bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Paradoxical effects of categorization in minority influence: When being an outgroup is an advantage
Authors: Pérez Juan A. , Mugny Gabriel 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn a 2 × 2 factorial design, 165 high school girls gave their opinions about abortion (direct influence) and about contraception (indirect ifluence) after reading a message advocating abortion said to have been written by either an ingroup (same sex) or an outgroup (opposite sex) minority and explicitly opposed by the majority opinion of either the ingroup or the outgroup. Results show that there is less direct influence when the ingroup majority is opposed to the minority, and more direct influence when the process of identification is less involved. Indirect influence appears in an intergroup context where categorization of majority and minority into different groups is superimposed on their ideological dissent, which has the effect of allowing recognition of the minority's distinctiveness and validity over and above the discrimination that appears at the direct influence level. In discussing the results, a theoretical integration of social comparison and validation processes is proposed as a step towards explaining the diversity of minority influence phenomena.
Lay conceptions of personality: Eliciting tiers of a scientific conception of personality
Authors: Semin Gün R. , Krahé Barbara 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTwo studies are reported which examine the availability of scientific propositions of personality in lay conceptions of personality. It is argued from a social constructivist perspective that models of personality must derive from and refer to lay conceptions of persons. Eysenck's trait‐type model of introversion‐extraversion, containing specific propositions about phenotypic and genotypic differences between extraverts and introverts, was utilized as the scientific model of personality and its availability in lay conceptions of personality was examined in two studies. In the first study, subjects were presented with a genotypic characterization of either an introvert or an extravert target person and asked to infer corresponding phenotypic differences. In the second study, the inference process was reversed with subjects being asked to infer genotypic characteristics of introverts versus extraverts on the basis of phenotypic target person desecrations of the two types. Results from both studies show a high degree of accuracy in subjects' inferences, suggesting that laypersons have well‐formed conceptions about personality containing ‘higher‐order’ psychogenetic propositions corresponding to Eysenck's trait‐type model. The implications of the findings for theory construction are discussed.
Person‐positivity bias in political perception?
Authors: Nilsson Ingrid , Ekehammar Bo 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTwo samples of Swedish high school student3 rated political party leaders and parties on evaluative scales to test two person‐positivity bias hypotheses: (1) evaluations of persons are more often positive than negative, and (2) individual persons are evaluated more positively than les personal representations of the same object. The hypotheses were confirmed only under certain conditions. Explanations for the bias are suggested.
Status differenttals and intergroup behaviour
Authors: Sachdev Itesh , Bourhis Richard Y. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study investigated the independent effects of status differential on intergroup behaviour. Using a variant of the minimal group paradigm (Tueland Turner, 1979), subjects were categorized into groups of differing status (high, equal, low) with two levels of category salience (high, low). Using Tajfel's matrices subjects rated the creativity of products ostensibly produced by ingroup and outgroup members. Own group identification, intergroup perceptions and self‐reported strategies on the matrices constituted the other dependent measures. Results indicated a main effect for group status but none for salience. Equal status groups discriminated against each other thus replicating the minimal intergroup discrimination effect. High and equal status group members were more discriminatory against outgroups and more positive about their own group membership than were low status group members. In contrast, low status group members engaged in significant amounts of outgroup favouritism. Results also showed that social categorization per se was sufficient to elicit more ingroup than outgroup liking amongst all group members regardless of status differentials between groups. Overall, the results illustrate important aspects of the interplay between group status, social identity, prejudice and discrimination.
Affective consequences of mere ownership: The name letter effect in twelve European languages
Authors: Nuttin Jozef M. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe hypothesis is tested that mere ownership of an object is a sufficient condition to enhance its likelihood to become one of the most attractive items of the entire set of similar objects. Evidence is presented that isolated visual letter stimuli belonging to one's own name are more often ranked among the six most preferred letters of the entire alphabet than identical not‐own name letters. Across 12 different European languages, an (own) name letter effect was found for (initial and/or not‐initial) letters belonging to own first and/or family name. The fundamental theoretical relevance of the effect is outlined as well as its heuristic value for research on individual versus collective ownership and on affective asymmetry. A cross‐lingual analysis of the six least preferred letters‐while also confirming the mere ownership hypothesis‐calls for a critical reformulation of Zajonc's mere exposure theory.
