luisa
Published: May 2007

This paper presents two empirical studies of adolescents' peer‐groups and inter‐group processes. It is argued that the assumption according to which ingroup judgments tend to be more favourable than those about outgroups is too general. Social comparisons are hypothesized to depend largely on relative status of ingroup and outgroups. While members of superior groups are expected to favour their own group and to discriminate the outgroup, members of inferior or equal status groups are hypothesized to distinguish between ingroup and outgroup but not to discriminate the outgroup. In the first study it was predicted that members of superior groups would feel close to their group and distant from the outgroup, whereas members of equal status groups would feel close to their group but also relatively close to the outgroup. These predictions were confirmed. The closer highly identified members of equal status groups felt to be to their group the less distant they also perceived themselves to be to the outgroup. In the second study a distinction was made between evaluative and descriptive aspects of judgments and polarization of judgments. Social categorization processes were observed in evaluative components of judgments and in polarization of judgments. Descriptive components were not used to discriminate between ingroup and outgroups but just to illustrate differences between their respective activities and programmes.
Changing social stereotypes: The case of the information seeker
Authors: Johnston Lucy C. , Macrae C. Neil
Published: May 2007

Previous research has shown that stereotype‐based judgements can be attenuated through the attribution of disconfirming information to individual group members. Typically in these studies, subjects are forced to process all the available in formation, including disconfirming information, before providing their impressions of the group. In the reported research, in contrast, we attempted to create a more naturalistic paradigm by allowing subjects to control the amount and nature of information they received about individual group members. Under these conditions, we expected subjects to instigate a biased information‐seeking strategy and display a preference for stereotype‐matching rather than stereotype‐mismatching information. Our results supported this prediction. When subjects could control the nature and amount of information they received about a target group they showed: (i) a preference for stereotype‐matching information and (ii) no change in their stereotypic impressions of the group. When, however, subjects were forced to process all the available information, their stereotypic evaluation of the group diminished. These findings demonstrate the general resistance of stereotypes to change in naturalistic, information‐seeking settings.
A prognostic utility bias in judgments of similarity between past and present instances: How available information is deemed useful for prediction
Authors: Greenberg Jeff , Pyszczynski Tom , Warner Susan , Bralow Dawn
Published: May 2007

A variety of theorists have proposed that individuals desire to be confident in their inferences and predictions. One way this can be accomplished is by overestimating the extent to which available information provides a logic basis for such conclusions. Thus, when one's goal is to make an accurate prediction, if information about a prior known instance has potential implications for the prediction, one may overestimate the similarity of the prior known instance to the current instance. In this way, the perceived utility of the information as a basis for prediction can be inflated. To test this idea, three studies were conducted. In each study, subjects were asked to judge the similarity of past instances to an upcoming instance for which an outcome prediction was required. Judging a past instance as similar to the upcoming instance should only provide a firm basis for outcome prediction if outcome information regarding the past instance is known. Therefore, it was expected that when subjects are asked to make an outcome prediction, they would judge a past instance more similar to the upcoming instance if outcome information about the past instance is known than if it is not. Support for this hypothesis was obtained along with evidence concerning the conditions under which the eflect does and does not occur.
Problems with the measurement of illusory correlation
Authors: Haslam S. Alexander , McGarty Craig
Published: May 2007

The illusory correlation eflect (ICE) refers to a tendency for people to over‐represent rare behaviours performed by members of an infrequently encountered (minority) group. On the basis of an empirtcal study ( N = 245) this paper examines three procedural features that are common to studies in this field: (a) excluding subjects who assign too many behaviours to the minority group, (b) asking subjects to estimate the incidence of distinctive behaviours, and (c) submitting phi coefficients to Z transformation. Results show that the ICE is significantly lower amongst subjects who (a) are excluded and (b) estimate non‐distinctive behaviours and (c) that Z transformation applied to phi coefficients renders the distribution of responses non‐normal and does not provide a more linear index of efect strength. Implications for future research are discussed.
Collective self‐esteem consequences of outgroup derogation when a valued social identity is on trial
Authors: Branscombe Nyla R. , Wann Daniel L.
Published: May 2007

A structural equation model tested the role of degree of identification with a group (Americans) and level of collective self‐esteem as determinants of outgroup derogation under identity‐threatening and non‐threatening conditions. High identification and reductions in collective self‐esteem following a threat to that identity lead to outgroup derogation, but level of collective self‐esteem did not predict outgroup derogation in the no‐threat condition. The consequences of derogating both threat‐relevant (Russians) and threat‐irrelevant nationalities for subsequent self‐esteem were assessed. As predicted by social identity theory, higher amounts of derogation of the threat‐relevant outgroup in the identity‐threatened condition elevated subsequent collective self‐esteem. Derogation of threat‐irrelevant outgroups did not have this positive esteem consequence; in fact, increased derogation of irrelevant outgroups reduced subsequent self‐esteem. In the no‐threat condition, amount of derogation directed towards either type of outgroup did not significantly influence subsequent self‐esteem, with the overall pattern being opposite to what was observed in the threat condition. Implications for theories concerning self‐processes as instigators of outgroup derogation and the consequences of intergroup comparisons for collective self‐esteem are discussed.
Perceptions of relative group size and group status: Effects on intergroup discrimination in negative evaluations
Authors: Blanz Mathias , Mummendey Amélie , Otten Sabine
Published: May 2007

The positive–negative asymmetry in social discrimination proposes a threshold for ingroup favouritism within the negative domain: in contrast to comparable studies dealing with in‐ and outgroup evaluations on positive attributes, ingroup favouritism does not occur when negative attributes are used. The present study focuses on two aspects of this threshold: it investigates processes, which may influence the absence of ingroup favouritism in the negative domain, and it tests ‘aggravating’ variables, which seem to be suficient to elicit ingroup favouritism even in the negative domain.

Results show that ingroup favouritism occurred within the negative domain when several aggravating conditions were included, namely high salience of size‐ and status‐ similarity between groups and high ingroup identification. Furthermore, subjects under minimal conditions tended to overestimate relative size as well as relative status of their ingroup. The perception of group members to belong to a high status majority is interpreted as a sufficient condition counteracting tendencies towards ingroup favouritism within the negative domain.
Evaluative bias and self‐enhancement among gender groups
Authors: Lindeman Marjaana , Sundvik Lilli
Published: May 2007

One hundred and one middle managers (66 men, 35 women) evaluated themselves, ingroup (same sex) members and outgroup (opposite sex) members on both stereotypical and on contextual masculine and feminine dimensions. The results showed that men favoured ingroup members on the masculine dimensions and women favoured ingroup members on the feminine dimensions. In addition, both sexes favoured themselves over ingroup and outgroup. The results are discussed in terms of social identity theory, self‐categorization theory and egocentric social categorization model.