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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
BPS Social Psychology Section Conference
10th and 12th September 2003
Hosts:
Department of Psychology, University College London
and
Department of Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political
Science
Conference Abstracts
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Section 1: BPS Social Psychology Conference 2003, Paper Abstracts
Intimacy In Men’s Talk: A Meta-Textual Analysis
Konstatinos Arfanis and Professor Charlie Lewis, Department of Psychology,
Lancaster University
Traditional accounts of masculinity suggest that men find it difficult to engage in
intimate talk. In this study on interpersonal skills within the workplace and work-home
relationships, eighteen men were interviewed on three different occasions, 2-3
months apart. The interviews were analysed in terms of men’s references to intimacy
in conversation and the confidences shared within the interview itself. This analysis
focused particularly on a set of meta-accounts in which men discussed the kinds of
contexts in which they would or would not produce intimate disclosures.
Paradoxically, intimacy as likely to be shared with strangers as it was with intimates,
confirming the idea that many men find intimacy difficult with those closest to them.
The paper explores some of the reasons underlying this paradox, focusing on
strategic implications of managing intimate disclosures.
'Race' and the Human Genome Project: Constructions of scientific legitimacy
Martha Augoustinos and Patricia McCann Mortimer, University of Adelaide, South
Australia
At the public announcement of the completion of a draft map of the human genome
(June, 2000), Craig Venter, Head of Celera Genomics and chief private scientist
involved with the Human Genome Project, claimed that 'race' was not a scientifically
valid construct. This statement, based on an analysis of the genomes of five people
of different ethnicities, has not served to end the considerable discussion and debate
surrounding the concept of 'race'. Using a social constructionist and critical discursive
approach, this study analyses text and talk associated with the debate on the
scientific validity of the concept 'race'. Given the problematic and highly contested
nature of this concept, the present research examines, closely and in detail, a range
of ways in which constructions of truth are worked up in scientific discourse. In
particular, we analyse the ways in which empiricist and contingent repertoires within
scientific discourse are mobilized to establish and contest claims of objectivity and
facticity. We also examine a range of rhetorical devices deployed by protagonists in
the debate to warrant particular truth claims including quantification rhetoric and the
'Truth Will Out Device' (TWOD). We conclude that despite the promissory
representation of the HGP as having produced scientific evidence to discredit the
biological legitimacy of 'race', the concept is likely to persist in both popular and
scientific usage.
Nostalgia as a Self-Relevant Emotion: Triggers, Content, and Functions
Denise A Baden, Tim Wildschut, and Constantine Sedikides
The aetiology, content, functional and affective parameters of nostalgia were
explored in a survey of 123 undergraduates (mean age 20). We found that nostalgia
was a common emotion, with 80% of memories involving the self in a central role, or
sharing the main role. Redemption themes dominated the content of nostalgic
memories (85%) and the tone was one of predominantly one of celebration rather
than loss. The most common trigger of nostalgia was negative mood and the most
common result was an increase in positive affect. When asked to describe some of
the functions of nostalgia, the responses loaded onto 3 main factors –
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
connectedness, selfhood, and positive affect. Lastly we found that those who scored
highly on both the loneliness scale and the nostalgia proneness scale had higher
self-esteem than those who were lonely but not nostalgic. Based on these results,
we challenge the rather negative view of nostalgia present in the literature,
conceptualising nostalgia instead as a self-conscious and positive emotion, which
implicates the self in social context. We propose that nostalgia is a self-regulatory,
coping mechanism. By reliving the positive affect associated with the memory of the
warmth and security of important, but bygone, relationships, nostalgia buffers the
individual against the undesirable consequences (e.g., drops in self-esteem and
affect) of threats to the self such as loneliness. Follow up studies are in progress that
experimentally manipulate loneliness and nostalgia to further test this hypothesis.
Self-discrepancy relevance and its relationship to discrepancy magnitude,
identity motives, and negative emotions: A study of body-image selfdiscrepancies
Inge Brechan and Helga Dittmar, University of Sussex
In accordance with self-discrepancy theory, body-image self-discrepancies have
been found to be associated with negative emotional states. More recently, Higgins
(1999) proposed that for self-discrepancies to have an effect they must be
considered personally relevant by the individual holding them. The purpose of this
study is to investigate the relationship between the magnitude and relevance of bodyimage self-discrepancies and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Furthermore,
self-discrepancy relevance is proposed to be influenced by the degree to which the
discrepancy is associated with self-esteem and other identity motives.
Fifty-two students completed a questionnaire including measures of unaided recall of
body-image self-discrepancies and magnitude and relevance of the discrepancies. It
also included measures of depression and anxiety, and to what degree a reduction of
each of the discrepancies would contribute to the identity motives of self-esteem,
distinctiveness, continuity, efficacy, purpose, and closeness.
Hierarchical regression revealed that the relationship between self-discrepancy
magnitude and symptoms of depression and anxiety is completely mediated by
discrepancy relevance (depressio
Furthermore, the interaction between discrepancy magnitude and relevance proved
to be non-significant when controlling for a quadratic effect of discrepancy relevance
).
The contribution of identity motives, as well as self-discrepancy magnitude, to selfdiscrepancy relevance was evaluated as between-subjects effects, using hierarchical
regression, and within-subjects effects, using multilevel regression. In both analyses
selfBS
WS
BS
WS=.13,
BS
WS=.22, p<.01) contributed to
explaining self-discrepancy relevance.
Baby Love - Self-Evaluation Processes Of Teenage Mothers
Hilary Bruffell and Evanthia Lyons, SPERI, University of Surrey Guildford
This paper is concerned with examining Link et al’s (1989) ‘modified labelling theory’
in the case of young mothers. In particular it examines the extent to which the
predicted negative effects of stigma on members of the group are inevitable. The
issue of teenage pregnancy has become increasingly prominent in government
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
policies. The majority of research in this area focuses on the predictive factors of
teenage pregnancy with a view to developing preventative measures (e.g. Hudson
and Ineichen, 1991). It is also based on an untested assumption that teenage
motherhood has negative consequences on the young mother. These are thought to
result from either young mother’s acceptance of societal negative representations or
the material circumstances often associated with young parenthood. As against this,
a small body of work suggests that not all young women find the experience of
motherhood a negative one. (e.g. Lesser, Anderson & Koniak-Griffin 1998). The
paper is based on the data obtained from semi-structured interviews of 10 young
mothers, with babies aged between 2 and 12 months. The data has been analysed
using IPA (Smith 1991) and has been informed by theories of stigma and temporal
and social comparisons (e.g. Crocker, J. & Major, B. 1989). Findings suggest that
young mothers do not necessarily experience motherhood as a negative event.
Instead motherhood seems to enhance their self-efficacy. By engaging in temporal
comparisons and downward social comparisons young mothers maintain a positive
self-concept. Furthermore, our data suggests that although our participants were
aware of the negative evaluations of young mothers held by some groups in society,
they managed to discount them by using different strategies.
Psychological Well-Being And Identity Issues Among Adolescents In Greater
London
Peary Brug, Department of Health & Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of
London and European Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations Utrecht
This paper will present data which expands on earlier research (e.g., Sam (2002),
looking at the relationship between psychological well-being and issues of
identification among early adolescent school children, from various ethnic
backgrounds. The study is an expansion of the social identity research (e.g., Tajfel &
Turner, 1986) that focuses on the relationship between psychological well-being (as
measured by mental health and self-esteem) and several predictors: ethnic identity,
acculturation, parental closeness, and school satisfaction. It is expected that the
predictors will differ in their predictive strength on psychological well-being depending
on such factors as ethnic background, gender, and age. Some predictors (e.g.,
ethnic identity) should have greater significance than others (e.g., acculturation), as
found in earlier work (Verkuyten & Brug, 2001) given their relative importance to the
individual. It is also expected that some predictors will have differential predictive
strength on various sub-domains of psychological well-being, such as scholastic selfconcept, and emotional soundness. The paper will present data from some 500
public school students from various ethnic backgrounds in the Greater London area.
Coping with Multiple Problems: A Case Study of Lone Parents
Alexy Buck
Many literature reviews and studies in social psychology and psychology have
focused on the experience and consequences of growing up in a one-parent family
(Amato, 1993, Amato and Keith, 1991, Richards, 1999, Burgoyne et al, 1987,
Hetherington et al 1988, Deutsch, 1983). Fewer studies have been conducted on the
experience of being a lone parent and there is little empirical evidence on the nature
or range of problems lone parents face in their day-to-day lives, how they deal with
them and the type of organisations and people they approach for help. As the
percentage of dependant children living in lone parent families has more than tripled
in Britain over the last 30 years (Office for National Statistics, 2001), it is this type of
empirical data that is required for evidence-based policy on lone parents. This paper
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
presents such data, drawing on a large-scale and multi-disciplinary survey of 5,611
people representative of the population of England and Wales. The problems
recorded in the survey range from money and debt, employment, housing, divorce
and relationship breakdown, domestic violence, and education to homelessness
problems. 223 lone parents were identified in the survey. They were likely to be
female, to be living in rented accommodation, to have a low income, not to be in
employment and to be in receipt of benefits. Furthermore, lone parents were
significantly more likely than other family types to have experienced problems,
especially in relation to domestic violence, divorce, money and debt, rented housing
and neighbours. We found that lone parents sought advice for their problems more
often than other family types, and that they found dealing with their problems
particularly stressful. They did, however, believe that their life had improved as a
consequence of dealing with their problem. In conclusion, the presentation will
discuss the implications of the findings within a policy context.
Who Are We And Who Are You? The Strategic Use Of Forms Of Address In
Political Interviews
Peter Bull, Department of Psychology, University of York & Anita Fetzer, University of
Lueneberg, Germany
The aim of this paper is to examine how politicians use the indeterminacy of personal
pronouns as a means of evading awkward questions in televised interviews. In
spoken English, the pronoun “you” may refer to the speaker, to the hearer, or to a
group of people of any size. This analysis investigates how politicians make strategic
use of the indeterminacy of the pronoun “you” as a means of avoiding giving their
personal opinions on political issues through responding in terms of the collective
“we” (typically, the party which the politician represents). It also seeks to show how
interviewers adopt linguistic strategies to counter this evasive technique, and to
assess how effective interviewers are in this respect. The analysis will be based on
televised political interviews from the last two British General Elections (1997, 2001)
and on a recent interview given by Tony Blair to Jeremy Paxman on the Iraq crisis
(6th February, 2003). Results will be set in the context of the theory of equivocation
devised by Bavelas et al. (1990), of Goffman’s (1981) analysis of “footing,” and of
linguistic theories regarding forms of address. It is intended to illustrate the talk with
videorecorded extracts. Bavelas, J.B., Black, A., Chovil, N. and Mullett, J. (1990).
Equivocal Communication. Newbury Park: Sage. Goffman, E. (1981). Footing. In E.
Goffman, Forms of Talk, pp. 124-159. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Changing Children’s Attitudes Towards Disabled Peers through Extended
Contact
L Cameron and A Rutland, Department of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury
Government is increasingly committed to inclusion of disabled children in mainstream
schools (Meeting Special Needs: A Programme of Action). However, it has been
shown that inclusion in mainstream schools can have negative consequences for the
self-concept and emotional security of disabled children (Santich & Kavanagh, 1997;
Stinson, Whitmore & Kluwin, 1996). These negative consequences could perhaps
be avoided if, prior to disabled children arriving at a school, non-disabled children are
encouraged to be more positive towards disabled children. The aim of this study is to
examine whether an extended contact intervention (Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe
& Ropp, 1997, Liebkind & McAlister 1999) could be used to encourage a more
positive attitude towards disabled children. The structure of extended contact was
varied with extended contact being presented to participants as either neutral,
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
interpersonal (Brewer & Miller 1984, 1988) or intergroup, where typicality of group
members is emphasised (Hewstone & Brown, 1986). Participants aged between 5
and 11 ( N = 69) took part in a 3 (between subjects, type of extended contact) x 2
(within subjects: time of interview pre vs post extended contact) mixed design was
used. Results show that extended contact did increase positivity towards children
with disabilities, and this effect was significantly greater in the intergroup contact
condition. Thus our findings support the notion of extended contact and the need to
emphasise typicality when attempting to reduce prejudice.
The Effect Of Threats On National Identity And Other Related Elements Within
The Identity Structure
Theopisti Chrysanthaki and Evanthia Lyons, University of Surrey
Most motivational theories (Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel &Turner, 1979; Brewer, 1991) seem
not to acknowledge that different group memberships might serve different
motivational functions and that the content and structure of different social identities
may be complex and overlapping especially under the context of threat. Given the
flexibility and complexity of identity structure, one may question the assertion that
only need for positive distinctiveness and self-esteem motivations guide social
identification processes. Furthermore, such a theoretical position raises questions
about how the content and structure of identity changes when one or more related
identity elements (i.e. elements deriving from cross-cutting memberships) is
threatened. In line with Identity Process Theory (Breakwell, 1986), the present study
attempted to conceptualise how threats to different principles of one identity might
affect the principles relating to other identities. A mixed-factorial design (N=259
Greek University students) was employed; the between-subject factor was threat to
distinctiveness and continuity of national identity; the within-subject factor referred to
pre-post threat measurements of salience of national, religious, and student identity
elements, levels of distinctiveness, continuity, self-esteem and self-efficacy. The
findings indicated that identity systems are more flexible, fluid and complex than most
motivational theorists suggest. Supporting IPT claims about related elements in
identity structure and distinct motivational states for identities, all three elements
were highly related (pre-post threat), while each identity was uniquely predicted by its
own motivational principles. Continuity best predicted all three identifications while
religious continuity and identification increased, ameliorating the threat on national
continuity and national identity.
Deviance And Sanctioning In Low And High Status Groups
Julie Christian, University of Birmingham, Paul Hutchison and Dominic Abrams,
University of Kent
Two studies examined reactions to the presentation of desirable and undesirable
members of low and high status groups among participants who differed in their level
of ingroup identification. In Study 1, psychology students (N = 148) were informed
that they compared either favourably (high status) or unfavourably (low status) with
other social science students on a relevant dimension. Results indicated that high
identifiers were more negative in their evaluation of an undesirable ingroup member
under low status than high status conditions. Under low status conditions, high
identifiers were also more positive than low identifiers toward a desirable ingroup
member but more negative toward an undesirable ingroup member. No such
differences emerged under high status conditions. In Study 2, which also investigated
reactions to outgroup members, students (N = 286) were informed that their own
university compared either favourably or unfavourably with a nearby university on a
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
relevant dimension. As well as replicating the effects obtained in Study 1, the results
also indicated that high identifiers favoured a desirable ingroup member over a
desirable outgroup member, but favoured an undesirable outgroup member over an
undesirable ingroup member. This ‘black sheep’ effect emerged only under low
status conditions. Additional analyses examined the impact participants believed the
desirable and undesirable targets would have on the image of the ingroup and
outgroup, and their willingness to exert conformity pressure on the targets.
Discussion focuses on the motivational processes underlying the management of
deviant and undesirable group members.
Beliefs About Religious Martyrdom And Terrorism: The Moderating Effects Of
Social Identity
Marco Cinnirella, K. Humayun Ansari and Christiana Sampson, Royal Holloway,
University of London
Data from two empirical studies are presented, focusing on beliefs about religious
martyrdom, terrorism and social identity (ethnic, national and religious) held by British
participants of south-Asian origin. In the first study, in-depth interviews and selfcompletion questionnaires were used with a volunteer sample of 80 practising
Muslims residing in the UK. A further study employing a quantitative questionnaire
was administered to 97 south-Asian participants on university campuses in the UK. In
the first study, religious identity emerged as stronger than either ethnic or national
identity (supporting Jacobson, 1997), and in terms of acculturation, many participants
appeared to adopt a 'separation' strategy (see Berry, 2001 and Farver et al., 2002).
Religious and national identity measures were found to correlate with a number of
attitudinal indices of support for martyrdom, violence and terrorism. Open-ended data
suggested complex multi-dimensional understandings of concepts such as jihad,
suicide and martyrdom. These findings were largely mirrored in the second study,
with university students in south-east England. The data emerging from the second
study, in addition, suggests that the strength of all three identities (ethnic, national
and religious) may moderate attitudes towards the events of September 11, 2001,
often in complex ways. The findings of both studies are related to previous research
on ethnic and national identity and broader theorising about social identity.
Women With Responsibilities, Adolescents With Needs: Positioning Theory,
Young Mothers And Support Services
Neil Cooper and Sylvia Burnett
This paper draws on the data of an action research project to investigate the causes
and effects of teenage parenthood as an aspect of social exclusion and
discrimination for young people. The qualitative research based on semi-structured
interviews with a small number of young mothers commenced in September 2001.
The research interviews include narratives in which young mother's situate
themselves in relation to their children and their family, individual professionals,
organisations and agencies, partners and other young people. Drawing on
Positioning Theory (Davies and Harré 1990; Harré and van Langenhove 1999), the
needs of young mothers will be shown to be constrained by cultural stereotypes,
policy documents and practice guidance. Analysis of interview discourse will
demonstrate how young mothers position themselves to accept the positions created
for them by these wider discourses but also how they challenge and transform them.
Examples will be given of how young women position themselves as mothers with
responsibilities, adolescents with needs and young people in transition. It will be
demonstrated that the framework offered by positioning theory highlights the dynamic
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
relationship between young mothers and support services in which responsibilities
and rights are unstable rather than fixed and that these positions are related to
powerlessness and empowerment.
Davies B and Harré R. (1990) Positioning: The Discursive Production of Selves.
Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, vol. 20, pp. 43-64.
Harré R. and Van Langenhove L. (1999) Positioning Theory. Oxford. Blackwell.
Keeping It Under Your Hat: Inhibiting The Linguistic Expression Of
Stereotypes And Biases
Karen Douglas and Robbie Sutton, Keele University
The linguistic category model (LCM: Semin & Fiedler, 1988) proposes that
communicators use different levels of language abstraction ranging from concrete
(e.g., “Jamie is smiling”) to abstract (e.g., “Jamie is happy”) when they describe other
people’s behaviours. Current theories suggest that communicators’ beliefs about
targets influence their language abstraction so that they use more abstract language
to describe expected or stereotypical behaviours and more concrete language to
describe unexpected or counter-stereotypical behaviours. Theories also suggest that
communicators transmit their beliefs and stereotypes through language abstraction
without knowing they are doing so. Complementary to this view, Douglas and Sutton
(2003) have shown that communicators are able to recruit language abstraction
when they have a conscious goal to manipulate their audience – for example when
describing behaviours favourably or unfavourably to potential recipients. The
research presented here demonstrates that communicators can also inhibit the
effects of biased beliefs on language when they consciously intend to do so. Overall,
the research suggests that language abstraction is used more flexibly than current
theories would suggest. Results are discussed in the context of contemporary
theories of communication and implications for stereotyping research are also
discussed.
The Third-Person Effect: Social Distance in Intergroup Contexts
Tracey J. Elder, Karen M. Douglas and Robbie M. Sutton, Department of
Psychology, Keele University
The third person effect (TPE) is the tendency for individuals to assume that
persuasive communications have a stronger effect on other people than on
themselves (Davison, 1983). Research on the TPE has found that when the definition
of others becomes more socially distant or broad, the TPE increases (Gibbon &
Durkin, 1995; Gunther, 1991). For example, group members accentuate the
similarities between self and in-group members and the differences between in-group
and out-group members (Duck, Hogg & Terry, 1995). The present research reexamines this 'social-distance' effect and considers whether in some cases it may be
reversed. In the first study male and female participants were given a message
arguing that women were better drivers than men, or vice versa. The results indicate
that for a pro-ingroup message, the TPE was reversed with self and in-group
members perceived as more influenced than outgroup members and society.