Attitude‐behaviour relationship: Attitude relevance and behaviour relevance
Authors: Prislin Radmila 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn a 2 × 2 experiment, the influence of attitude relevance and behaviour relevance on attitude‐behaviour relationship was examined. The highest attitude‐behaviour correlation was found in the situation where no external factor made relevant neither attitude nor behaviour, while the lowest correlation was found in the situation where both attitude and behaviour were made relevant.
Intergroup competition for the provision of step‐level public goods: Effects of preplay communication
Authors: Bornstein Gary , Rapoport Amnon 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThirty‐two groups of three subjects each participated once in an intergroup public goods game (IPG) in which two groups compete for the provision of step‐level public goods. Half of the groups were allowed to discuss the conflict before their members decided privately and anonymously whether to contribute their endowments to their group benefit, and half were not given this opportunity. The results show that preplay group discussion enhances the percentage of contributors and changes the players' estimates about the decisions of the other players. The theoretical implications of the results are examined within the framework of a new model which relates the individual decision to contribute or not to the reward structure, altruism, and the individual's belief structure.
Social marking in ordering tasks: Effects and action mechanisms
Authors: Gilly Michel , Roux Jean‐Paul 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe same ordering task with social marking is used in two experimental training conditions. In one of the conditions, the answers based on the social norm contradict the answers that result from the cognitive processing of the examples provided. In the other condition, the two types of answers are the same. When compared to a control training condition, both of the test training conditions are shown to have the same effect. The observations made during training as well as the justifications given by the children support the hypothesis that the influence of social marking cannot be explained, at least for one of the test conditions, by the existence of socio‐cognitive conflict. Social marking may lead to better representation of the task. In one of the experimental conditions, it may also lead to the use of a problem‐solving procedure that is based on the properties of the objects to be ordered.
Comments on the motivational status of self‐esteem in social identity and intergroup discrimination
Authors: Abrams Dominic , Hogg Michael A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe background and development of motivational hypotheses in social identity theory are examined, revealing two general motives for intergroup discrimination: a desire for cognitive coherence, or good structure; and a need for positive self‐esteem. The latter (self‐esteem hypothesis: SEH) has received most attention. Both the theoretical and empirical bases of the SEH are largely rooted in research using the minimal group paradigm. However, it remains unclear whether self‐esteem is to be considered primarily as a cause or an effect of discrimination. When real social groups are considered the SEH appears to provide only a partial explanation, and a variety of more or less powerful alternative social motives may underlie discriminatory behaviour. We explore some social‐structural, individual and interpersonal limits to the SEH, and we call for an awareness of these motives and a re‐examination of the good‐structure thesis. The SEH, as it stands, provides only a partial contribution to our understanding of the relationship between social identity and discriminatory intergroup behaviour.
What triggers causal attributions? The impact of valence and subjective probability
Authors: Bohner Gerd , Bless Herbert , Schwarz Norbert , Strack Fritz 
Published: May 2007

AbstractVarious field studies and experimental simulations demonstrated that causal reasoning increases after unexpected as well as after unpleasant events. However, unpleasant events are seen as less likely than pleasant ones in everyday life. Accordingly, the subjective probability of the event and its hedonic quality were naturally confounded in these studies. To isolate the contribution of both determinants, the subjective probability and the valence of an event were independently manipulated in a laboratory experiment. Subjects completed an ostensible ‘professional skills test’ and received either success or failure feedback in relation to a criterion set by the experimenter. The subjective probability of success was varied by informing subjects about the distribution of success and failure in a comparable population (either 23 per cent or 77 per cent were said to meet the criterion). The results indicate a pronounced valence effect: The intensity of causal reasoning and the number of possible reasons reported for the outcome was greater after negative than after positive feedback, independent of the a priori probability of the outcome. No evidence for an increase in causal explanations after unexpected, as compared to expected, events was obtained. Several mediating processes are discussed.
The name letter effect: Attachment to self or primacy of own name writing?
Authors: Hoorens Vera , Todorova Elka 
Published: May 2007

AbstractBulgarian students who first learned to write in the Cyrillic alphabet prefer own name letters in the Cyrillic but also in the Roman alphabet, with which they became acquainted only many years later. These findings which are intra‐individually correlated, support Nuttin S interpretation of the Name Letter Effect in terms of attachment to self and contradict a ‘primacy of own name writing’ explanation.
Reduced intergroup differentiation as a result of self‐categorization in overlapping categories. A quasi‐experiment
Authors: Rehm Jürgen , Lilli Waldemar , van Eimeren Birgit 
Published: May 2007

AbstractA quasi‐experiment was conducted to examine the effects of self‐categorization in overlapping categories on intergroup differentiation. ‘Old aged women’ was used as the first, ‘sports’ as the additional category. It could be shown that intergroup differentiation was significantly reduced under crossed categorization conditions. Implications for social compensation strategies are discussed.
Priming and communication: Social determinants of information use in judgments of life satisfaction
Authors: Strack Fritz , Martin Leonard L. , Schwarz Norbert 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTwo experiments examined the effects of answering a question about a specific component of life satisfaction on respondents' assessment of their overall satisfaction with life. The results suggest that the use of primed information in forming subsequent judgments is determined by Grice's conversational norms. In general, answering the specific question increases the accessibility of information relevant to that question. However, the effect that this has on the general judgment depends on the way in which the two questions are presented. When the two questions are merely placed in sequence without a conversational context, the answer to the subsequent general question is based in part on the primed specific information. As a result, the answer to the general question becomes similar to that for the specific question (i.e. assimilation). However, this does not occur when the two questions are placed in a communication context. Conversational rules dictate that communicators should be informative and should avoid redundancy in their answers. Therefore, when a specific and a general question are perceived as belonging to the same conversational context, the information on which the answer to the specific question was based is disregarded when answering the general one. This attenuates the assimilation effect. The conditions under which these different processes occur are identified and experimentally manipulated, and the implications of these findings for models of information use in judgment are discussed.
Judgments of relationship satisfaction: Inter‐ and intraindividual comparisons as a function of questionnaire structure
Authors: Schwarz Norbert , Scheuring Bettina 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTwo experiments demonstrate that individuals use an interindividual comparison strategy to evaluate a specific life‐domain if their attention is drawn to only one aspect of that domain, that has either positive or negative evaluative implications. If their attention is drawn to two aspects with opposite implications, however, an intraindividual strategy, based on the comparison of both aspects, is preferred. Whether one or two aspects bearing on a specific domain are salient is, among other conditions, a function of the number of aspects assessed in a questionnaire. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
When a compliance without pressure strategy fails due to a minority dissenter: A case of “behavioral conversion”
Authors: Joule Robert Vincent , Mugny Gabriel , Perez Juan Antonio 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWhile a strategy of compliance without pressure (Joule, 1987) had the effect of inducing almost all of a group of smoking subjects to stop smoking first for 18 hours then for 3 days, simply observing someone (an accomplice) break his or her own initial agreement to abstain from smoking for 18 hours was enough to bring about a substantial reduction in the willingness of other subjects to later abstain for 3 days. However, subjects did not follow the lead of the accomplice immediately, and persisted in their agreement to abstain for 18 hours. This pattern of indirect, but not direct influence, suggests that there may be a type of minority influence at work here that represents a sort of behavioral conversion.
Social identity theory: A conceptual and empirical critique from the perspective of a behavioural interaction model
Authors: Rabbie Jacob M. , Schot Jan C. , Visser Lieuwe 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAfter a conceptual and methodological critique of Social Identity Theory (SIT), it is argued, in sharp contrast to SIT but consistent with a Behavioural Interaction Model (BIM), that the allocations in the standard Minimal Group Paradigm (MGP) —which provide the main evidence for SIT— can be best reinterpreted as instrumental, rational behaviour aimed at maximizing the economic self‐interests of the subjects rather than efforts on their part to strive for a positive social identity as SIT has claimed. Explicit social categorization appears to be only one of the many unit‐forming factors which may affect allocations within and between group boundaries in the MGP.Group polarization effects indicate that groups, guided by their perceived interdependence on the recipients of their allocations seem more rational and effective than their individual members prior to the group discussion in maximizing their economic outcomes.Finally, it is concluded that BIM provides probably a more parsimonious explanation of all the usualfindings obtained by the standard MGP than SIT.
Preconditions for explanation in social psychology
Authors: Moscovlcl Serge 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe paper starts by outlining a general perspective in social psychology. It may turnout that social constructivism, the perspective outlined in the early sixties is one of the major contributions of European social psychology to social sciences in general. Whatever its fate, some particular points are made: a)physics is not the only model we have to follow b) the existing ways of explanation can and must be upgraded c) more complex theories are required d) changes in methodological and statistical criteria are expected in order to deal with new and complex phenomena. Nevertheless the main problem today is description and not explanation. That is the discovery and observation of a wider range of new social phenomena. How successful we will be in this endeavour decides if social psychology becomes a major science or not.