However, for the pro-outgroup message the traditional TPE was found. In the
second study, minimal groups were created in order to eliminate the effects of prior
stereotypes about naturally occurring groups such as men and women (cf. Tajfel,
Billig, Bundy & Flament, 1971). A dot-estimation task was used to arbitrarily assign
participants to two distinct groups - overestimators and underestimators. Results
replicated those found in the first study. We discuss the perceived consequences of
media messages in intergroup settings.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Fear Thy Neighbour? Cross-Sectional And Longitudinal Tests Of The
Integrated Threat Model
Anja Eller and Dominic Abrams, University of Kent
Four field studies (one longitudinal) will be presented, testing Stephan and Stephan’s
(2000) Integrated Threat Model (ITM). The ITM proposes that four types of intergroup
threat (realistic threats, symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, negative stereotyping)
mediate between a host of antecedents (ingroup identification, relevance of social
policies, intergroup contact, knowledge of outgroup, prior intergroup conflict, relative
group status) and prejudice. The model also holds that realistic threats are not
predictive of prejudice toward dominant groups while symbolic threats are not
predictive of prejudice toward subordinate groups. Participants were German high
school students (study 1; N=708), British university students (study 2; N=73),
American language school students (study 3; N=100), and Mexican company
employees (study 4; N=206 at T1, 67 longitudinally). Results largely confirmed the
predictions and quality of contact and intergroup anxiety emerged to be central
variables in the model. Moreover, the supplementary hypotheses were supported:
Realistic, but not symbolic threat predicted outgroup evaluations in the American
language school study and symbolic, but not realistic threat predicted evaluations in
the Mexican employee study, showing status differences between groups to be
crucial. The proposed causal direction of the ITM was not confirmed; in contrast,
realistic threat, symbolic threat, and intergroup anxiety appear to be precursors that
shape the quality of intergroup contact at later time points. The present research,
conducted in three countries, in four different intergroup contexts and with different
participant populations, illuminates some of the processes thought to be involved in
intergroup contact, threats, and attitudes and provides initial longitudinal evidence
related to the ITM.
Don't Apologise: Perceptions Of Perpetrators' Actions And Emotions By
Members Of A Wronged Group
Pablo Espinosa, Roger S. Giner-Sorolla, and Rupert Brown, University of Kent
Research on the self-focused emotions of shame and guilt has studied how an
individual or group feels as the perpetrator of a transgression (Tangney & Dearing,
2002; Lickel, Schmader & Barquissau, 2003), but little attention has been paid to the
perception of these emotions by members of a wronged group. We explored
wronged group members' reactions to transgressors' hypothetical expressions of
shame, guilt, and the other-focused emotion of sympathy (Iyer, Leach & Crosby,
2003). We also checked how participants perceived behaviours consistent with the
different self-focused emotions (withdrawing for shame, apologising and making
reparations for guilt). Participants were members of a group directly harmed by the
recent Prestige oil tanker spill (university and high school students from La Coruña
and Ferrol in coastal Galicia, Spain). Hypothetical responses by the incident's
perpetrator were presented in a 4 x 3 mixed design, independently varying emotions
between participants (shame, guilt, sympathy, and no emotion) and behaviours within
participants (reparative, withdrawal, and no action). Both factors and their interaction
had significant effects on satisfaction.
Shame and sympathy were equally
satisfactory, but shame was more satisfactory than guilt. Also, reparative actions
were less satisfactory than withdrawal actions, but only when no emotions were
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
expressed; both actions were consistently more satisfactory than no action. Although
rationally it seems that guilt and reparation represent the more adaptive emotional
response (Tangney and Dearing, 2002), a harmed group may prefer shame and its
withdrawal action tendencies, although they are less compatible with solving the
wrongdoing.
Health Related Proverbial Knowledge And It’s Associations With Personality
And Health Behaviours
Eamonn Ferguson, Duncan Mann and Laura Spalding, University of Nottingham
Does knowledge about health influence health behaviour? Factual medical
knowledge, while related to personality and ability traits, it is not related to reported
health behaviour. However, more culturally based knowledge (e.g., wisdom) is
related general life decisions. Therefore, it might be that health specific wisdom (i.e.,
old wives’ tales or proverbs) is related to health behaviour? A sample of 296
undergraduates completed an index of 16 common proverbs of which 6 have a
scientific basis and 10 do not. Participants indicated which they had heard of, the
extent to which they believed each to be scientifically true and the extent to which
treatment decisions would be guided by each proverb. An overall score was created
of how many proverbs had been heard of. Proverbs were then split into two classes,
those that had scientific basis and those that did not, and four proverbial knowledge
scales were created based on the extent (1) to which each class was perceived as
scientifically true and (2) to which each class would be a basis for treatment.
Participants also completed a measure of health anxiety, the Big 5 and the use of
traditional or complimentary medicine. The results showed that the personality
domains of surgency, intellect and conscientiousness were positively related to
beliefs about scientifically true proverbs whereas health anxiety was related to beliefs
about scientifically untrue proverbs. Finally, beliefs about scientifically true proverbs
were related to the use of traditional medicine and scientifically untrue proverbs to
the use of complementary medicine. Results are discussed in relation to role and
development of proverbial knowledge in medical decision making.
What Are Friends For? Practical Uses Of ‘Friend’ Constructions In A Telephone
Helpline
Alexa Hepburn, Loughborough University
This paper considers the practical role of ‘friend’ constructions in helpline interaction.
In traditional social psychological work ‘friends’ are understood in terms of a
sociometry of attributes and attractions, ties and relations. This research has rarely
addressed the practices in which notions of friend and friendship appear. What is the
category ‘friend’ for? This paper addresses this question through an analysis of a
corpus of recorded and transcribed telephone calls from the National Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s Helpline. Analysis shows that the category ‘friend’
provides at least 3 key things for callers reporting abuse: (a) entitlement to certain
forms of knowledge; (b) a motive for making the call, simultaneously neutralising
other more noxious motives and identities; and (c) a device for managing the caller’s
stake and interest in making the call.
The paper therefore develops two related arguments: firstly, the pragmatic function of
the term ‘friend’ as illustrated by the details of the analysis highlights the problems
with seeing ‘friend’ as a term that simply describes a set of people in a certain
relationship with one another. This allows the development of a discursive
psychological critique of the way friend as a category has been employed in the
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
traditional psychological literature. Secondly the paper shows how both caller and
Child Protection Officers employ the category ‘friend’ in orienting to the business of
the institution, and how psychological categories are invoked in the process. This
second theme would develop the growing literature on the possibility of a discursive
psychology of institutions. It is concluded that relationship terms like ‘friend’ are not
merely neutral descriptions of various affiliations, but can be seen to do practical
things for people in everyday and institutional interaction.
Social Influence Effects on Midwives’ Practice
Caroline Hollins Martin, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Objective. To measure social influence effects of a senior midwife upon colleagues
clinical decisions.
Design. Condition 1 involved issue of the Social Influence Scale (SIS) to measure
and score midwives’ private responses to 10 clinical decisions. Condition 2 involved
an interview during which a senior midwife introduced persuasive variables in
attempts to influence SIS responses towards the most conformist answer. Condition
3 involved issue of a workbook replicating interview in absence of an influential
person. Experiment 1 = Condition 1 & 2 and Experiment 2 = Conditions 1 & 3. Both
use a within participant design with a time gap between conditions.
Method. A 10 item SIS was devised to measure social influence effects. Condition 1
= Return of 209 postal SIS. Condition 2 = Interview of 60 (20 E, 20 F and 20 G
grade) of the aforementioned midwives regarding SIS items. Condition 3 = 60
matched midwives completing the workbook.
Results. In Experiment 1; results of an overall 3  2 ANOVA with groups to
conditions yielded a statistically significant result with participants achieving higher
scores on the SIS in interview as opposed to anonymous private questionnaire
F(1,57) = 249.62, p = 0.001. Experiment 2 yielded a statistically non significant result
with participants achieving similar scores in workbooks as anonymous private
questionnaires; F(1,57) = 0.31, p = 0.58. No significant group x condition interactions
observed in both experiments.
Conclusions. Colleagues have a significant impact upon midwives decisions with
marked difference between what midwives say they will do and what actually
happens in practice. Experiment 2 excludes possibility of an educational process
taking place during interview, concluding that factors about the interviewer cause the
social influence effect.
Understanding The Experience Of Alopecia Through Email Interviewing
Nigel Hunt, Nottingham Trent University and Sue McHale, Sheffield Hallam
University
Alopecia is a chronic disease characterised by hair loss that can affect men, women
and children. Its aetiology and subsequent development are not fully understood, but
suggested causes include psychological stress (De Weert et al, 1984), physical
trauma and genetic predisposition (Green & Sinclair, 2000). Alopecia is an
autoimmune disease (Madani & Shapiro, 2000). It can have serious psychological
consequences for the sufferer which are not fully understood. Previous research has
generally considered psychological problems as secondary to the medical disorder.
Our previous research shows that there are a range of personal, social, and medical
issues that people consider important (Hunt & McHale, 2000). The study focuses on
psychological issues relating to the experience of alopecia. Email interviews were
conducted with 30 respondents. The respondents were from various countries and
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
had different experiences of alopecia. Participants were asked to respond in detail to
several general questions. Further questions were asked in relation to the responses,
leading to email dialogue. A number of issues arose. As treatment is largely
ineffective, identity change becomes a key issue; hair loss engenders a complicated
grieving process for a previous identity, and coping can be an attempt to come to
terms with a new identity. Successful coping was discussed by only a small number
of respondents. This included behavioural changes to accommodate stress
management and acceptance of appearance and identity changes. Treatment for
alopecia needs to be broadened to include psychological methods. The email
interview was a largely successful technique, allowing participants time to respond to
the questions.
Control, Vividness and Values: Extending the Model of Worry About Crime
Jonathan Jackson, Methodology Institute, LSE
This paper reports on the extension of a social psychological model of the fear of
crime. A key problem with this field of enquiry is that it has lacked theoretical
accounts of how we make sense of our social and physical environment, how we
form and manage perceptions of risk, and how these attitudes shape worry about
becoming a victim of crime. This is surprising, not least because of various points of
contact with a number of literatures that offer useful concepts and perspectives.
Drawing together work from sources such as criminology, social psychology and the
risk perception research, I present an extension of an existing model of worry about
crime (Jackson, 2002). To begin with, this integrative account of the phenomenon is
replicated; data are presented from a small-scale survey of a rural area in England
(n=1,023; response rate of 22%). Then, I analyse the validity of three developments
to the model. The first regards the notion that encounters with disorderly aspects of
the social environment increase the vividness or salience of the possibility of
victimization; such vividness mediates the relationship between these encounters
and perceptions of risk. Secondly, I consider the ability to ‘read’ a neighbourhood, of
being familiar with it and its inhabitants, and thus to be avoid to avoid potentially
threatening situations. Finally, I hypothesise two roles for social and political attitudes
regarding social change, authoritarianism, and law and order: that worry about crime
expresses these underlying values and attitudes; and that these attitudes orientate
how we make sense, or define, order and disorder in our environment.
An Integrated Procedural Framework For Organizational Learning
Gregor Jost, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
The majority of research into organizational learning has arguably offered
theoretically under-specified accounts of the exact nature of the processes involved.
While the individual is understood as the principal agent of learning (e.g. Huber,
1991; Dodgson, 1993), the procedural character of the translation of learning from
the individual to the group and organizational level remains unclear. Earlier attempts
by March & Olsen (1975) and Kim (1993) have presented conceptual overviews, but
leave the crucial links between the individual and the collective largely undeveloped.
This paper evaluates previous explorations into organizational learning processes
and develops a precise language to differentiate between levels of analysis involved.
Subsequently, a preliminary process model of learning across levels of analysis
(individual, group, organization) is proposed. Information processing is characterized
as cognition at the individual level, communication at the group level, and
formalization on the organizational level. The transfer of learning is sustained and
augmented by feedback from group and organization-wide sources. The individual is
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
established as the crucial building block of the sequence, and is conceptually linked
to learning lost to the organization. The framework explicates the reassessment of
individual knowledge for group and organizational purposes and accounts for
different memory systems at different levels of analysis. Implications for empirical
research are discussed, such as the collection of data from multiple, level-specific
sources.
Distinctiveness Threat And Real Vs. Minimal Groups
C Kamau and A Rutland, Department of Psychology, University of Kent
The present experiment investigated whether extent of identification interacts with
whether a group is minimal or real, to determine responses to distinctiveness threat.
The study had a 2x2x2 design (real/minimal x threat/no threat x high identifier/low
identifier) and the 83 participants were undergraduates. The quasi-minimal group
involved 'university student identity' and the real group involved ethnic identity. Threat
was presented in the form of bogus academic journal articles, and dependent
variables included 'difference between positive self-stereotyping and positive groupstereotyping' as well as 'perceptions of self similarity with ingroup' . Following a
median split based on extent of identification, results were that low identifiers in the
minimal (but not real) group reacted to threat by enlargening the gap between
positive self stereotyping and positive group stereotyping; high identifiers in the
minimal group did not show a similar effect. High identifiers in the real (but not
minimal) group reacted to the threat by perceiving greater similarity between their
selves and their ingroup; low identifiers in the real group did not show a similar effect.
Findings were explained in terms of Branscombe et al's (1999) social identity threat
framework- but, in addition to their predictions viz. extent of identification, the present
study showed that the type of group in question is also important in determining
responses to distinctiveness threat. Future research on the effects of threat should
therefore examine how the content of a group identity and its meaning (e.g. in terms
of its social function) influences extent of identification and reactions to threat.
Why Do People Have Different Attitudes Towards Different Types Of Animal
Use? A Grounded Theory Approach
Sarah Knight, Aldert Vrij, Karl Nunkoosing, and Julie Cherryman, Department of
Psychology, University of Portsmouth
Most studies examining attitudes toward animal use have used quantitative methods
and focused on participant variables (such as gender and age) to explain variance in
such attitudes (e.g. Driscoll, 1992; Matthews & Herzog, 1997). This study used
qualitative methodology to develop a model that explains why people have different
attitudes toward different types of animal use. 17 participants completed a
questionnaire measuring attitudes towards different types of animal use (for
research, in the classroom, for personal decoration, for entertainment, for financial
gain, and animal management issues), and Belief in Animal Mind (BAM). After this
they took part in a semi-structured interview during which they talked about their
views on how animals are used and BAM. The interviewer had a protocol of subject
areas to be discussed but participants were encouraged to lead the conversation and
introduce new factors that they perceived to be important when thinking about animal
use. The interviews lasted between 45-90 minutes and were audio-taped, after which
they were transcribed and analysed using Grounded Theory. A model was developed
that suggests that characteristics of (i) the species of animal used (e.g. the perceived
attractiveness of an animal), and (ii) the type of animal use (e.g. the perceived
benefits of an animal use practice), can influence attitudes as much, if not more, than
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
participant variables. The model consists of 4 major themes (‘attitudes toward
animals’, ‘knowledge of animal use procedures’, ‘perceptions of choice’, and ‘costbenefit analysis’), and it was proposed that a combination of these themes could
account for much of the variance in attitudes towards animal use. We propose that
the present study adds to our understanding of what people think and feel about
animal use. Future research may further investigate the impact of the themes that
emerged from our data, moreover, we suggest that other researchers consider using
qualitative methodology to compliment quantitative methods and expand our
knowledge in this area.
The Art of Socialist Seduction: Studies in the Subjective Group Dynamics of
Minority Influence
Sara A. Kreindler and Mansur Lalljee, Oxford University
Drawing on research in both minority influence and social categorization, this paper
defines and assesses a comprehensive strategy by which minorities can increase
their direct influence by changing their perceived social identity. The Pro-Norm
Ingroup Member (PNIM) strategy involves establishing that one is a prototypical
ingroup member and that one’s arguments flow from shared norms. In Experiment 1,
138 members of a Canadian centre-left party read a radical socialist message of
PNIM or confrontational style. For those who were initially unfavourable towards the
message, PNIM messages proved more influential. In Experiment 2, 170 Canadian
university
students read environmentalist appeals differing in style
(PNIM/confrontational) and stance (pro-capitalist/anti-capitalist). PNIM messages
produced more influence and were rated more moderate and pleasant. Stance did
not affect influence but anti-capitalist messages generated more interest. Results
confirmed that the PNIM strategy can significantly enhance minority influence, and
may render unnecessary any dilution of message stance. Experiment 3 sought to
demonstrate that the strategy’s success is contingent on the construction of a
suitable in-group and norms. Oxford University students (N = 167) were encouraged
to believe that concern for animal welfare was either normative or non-normative
within the student body. They then read a PNIM-styled message arguing for
vegetarianism on compassionate grounds. High identifiers were more persuaded
when the message appealed to apparently normative values; low identifiers when it
did not. This revealed that the PNIM strategy is not merely a stylistic gloss; rather, its
performance depends on the transmission of appropriate social identity information.
Ethnic identity: The role of peer interaction
Virginia Lam, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London
This study examines how children's ethnic identities become transparent within the
context of their interaction with a peer. 428 7-8-year-olds as same- (white-white,
Asian-Asian, black-black) or different- (white-Asian, white-black) ethnic (same-sex)
dyads engaged in two peer- preference tasks: To choose from eight pictures of novel
peers (4 own-ethnic, 4 other-ethnic) one with whom they would most like to play and
one who they predicted would most like to play with them; in both cases they had to
justify their choices. Video recordings were taken of dyads' interactions towards
resolving their choices and making justifications. Same-ethnic dyads were more likely
to prefer a same-ethnic peer and infer that a same-ethnic peer would prefer them.
Different-ethnic dyads were more likely to fail to resolve or take longer to do so.
Children's behaviour reveals that different-ethnic dyads were likely to initially each
choose a same-ethnic peer and to insist on their choices resulting in the failure to
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
resolve. Asian-Asian dyads were most likely to use ethnicity to reason for their
choices inferring that they and their chosen playmate shared the same religious or
cultural background. Those black-black dyads who reasoned by ethnicity were likely
to focus on racial characteristics.
Representations Of Orgasm In Three Generations Of Women
Maya Lavie, Psychology Department, UCL
General population surveys indicate that between 5-15% of sexually active women
have never experienced orgasm. The exact number of women whom experience
other problems with orgasm is not known, but it is assumed to be much higher. This
paper draws on a study that examined the ways in which British women make sense
of their experiences around the presence and absence of orgasm. The study
comprised of 50 semi-structured interviews across three age groups (25-32, 48-55
and 60-67 years old), with women who define themselves as either having problems
with orgasm or not having such problems. The data was examined using thematic
analysis to ascertain which themes were shared across the sample of women.
Particular attention was paid to the role which social factors played in shaping their
experiences. The data revealed a complex structure of shared social representation
of female orgasm and its implications for women who feel they have problems with
orgasms. Women regard the experience of orgasm as both mental and physical, with
different functions and meanings related to their identity, relationship and sexual
behaviour. This paper provides a critique of the biomedical approach which has
defined most of the studies in this area. Instead it draws upon the social construction
literature and social representation theory to suggest new ways of understanding the
experience of orgasm in the context of the social milieu of these experiences.
Development of the Situational Triggers of Aggressive Response (STAR)
Scale: Reliability and Validity Data
Claire Lawrence, University of Nottingham
General models of aggression typically point to potential antecedents of aggressive
responses such as frustrations, pain, stress and other situational variables (see
Geen, 2001; Anderson and Bushman, 2000). Such models also indicate individual
differences as predictors of aggression, for example (Buss & Perry, 1992;
Baumeister et al 1996). To date, these two variable sets have been examined
separately. The studies reported in this paper bring these two sets of variables
together using the Situational Triggers of Aggressive Response (STAR) scale, which
specifically examines individual differences in responses to situational triggers of
aggression. The STAR scale has been developed using constructs taken from
established theoretical triggers of aggression, and a large-scale qualitative study
analysing individuals’ triggering factors. The STAR scale comprises three factors that
measure triggers of anger and aggressive responses. These are: (i) frustrations, (ii)
provocation from others, and (iii) physiological triggers and intense relationship
difficulties. Associations with Big 5 personality constructs, trait narcissism, social
desirability, stability of self concept and Buss and Perry’s (1992) measure of trait
aggression are discussed. In addition, good levels of test-retest reliability are
reported. The STAR scale shows consistent individual differences in the ways in
which people react to triggers of aggression, and challenges Berkowitz’s (1993)
assertion that physical pain generates aggression in the same way as any other
provoking factor. The STAR scale potentially has clear uses for examining
individuals’ triggers of aggression, and for informing laboratory-based studies
involving the provocation of aggression.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Children’s Talk And Their Emerging Ethnic Group Schema: Some Notes From
A Methodological Perspective
Patrick J. Leman, Royal Holloway and Virginia Lam, Goldsmiths College
In this paper we explore some of the methodological issues surrounding research on
children’s ethnic group schema. We argue that, (i) the combination of social and
developmental processes inherent in the study of children’s ethnic understanding
presents a distinctive methodological challenge to researchers, (ii) aspects of
reasoning about ethnicity are both implicit and explicit and occur across a range of
different forms of social relation and context. In light of these arguments we evaluate
some of the alternative measures used in the study of children’s ethnic
understanding. Critics of what have been described as “explicit measures” argue that
there is a significant danger of social desirability and experimenter expectancy that
might mask the true character of a child’s beliefs about ethnicity. Concerns about
explicit measures are particularly germane to developmental studies and a
considerable body of work on adult-child interaction indicates that children’s
reasoning and responses can be greatly influenced by the presence of an adult.
However, a shortcoming of more “implicit measures” of children’s ethnic attitudes is
that ‘conscious’ or social contextual aspects of reasoning about ethnicity are ignored.
Moreover, implicit measures are somewhat limited in their ability to probe the
underlying structure of child’s ethnic group schema and reasoning. After considering
these observations we present an innovative methodological technique that uses a
quasi-experimental study of children’s peer conversations to explore children’s ethnic
understanding. The paper concludes with a call for the use of an array of
methodological approaches to study the multifaceted phenomena of ethnic group
schema.
The Cognition of Attitude Development: a connectionist exploration
Rob Lowe, University of Wales Swansea
Contemporary theory suggests attitudes are the mental association between an
attitude object and an evaluation of that object. The strength of this association
determines attitude accessibility. Two questions arise: First, what are the cognitive
‘mechanics’ by which object-evaluation associations occur? Second, are such
associations plausible (computable) within ‘brain-like’ information processing
systems? A connectionist approach was used to simulate attitude development,
providing insights into mechanisms underlying attitude formation within a system
comprised of neuron-like elements. Simulation data, representing 16 prototype
patterns, were generated. Each pattern consisted of four basic parts: object class
(e.g. vehicle, hat), type of object within a class (e.g. car, top hat), evaluative feature
(e.g. smoky exhaust, frayed brim), and evaluative valence (positive, negative). A
network, implementing competitive (unsupervised) learning, was trained with 20
variants (exemplars) of each of the 16 prototype patterns. After training, the network
was tasked with classifying a separate set of 1600 exemplars as positive or negative
based on object class, type, and evaluative feature alone (i.e. valence part excluded).
The network learned to recognise specific consistencies within the data, which
enabled the identification of an exemplar’s valence. The trained network correctly
classified, as positive or negative, 89.5% of test exemplars. Consistent with theory,
accuracy improved as training progressed. The study showed how a neural network
structure might identify, store and retrieve attitude-relevant information. The network
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
developed representations capturing the co-occurrence of positive features with
positive evaluations, and negative features with negative evaluations. The network
could subsequently recognise objects as positive or negative from these features
alone.
Do people think actions are riskier than non-actions?
John McClure and Duncan Mills, Victoria University of Wellington
This research examines people's judgments relating to two types of risk: risky actions
and failure to take precautions that reduce risk. Examples of risky actions are driving
at high speed in a city, smoking cigarettes, and building a house on a fault-line.
Examples of failures to take precautions include failing to take safety checks on a
car, not doing a medical check on large moles on the skin, and not retrofitting a
vulnerable building in an earthquake risk area. It is well-known that many activities
are risky, but as doctors, health specialists, and prevention advocates constantly
attest, some risks derive from people not doing some activity. For example, the risk
that people will get ill is increased by not exercising. Previous research suggests,
however, that citizens see risk as relating to risky activities rather than inactivities
(failures to take preventive action). This study shows whether people place more
weight on risk from risky activity than risk entailed by inactivities. The research
presents citizens with a range of actions and non-actions that have been designated
as risk-related by experts, and obtains their estimates of the risk entailed by those
events. It tests the prediction that people give high estimates of risks that relate to
risky activities, but give low estimates to risks that derive from inactivity. It then
discusses ways of getting citizens to recognize the risks relating to many forms of
inactivity.
The Effect Of Anonymity On Cyber-Ostracism
Emma McHarg and Marco Cinnirella, Psychology Department, Royal Holloway
Previous research into group behaviour in online situations has revealed that there
are many similarities, and also some differences between online and offline groups.
One such area of difference that has recently been discovered is that of ostracism –
being socially excluded from groups. Williams et al (2002) found that people who
were ostracised in online situations suffered less impact on four dimensions and
were more likely to continue making comments than those ostracised in offline
situations. The current study used a similar methodolgy to investigate this further,
looking at how varying levels of anonymity may affect the impact of ostracism
differently. Three conditions were investigated - total anonymity, co-presence and
face-to-face. Groups of three people were asked to have a discussion, where two of
the people were confederates, and only one was a true participant. In half of the
trials, the participant was ignored by the confederates for a short period of time,
whereas in the other half, the group continued to have an inclusive discussion
throughout the experiment, though the confederates always disagreed with the
participant. The effects on the number of comments made by the participant, selfesteem, self-efficacy and perceived group cohesion were assessed. It was expected
that participants who were ostracised would manifest lower scores on these
measures, compared to those in the inclusive condition, but that this effect would
interact with that of level of anonymity (smaller effect of ostracism as anonymity
increases). The preliminary findings from this study will be presented.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Dissonance Reduction In The Context Of Group Membership: The Role Of
Meta-Consistency
B M McKimmie, D J Terry, M A Hogg, School of Psychology, University of
Queensland, Australia
A S R Manstead, R Spears and B Doosje, Department of Social Psychology,
University of Amsterdam
Despite an early focus on the role of social groups in the arousal and reduction of
cognitive dissonance (e.g., Festinger, 1957), subsequent dissonance research has
given relatively little attention to dissonance arousal in a group context. Three studies
were conducted to examine the role of social support in dissonance arousal and
reduction within a social identity and self-categorization framework. The first study
manipulated behavioural support for hypocrisy and the salience of an ingroup for
participants and the source of support. Results indicated that nonsupport only acted
as a dissonant cognition in the high salience condition. The results suggested that
meta-consistency (the degree of similarity in attitude-behaviour consistency between
two people) is important for understanding the role of social support in dissonance
phenomena. A second study examined the relationship between meta-consistency
and perceptions of own attitude-behaviour consistency. As expected, metaconsistency was associated with an increase in perceived attitude-behaviour
consistency. A third study investigated the impact of meta-consistency on dissonance
reduction. As expected, participants in the meta-consistency condition experienced
the least dissonance, particularly when the shared group membership was salient.
Overall, there was some support for the inclusion of social identity concepts in a
reconceptualisation of dissonance theory as social support seemed to operate not
just as a consonant cognition as previously argued by Stroebe and Diehl (1981),
Lepper, et al., (1970), and Festinger et al., (1956). Finally, in terms of selfcategorization theory, the results demonstrate a new way in which the attitudes and
behaviours of fellow ingroup members can be influential.
Doing Moral Talk In The Media
Andy McKinlay and Colin Elve, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh
The importance of morality as a discursive topic is seen from the fact that a variety of
discourse analytic studies have viewed it as a background concern for conversational
participants. For example, discursive studies of racism have emphasised the way
that interviewees orient towards potential problems associated with the ‘wrongness’
of their views. More generally, the issue of morality is also often a background
concern in analyses of blame-avoidance accounting strategies. Similarly, recent
discourse analytic studies of identity show that constructions of identity are sensitive
to potential issues of moral culpability. However, there have been relatively few
discourse analytic studies of how people accomplish moral talk itself. For this reason,
the present paper presents an analysis of how moral accounting is accomplished in
talk. The data are a represented by contributions to the television programme, ‘Any
Questions’, in which a panel of ‘experts’ critically discuss contemporary issues in
response to questions from the programme audience. A transcript of the programme
was analysed using discourse analysis techniques. Analysis revealed that
interactants rely on several different discursive strategies in order to establish moral
points: (1) ‘principal talk’ in which the panel experts establish their own points of view
as flowing from general moral principles, (2) ‘consensus seeking’ in which moral
conclusions are depicted as obviously correct because they stem from ‘claims of fact
with which people are in general agreement (3) ‘media role-taking’ in which
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
interactants rely on the specific context of a television programme discussion in order
to establish moral claims. After discussing these examples, the paper concludes by
discussing the extent to which media-based interactions are relevant in broader
discursive contexts.
Generalizing beyond acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent and hostile
sexism in accounting for reactions towards women who violate norms and the
men who help put them back in their place
B Masser, University of Queensland, Australia and R Brands, University of
Queensland, Australia G T N Viki, University of Kent and D Abrams, University of
Kent
Recent research has investigated the role of hostile and benevolent sexism in
reactions to acquaintance rape (e.g. Abrams, Viki, Masser & Bohner, 2003). This
research demonstrated that benevolent sexists blame acquaintance rape victims
because they perceive them as having violated a norm for appropriate behaviour.
Hostile sexists indicate a proclivity to engage in acquaintance rape because they
perceive that the victim’s resistance is not sincere. The current study aimed, first, to
see if the effects observed in Abrams et al. (2003) would generalise beyond
acquaintance rape and second, to determine whether the effects observed in Abrams
et al. (2003) were driven by the victim’s specific sexual norm violation or by a more
general gender norm violation. In three between-subjects conditions (gender norm
congruent, gender norm violation or sexual norm violation), each participant was
presented with six scenarios focusing on dating, sexual harassment and domestic
violence. For each scenario, participants were asked to indicate their perception of
victim blame and the likelihood that they would behave like the protagonist in those
situations. As predicted, benevolent sexism was related to victim blame, but only in
the sexual norm violation condition. In addition, hostile sexists in this condition
indicated a greater tendency to behave like the protagonist. There was no effect of
scenario type. The results of this study indicate that the negative impact of both
benevolent and hostile sexism generalises beyond acquaintance rape and is related
to the violation of specific sexual, rather than general gender, norms for behaviour.
.
Perceptions of Group Deviants: Investigating the role of the intergroup context
G Randsley de Moura and D Abrams, The University of Kent
One core aspect of Subjective Group Dynamics (SGD) theory is that the intergroup
context will affect group members' perceptions and evaluations of target members,
particularly deviants. This was tested in an experimental study with a 3 (Group: OBN
vs. Psychologists vs. BAICO) x 2 (Context: OBN vs. BAICO) x 3 (Target: Pro-norm,
Norm, Anti-norm), mixed factorial design, with Target being a within-participants
variable. Participants (N=125) were randomly allocated to conditions and were
provided with information about asylum seeking in the context of either an outgroup
with attitudes more open than Psychologists’ (ingroup) norm (i.e. OBN), or an
outgroup with attitudes more closed than the ingroup norm (i.e. BAICO). A summary
of the attitudinal positions from a small group (putatively representing psychologists,
asylum officers, or OBN members) on the issue was also provided. These members
had a range of opinion, some normative and some deviant (pro-norm and anti-norm).
Participants then completed a questionnaire with a series of dependent measures,
including questions pertaining to their perception and evaluation of the target group
members. ANOVA and post-hoc analyses demonstrate that reactions and
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
evaluations of deviant and normative members were affected by the interaction of the
relative position of the target, the target group rated, and the intergroup context.
These findings offer support for SGD theory, and suggest that reactions to deviant
and normative group members will vary depending on the comparative context.
Socialization After An Outsourcing Transfer: Individualised Socialization And
Liminal Subjects
Stephanie J. Morgan, Birkbeck College
Socialization processes are argued to be key to enabling newcomers to become
effective members of the organization. However a wide range of variables may
impact upon the success of socialization, including whether socialization is
institutional or individual, the opportunity for group socialization, and the level of
social support received. In outsourcing transitions, staff may be resistant to
organizational socialization tactics due to the involuntary nature of the transfer. They
also have continued, long-term exposure to their old employer, are transferred in a
group, and often have limited exposure to the new organization. Qualitative research
was carried out across a range of outsourcing transfers to gain an understanding of
how staff made sense of their new relationships and socialization into their new
company. This longitudinal study indicates that the nature of outsourcing transfers
does impact upon the level of socialization, as no closure can be made on old
relationships, and remoteness to the new employer makes understanding
organizational goals and values difficult. It is also suggested that the change to a
more individualized form of socialization can create difficulties for staff transferred
from large organizations who are unused to being proactive. The paper outlines
how, in these circumstances, socialization processes will take longer than is currently
allowed for in most research. Although different forms of attachment developed over
time, a number of transferred staff were classified as liminal subjects, showing a
strong dis-identification from both organizations. The issues these findings raise for
outsourcing transfers and socialization theory will be discussed.
The Interaction Between Implicit And Explicit Attitudes
Marco Perugini, Department of Psychology, University of Essex
Explicit attitudes have long been assumed as key factors influencing behaviour. A
recent stream of studies has shown that implicit attitudes, typically measured with the
Implicit Association Test (IAT), can also predict a significant range of behaviours. So
far, the emphasis in research has been placed on showing evidence of discriminant
and differential validity between implicit and explicit attitudes. This contribution is
focused instead on exploring the possibility that implicit and explicit attitudes interact
in influencing behaviour. This hypothesis can be derived both if one assumes that
there are two independent attitude systems, an implicit and an explicit one, or if one
assumes that there is only one attitude system and two different ways of measuring
it, one implicit and one explicit. Two studies testing this basic interactive hypothesis
are reported. The first study (n=48) is about smoking behaviour, whereas the second
study (n=60) is about preferences for snacks versus fruits. In both studies there is
evidence for a multiplicative effect between implicit and explicit attitudes, such that
when they are both positive their predictive power is greater compared to all other
combinations. The results are discussed in light of the importance to focus on
congruence instead than only on conflict when investigating the directive influence of
implicit and explicit attitudes on behaviour.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
‘Viagra Stories’: NZ men and women challenge ideas about ‘sexual
dysfunction’
Annie Potts1, Victoria Grace1, Nicola Gavey2 and Tiina Vares1
1
Gender Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
2
Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Biomedical approaches to sexual difficulties prioritise the physical aspects of
sexuality, locating ‘disorders’ primarily in the anatomy or physiology of the body. In
accordance with this reductionist perspective on sexual matters, physicians look to
physical interventions (hormones, drugs, and surgery) to treat any ‘abnormalities’.
Following the discovery of popular — and profitable — sexuopharmaceuticals such
as sildenafil citrate (Viagra) for the treatment of erectile difficulties affecting men, the
medical model has gained increasing influence in the domain of sexual health and
well-being. However, while medical definitions of — and interventions into —sexual
difficulties are underpinned by an understanding of a ‘universal body’ (that is, an
essential biological body that transcends culture and history), the accounts of actual
users of Viagra, and their sexual partners, do not necessarily subscribe to such
understandings. In some cases, the experiences and perspectives of those affected
by erectile difficulties directly challenge the reductionist model of sexuality and sexual
experience espoused by medicine. In this paper we report on a New Zealand study
investigating the social impact of Viagra, involving 33 men and 27 women discussing
the impact of erectile difficulties and Viagra use within relationships. The diverse
experiences of participants are discussed in relation to two key issues: the notion of
‘sexual dysfunction’ itself, and the idea of drugs such as Viagra acting as a ‘quick fix’
for sexual difficulties affecting men. We argue that the existence of a range of Viagra
‘stories’ disrupts a simplistic mechanistic portrayal of the male body, male sexuality,
and ‘erectile disorder’.
Argument Quality In Political Communication: Implications For Research Into
Attitude Change
Caroline Roberts, Department of Social Psychology, LSE.
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981; 1986) states that
where an individual is highly motivated and able to systematically process a
persuasive message, the extent and direction of any resultant attitude change will
depend upon the quality of the arguments contained in the message. The
manipulation of argument quality is a central feature of the experimental paradigm of
ELM research, allowing the researcher to determine the extent of message
elaboration and, thereby, which of four roles a treatment variable has played in the
persuasive context. Yet the question of what makes an argument ‘strong’ or ‘weak’
remains a much-neglected issue in social psychological research into persuasive
communication. For the authors of the ELM, an empirical method for establishing
argument quality is proposed (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Critics have challenged
this method, proposing either message-based alternatives based on structural
models of argument (e.g. Areni and Lutz, 1988; Boller, Swasy and Munch, 1990), or
arguing that message validity cannot be divorced from the social context of
persuasion, where source identity is a crucial determinant of the perceived quality of
arguments (Haslam, McGarty and Turner, 1996; van Knippenberg, 1999). This
paper critically compares these different approaches, using data from research into
attitude change relating to the issue of UK participation in the single currency. Data
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
provide considerable support for the latter theory, suggesting that, in the case of a
real-world political issue like the euro, perceptions of message validity and the
persuasiveness of arguments depend upon a person’s existing target beliefs and
social identity concerns.
Words And Numbers In Social Research
A J Ross*, B Wallace, J.B Davies, D Heim, K J Flatley, S C Hunter, Centre for
Applied Social Psychology, University of Strathclyde
Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods has been criticised by those who
deny a common epistemic framework among data sources. However, this paper
argues that viewing survey and interview data as epistemologically dissimilar is
problematic, and that distinctions between qualitative and quantitative data should be
set aside in favour of a distinction between reliable and unreliable data based on
scientific measures of taxonomic reliability. A system for generating results based
upon validatory triangulation between different taxonomies is described, drawing on
case studies from safety and drug and alcohol research. The case studies illustrate
that traditionally distinct research strands (e.g. questionnaire- based surveys and
interview methods) are shown to be compatible with each other providing the basis
on which numbers are generated is understood. It will be shown that statistical
analysis of ‘quantitative’ survey data often serves to obscure the fact that subjective
decisions are inherent in the design process. The conclusion from the analyses
described is that frequencies derived from ‘qualitative analysis’ can be statistically
manipulated in a similar fashion, providing reliability of coding is scientifically
demonstrated. This opens the way for validation using a variety of data sources/
taxonomies, an approach which has clear advantages in that all available data may
be interrogated to aid understanding of social issues.
Individuality And Collectivity: Structural And Attitudinal Investigation Of Social
Representations
Maria Sakalaki, Panteion University, Athens, Marina Bastounis, University Paris 5 GRASP, Paris, Spiros Ferentinos, Panteion University, Athens
This study aims to explore the structural and evaluative attitudinal dimension of the
social representations of the constructs of individuality and collectivity in two
European capitals. The material was collected by the method of evocation and
analysed through the structural approach proposed by Verg's. The sample was
composed of 68 Psychology students from the University of Paris 5, and 58
Psychology students from Panteion University in Athens. Participants filled out a
questionnaire collectively. Previous examination of Greek and French culture has
shown that the former is classified as less and the latter as more individualistic. From
this assumption, it was hypothesised that both the structure of representations and
participant's attitudinal evaluations of the their own associations to the stimulus
words individuality and collectivity, would differ in the two samples, indicating a more
positive evaluation of the terms associated to collectivity in the Greek sample and a
more positive evaluation of the terms associated to individuality in the French
sample. The findings tend to confirm this hypothesis.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Bystanders and human rights appeals: a critical reappraisal of the ‘Passive
bystander’ phenomenon.