Relocating attributional phenomena within a language‐cognition interface: The case of actors' and observers' perspectives
Authors: Semin G. R. , Fiedler K. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTwo studies are reported which apply a language based model to the actor‐observer domain in attribution theory. This model distinguishes between four classes of interpersonal terms (descriptive action verbs, interpretive action verbs, state verbs, and adjectives) that have been shown to mediate different cognitive inferences. An adaptation of this language based model suggests that actor‐observer differences can be understood as differential language conventions used by actors and observers. This hypothesis finds support in the first study where subjects were asked to give free descriptions to a number of social events. A second study examined the more specific implications of this general case by replicating an experiment reported by Nisbett et al. (1973). The same language based conventions are shown to be used by actors and observers in this more specific case. The implications of these findings are drawn out with special reference to the influence of culture on cognitive processes.
Nigel Lawson's tent: Discourse analysis, attribution theory and the social psychology of fact
Authors: Potter Jonathan , Edwards Derek 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe general aim of this paper is to show some of the limitations of the attribution theory approach to ordinary reasoning when compared to a discourse analytic alternative. Three central shortcomings with attribution theory are documented, each stemming from the method of presenting subjects with factual vignettes from which they are required to draw inferences: (a) its asocial and unexplicated notion of information; (b) its realist view of linguistic description; (c) its constrained account of participants' activity. These paws are illustrated in practice through a discourse analytic study of the management of factual versions in a political dispute (over a controversial briefing between a British politician, Nigel Lawson, and a group of journalists). Specifically, it focuses on ‘consensus information’, examining the way notions of consensus are used when warranting and undermining versions. Two features of consensus accounts are examined: (a) consensus across a group of observers of an event; (b) corroboration between independent individuals. In each case, the rhetorical organization of factual accounts is documented by analysing both the way the consensus is constructed and the way it is undermined or discounted. The analysis explores how the ‘facts of the matter’, rather than existing as criteria for the resolution of disputation, were themselves part and parcel of the disputation itself: In attribution theory terms, the clear distinction between ‘consensus information’ and the attributions which flow from it becomes unworkable. It is suggested that the analysis provides an exemplar for a discourse orientated social psychology of fact.
Affective influences on individual and group judgments
Authors: Forgas Joseph P. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractDo emotional states influence the social judgments made by groups and individuals? Based on affect‐cognition theories and research on group judgmental shifts, we predicted that group discussion will enhance positive mood effects on judgments, but inhibit affectively‐based distortions in dysphoric moods. Positive, neutral and negative moods were induced using audiovisual presentations. Individual and group consensus judgments of nine person categories on three judgmental dimensions (evaluation, competence and self‐confidence) were obtained in two experimental sessions separated by a two‐week interval. Results showed that individuals made more positive judgments when happy, and more negative judgments when sad than did controls. Group discussion resulted in a further polarization of positive judgments, and the attenuation of negative judgments. The findings are interpreted as evidence for the important role affect plays in mediating both individual cognitive processes and interactive social behaviours. The implications of the results for contemporary affect‐cognition theories and models of group behaviour are considered.
Children's understanding of the self‐presentational strategies of ingratiation and self‐promotion
Authors: Benne Mark , Yeeles Caroline 
Published: May 2007

AbstractEight‐ and eleven‐year‐olds' explanations for the self‐presentational behaviour of story characters provided clear support for a predicted shift between these ages from understanding in terms of psychological to understanding in terms of interpersonal processes. However, a prediction that the strategy of self‐promotion would be better understood than that of ingratiation was not supported.
Conservatism and the comprehension of implausible text
Authors: McAllister Pamela O. , Anderson Anthony 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAn experiment on the comprehension of, and memory for, texts of varying degrees of plausibility is reported. Previous studies on conservatives' art preferences (concerning poetry and music) showed that they favoured works of art that were conventional and relatively simple; this was explained in terms of conservatives' generalised intolerance of ambiguity. The present study sought to extend the previous research by examining conservatives'and non‐conservatives' memory of and preferences for texts of varying plausibility. When plausibility is disrupted, texts recount strange, unexpected and ambiguous sequences of actions and events. It was found that conservative subjects' memory for texts of varying plausibility was similar to that of non‐conservatives when overall recall is considered, but there was a greater tendency for conservatives to import inferences (novel propositions which had not been present in the original text) into their recall protocols and to distort their recall (although the latter effect is only marginally significant). They also showed much stronger preferences for plausible over implausible texts compared to non‐conservatives. These results accord well with the previous findings on art preferences, and were explained in terms of the conservatives seeking to avoid or minimise ambiguity.