Bruna Seu, School of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London
The branch of Social Psychology interested in the ‘Bystander phenomenon’ and
helping behaviour is concerned with understanding people’s apathy when confronted
with an appeal for help. Despite the apparent diversity in the explanations that
mainstream social psychology has given to this question, it is my contention that they
all share an individualistic, eurocentric and often mechanistic approach which
prioritises cognition and personality traits.
I intend to argue that these approaches are inadequate when attempting to explain
complex social events and in particular moral apathy. Through the idea of
‘metaphorical bystander’ towards Human Rights appeals I will explore the limitations
and alternatives to a traditional social psychological model of social non-intervention.
Thus this paper intends to contribute to the development of psychological theory as
well as to a deeper understanding of social practice in British complex society.
Through an in-depth analysis of people’s responses to images of suffering and
humanitarian appeals, I will illustrate how visual images about human rights abuses
pass through many discursive layers. It is crucial to explore in depth these discursive
layers to get to the '‘vocabulary of denial’ that allows people to ‘turn a blind eye’ to
human rights appeals. I will illustrate how psychology itself is used to warrant a
position of indifference, as well as commonsensical views of the world. By doing this I
am also arguing that in order to fully understand moral apathy and the bystander
phenomenon we need to know more about currently available, socially constructed
discourses that people use to make sense of the world and justify their actions.
Public Attitudes Towards Advances In Genomics
Richard Shepherd1, Julie Barnett1, Helen Cooper1,2, Adrian Coyle1, Chris FifeSchaw1, Jo Moran-Ellis2, Victoria Senior1 and Patrick Sturgis2
Psychology Department1; Sociology Department2, University of Surrey
Advances in genomics in recent years have led to substantial developments in
pharmaceuticals and medicine. However, applications in food and agriculture have
met with negative public reactions in Europe and future medical applications may
also present major issues of public concern. There is a clear need to understand how
people think about and make decisions in this area. Against this background the
ESRC has commissioned a major project on public attitudes to genomics. Three
substantive questions will be addressed. 1) What is the impact of knowledge on
attitudes towards genomics? 2) To what degree are attitudes towards genetic
technologies coherent with other socio-political attitudes, attitudes towards new nongenetic technologies and with self-interest. 3) How do contextual factors influence
ambivalence of attitudes towards genomics? A range of methods will be employed to
address the above questions. Initially, a national baseline survey will be conducted
on about 3,500 people in association with the British Social Attitudes Survey. This will
be complemented by an intervention study examining the effects of information
provision with the sub-sample from the original survey, focus groups and interviews
analysed using discourse analysis and other qualitative methods, a textual analysis
of representations of genomics, and a series of experimental “vignette” studies.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Daydreaming As A Form Of Self-Regulation: Evidence And Implications
Jonathan Smallwood, Caledonian University, Glasgow
This paper will discuss the notion that daydreaming, or the direction of attention
towards internally generated information, may be a mechanism that people employ
as a form of self-regulation. First, evidence will be described which suggests that
daydreaming allows an individual to self-regulate their lives. For example, evidence
from both laboratory and naturalistic situations suggest that when daydreaming
individuals are involved in the processing of information with high personal salience
(Klinger, 1978; Klinger et al. 1981) and parallels have also been drawn between the
content of daydreams and coping strategies employed by individuals on a day to day
basis (Greenwald and Harder, 1995, 1997).
Second, the implications of
daydreaming as a form of self-regulation will be discussed. Evidence suggests that
when a daydream occurs under laboratory conditions, the individual is impaired in
their ability to recollect or respond to external stimuli (Smallwood et al. 2003 A & B)
and also experience higher levels of physiological arousal (Smallwood submitted A
&B). One particular consequence of this style of self-regulation is that the evidence
suggests that the individual’s ability to attend to the outside world is impaired and that
this may (i) facilitate the process of self-perpetuation of heuristic information identified
in the cognitive literature (Lewicki et al 1992) and (ii) play a role in the non-conscious
acquisition of social information (Bargh and Ferguson, 2000).
Conflict And Congruence Between Attitudes And Moral Judgements
Paul Sparks, University of Sussex and Tony Manstead, University of Cambridge
Numerous applications of the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned
behaviour (TPB) have indicated a predictive impact of moral judgements (on
intentions and/or behaviour) that is additional to the influence of other variables
(notably attitudes). Indeed, most of these applications appear to treat moral
judgements as independent of attitudes. In this presentation, we argue that more
attention needs to be paid to the interrelationship of these two constructs. In
particular, we argue that there are not only good reasons to expect moral judgements
to influence people's attitudinal expressions under certain circumstances but also
empirical data that would support such a claim. Illustrative data are presented mainly
from recent TPB applications (with General Public participants) in the domains of
organic food purchase (N = 286) and blood donation (N = 282). The findings indicate,
for example, a moral content to 'behavioural beliefs' and a predictive impact of moral
judgements on attitudes. The discussion focuses on (i) the important roles of, inter
alia, behavioral domain, construct measurement and participant sample, (ii)
implications for other areas of psychological research and for the interrelationship of
other TPB constructs, and (iii) the value, within applications of the TPB, of examining
motives for behaviour that are apparently influenced by judgements of principle, a
concern for others and/or concern for other aspects of the animate and inanimate
world that are deemed worthy of moral consideration.
When worlds divide: Exploring the dissociation between beliefs that the world
is fair to the self versus others
Robbie Sutton, Karen Douglas, Colleen Brown, Leanne Frodsham, Gemma Nicholls,
Emma Yates, and Victoria Yates. Department of Psychology, Keele University, UK
"Just-world beliefs" (JWB) are assumed to benefit individuals by making the world
seem orderly, controllable, and meaningful, but also to cost society by encouraging
harsh responses to the unfortunate (Furnham, 2003; Lerner, 1980). However, recent
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
research suggests that beliefs that the world is just to the self, but not that it is just to
others, facilitates mental health (Lipkus, Dalbert, & Siegler, 1996). We report studies
that replicate and extend this research, showing that beliefs in justice for the self, but
not others, were inversely related to both state and trait anxiety (Study 1), and
directly related to life satisfaction and self-esteem (Study 2). More importantly, the
present studies also demonstrate the social significance of this self-other distinction.
Specifically, beliefs that the world is just to others, but not that it is just to the self, are
directly related to harsh attitudes toward the poor (Study 2) and the mentally ill (Study
3). Beliefs in justice for others but not self are also directly related to willingness to
donate to clearly deserving victims such as abused children, but inversely related to
willingness to donate to potentially blameable victims such as drug addicts (Study 4).
These results suggest that the hedonic consequences of JWB arise uniquely from
JWB-self, whereas the social consequences of JWB arise uniquely from JWB-others.
However, we report a boundary condition for this effect; JWB-self uniquely predicts
preferences for long sentences in criminal justice contexts (Study 5). In Study 6, we
examine how the self-other distinction is maintained in the context of sexual assault.
Implications for just-world theory and further applications are discussed.
Effects Of Member Identity And Target Status On Responses To Intragroup
Criticism
Mark Tarrant and Ewan Campbell, Department of Psychology, Keele University
Recent research has begun to elaborate the different ways that group members
respond to criticism about their group, and while it has been shown that criticism
stemming from fellow ingroup members is tolerated more than that from members of
an outgroup (Hornsey, Oppes, and Svensson, 2002), research has not examined in
detail the impact of individual variables on such responses. The current study
examined the effects of two such variables on responses to intragroup criticism using
a 2 (target status) x 2 (participant identification) between-participants design. After
exposure to criticism, participants (N = 100) completed a measure of sensitivity (e.g.
how threatening, insulting, and arrogant and so on they found the target’s comments)
and evaluated the target along a series of trait adjectives. They also rated the
constructiveness of the target’s comments and the legitimacy of the target to make
the comments (see Hornsey et al.). Results showed that high identifiers and
participants exposed to low status targets were more sensitive to criticism than low
identifiers and those exposed to high status targets. A series of status x identity
interactions were observed for the remaining variables. Follow-up analyses revealed
that these effects were mainly due to the responses of highly identified participants:
Compared to low identifiers, high identifiers were consistently more tolerant of
criticism from high status targets than they were of criticism from low status targets.
Such behaviour suggests that compared to high status group members, low status
members who criticise the ingroup might be seen amongst high identifiers as
violating group expectancies, and in so doing represent a source of threat to the
ingroup (e.g. Biernat, Vescio, and Billings, 1999).
The Role Of Ambivalent Sexism In The Infra-Humanisation Of Women
G. Tendayi Viki and Dominic Abrams, University Of Kent
Leyens and colleagues (e.g. Leyens et al, 2001) have reported that people are more
likely to attribute uniquely human (secondary) emotions to the in-group than to the
out-group. We present two studies that examined whether males and females
differentially attribute primary and secondary emotions to women. In Study 1, we
predicted that individual differences in hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism
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(BS), rather than participant sex, would predict the attribution of emotions to women.
As expected, high BS individuals were more likely to attribute positive secondary
emotions to women than low BS individuals. In contrast, high HS individuals were
more likely to deny positive secondary emotions to women than low HS individuals.
Participant sex was not related to the attribution of emotions to women after the
effects of HS and BS were accounted for. In Study 2, we predicted and found that BS
(but not HS) was positively related to the attribution of positive secondary emotions to
women who conform to traditional gender role expectations (i.e. housewives). In
contrast, HS predicted the attribution of negative primary emotions to women who
violate traditional gender role expectations (i.e. feminists). Implications for research
and theorizing on prejudice are discussed.
Talking About Discrimination And Integration: Accomplishing Blame In Talk
About Romanies
Cristian Tileaga, Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University
This paper examines the particulars of 'blame discourse' concerning ethnic minorities
in a Romanian socio-cultural context. It concentrates on a detailed analysis of a
single case taken from a wider project aiming at comparing the way Romanians talk
about the Hungarians with the way they talk about the Romanies, looking at whether
Romanians talk about Romanies in a different way from talking about other minorities
such as the Hungarians. The paper examines in detail the discourse of a middleclass Romanian accounting for discrimination against the Romanies and for the issue
of integration of Romanies into the Romanian society as part of an interview on a
series of controversial issues surrounding ethnic minorities. This paper tries to
highlight and interrogate the claims that Romanies are to blame for prejudice against
them. The analysis has a discursive and conversational analytic focus to examine
switches in talk about 'us' to talk that blames 'them'. The analysis examines and
illustrates some of the ways in which blame is accomplished and the ideological
effects of such blaming. This paper also discusses some of the rhetorical and
interpretative resources used to talk about and legitimate the blaming of Romanies.
The analysis suggests that talk about Romanies employs a style which, at the same
time, denies, but also protects extreme prejudice. In examining the dynamics of
'blame discourse' towards the Romanies, this paper provides further insights into a
critical investigation of the social, political and ideological consequences of extreme
discursive patterning.
The Effects Of Context And Affect On Risk Ratings About Biotechnology.
Ellen Townsend and David Clarke, Institute for the study of Genetics, Biorisks and
Society (IGBiS) and School of Psychology, University of Nottingham
Background: To date little research has focused on the role of feelings in
judgements about risk. Moreover no study has specifically examined how feelings
shape perceptions of issues likely to have a large impact on society such as
agricultural uses of biotechnology. This study examined the effects of context, affect
(integral and incidental) on judgements about genetically modified (GM) food in
relation to nineteen other current concerns.
Design: 20 current concerns including ‘GM food’, ‘human cloning’ and ‘CJD’ were
rated using an established psychometric method (semantic differential scales). The
Stress-Arousal Checklist (SACL) was used to measure background incidental affect
and integral affect (dread) of concerns was also measured.
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Methods: After completing the SACL 126 participants (48 male, 78 female - age
range 18-86) rated each of the 20 concerns on 23 risk-related semantic differential
scales.
Results: Relative to 19 other concerns GM food was “not dreaded”, not viewed as
“unethical”, was judged as “controllable”, and was seen as the least “risky” of all the
issues studied. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed that 2 factors (‘dread’ and
‘unknown)’ explained 50% of the variance in the ratings data. Whilst GM food scored
relatively highly in relation to other hazards on the ‘unknown’ dimension; it scored
very low on the ‘dread’ factor. Although important factors underpinning risk
perceptions differed slightly between stressed and non-stressed individuals the
perception of GM food as ‘not dreaded’ was consistent across these groups.
Conclusions: Negativity and worry about GM food may not be as high as recent
surveys suggest.
Telling Lies To Strangers Or Close Friends: Its Relationship With Attachment
Style
Aldert Vrij, Michelle Floyd, Edel Ennis, University of Portsmouth, Psychology
Department
The aim of this study was to explore individuals' reported frequency of lying to
strangers and close friends as a function of (i) type of lie told (self-centered, otheroriented or altruistic) and (ii) preferred attachment style (avoidant,
anxious/ambivalent or secure). Fifty college students completed questionnaires
regarding their attachment style and their frequency of lying to strangers or close
friends. Results revealed significant differences between types of lies told to close
friends and strangers, and significant relationships between types of lies told and
attachment style. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical
implications.
Is It Kind To Be Cruel? Person And Situation Factors In The Intentional Use Of
Ambiguity, Interpersonal Deception, Politeness And Advice During
Communicative Conflicts
Chris von Wagner and Peter E Bull, University of York, Department of Psychology
Communicative Conflicts are situations in which the direct communication of honest
information causes embarrassment to either the sender or receiver of a message.
Three studies investigated the role of gender, and type of communicative conflict.
Study I investigated the influence of gender for both message sender and receiver.
Study II compared two different Communicative Conflicts, one in which the response
might have long-term consequences for the receiver (success on a future romantic
date), another in which the sender commented on a past performance with no direct
long-term consequences. Study III compared responses in which a direct truth would
undermine the receiver’s competence (comment on someone else’s poor
performance) with one in which a direct truth would undermine their own competence
(i.e. comment on one’s own poor performance). We found that messages by men
were perceived to be more direct (Study I), more honest, and less polite (Study I, II)
than messages by women, when they commented on a negative performance or
attribute of somebody else. Interestingly, this pattern reversed in a situation in which
men had to comment on their own poor performance (Study III). Here, messages by
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men were perceived as more equivocal and less honest than messages by women.
Furthermore, messages to a male receiver were perceived to be less ambiguous
(Study I), more honest and less polite (Study I, II). Messages with long-term
consequences were perceived to be clearer and contain more advice (Study II).
Flexible Working Arrangements Or Long Hours – What Influences Success At
Work?
Julie Waumsley, University of Kent at Canterbury
Objectives. This research had two main aims. Firstly, the aim was to examine and
compare attitudes towards men and women who use flexible working practices with
those who work long or structured hours. It also looked to compare attitudes towards
employees as a function of the reason as to why they use flexible working practices.
Secondly, this research aimed to examine the perceived promotion prospects of men
and women who work flexible hours, regular hours or long hours. Previous research
has shown long hours to be perceived as increasing productivity in the workplace but
also to have a detrimental effect on work-life balance (Waumsley & Houston, 2002).
Design. Postal Questionnaire Study with a Large Union. Methods. Respondents were
asked to read six vignette descriptions of individuals who used different working
hours, and then to rate each employee on a series of scales relating to work
productivity, turnover intention, colleague approval, and work-life balance. They were
then asked to comment on who they would and would not promote, and why.
Results. 1093 people completed the questionnaires, a 22% response rate. Data was
analysed using analysis of variance and content analysis. Results indicate that both
employees who work long hours and those who work regular hours are perceived to
have better work performance than those who work flexible working options. Results
also show that long hours of work are perceived to have a significantly more
detrimental effect on work-life balance than any other working pattern. Respondents
were divided as to whom would be the best candidate for promotion, with equal
numbers identifying the long hours candidate as both the best and the worst for
promotion. Whilst childcare was considered an acceptable reason for flexible
working, hobbies and elder care were considered to be associated with poor
promotion prospects. Conclusions. Despite new legislation promoting flexible
working, long hours and regular hours workers are still perceived to offer the best
work performance. Individual differences in work experience and expectation result in
starkly different views about the relationship between long hours and promotion. The
impact for flexible working on the psychological contract at work will be discussed.
‘No We’re Not Playing Families’: Negation, Categories And Category
Membership In The Organisation Of Talk-In-Play
Ann Weatherall and Carly Butler, Victoria University of Wellington
Categories and category memberships can be understood as basic resources for the
construction of play and of the social world. Thus, studying the properties of
children’s games is important for understanding social behaviour and culture in
action. The present study draws upon conversation analysis, as it has been used in
discursive social psychology, to examine negation and dispute about categories and
category membership as interactional resources for the organisation of children’s
play. Audio recordings of talk-in-play of six children (aged between six and seven)
during school lunch times were used as data. The analysis examines that and how
play is jointly accomplished. The conference presentation will focus on the
sequential and categorical features of interactional moments when mapping
members to category-sets of players is accomplished. The study supports the
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discursive critique of traditional categorisation research.. It also provides a basis for
critiquing the notion of individual ‘communication styles’. More generally this work
supports the use of conversation analysis for social psychological investigations.
End of Section 1
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Section 2: BPS Social Psychology Conference 2003, Symposia Abstracts
Symposium: Threatened identities and discourse
Convenor: Andy McKinlay, University of Edinburgh
Participants:
Sue Cowan, University of Abertay
Jennifer Guise, University of Edinburgh
Robin Ion, University of Abertay
Andy McKinlay, University of Edinburgh
Chris McVittie, Queen Margaret University College
Sue Widdicombe, University of Edinburgh
Abstract
This symposium brings together a set of studies that employ discourse analytic
techniques. It examines the ways in which people deal with ‘threatened identities’.
These are identities that make available negative inferences about the person to
whom such an identity is potentially ascribable, e.g. being someone who is ill,
unemployed or who has particular religious views. Each study in the symposium
explores what constitutes such a threat in terms of participants’ orientations to what
is interactionally difficult about those identities. This is in contrast to other studies that
make assumptions about what is problematic about a given ‘threatened identity’. The
symposium breaks new ground by providing a synoptic overview of the discursive
strategies/resources used by individuals in dealing with the challenges associated
with ‘threatened identities’. This overview identifies potential commonalities in the
way that people address issues of threatened identity in talk, but also assesses the
extent to which such strategies and resources are identity specific.
The symposium comprises 5 sessions: four research presentations and a fifth
discussion session. Paper 1 examines the ways in which older job-seekers deploy
discursive strategies of marginalisation and non-marginalisation in the context of
employment. Paper 2 considers the ways in which individuals suffering from chronic
illness construct a positive identity. Paper 3 looks at the way people with severe and
enduring mental health problems account for being unemployed. Paper 4 explores
the way in which Syrian women and men deal with potential threats to identity
associated with particular religious beliefs. The four research presentations represent
a coherent set of studies, each focusing on an aspect of ‘threatened identity’ from a
discourse analytic perspective. Although related, the four research presentations vary
in that they study different identities. The discussion session will explore similarities
and differences across this set of research findings. This final session will take the
form of a round table discussion, moderated by the symposium convenor, in which
paper presenters and the audience will be invited to take part.
People with mental health problems and their accounts of employment
Sue Cowan and Robin Ion
Severe and enduring mental health problems have a profound impact on the lives of
sufferers. Their effects tend to be felt in a number of different domains from interpersonal relationships through to employment prospects and the ability to care for
self. This paper examines the ways in which people with severe and enduring mental
health problems address interactionally one of the ways in which their mental health
difficulties can impact on their lives. Discourse analytic techniques are used to
analyse data drawn from a series of interviews in which individuals with severe and
enduring mental health problems account for being unemployed. The analysis shows
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
how participants orient to the potential interactional difficulties associated with being
unemployed by detailing the ways in which they design their accounts to deal with
the possibility of criticism and the negative attributions that may be made in relation
to their employment status. These strategies include the formulation of the symptoms
of their illness as severe and the construction of self as being a willing and socially
responsible individual. The implications of this analysis for mental health practice are
discussed.
Stroke, accountability and identity
Jennifer Guise, University of Edinburgh
The aim of this study is to examine interactional difficulties faced by people who have
suffered stroke at a young age. A discourse analytic approach was used to examine
data that was gathered in one-to-one internet interviews, and in face-to-face groups
comprising stroke sufferers and their carers. The findings show that participants
oriented to issues of accountability relating to three aspects of their condition: first,
for having had the stroke, second, for the extent of their disability, third, for the extent
to which they had recovered. This paper illustrates some of the devices used by
stroke sufferers to deal with these issues of accountability. In particular, I will show
how implicit identities were drawn on to make claims and counter-claims regarding
stroke sufferers’ accountability. There will be a brief discussion of the implications of
this analysis for healthcare and clinical practice.
Identities of the older unemployed: marginalisation versus non-marginalisation
Chris McVittie, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh and Andy McKinlay,
University of Edinburgh
In this paper we examine the experiences of members of one group commonly
identified as being marginalized, namely the older unemployed. The aim of the study
was to consider the ways in which members of this group negotiate identities of
marginalisation and non-marginalisation in the context of unemployment. Participants
were 15 job-seekers aged over 40, recruited through local Job Centres. Each
participant was interviewed for approximately one hour and interviews were then
transcribed. The transcriptions were analysed using discourse analytic techniques.
The findings show that some interviewees do construct themselves as victims of
processes of marginalisation. This process involves participants in discounting a
range of potentially identity-relevant circumstances in order to establish the
marginalisation claim. Other interviewees are seen to negotiate identities that avoid
ascription of marginalisation. In these cases, participants make relevant a range of
personal circumstances that account for their not seeking employment. Both
discursive strategies are seen to enable speakers to display a positive identity within
the local interactional context.
‘I am a believer but not conformist’: negotiating claims to being religious.
Sue Widdicombe, University of Edinburgh
My aim is to explore mundane constructions of religiousness and to identify
strategies employed to affirm, qualify, deny or reformulate religious identity. The
analysis is based on informal interviews with 150 Syrian Muslim and Christian men
and women. I show that claiming to be religious is sometimes oriented to as
problematic and that participants employ a variety of descriptive strategies to
negotiate potentially problematic inferences about their identity. For example, some
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speakers qualified claims to being religious by distinguishing personally relevant and
rejected attributes of the category. Other speakers redefined the meaning of religion
and hence their claims to be religious by producing an alternative set of criteria.
Some speakers employed the formulations 'I am not x but y' or 'I am x but not y' in
which one implied construction of religious identity is contrasted with another
category label or set of practices that speakers claim is applicable to them. Finally, I
identify the sorts of inferential problems that arise from constructing one’s identity as
someone who is religious, specifically that others may infer extremism,
fundamentalism or intolerance towards other religions. These observations are set in
the context of the literature in which socio-political meanings of especially Islam and
religious identities have been the focus of empirical attention.
Round table discussion
The final symposium session will be a discussion of the research finding presented in
the four research presentations. The discussion will incorporate: an examination of
the similarities and differences in the strategies/resources which participants utilise in
constructing their identities, a review of commonalities across the different
interactional contexts in which the research is conducted (e.g. interviews, naturally
occurring conversations etc.), and a critical assessment of the ways in which different
contexts and sources of data impact upon the research findings. One key element of
this discussion will be an emphasis on participants’ own views: e.g. do they construct
themselves as endangered or not endangered, and how might such constructions
function etc.
____________________
Symposium: Narrative analysis and discursive psychology: an exploration of
approaches
Convenor: Stephanie Taylor, Open University
Participants:
Stephanie Taylor: [email protected]
Jane Montague: [email protected]
Sarah Seymour-Smith: [email protected]
Rebecca Jones: [email protected]
Jill Reynolds: [email protected]
Social psychological researchers working with language data are increasingly
employing narrative approaches which overlap but are not synonymous with analytic
approaches developed in discursive psychology. This symposium aims to explore the
connections and tensions between ‘narrative analysis’ and discursive approaches,
particularly in research analysing interviews and audio-recorded talk. The first paper,
by Stephanie Taylor, presents an overview of narrative analysis in psychology and
cognate disciplines, showing how ‘narrative’ and ‘story’ have been variously
approached, for example, in terms of process (‘narrating’ and ‘story-telling’) or
content or structure. A further distinction is between a narrative as a resource
employed by speakers or a construction produced in their talk. The following papers
demonstrate different approaches to narrative through their analyses of talk data. In
the second paper, Jane Montague employs a conversation analytic approach to
investigate speakers’ narration of ‘second stories’ (Sacks, 1992). The third paper, by
Sarah Seymour-Smith, presents an analysis of the co-constructed narratives through
which ‘coupleness’ is presented in interviews. In the fourth paper, Rebecca Jones
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
analyses extended narrative turns as stories through which an interviewee performs
an identity as someone ‘shocking’ who knowingly breaches social norms. The final
paper, by Jill Reynolds, shows how women speakers flexibly employ alternative
narratives to account for singleness.
Narrative analysis in social psychology
Stephanie Taylor, Open University
Social psychologists interested in narrative can look back to the work of Bruner
(1990) and also to writing within social constructionism (e.g. Gergen, 1994; Shotter &
Gergen, 1989). The latter tradition has been influential in the development of
discursive psychology, as, of course, has the work of sociologists like Sacks (1992).
However the analysis of talk and text within discursive psychology (e.g. Wetherell,
Taylor & Yates, 2001) draws on a wide range of understandings of narrative and
story-telling, focussing variously on the process of narrating or the stories which are
its product, on narrative as a resource, or on the structure of narratives (Edwards,
1996). Social psychologists interested in talk as data have also looked to crossdisciplinary and applied work such as that following Holstein and Gubrium (2000) and
Gubrium and Holstein (2001), and to narrative work in health psychology, sometimes
presented as a separate sub-discipline, narrative psychology (Crossley, 2000). A
significant body of narrative-based work within social psychology is presented under
the umbrella of ‘psycho-social research’ (see Andrews et al, 2000), including the
psychoanalytically-informed narrative research of Hollway and Jefferson (2000). This
paper presents an overview of these varying approaches and their implications for
the analysis of talk data. Following Abell, Stokoe & Billig (2000) and Taylor
(forthcoming), it proposes a discursive conception of narrative as both situated
construction and discursive resource.
Story telling in conversation: how is a second story told?
Jane Montague, Open University
The co-construction of narrative within conversation is examined in this paper with
particular reference to ‘second’ stories. The definition of ‘story’ used here is based
on that proposed by Sacks (1992), outlining a second story as being one that
immediately follows a first within a piece of talk. In conversation we demonstrate
understanding of what is being said in several ways, for example the co-selection of
particular words, answering questions, following on with similar experiences and so
on. A major source of items that can be drawn upon to demonstrate this
understanding, and a main feature of second stories, is the stock of things we
already know. The extracts of data discussed here, taken from a series of twelve
audio-recorded and transcribed conversations between older women and myself
around the topic of personal relationships are analysed within a conversation analytic
framework. These conversations were inspired by an interest in examining how, in
mundane talk, interactants construct themselves and others in relation to one
another. The interactions are littered with instances of stories throughout with both
stories and second stories employed as a flexible resource by the interactants.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Co-constructed stories of illness: The power of narrative in the discursive
production of 'coupleness'
Sarah Seymour-Smith, Open University
Much has been said about narrative being the major organising principle in people's
lives and how narratives are occasions for the production of identity (Reissman,
1993). However, relatively little research has analysed the rhetorical function of the
practical accomplishment of narrative identity in a fine-grained way. This paper
employs one discursive psychological approach to narrative analysis in an explication
of identity performance in couples’ narrative accounts of illness. The data, eight
interviews with couples, is taken from a larger project interested in the discursive
construction of masculinity and health. Here I focus on how narrative is a powerful
tool that couples employ in my data set to present their relationship in a particular
way. With jointly produced narratives it is possible to examine the interactional ways
that participants ‘do’relationships in public. I consider participants’ use of three
previously established discursive devices: the conversational duet, collaborative talk,
and tag questions and assert that previous research using these devices has taken
little account of the interactional context in which they are employed. With these
devices, and a further device of making special knowledge claims, I argue for their
flexibility as couples co-construct their relationships in a way that presents them as
being harmonious.
Telling shocking stories about sex as a form of identity work
Rebecca Jones, Open University
Discursive psychologists have argued that identities are not pre-formed but are
interactionally produced in talk (e.g. Antaki and Widdicombe, 1998). In this paper I
demonstrate that the flexibility of narratives about personal experience can be a
particularly powerful way in which identities are produced and displayed. Telling a
story entitles speakers to an extended turn (Sacks, 1992) which can provide space
for morally complex and risky accounts. I discuss stories told in a single interview
from a wider corpus of interviews with women aged over 60 about sex in later life. I
demonstrate that the interviewee repeatedly orients to her stories as potentially
shocking and that this has a number of significant effects on the interaction. It
enables her to breach what she treats as the norms of what is talked about and it
gives a high truth-status to her account. In particular, through telling shocking stories
about sex the interviewee positions herself in a range of valorised ways, for example,
as someone who knows but chooses to breach social norms and as a taboo-breaking
disabled person.
Single by choice? Variability in narratives of singleness and past relationships
Jill Reynolds, Open University
This paper uses a feminist discursive analysis to explore single women’s narratives
reflecting on their relationships and reasons for being single. Data drawn from
interviews with 30 single women aged between 30 and 60 years illustrates variability
between and within participants’ understanding of the choices available to them. The
flexible use of interpretative resources such as ‘choice’ can be seen to allow people
to position themselves differently within their life narratives, at different moments of
the interview discussion. The notion of choice can be a cornerstone in an
interpretative repertoire of ‘freedom and independence’. It can also conjure up
cultural traditions of a woman needing to wait to ‘be chosen’. Women may describe
how they made choices not to pursue particular relationships without presenting
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
themselves as having chosen to be alone. This paper argues that ambivalence is
embedded in western representations of singleness and that the alternative
narratives presented by speakers reflect their situated and ongoing work to present
themselves positively.
____________________
Symposium: Towards a social psychology of objectification
Convenor: Martin W Bauer, LSE
Discussant: Gerard Duveen, Cambridge
Participants:
Hugh Miller
Steven D Brown/David Middleton
Saadi Lahlou
Martin W Bauer
Objects and identity
Hugh Miller, Nottingham Trent
It has previously been suggested that objects play an active part in social interaction
and are a suitable topic of investigation for social psychology (Dittmar, 1992, Miller
1995). The present paper uses a variety of perspectives: dramaturgical, symbolic
interactionist, narrative, post-modern, and actor-network theory, to examine the role
that objects can play in establishing and maintaining identity. It is argued that
considering these theoretical perspectives can give a framework for research on the
way objects, either through affecting agency or by acting symbolically, interact with
social lives and personal identity.
The matter of memory: For a psychology of experience
Steven D. Brown and David Middleton
Memory may be productively studied as a discursive accomplishment. However,
approaching memory in this way translates traditional concerns with the adequacy
and accuracy of recall into an evaluation of the competencies of speakers to
negotiate the inter-actional pragmatics of formulating coherent, well rhetorically
organised accounts. We discuss how the performance of memory also depends on
embodied relations between persons and artefacts. Our particular concern is how
'agency' is formulated at its strongest at precisely those moments where the
participant's accounts are most fragmentary. At these moments, artefacts and other
mundane devices for securing social ordering become highly prominent.
Objects, activity, attractors
Saadi Lahlou (EHESS/ Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale & EDF /Laboratory of
Design for Cognition)
Object is the most stable element of the psychosocial triangle (ego, alter, object).
Humans, alas, are transient. Objects remain, and keep their properties and
affordances in between interactions with humans. Objects can therefore serve as
"stand alone" guidelines for human activity with objects or between humans,
landmarks for human co-operation, and models for transmission or reproduction of
human knowledge and practice. Roads and road signs, for example, are concrete
systems which guide human transportation behaviour by providing affordances and
incitative displays. This is also true of non-material objects, which in the same way
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
guide and assist mental activity. Deliberately, human societies use objects as an
"external" basis for continuity and social reproduction. One aspect of objectification is
thus creating stability of culture and practice in human societies, by materializing the
culture into artefacts. Many objects and settings possess the property of "attracting"
human behaviour into conventional patterns, therefore facilitating co-operation and
compliance to social life. In real life settings, objects are many. The model of
"cognitive attractors" describes how objects trigger activity, and what happens in the
general case where many objects, with different affordances, compete for attraction.
Things, Norms and Social Influence
Martin W Bauer, Department of Social Psychology/Methodology Institute, LSE
Social influence is a classic topic of social psychology. The focus of this tradition is
on the establishment of, conformity to and deviance from, and the modalities of
changing norms under minority influence. Dealing with new technologies and other
'objectifications' from within social psychology makes it necessary to extend these
paradigms in two dimensions: a) social influence is not just a matter of face-to-face
interaction, i.e. the laboratory, but also that of mass mediated communication, and b)
social influence happens not only related to norms, but also related to things. Things
and norms may be functionally equivalent for ordering social life, so why are they
treated so very differently in social psychological theory. As others before, Latour
asks ironically, 'how long will the social sciences be without an objects?'. We may
ask the same question for social psychology.
____________________
Symposium: Affect and Cognition in the Static and Changing Attitude
Convenor: Roger Giner-Sorolla, University of Kent
Participants:
Gregory R. Maio/Mark M. Bernard/Ali Pakizeh
Rob Ruiter, Bernadette Schmitt and Liesbeth Wouters
Michelle A. Luke
Rupert Brown/Pablo Espinosa
Roger Giner-Sorolla
Abstract
The papers in this session represent a diverse selection of work within attitudes and
persuasion that share an engagement with both the emotional and cognitive bases of
evaluation. These presentations, taken as a group, demonstrate the value of making
distinctions between affective and cognitive elements in the study of the motivational
processes underlying attitude change, attitude stability, defensive processing, and
attitude accessibility. Another common theme is the interplay between affect and
cognition, going beyond basic notions such as "affective primacy" or "cold cognition".
A final unifying principle of several of these studies is the use of methods from the
social cognitive toolbox such as response latency and electroencephalography to
measure affect and cognition implicitly. Summary comments by the symposium's
organiser will develop these themes and bring the papers' findings together.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
The Psychological Bases of Social Values: Implicit Components and SelfCentrality
Gregory R. Maio, Mark M. Bernard, and Ali Pakizeh, Cardiff University
The presented research examined the affective, cognitive, and behavioural bases of
values and attitudes. Based on the values-as-truisms hypothesis (Maio & Olson,
1998), we expected that values would have weaker cognitive than affective and
behavioural associates. Using a new procedure for assessing implicit foundations of
values and attitudes, we obtained support for this view. As expected, additional
evidence indicated that more cognitive support exists when the values are higher in
self-centrality. The implications for three-component perspectives on attitudes and
values are discussed.
Guilt And Shame As Motivations To Control Expressions Of Prejudice
Roger S. Giner-Sorolla, Rupert Brown, and Pablo Espinosa, University of Kent
The relationship between shame and guilt proneness (Tangney & Dearing, 2002),
motivation to control prejudice (Plant & Devine, 1998), and overt prejudice against
various social groups (McConahay, 1986) was examined. Bringing Tangney's
research to bear on Monteith's (e.g., Monteith & Voils, 1998) and Devine's research,
we proposed that while negative self-conscious emotions can help people to control
overt displays of prejudice, they will be most effective among guilt-prone people, who
focus on the negativity of their behaviours, rather than shame-prone people, who
focus on the unworthiness of themselves. First, in a correlational study of university
students, internal motivation to control prejudice (IMS) was negatively related to overt
prejudice independently of external motivation (EMS); guilt proneness also was
negatively related to overt prejudice independently of shame proneness. Guilt
proneness, but not shame proneness, was related to IMS, although this relationship
did not hold for EMS. In a third, experimental study, participants received bogus
feedback indicating that they were prejudiced against teacher candidates from one of
three outgroups (cf. Monteith & Voils, 1998). This feedback, for two of the groups
(Blacks and Muslims) but not the third (lesbians), aroused guilt and shame and
tended to encourage symbolic helping of those groups. Guilt proneness was also
related to favourable behaviour towards those groups overall, independent of shame
proneness. These results replicate Monteith's findings outside North America and
show the value of being specific about which negative self-conscious emotions can
help in self-control.
The Effects of Threatening Health Commercials on Attention: An Event-Related
Brain Potential Approach
Rob Ruiter, Bernadette Schmitt and Liesbeth Wouters, University of Maastricht
The present study tested the effects of threatening health commercials on attention
for a parallel task. We measured the electric brain potential (event-related potentials
or ERP) of participants while they were watching the commercials and at the same
time had to carry out a simple auditory (oddball) tone detection task. Fourteen female
participants were exposed to threatening and non-threatening TV commercials about
the negative consequences of smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol abuse in a fully
within-subjects experimental design. At the same time, participants listened to low
tones (85% prevalence) and high tones (15% prevalence), randomly presented at a
rate of one tone per second. The participants’ task was to react to the high tones by
pressing a button. In such a task, the ERP shows a specific pattern related to
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
attention: the signal recorded around 100 ms after tone presentation (i.e., N100) has
been associated with the process of early sensory attention. The signal at around
300 ms after onset (P300) has been related to attention during stimulus evaluation.
We observed that the auditory N100 was larger during the processing of threatening
compared to non-threatening commercials. This finding suggests that participants
paid more attention to the auditory task while watching the threatening scenes than
while watching the non-threatening scenes, regardless of the health topic. According
to Kahneman’s attentional resources theory the results imply that participants paid
less attention to threatening than to non-threatening video scenes in early sensory
stages of information processing.
Oh The Humanity! Introducing The Humanity-Esteem Construct
Michelle A. Luke, University of Southampton & Gregory R. Maio, Cardiff University
Past research on the esteem construct has examined liking for the self (i.e., selfesteem; Blascovich & Tomaka, 1990) and one’s social group (i.e., collective selfesteem; Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992), corresponding to two of the three levels of the
social self-concept (i.e., personal self and social self) proposed by self-categorization
theory (e.g., Turner, 1985). The present research examines liking for people in
general (i.e., humanity-esteem), which corresponds to the remaining level. Several
studies investigated the antecedents and consequences of humanity-esteem and its
attitude structure. Results indicated that humanity-esteem consists of both affect and
cognition. Also, humanity-esteem scores are predicted by self-reports of maternal
treatment and by exposure to media images of people upholding or threatening
universal social values. Furthermore, an experimental study demonstrated that low
humanity-esteem caused discrimination. We conclude that humanity-esteem is a
useful construct for understanding human behaviour.
Affective Evaluations Are Faster -- If the Attitude Is Affectively Based
Roger Giner-Sorolla, University of Kent
Three studies extended Verplanken, Hofstee, and Janssen's (1998) findings that the
affective component of attitude is accessed more readily than the cognitive. Study 1
eliminated a possible confound resulting from the greater evaluative nature of the
affective terms used in the original studies, and still found a speed advantage for
objects evaluated under affective versus cognitive focus. However, affective focus
also gave rise to evaluations more in line with normative evaluation, raising the
possibility that cognitive focus merely disrupts evaluation. Study 2 measured the
accessibility of cognitive and affective traits, again equalizing the evaluative nature of
these traits, and found a speed advantage for affective traits, although the attitude
objects in this study turned out to be mainly affectively based. Study 3 used a
mixture of affectively and cognitively based objects and found no overall speed
advantage for affective terms; furthermore, there was a speed advantage for affective
terms among strongly affectively based items, but not among strongly cognitively
based items. These results suggest that while affective material may be accessed
more quickly than cognitive, this is most true when the overall evaluation is based on
affect rather than cognition, and will be compared to Giner-Sorolla (2001)'s parallel
findings that affectively based evaluations are fastest when the attitude is most
extreme.
____________________
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Symposium: Exploring the ‘contexts’ of social psychology: The neglect of time
and space in intergroup relations
Convenor: Robert D. Lowe
Discussant: Nick Hopkins
Participants:
Mark Levine
Beverley Clack
Susan Condor/Clifford Stevenson/Jackie Abell
Robert D. Lowe
John Dixon/Mark Levine/Rob McAuley
Abstract
This symposium evinces the importance of ‘contextual’ practice, but proposes that
certain conceptions of context have been prioritized over others.
A recognition of the importance of context is not novel to social psychology. Israel
and Tajfel’s text ‘The Context of Social Psychology’ (1972) in particular emphasized
the potential hollowness of a social psychology that forsakes it. However, in practice,
social psychology tended to prioritize particular forms of context, to the relative
neglect of others. For example, within the Social Identity Theory literature there has
been the prioritization of the immediate oppositional context of groups, without due
reference to historical or physical setting in which that opposition occurs.
This symposium will consider alternative ‘contextualizations’, considering the
particular significance of space and time to intergroup relations. Though inherent in
all social action, from the thirty-minute laboratory trial to racial segregation in
Twentieth Century South Africa, the locatedness of the subject in time and space has
often been removed from the psychological literature. Symposium participants will
address the implications of spatio-temporal contextualizations: from the reexamination of classic psychological studies, to the possibilities of alternative
research perspectives.
In the first paper, Levine interrogates the implicit temporal assumptions of two classic
studies. This reassessment of familiar studies challenges common interpretations,
highlighting the costs of temporal neglect in social psychology.
The focus shifts to space in the second paper. Clack examines the phenomenon of
micro-segregation in apparently integrated locations. Novel methodological
techniques allow space to be examined on a non-aggregating and revealing scale.
Condor, Stevenson, and Abell examine the manner in which temporal comparisons,
rather than the more traditional focus of inter-category comparisons, can be utilized
within social judgements. They examine the context of constitutional change in the
UK.
In the fourth paper Lowe examines the role of spatio-temporal frames of reference
within identity constructions. The signification of spaces is investigated in accounts
of public demonstrations.
In the final paper Dixon, Levine and McAuley draw out everyday experiences of
public space. Interview data examines ‘place impropriety’: the (in)appropriateness of
behaviours within particular social spaces.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Neglecting sequence in social psychology: why time matters
Mark Levine, Lancaster University
This paper will begin with Abbott’s (2001) observation that an algebra of linear
transformations underpins the ‘cases and variables’ approach of most social
psychology. Abbott argues that, if the social world is to be made to ‘fit’ these linear
transformations, then we have to assume that ‘ the order of things does not influence
the way they turn out’ (p51). The paper will demonstrate how this assumption results
in the neglect of sequence in social psychology. This sequence myopia is
demonstrated with reference to two classic research paradigms: Milgram’s
‘obedience to authority paradigm’ and Tajfel’s ‘minimal group paradigm (MGP)’. The
recovery of sequence can transform the way the obedience to authority experiments
are understood. We are directed away from seeing obedience as a product of an
‘agentic state’ and towards the importance of the role of sequential structure in
producing self-implication in acts of atrocity. In Tajfel’s minimal group studies it is
suggested that aggregated statistical techniques and empirical design factors strip
out important sequence information from the MGP. This absence of sequence
information may contribute as much to the well-known MGP finding of gratuitous
ingroup discrimination as the traditional explanation of mere group categorisation.
The paper will conclude with some observations about the hidden impact of linear
temporal assumptions on social psychological theory and practice.
‘Eating together apart’: Patterns of segregation in a multi-ethnic cafeteria
Beverley Clack, Lancaster University
Intergroup contact reduces prejudice and plays a role in creating positive intergroup
relations – which is why segregation, its antithesis, is generally viewed as a negative
phenomenon. Although legal systems of segregation have been abolished in most
societies, research conducted in the USA and Europe shows that ethnic and racial
isolation remains common in institutions such as education and industry. It is often
also a feature of the residential organisation of towns and cities. This work suggests
that levels of racial and ethnic isolation may be higher than some social
psychological research implies and, by implication, that intergroup contact may be as
much ‘illusory’ as actual (Taylor, Dubé, & Bellarose, 1986). Developing this theme,
the present research examined patterns of ethnic interaction and isolation in an
everyday public space, namely a university cafeteria. The research employed a novel
observational technique in order to examine the extent of racial exposure and to
explore the reproduction of segregation in this setting. The analysis, which adapted
indices of segregation developed in urban geography and sociology, revealed that
segregation took a number of forms. Two implications of these results are addressed.
First, we argue that self-report and experimental research on contact needs to be
augmented by observational work in everyday settings. Second, we argue that
research on macro-sociological processes of segregation must be complemented by
research on the microecology of division.
The role of temporal comparison in international judgement
Susan Condor, Clifford Stevenson and Jackie Abell, Lancaster University
Recent research has explored the possibility that social judgements may, on
occasions, be formulated through temporal comparisons rather than through intercategory comparisons. This paper examines the ways in which temporal
comparisons were spontaneously invoked in the context of national accounting
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
amongst adults in England and in Scotland in the context of changes to the UK
constitution.
Analysis indicated that, far from being antithetical forms of social representation,
international comparisons were typically articulated in conjunction with temporal
comparisons. For example, temporal comparisons could be used as a basis for
establishing comparative national status, for example, through estimates of stages or
rates of ingroup versus outgroup development. Second, temporal comparisons could
be used to establish or to undermine images of the security of a particular social
comparison and to establish the likelihood of or limits to future social change. Third,
historical considerations could be used to establish the justice or legitimacy (or
otherwise) of existing social relations. Finally, temporal comparisons could
themselves constitute the object of debate, with social actors questioning the
legitimacy of using particular images of the past in order to legitimate social actions in
the present.
Temporal and spatial referencing
demonstrations and online discussions
Robert D. Lowe, University of Lancaster
in
collective
identities:
Located
The physical contestation of space is a major facet within political demonstrations. In
activist literature and accounts of demonstrations, claims for freedom of speech and
freedom of passage are often conflated. The impedance of these freedoms by other
actors have been held to account for collective identification processes of ingroup
and outgroup allocation, and a resultant unity of collective action.
This paper accepts these social psychological accounts, but wishes to extend the
investigation into the construction of understandings of the location of
demonstrations. It takes as its starting point a series of demonstrations within central
London, an area through which thousands of people pass everyday, and for whom
the spaces have little if any relevance to any act of demonstration. However, the
spaces of London are not a neutral backdrop to the power conflicts of protest. In the
action of demonstrations, and in discussions of that activity, the places of the
demonstrations are mobilized as spatial and temporal anchors for the norms of
identity. This paper will interrogate these spatio-temporal constructs in the
construction of collective identities.
The mobilization of spatio-temporal anchors will be exemplified by data gathered
from Internet discussion groups. Despite the prominent metaphor of ‘cyberspace’, a
primary feature of the Internet is its apparent detachment from physical location, and
its contraction of temporal cues. However, a prominent aspect within the
maintenance of online collective identities is the reference to physical location, and
temporal sequences of the performance of those identities, suggesting the
importance of these factors to social identity processes.
Locating impropriety: street drinking, moral order, and the regulation of public
space
John Dixon, Mark Levine and Rob McAuley, University of Lancaster
Since the early 1980s, over 100 local authorities have instituted byelaws prohibiting
the public consumption of alcohol in designated areas of British towns and cities. The
present research examined how ordinary users of public space understand and
evaluate such measures. Interviews were conducted in situ with users (n= 59) of the
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Market Square area of Lancaster city centre, a place designated as an ‘alcohol free
zone’ since July 2000. A discursive analysis of interview accounts suggested that
street drinking was constructed primarily as a form of ‘place impropriety’, a
transgression of the moral values inscribed within a given social space. Among other
functions, interviewees used this kind of place formulation to define the latitude of
acceptable behaviour in Market Square, to warrant their support for the
implementation of the alcohol byelaw, and to justify the exclusion of certain
categories of person and activity from Lancaster city centre. At the same time,
several interview accounts displayed a two-sided character, qualifying support for the
byelaw by raising concerns over its potential for infringing civil liberties and promoting
an intolerance of diversity. In conclusion, we attempt to situate the study’s findings in
the context of a wider transformation of urban public space -- a transformation
manifest within ideological dilemmas over the limits of free conduct, the tension
between open and closed public spaces, and the distinction between ‘admissible’
and ‘inadmissible’ publics.
____________________
Symposium: Constructing and Resisting European Identity
Convenor: Susan Condor, Psychology Department, University of Lancaster
Participants:
Stephen Gibson
Dennis Nigbur
Jackie Abell
Susan Condor and Clifford Stevenson
Abstract
The concept of a “European identity” is widely invoked in contemporary political
rhetoric. The concept has also been adopted relatively unproblematically as a
research topic within the social sciences in general, and in social psychology in
particular. However, the construct of “European identity” has rarely been subject to
any theoretical – or even serious empirical – scrutiny. On the contrary, researchers
tend to assume a priori knowledge, often simply importing generic constructs (for
example, from social identity theory) or simply adapting instruments originally
designed to measure strength of national identity. Similarly, studies of images of, and
attitudes towards, Europe and the EU tend to use standard techniques drawn from
social psychological work on national stereotyping. The question of the ways in which
people living in Europe may themselves understand the constructs of “European”,
“Nationality” and “identity”, and the relationship between them, has rarely been
addressed.
This neglect has led to three problems apparent in the extant research literature. First
is the tendency for research to import a number of unexamined assumptions: for
example, that the category of “Europe” may be treated as synonymous with “the EU”,
and that a tendency to disclaim European identity may be treated as equivalent to
opposition to the EU, which may, in turn, be treated as a function of negative
attitudes towards other European countries.
A second consequence is that scant concern has been granted to the possibility that
attitudes towards the EU, perceptions of Europe, and “European identity” might take
qualitatively different forms amongst different groups of people. Rather, any
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
comparative research tends to proceed from an assumption that any variations
between European identities or social representations will involve differences of
degree rather than of kind.
Third, researchers have generally adopted a particular moral stance towards the
object of their research: European identity (whatever it may be) is generally treated
as a “good thing”. Consequently, low levels of measured European identity are often
treated as a practical and political “problem”. This “problem” of lack of European
identity is, in turn, often attributed to a second “problem”: a surfeit of “national
identity”.
The present symposium focuses on one particular population that have
conventionally been regarded as especially “problematic” in their apparent
disinclination to adopt a “European identity”: the British, and, more specifically, the
English. In this case, it is possible to identify similar stereotypes and assumptions in
both the academic social psychology literature and in the domain of political rhetoric.
The assumption that antipathy towards the EU, and a reluctance to adopt an
appropriate “European identity”, both stem from a conservative attachment to a
specifically national way-of-life on the part of the British citizenry underpins a good
deal of formal political discourse. In this symposium, the papers all address “the
problem” of British (and especially English) antipathy towards the EU and of
“European identity”, but treat this as an empirical problem. Rather than assuming
knowledge concerning what people understand by “European identity”, the core
symbols and values with which it is associated, and the ways in which this may (or
may not) be related to “national identity”, we take these questions as the object of
research.
The symposium consists of four papers followed by a half-hour discussion session.
Stephen Gibson’s paper examines the social psychological literature as a form of
social text that actively constructs “European identity” as an object for description and
quantification. However, he also exemplifies some points concerning absences in this
literature with evidence taken from his own fieldwork with members of the British
armed forces.
In the second paper, Dennis Nigbur reports a study on undergraduate students, and
draws attention to the various ways in which respondents could treat the European
Union as a potential threat to both the uniqueness and also the authenticity of
contemporary national identity. Nigbur argues that as far as his respondents were
concerned, the category of “European” was unable to provide a substitute basis for
social identification, being unable to symbolically encapsulate notions of familiarity
and distinctiveness in the same way as national identities.
In the third paper, Jackie Abell takes up the question of the various ways in which
nationhood, Europe and identity may be symbolically portrayed. She reports data
from a study of adults living in England, and focuses in particular on ways in which
people may substitute geographical for cultural references when warranting
opposition to the EU or disclaiming European identity. Abell argues that the strategic
use of geographical rather than cultural references reflects an interactional dilemma,
according to which respondents expressing anti-European attitudes need to protect
themselves from potential accusations of xenophobic, narrow-minded “nationalism”
or “little Englandism”.
In the fourth paper, Susan Condor and Clifford Stevenson address three issues
mentioned by previous speakers: images of cultural “difference”; images of
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geographical “separation”, and the stereotype of “typical” English insularity.
Interviews with young people living in the North and in the South of England are used
to explore the ways in which these themes can be used to support a particular form
of argument against the EU. Rather than expressing opposition to the EU with
reference to a sense of shared national identity, and a concern to defend of “our”
distinctive national culture, this form of argument relies on the adoption of personal
identity affording a “traveller’s gaze”: a representation of self as an independent
thinker and connoisseur of the exotic, whose intellectual stimulation, aesthetic
sensibilities and pleasure in travel may be comprised by the homogenizing,
modernising tendencies of the EU.
Safe European Home? Social Psychology Constructs European Identity
Stephen Gibson, Department of Psychology, University of Lancaster
This paper reviews the extant social psychological literature to explore the explicit
and implicit ways in which “European identity” has been constructed as a “problem”
and as a research object. Social psychological work on European identity has
tended to proceed from the assumption that national identity poses a potential threat
to the development of a European identity and wider processes of European
integration. This work frequently casts European integration as desirable, or at least
inevitable, in contrast to national identity that, it is assumed, can take more
pernicious forms. These assumptions are associated with two related problems in
empirical research. First, the same scales are typically used to measure national
identity with 'Europe' substituted for the national group label. National and European
identities are thus implicitly assumed to involve the same general processes of
identification. Secondly, and somewhat paradoxically, European categories and
identities are assumed to be of a different order to their national counterparts.
Specifically, Europe is assumed to constitute an innocent, inclusive, ‘superordinate’
category that is not subject to the same exclusionary sentiment as national
categories. The potential for the category ‘Europe’ also to be associated with
oppositional and exclusionary forms of social representation will be illustrated with
reference to fieldwork conducted with members of the British armed forces.
Being different by being British (or English?): National symbols and character
as arguments against European integration
Dennis Nigbur, SPERI Surrey, Marco Cinnirella, Royal Holloway, University of
London
National identities are characterised by a wealth of symbols and symbolic practices,
normative social values, and stereotypical traits of character, all of which serve to
make the nation both familiar and distinctive. They satisfy the need to belong by
making the nation tangible as an ‘imagined community’ and to manage the need for
transcendence by associating the national with an internationally distinctive mix of
descriptors of nationality. The emphasis of this paper is to illustrate how British
student respondents in an interview study used these descriptors both to portray their
unique national identity and the threat that European integration may pose to such
uniqueness. Symbols, values, and traits were all deployed to establish the authentic
character of one’s national identity, to emphasise that a united Europe would have
little or no such authenticity, and to express how it would even threaten authenticity
at the national level. Moreover, impressions of the existence or nature of this threat
seemed to be associated with different ways of relating to one’s own national identity:
Respondents variously argued for a stronger and more influential role of their nation
in Europe and the world, for a preservation of national uniqueness and the exclusion
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or segregation of European and other foreign influences, or for an integration of
national ‘uniquenesses’ in the European Union. It is concluded that resistance to
European integration is founded in the perception that Europe cannot allay the needs
for familiarity and distinctiveness in the same way as national identities.
23 Miles of Water: Invoking Geography to Manage Dilemmas of European and
National Identity in England
Jackie Abell, Department of Psychology, University of Lancaster
The concept of Europe has been theorised extensively as a political, economic and
cultural category within the social sciences, and debates about European identity
have often become elided into those of national identity. Typically, researchers have
noted how the population of Britain remain, at best, ambivalent towards a European
identity, suggesting that such reluctance can be explained in terms of a shared
understanding of who ‘we’ (the British) are, in contrast to ‘them’ the Europeans. This
paper reports data from a longitudinal study of people resident in England and
Scotland, and considers their constructions of nationhood in relation to their
constructions of Europe. In particular, the paper considers when and how
respondents invoke geographical representations when confronted with dilemmas of
social representation. Amongst respondents in England, geographical imagery was
typically invoked when talking about self and nation in relation to Europe. In such
contexts, a geographical representation of the ‘nation’ (as an island) enables
respondents to construct accounts of self and other on the basis of place rather than
with reference to the characteristics of populations. Such geographical images may
thereby be used to warrant claims concerning the fact and inevitability of ‘difference’
without resorting to potentially accountable stereotypes of national identity or culture.
A Rough Guide to Young People’s Opposition to the EU: Personal identity,
cultural alterity and the pleasures of travel
Susan Condor and Clifford Stevenson, Department of Psychology, University of
Lancaster
This paper reports some findings from an interview study of a sample of young
people resident in the North and the South of England. Despite the heterogeneous
nature of the sample, almost all of these young people disclaimed any sense of
European identity and expressed some measure of ambivalence or antipathy
towards the EU. In this paper we consider one particularly prevalent form of
argument, in which expressions of opposition to the EU are not based on the
adoption and defence of a collective national identity, but which rather rely on the
adoption of a particular form of personal identity, defined in opposition to stereotypic
images of “typical” English or British insularity or national chauvinism. This form of
account characterises Europe as a geographical area, “the Continent’ from which the
respondent’s own country is physically, culturally and historically distanciated. The
respondent positions themselves in relation to Europe not as a member of an
imagined national community, but rather in the role of imaginary traveller: an
independent thinker, seeker after adventure and connoisseur of the exotic, whose
intellectual stimulation, aesthetic sensibilities and pleasure in travel is dependent
upon Europe maintaining its essential difference from the domestic and the familiar, a
role which may be comprised by the homogenizing, modernising tendencies of the
EU.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Symposium: Current research in Social Representations: applications and
critical issues
Convenor: Caroline Howarth, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Discussant: Sandra Jovchelovitch, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Participants:
Caroline Howarth
Juliet Foster
Ama de-Graft Aikins
Alex Gillespie
Asi Sharabi
Magdalini Dargentas
This symposium brings together new research in the field that seeks both to
demonstrate and critically assess the applicability of the theory of social
representations and to develop its conceptual and empirical scope across a range of
cultural contexts. After an introduction to current critical issues under debate within
the field by Caroline Howarth, we shall critically explore two of the more controversial
aspects of the theory: a) the relationship between consensual and reified knowledge
systems, particularly within the context of health (Foster and Aikins); b) the complex
relationship between representation and self-identity, within the contexts of tourism,
religion and conflict (Gillespie, Dargenta and Sharabi). Sandra Jovchelovitch, as
discussant, will bring the session together focussing on the critical issues raised and
areas for further analysis within the field.
If “a social representation is not a quiet thing” - are we listening?
Caroline Howarth, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Following Moscovici (1972), this paper addresses the questions: What is the aim of
research within a social representations perspective? Is it to support or to criticise the
social order? Is it to consolidate or transform it? After an introduction to what social
representations actually ‘do’, I argue that while the theory appears to have the
conceptual tools to begin this critical task, there are serious criticisms and points of
underdevelopment that need addressing. In order for social representations theory to
develop into a rigorously critical theory there are three controversial issues that
require clarification. These are a) the relationship between psychological processes
and social practices, b) the reification and legitimisation of different knowledge
systems and c) agency and resistance in the co-construction of self-identity. After
discussing each issue in turn, with illustrations from social representations research, I
conclude the paper with a discussion of the role of social representations in the
ideological construction of reality.
‘Expert’ Knowledge and Social Representations Theory
Juliet Foster, University of Cambridge
This paper will focus on one of the more controversial aspects of the theory of social
representations, that of the consensual and the reified universes and the relationship
between them. The criticisms that have been levelled at this aspect of the theory will
be examined, and, while it will be suggested that many of these seem somewhat
misplaced, it will also be argued that alternative conceptions of differing forms of
knowledge might have more to offer the development of the theory. In particular the
contribution of the recent notion of the representational project (Bauer and Gaskell,
1999) will be evaluated. By way of illustration of some of the issues under
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discussion, the case of representations of health will be considered in more detail.
Work from the area of the sociology of scientific knowledge will be examined that
details the way in which patients can, in some circumstances, affect the way in which
health professionals understand an illness. A recent study into the representations of
mental health problems held by clients of the mental health services will also be used
to demonstrate how different forms of knowledge are legitimised in different ways,
and how they interact with one another. The paper will conclude by considering the
implications of these issues for the development of the theory of social
representations with regards to its perspective on different forms of knowledge.
Applying social representations theory to the African context: epistemological
and theoretical challenges
Ama de-Graft Aikins, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
With a few exceptions the majority of social representations studies have been
carried out, as Wagner and colleagues (1999) note, in 'western cultures in conditions
of modernity'. Thus dominant concepts generated in the field are rooted within a
western epistemology. This is further compounded by the tendency within the field to
particularize social representations as unique phenomena emerging in modern detraditionalised societies and significantly influenced by scientific discourse. The
particularistic view, which implicitly adopts a tradition-modernity dichotomous
framework, not only limits an understanding of the complexities of contemporary
conscious processes in western societies but poses critical epistemological problems
when transposed to contemporary non-western societies experiencing ‘modernity’ in
different ways from the West. This paper argues that for social representations theory
to escape the ethnocentrism characterising mainstream social science discourse on
knowledge systems and practices of non-western societies, these dichotomous terms
will have to be deconstructed.
The challenge is approached in two ways. First, the paper proposes that the
universal aspects of the theory, which offer general principles for human thought and
action should frame conceptual work in non-western contexts. Secondly, it proposes
that Moscovici’s hypothesis of ‘cognitive polyphasia’, which captures the essence of
the heterogeneity and dynamism of socio-cultural knowledge is operationalised within
this universalistic framework. Discussions draw from three areas. First, critical
multidisciplinary work which highlight the heterogeneous sources and functions of
African socio-cultural knowledge systems, historically and in contemporary times.
Second, empirical work in Ghana which uses cognitive polyphasia as a conceptual
tool to examine the ways in which different social groups draw on and use different
versions of shared knowledge modalities on health, illness and diabetes in everyday
relations and practices. Third, social representations work drawing on cognitive
polyphasia to map out content and sources of health discourses in both western and
non-western contexts. The central aim is to demonstrate how cognitive polyphasia,
when operationalised within a universalistic framework, can play a central role in
facilitating (a) the applicability of the theory to contemporary non-western realities,
and (b) a resolution to the internal debate surrounding the particularity and
universality of the theory.
Practices of tourism and the construction of the 'cultural' Ladakhi self
Alex Gillespie, University of Cambridge
This paper concerns the social construction of the representation “Ladakhi culture”
amongst Ladakhis, in north India. I present a methods, called dismantling, which
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attempts to recover the process of social construction from cross sectional discursive
data. Using this method, “Ladakhi culture” is shown to be constructed via the surplus
meaning that Ladakh has had for tourists, and the resultant actions of tourists. In this
sense, “Ladakhi culture” is a power-laden construction. I then introduce the
distinction between using and mentioning a representation, which has been
mentioned by Potter and Wetherell (1987), and Caroline in her introduction. This
distinction is used to frame an analysis of Ladakhis’ resistence to “Ladakhi culture”
on the one hand, and an analysis of how Ladakhis use “Ladakhi culture” to resist the
representation of Ladakhi as “backward” on the other. This reveals a nonfoundational system of knowledge, where the same representation is both used for
resistance and is mentioned as the object of resistance. Accordingly it is problematic
to designate “Ladakhi culture” as simply power-laden or ideological. I conclude by
considering various ways in which we can bring power into the purview of a critical
social representations theory, arguing that we should pay particular attention to
specifics of what representations afford, deny and conceal.
Taking the Perspective of the Other: From Cognitive Ability to Communicative
Activity. The Case of Israeli and Palestinian Children
Asi Sharabi, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
As in most mainstream cognitive psychology research, the vast majority of role taking
studies seems to be overwhelmingly individualistic and overly cognitivised. For the
present investigation that seek to understand the mechanisms of perspective taking
within a highly complicated and emotionally-loaded context such as the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, the existing theoretical and empirical bulk of research is
obviously insufficient and a new approach is essential. Drawing on G. H. Mead’s
various writings (philosophy, social psychology and ethical theory) and the theory of
social representations this paper makes a distinction between role taking ability and
activity; competence and performance. It is argued that perspective-taking activity is
a problematic construction, which is always situationally and culturally dependable.
Hence, the focal task is to explore the systems of ideas, images and beliefs (social
representations) that mediate perspective taking. A sample of 93 Jewish-Israeli
children, aged 11 to 12, participated in the research. The children, drawn from three
social groups who differ in cultural and geographical background (kibbutz, settlement
and city), took part in drawing, written assignments and group discussions. The
preliminary findings from this study will be presented here.
Social representations of cremation, dynamics and identity issues
Magdalini Dargentas, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
This study is a part of a larger research study, relevant to the social representations
of death. The theoretical framework we refer to is that of social representations and
their dynamics, related to identity questions. Through the social representations of
cremation in Greece, we attempted to examine the subjects’ identity defense
strategies towards a practice characterized by its novelty. In fact, cremation is
characterized by its novelty in the Greek context, as it is, at present, forbidden.
However, its institutionalization seems to be necessary given the problems caused in
a practical level by the traditional way, i.e. that of burial; that of treating the dead
bodies. Thus, it turns out to be the focus of a debate between citizens, the state, and
the church. We attempted to examine 3 hypotheses: 1. if social representations of
cremation is related to cultural and identity aspects; 2. if the question of cremation’s
institutionalization reinforces this cultural and identity dimensions; and 3. if those
dimensions would be likely to be given more by subjects having a majority status
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
(orthodox), than participants having a minority status (catholic). Participants
answered to 4 open-ended questions about their views on cremation. Our sample is
made of 123 subjects, catholic (minority status) and orthodox (majority status). The
findings confirm these hypotheses and allow us to explain social representations’
dynamics through identity issues. This kind of research underlines the need of further
exploration of cultural dynamics and social change in social psychology (Kashima,
2000). It also allows us to discuss about the following topics: the methodological
problems encountered by researchers when studying topics relevant to death, and
the interest to develop some research currents in social psychology relevant to the
psychology of religion (Gorscuch, 1988).
____________________
Symposium: Going online: Emerging meanings and uses of the internet and
new media in everyday life
Convenor: Sonia Livingstone, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Participants:
Nadia Olivero
Mark D. Griffiths/Mark N.O. Davies/Darren Chappell
Vivi Theodoropoulou
Magdalena Bober
Sonia Livingstone
Abstract
In most Western countries and increasingly elsewhere, the internet is ceasing to be a
medium only for the privileged ‘early adopters’ and is reaching the mass market,
although access remains heavily stratified. As work, leisure and educational markets
continue to expand, over the coming decade the internet will become taken for
granted in our homes and meaningfully embedded in the routines of daily life across
the industrialised nations. Moreover, interactive and online channels of information
and communication are no longer restricted to fixed PC platforms, but are becoming
increasingly available on digital television, mobile phones, games machines, and so
forth. Arguably, the means by which people communicate, participate, learn, work,
shop – in effect, conduct their everyday lives – are undergoing significant change and
few if any domains are left untouched by the increasing mediation of everyday life.
However, while popular hype and anxieties have been quick to anticipate both
utopian and dystopian futures as a result of technological change, social science has
been slower and more cautious in its exploration of these potential changes.
A sometimes conflicting, sometimes complementary range of disciplines –
economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, linguistics, media studies,
information studies, and social psychology – is now seeking to establish a
multidisciplinary framework within which to (1) challenge the technological
determinism common in popular and policy discussions, (2) extend existing or
develop new theories and methods to examine the social uses and consequences of
new forms of information and communication, and (3) produce rigorous empirical
research to ground theoretical speculation and policy initiatives. Recognising that
social psychology has a long history of contributing to social research on mediated
communication, the challenge here is to extend that contribution beyond the hitherto
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predominant focus on mass communication (typically, as opposed to face-to-face
communication) so as to encompass the growing range of communicative forms.
How are people actively pursuing, or evading, new opportunities for communication,
entertainment and engagement, and what constrains or hinders their uses of new
technologies?
This symposium presents empirical research which explores social psychological
aspects of this new, media-rich, interactive environment. Each paper is, in different
ways, concerned with the emerging balance between processes of appropriation (in
which new information and communication technologies tend to be incorporated
within pre-existing systems of social meaning and practice) and processes of change
(in which such themes as trust, privacy, control and identity are transformed within
the new, mediated environment). Each paper addresses a distinct domain – ecommerce (Olivero), online gaming (Griffiths et al), interactive television
(Theodoropoulou), content creation on the world wide web (Bober) and online
communication (Livingstone) - thereby offering a snapshot of current empirical
research on the meaning and uses of new media technologies in everyday life. By
putting them together thus, the symposium aims to draw out broader, cross-cutting
questions of theory and method so as to facilitate the contribution of social
psychology to this new and exciting field of multidisciplinary research and policy
debate.
Risk awareness and need for privacy in e-commerce exchanges:
Towards the end of trust?
Nadia Olivero, Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
[email protected]
Marketing and public policy literature on privacy in e-commerce maintained that
concerns about on-line privacy can be addressed through the use of fair information
practices. A widespread assumption is that by providing consumers with more control
over their information firms can elicit disclosure and build trust relationships. The
present paper aims to clarify the relation between trust and control in the negotiation
of privacy. Findings from qualitative interviews and experimental results illustrate
that social psychological changes in consumers’ awareness challenge the
effectiveness of marketing strategies. The awareness of the market value of
information and the perception of increased risk motivate a need for emancipation
from external power, which is expressed through the emerging demand for active
control and the decrease of the level of trust in e-commerce relationships.
Demographic factors and playing variables in online computer gaming
Mark D. Griffiths, Mark N.O. Davies and Darren Chappell, Psychology Division,
Nottingham Trent University
Despite the growing popularity of online game playing, there has been no primary
survey of its players. Therefore, an online questionnaire survey was used to examine
basic demographic factors of online computer game players who played the most
popular online game Everquest (i.e., gender, age, marital status, nationality,
education level, occupation, etc.). The survey also examined playing frequency (i.e.,
amount of time spent playing the game a week), playing history (i.e., how long they
had been playing the game, who they played the game with, whether they had ever
gender swapped their game character), the favourite and least favourite aspects of
playing the game, and what they sacrifice (if anything) to play the game. Results
showed that 81% of online game players were male, and that the mean age of
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players was 27.9 years of age. For many players, the social aspects of the game
were the most important factor in playing. A small minority of players appear to play
excessively (over 80 hours a week) and results suggest that a small minority sacrifice
important activities in order to play (e.g. sleep, time with family and/or partner, work
or schooling).
New media – old habits? The case of the first generation digital TV audience in
the UK
Vivi Theodoropoulou, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
The paper outlines patterns of use and consumption of the first generation Digital TV
(DTV) audience in the UK. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative findings deriving
from a UK-wide survey and in-depth interviews with Sky digital subscribers, the paper
discusses the reasons why the early DTV users acquired a DTV subscription, how
they use the new medium and how they incorporate it into their domestic culture. It is
demonstrated that even though DTV introduces changes, it is generally consumed in
a conservative fashion, as people employ and transfer old skills, perceptions and
habits rooted in their experiences with analogue TV into their DTV consumption.
Young people’s personal homepages: Production, meanings and practices
Magdalena Bober, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
The paper investigates the production of personal homepages by young people from
a cultural studies perspective, focussing on the emerging meanings and practices
surrounding homepage production. Homepages will be described as ‘a cultural
artefact in the making’. The research explores how meaning is being produced in the
process of learning web design, how new aspects of creative production (such as
updating and having a global audience) are being integrated in the design process
and how codes and conventions of web design are being established. The paper also
considers the implications of web design giving young people an opportunity to
become producers of cultural material in their own right. Research methods include a
discourse analysis of the homepages of young British people and, furthermore, data
collected during email interviews with the homepage authors.
Children’s privacy online
Sonia Livingstone, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Drawing on the findings of an in-depth ethnographic-style project exploring children
and young people’s use of the internet at home, this paper focuses particularly on the
experience and practices relating to privacy in everyday life. Although in principle
privacy is valued and protected in society, in historical and social terms children’s
privacy is increasingly restricted. It is argued that the media – especially the internet
– provide some key opportunities for privacy; yet policy initiatives designed to keep
children safe online are (for good reasons) beginning to constrain even these
opportunities. The project’s findings reveal how children and young people
understand and exercise their notion(s) of privacy. Their uses of the internet are
analysed both in terms of privacy defined negatively, as escape or withdrawal from
public/family life, and positively, as an occasion for identity/lifestyle experimentation.
A range of everyday tactics by which children micro-manage their privacy online are
identified. Finally, the implications for conducting research on, and for regulating,
children’s use of the internet are discussed.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Symposium: Can Social Psychology Contribute to Policy?
Convenor: Diane Houston, Kent
Participants:
Sonia Livingstone
Zoe Ashmore
Alan Lewis
Diane Houston
Reflections on researching policy-relevant issues in the field of children and
the internet
Sonia Livingstone, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
In recent years I have been researching children and young people’s use of old and
new media, focusing especially on the internet. Beginning as a purely academic
enterprise, I have found myself increasingly drawn into the policy community
concerned with regulating children’s media access and use. This is challenging not
least because all three key terms "children, media and new" are catalysts for public
anxiety and hyperbolic expectations, both optimistic and, more often, pessimistic. In
this paper I reflect on the difficulties of contributing to evidence-based policy in this
area. These include not only some obvious culture clashes between academia and
the policy world but, more importantly, differences in the expectations placed on
research in terms of (1) the influence of values in framing research, (2) the emphasis
given to contextualization, (3) the restrictions imposed by research ethics on what is
researchable and (4) differing conceptions of the role of causality/media effects in
defining the nature of findings. Add to this the way in which the children/media
question is implicitly positioned in public debate as a focus for more fraught,
politicized tensions between the freedom of expression lobby versus those espousing
a moralistic/conservative family agenda, and one begins to understand why, from the
initial framing through to the final dissemination of research findings, the academic’s
path is strewn with pitfalls.
Reducing Anti-Social Behaviour: How Can Psychology Contribute?
Zoe Ashmore, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Youth Offending
Services
The reduction of anti-social behaviour is an important goal for the
government. The Queen's speech outlined their intention to legislate on the
matter in this parliament. The author proposes that psychologists'
understanding of behaviour, particularly criminal behaviour places them in a
unique position to advance knowledge and understanding of effective practice
in how to best tackle the problem. The current measure of anti-social
behaviour in England and Wales is taken from the British Crime Survey and is
based on perceptions which are affected by factors such as where you live,
age and gender. The definition of anti-social behaviour is wider than the
measure, overlapping with some criminal behaviour. The limitations of
measurement and definition are discussed. Major areas where psychology can
contribute such as sound measurement; useful definitions and effective
strategies are outlined. Tackling anti-social behaviour is seen as a
preventative strategy to reduce offending, particularly for young people.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Morals, Markets and Money
Alan Lewis, Department of Psychology, University of Bath
Whether psychologists like it or not, few policy makers know much about psychology;
although more and more of them believe a little psychology is probably a good idea,
there is often a vast difference between the advice they are expecting from
psychologists acting as consultants and what they actually get. If they have a
coherent view about human nature at all and how people will behave it is most likely
to be based on the assumptions of rational economic man, seeking to feather his
own nest. This belief may not be expressed explicitly but it is widely held and informs
policy making at different levels. In my autobiographical presentation I will say a little
about how I have tried to challenge these assumptions, offering alternatives which
stress the role not only of attitudes, values and beliefs but also the conflict between
selfishness and the consideration of the welfare of others. More recent work has tried
to point out that psychologists are not mechanics who can come in and fix things and
that the consultants and the policy makers both must see themselves as part of the
social construction of the continuing round of problem identification and resolution.
Examples will be presented on various aspects of social responsibility.
Women's work-life decisions in early parenthood: psychology and policy
Diane Houston, Department of Psychology, University of Kent
The paper will describe a longitudinal study funded by the Economic and Social
Research Council's Future of Work Programme. The study was conducted in order to
examine the determinants of women's intentions about work and childcare when they
were pregnant with their first child. Over 400 first-time mothers took part in the survey
and completed questionnaires during the third trimester of pregnancy, and again
when their babies were six, twelve and twenty four months old. The findings from this
research have been published in academic journals and presented to policy makers.
The relevance of theoretical work to policy and the tensions between presenting
findings which are theoretically interesting and policy relevant will be discussed.
____________________
Symposium: Societal Psychology and Illness
Convenor: Bruce Bolam, University of Nottingham
Participants:
Flora Cornish
Richard de Visser
Ama de-Graft Aikins
Bruce Bolam
What sex workers do with "rights": Uses of mediational tools in sex workers'
collective action for health
Flora Cornish, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Collective action for health promotion is a process through which community
members collaborate to make health-enabling changes to their environment. An
activity-theory perspective on collective action points to the central role of cultural
tools in mediating between persons and their environments. In the empirical context
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of a community-led HIV-prevention project for sex workers in Calcutta, this paper
examines the tools that sex workers develop and use to change their environment.
To do this, I draw on observations of community meetings, group discussions among
sex workers, and interviews with sex workers employed by the project. I argue that
practical organisational tools (e.g. procedures for holding a meeting) and conceptual
tools which create future goals (e.g. "workers' rights") are just as important as tools
directly related to health promotion (e.g. condom-negotiation strategies). I discuss the
varying ways in which tools are creatively put to use by sex workers, finally focusing
on the conceptual tools of "workers' rights" and "legalisation" which imagine a
changed society in which sex workers are granted full legal and social recognition. I
reflect on the complexities of interpretation and intervention when this vision of this
future, in my view unrealistic, has very concrete and positive uses in the present.
Young Men, Masculinity, and Health
Richard de Visser, Centre for Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London
Between adolescence and adulthood, boys are expected to become men, and the
formation of a masculine identity is a major developmental task. Young men are
active in this process - their ideas about masculinity shape their behaviour, and their
behaviour shapes their conceptions of masculinity. In developing the masculine
identity and testing their competence, many young men engage in healthcompromising social behaviours.
However, not all men engage in healthcompromising behaviours, and not all _masculine_ social behaviours are detrimental
to health. This paper describes the early stages of a qualitative study of masculinity
and health behaviour among men aged 18-20 living in London. The study examines
how young men think and talk about masculinity, and the ways in which their
conceptions of masculinity are related to a range of heath-related social behaviours,
including alcohol and drug use, (dangerous) driving, and sexual behaviour. The
study involves interviews and group discussions with a sample stratified to
incorporate men with different levels of socioeconomic opportunity and men with
different ethnic/racial backgrounds. This will allow an examination of how 'classed'
and 'raced' masculine identities are related to various health-related social behaviour.
Social representations of diabetes in rural and urban Ghana: a critical social
psychological examination of illness action and scope for intervention
Ama de-Graft Aikins, Department of Social Psychology, LSE
Current chronic illness research in the sub-Saharan African region, attributes poor
illness management to either ‘traditional’ cultural beliefs or poor individual knowledge
and prioritises educational interventions. These cultural and individualistic analyses
neglect the integrated ways in which cultural, social and psychological factors frame
illness experiences and engender multiple meanings and action. Using diabetes care
in Ghana as a case study and working within the framework of social representations
theory, which places emphasis on the sources, contents and functions of practical
social knowledge, this paper argues for and demonstrates the usefulness of a critical
social psychological approach to the challenges on the field. Semi-structured
individual and groups interviews were carried out with rural and urban Ghanaian
diabetes sufferers, relatives/carers of sufferers and lay healthy individuals with two
aims. First to examine how different versions of social knowledge, and sufferer and
lay responses to illness experience informed illness action; secondly, to examine the
scope for practical long-term interventions. Analysis highlights that all groups make
sense of diabetes and illness experience by drawing interchangeably from four
shared knowledge modalities: common sense, scientized, religious and emotional.
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Of these common sense, scientized and emotional dimensions play a functional role
in illness action, mediated by illness experience and social relations. Common sense
notions of health and illness and scientized understandings of diabetes frame illness
action goals that merge with biomedical goals, specifically, controlled diabetes
through drug and diet management. These goals are compromised by structural (lack
of and high cost of biomedical care and good quality foods), community/family (lack
of support; stigmatisation) and emotional (fear of physical disruption, hope for a cure,
depressive responses to community/family) dynamics. Drawing from applied social
psychological work in low-income countries, the paper discusses the scope for
developing interventions that address individual/group, community and structural
determinants of health particular to the research settings.
Individualisation and inequalities in health: A qualitative study of social class
based health identities
Bruce Bolam, University of Nottingham
Epidemiological research attests to the continuance, and growth, of social class
based inequalities in health within western nations. However, the noted German
social theorist Ulrich Beck (1992) claims that traditional sources of social identity
such as social class have become ‘zombie categories’ as these late modern societies
undergo a process of individualisation. This paper explores these issues with regard
to social class based health identities, presenting a critical discourse analysis of indepth qualitative interview and focus group data generated in interaction with a small,
but diverse, sample of participants living in Bristol, England. Analysis revolves around
the contested status of class as a concept for organising health identities. Resistance
to class and the presentation of ‘hard lives’ associated with working class health
identity is considered before documenting acceptance of class and the realisation of
the ideal of health associated with middle class health identity. In closing the paper,
findings are considered in relation to the individualisation thesis.
____________________
Symposium: New issues in the social psychology of consumer and economic
behaviour: identity processes, well-being and welfare
Convenor: Helga Dittmar, Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, University
of Sussex
Participants:
Stefanie Sonnenberg
Nick Anderson
Helga Dittmar
Judita Janković
Ragna Garðarsdóttir
Michelle Mahoney/Paul Webley
Małgorzata Górnik-Durose
Abstract
This symposium intends to offer an overview of recent applications of social
psychological frameworks to understanding new issues in consumer and economic
behaviour. Its seven contributions address three interrelated themes, moving from
the role of identity processes in individuals’ dealings with money and consumer
goods, to a consideration of the rise of materialistic values and their potential impact
on subjective well-being, and finally towards an analysis of the consequences of new
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economic arrangements that may affect individuals’ satisfaction, trust and welfare.
The papers have considerable conceptual span, and report on empirical work that
uses diverse methodologies, often presenting multi-study programmes.
The first theme examines the role of identity in diverse areas of consumer behaviour.
While not a new theme in itself, the applications introduced in the first three papers
offer novel insights. The first (Sonnenberg) studies identity concerns in people’s
attitudes, usage and decision-making regarding money, the second (Anderson) aims
to understand why consumer goods are important to people through examining their
identity motives, and the third (Dittmar) offers a new conceptualization of “addictive
buying”, or buying consumer goods to excess, as an attempt at identity-seeking.
The second theme is concerned with the increasing importance of materialistic
values, and their possible impact on consumers’ subjective well-being. Previous
research has demonstrated mainly negative associations, but the two papers
addressing this theme show that the relationship between materialistic values and
well-being may differ depending on such social psychological factors as the congruity
or conflict between different aspects of consumers’ value systems (Jankovic) or
individuals’ motives for wanting material wealth (Gardarsdottir). In addition, their
comparisons between the UK and countries where materialism and affluence are
fairly recent phenomena (such as Croatia and Iceland) offer good theory-testing
“conditions”.
The third theme focuses on new economic arrangements and individuals’ responses
to them. The first paper on this theme (Mahoney & Webley) addresses the role of
transparency in consumer-institution relationships for consumer satisfaction and
trust, examining the demand for, and reaction to transparency. The second (Lunt)
examines public responses to issues concerning risk and welfare and analyses the
impact of changes from public to private welfare provision for individual’s selfinterpretation and autonomy. Although not arranged as yet, it may be possible to
invite a discussant to offer a final discussion of the themes that relate and distinguish
these contributions.
Money and ‘Self’: Towards a Social Psychology of Money and Its Usage
Stefanie Sonnenberg, University of St Andrews
This paper explores the relationship between identity issues and monetary
attitudes/behaviour across a series of methodologically diverse studies. It is argued
that psychological approaches to the study of money, despite their efforts to the
contrary, frequently concur with traditional economic models of human behaviour in
so far as they rest on a similarly static, de-contextualised notion of the ‘self’. This
paper aims to substitute these implicit assumptions about the nature of selfhood with
a social psychological account of the ‘self’ and, therefore, with an explicit focus on
subjective identity processes.
First, findings from an exploratory interview study are used to demonstrate that a)
identity concerns are central for people’s understandings of money and that b)
money meanings and usage relate to identity across different levels of abstractions
(i.e. personal, social, human). Second, two experimental studies (based on the Social
Identity model of the ‘self’) illustrate that attitudes towards money can vary as a
function of both social identification and the comparative context in which a given
identity is salient. Finally, an exploration of the relationship between identity concerns
and decision-making processes within a Prisoner’s Dilemma-type setting indicates
that identity, and the social knowledge derived from it, plays a crucial role not only
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with regard to how people attempt to meet their goals in this context, but also in
terms of how these goals are defined. The broader implication of these findings with
regard to ‘rational choice’ models of human agency are discussed.
Shopping for Identity: Using Identity Motives to Understand Consumer
Behaviour
Nick Anderson, Research Psychologist at Unilever, Port Sunlight & Department of
Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton
There exists a growing body of research exploring the symbolic links between
material possessions and self-identity, and the way in which possessions play an
integral role in self-identity construction, maintenance, and communication. The
current paper attempts to locate and integrate the underlying motivational drives for
self-identity with the ownership and preference for particular consumer goods by
developing a model of identity motives that draws on Identity Process Theory and
previous qualitative work on the meanings and functions of material possessions.
The model presupposes eight different identity motives that are directly related to the
symbolic meanings of possessions (distinctiveness, affiliation, intimacy, past & future
continuity, efficacy, the search for an ‘ideal’ self, and self-esteem). This paper
discusses results obtained by measuring consumers’ self-discrepancies with regard
to these eight motives and compare them directly with the symbolic meanings that
their favourite consumer possessions afford them. Data were collected from a
sample of adult consumers (n=250) and a sample of adolescents (n=200). The
evidence shows links between the symbolic value of categories of consumer goods
and identity motives, with distinct and consistent differences with regard to gender
and age.
Buying to excess: Conceptualising “addictive buying” as identity-seeking
Helga Dittmar, Social Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton
It appears that an increasing number of people buy consumer goods to such
uncontrolled excess, with severe financial and psychological consequences, that
their behaviour can be considered “addictive”. This paper draws on a range of
empirical studies – consumer mail survey, questionnaire studies with students in
diverse countries (UK, US, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Iceland, Slovenia,
Turkey), study of consumer research panelists for a large multinational corporation,
UK adolescents in sixth form colleges – to address three issues. (a) Systematic
variations in the prevalence of excessive buying are assessed with respect to
gender, culture and age. (b) Cultural and age-cohort variations in materialistic values
are examined as a possible context that may foster or hinder excessive buying, in the
sense that materialism can be seen as a value commitment to identity construction
through material goods at the level of culture or sub-culture (in the case of UK age
cohorts). (c) A two-factor model of excessive buying is tested, which proposes that
increasing discrepancies between consumers’ actual and ideal identity predict
excessive buying tendencies, in conjunction with materialistic values. It is concluded
that identity-seeking is an important component of excessive buying.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Value (in)congruence of materialistic values and subjective well-being in a
cross-cultural context
Judita Janković, Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Sussex,
Brighton
Previous research on materialistic values focused primarily on the relationship
between materialism and subjective well-being (SWB), proposing that high levels of
materialism are associated with reduced SWB. However, recent research suggests
that SWB may be moderated by the (in)congruence between an individual’s value
orientation and the values endorsed by the immediate environment (e.g. Sagiv &
Schwartz, 2000; Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002). This hypothesis is examined in a
cross-cultural context, in samples of University students from Croatia (N=192), the
UK (N=218) and Germany (N=119). The samples consist of psychology and
economics students in all three countries. The rationale behind choosing psychology
and economics students is the assumption of different value orientations endorsed by
these students that motivated them to take up these study subjects. Specifically,
psychology students are assumed to have been motivated by empathy needs, care
for others, and altruistic values, whereas economics students are assumed to have
been motivated by personal achievement, material attainment and leadership values.
Hence, the value orientation and environment fit was tested across three countries
(cross-cultural comparison), as well as between different student sub samples within
the three countries based on their study subject (psychology and economics). Level
and impact of materialism is examined also with respect demographic consumer
indices (such as mobile telephone, credit card, and car ownership, Internet
shopping).
The Impact of Materialistic Values, Income and Money-Motives on Subjective
Well-Being: A comparison between UK and Iceland
Ragna Garðarsdóttir, Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of
Sussex, Brighton
Findings from two studies will be presented, the first a secondary data analysis of the
European Values Survey 1999 and the second a questionnaire study. They aim to
bring together two research areas that were previously virtually unconnected: the
impact of materialistic values on the one hand, and the effect of income (as an
indicator of actual wealth) on the other as factors that impact on life satisfaction.
Furthermore, the second study integrates a third factor: a range of different motives
for wanting to make money. Building on Srivasteva, Bartol & Locke (2002), it is
expected that a negative association between materialistic values and indicators of
subjective well-being only holds true for individuals with certain motivational profiles.
The two studies compare samples from two cultures, Iceland and the UK. The UK is
a classic representative of western, economically developed mass consumer
societies whereas Iceland was chosen for two different reasons. One reason is its
inhabitants’ high rates of self-reported happiness and life satisfaction. The second
reason is it’s newly found affluence and high materialism. If levels of life satisfaction,
income and materialism are particularly high in Iceland, it offers an ideal comparison
with the UK to examine the extent to which relationships between the core variables
studied generalise across different cultures.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Consumer Satisfaction and Trust: The Impact of Transparency
Michelle Mahoney and Paul Webley, Department of Psychology, University of Exeter,
Exeter
Transparency refers to the accessibility of the processes involved in decision-making,
in addition to the outcome and to information itself. Transparency is a topic, which
many institutions, authorities and companies world-wide are having to face. Despite
this topicality, there has been little research into its impact from institutions’ or
consumers’ perspectives. This paper uses socialisation and role identity theory to
provide a conceptual framework that can help in understanding the demand for, and
reaction to, transparency in the consumer-institution relationship. Based on this
approach, this paper examines the potential impact that transparency could have on
consumers’ satisfaction and their trust in the institution.
Personal Identity and Meaning of Material Possessions
Małgorzata Górnik-Durose, Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia, Poland
Two studies were conducted to examine a relationship between identity and the
meaning of material possessions. First study concentrated on potential connections
between a type of personal identity, characterised by a tendency to differentiate or to
integrate with a social context, and attitudes towards material goods. It showed that
the stronger tendency to differentiate was the more important were these goods. In
the second study personal identity was treated as a core element of a general sociocultural orientation of an individual, i.e. individualism and collectivism. Taking into
consideration differences between individualists and collectivists in relation to various
aspects of social life it was assumed that the social orientation could influence the
way people perceive, treat and value material goods, i.e. their level of materialism.
Data were collected from Polish and British subjects. They were analysed by multiple
regression using as regressors: (a) indicators of horizontal and vertical individualism
and collectivism, (b) belonging to individualistic (British) and collectivistic (Polish)
society, (c) estimation of subject’s own material resources and (d) levels of material
satisfaction. The results were clear and straightforward: individualism, on both
personal and cultural levels, especially in its vertical form, was positively related to
various aspects of materialism, whereas collectivism, especially horizontal was
related negatively or did not have any significant effect on indicators of materialism.
Materialism in its various aspects was also strongly, but negatively related to material
satisfaction.
____________________
Symposium: Implicit Social Perception
Convener: Richard J Crisp, University of Birmingham
Participants:
Roger Giner-Sorolla
Geoff Haddock
Joseph M. Ungemah
Adam Rutland/Lindsey Cameron/Alan Milne/Peter McGeorge
Greg Maio
Richard J. Crisp
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Abstract
In this symposium we discuss recent work exploring the impact of cognitive
processes on social perception. The first three papers are concerned with
moderators of implicit and explicit evaluative, self-evaluative, and attributional
judgements. Giner-Sorrolla and Wilson consider how consistency amongst different
components of attitudes can affect explicit and implicit evaluative judgements.
Haddock examines how self-evaluation can be shaped by temporal judgements
contingent upon attributional focus, information accessibility, and self-enhancement
strategies. Ungemah then adopts a dual-processing model for considering the
schematic and individuated processes that can determine attributional processing in
social decisions. The second half of the symposium focuses on the development and
moderation of intergroup attitudes. Rutland et al. consider the development of implicit
intergroup attitudes and self-regulation strategies. Maio reports on studies exploring
the effects of attitude ambivalence on the processing and consequences of exposure
to anti-racist advertisements. Crisp then discusses work that has used cognitive and
neuropsychological paradigms to examine the malleability of implicit prejudice as a
function of cognitive load and differential inter-category distinctiveness. Finally,
Devine discusses the emergent themes and important future issues related to the
underlying processing tendencies in social perception illustrated by this work.
Implicit attitudes and explicit attitude components
Roger Giner-Sorolla, University of Kent at Canterbury and Timothy D. Wilson,
University of Virginia
Two studies examined the contributions of four attitude components -- cognitive,
evaluative, hedonic affective and self-conscious affective – to individual differences in
the implicit evaluation of food objects. In spite of substantial correlations between
specific emotional associations and explicit evaluation, neither study found evidence
that such associations are related to implicit evaluations. Study 1 found that overall
evaluation was the best predictor of attitudes measured by implicit evaluative
priming; Study 2 found that cognitive attitude was the best predictor of attitudes
measured by the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, McGhee & Schwartz, 1998).
Across both studies, participants high in evaluative-cognitive consistency and with
high eating concerns showed stronger relationships between implicit and explicit
evaluation. We discuss implications for the nature of implicit measures and for
understanding the affective component of attitude.
Time is on my side: Temporal self-appraisal, attributions, and information
accessibility
Geoff Haddock, Cardiff University
Research on temporal self-appraisal theory (Ross & Wilson, 2002) has considered
how individuals process information about their past selves in a way that makes them
feel good about their current self. The present set of studies explored the degree to
which attributional focus, information accessibility, and self-enhancement strategies
influence feelings of closeness to past events. In Study 1, participants recalled a
recent positive life event before thinking about how either they personally or others
were responsible for the event’s occurrence. As expected, participants felt
temporally closer to the event when they had thought about internal attributions. In
Study 2, after recalling a recent positive life event, participants recalled one (or six)
reasons describing how they personally (or others) produced the event. The results
revealed that participants used the content of retrieved attributions in deriving their
temporal judgment. Study 3 replicated the procedure of Study 2 but used moderate
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versus extreme negative events. The results revealed that temporal judgments were
again affected by attribute type and content, but only for moderately negative events.
The implications of the findings for tenets of temporal self-appraisal theory are
discussed.
The effects of implicit priming on social decisions
Joseph M. Ungemah, University College London
The paper presents one study from a series of experiments exploring the relationship
between attributional and stereotype processes in social decisions. Subjects were
presented with a hiring scenario that required a selection between two job
candidates, differentiated by a greater percentage of positive characteristics
(schematic candidate choice) or the possession of key job prerequisites (individuated
candidate choice).
A previous study in the series discovered that certain
environmental factors (e.g. anxiety) and biological attributional preferences would
increase the use of schematic, stereotypic thought. The present experiment
introduces stereotypic and categorical primes into the research paradigm. Priming
stereotypic worker traits resulted in a tendency towards a biological attributional
preference, which in turn influenced job candidate choice in favour of the
schematically superior individual. Although directionally similar, racial category
primes were not significantly influential for either attributional preference or candidate
decision. The paper concludes by acknowledging that both individual differences
and environmental constraints are important in determining the extent of attributional
processes in social decisions.
Self-regulation in childhood: On the development of implicit and explicit
intergroup discrimination
Adam Rutland and Lindsey Cameron, University of Kent at Canturbury
Alan Milne and Peter McGeorge, University of Aberdeen
Existing research indicates that adults self-regulate their expressions of prejudice
(Monteith et al., 2002; Plant & Devine, 1998). Little is known about the manifestation
of self-regulatory processes in children. Research, using self-report measures, has
typically found strong explicit intergroup bias in young children and a decline during
middle childhood (Brown, 1995). However the sole use of explicit measures
increases the likelihood of socially desirable responses. Unlike previous research
the present studies also used an implicit measure based within the response-latency
paradigm. Drawing on notions within social identity and self-awareness approaches,
this paper contends the decline in explicit bias during middle childhood originates
from children self-regulating their attitudes according to prevailing normative beliefs.
We conducted two studies into the development and self-regulation of ethnic and
national intergroup attitudes. In both studies approximately one hundred and sixty
children (6-8 years, 10-12 years, 14-16 years) were randomly allocated to a high
public self-focus or a low public self-focus condition. Public self-focus was
manipulated using a video camera, with the camera ‘on’ in the high condition and ‘off’
in the low condition. Each study included an explicit trait attribution measure and a
reaction time measure - the ‘Implicit Association Test’ (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998).
Results showed children moderated their explicit ethnic, but not their explicit national
outgroup bias under high public self-focus, especially when aware of the prevailing
social norm. Implicit and explicit measures were disassociated, with all age groups
showing implicit ethnic and national bias. These findings suggest children act in
accordance with the normative context and self-regulate their explicit intergroup
attitudes.
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To like or not to like: Implicit and explicit reactions to positive outgroup
messages
Greg Maio, Cardiff University
The present studies tested whether the effects of anti-racism messages on
intergroup attitudes are not as positive as they may seem because of negative
effects on people who are ambivalent toward ethnic minority people. This hypothesis
received support from several experiments that examined the effects of anti-racism
messages on explicit and implicit attitudes toward ethnic minorities. The experiments
also revealed that measures of subjective ambivalence consistently moderated the
impact of the messages on explicit attitudes, whereas measures of objective
ambivalence consistently moderated the impact of the messages on implicit attitudes.
Social categorization and the malleability of implicit prejudice
Richard J. Crisp, University of Birmingham
Recent work has established the malleability of implicit prejudice contingent upon the
processing of evaluatively disconfirming information (e.g., being exposed to outgroup
members in positive contexts). The work reviewed here suggests that, in addition,
such automatic attitudes can be moderated by changes in perceived category
structure. Experiment 1 established that the same dual-process approach that
characterises work in the stereotyping domain can be applied to work on implicit
intergroup evaluations. We show that recognition of evaluatively congruent and
incongruent evaluations are moderated by cognitive load. In Experiment 2 we extend
this work with the adaptation of a neuropsychological paradigm. We observed that
patients with frontal lobe damage (an area of the brain associated with executive
function and inconsistency resolution) appeared to show the same person perception
processing tendencies as non-patients under cognitive load. In Experiment 3 positive
information related to outgroupers appeared ineffective at changing implicit attitudes,
possibly due to a negativity bias in social perception. Finally, in Experiments 4 and 5
we propose that changing the nature of inter-category representation (overlap) would
have consequences for the strength of stereotypically positive and negative
associative links with ingroups and outgroups. We support this idea with a direct
manipulation of category overlap (with recognition memory and response time
measures) and with a manipulation of multiple shared and non-shared categorization
(with a recall measure of processing). The implications of these findings for extending
models of conflict resolution (such as the Common Ingroup Identity Model) to include
consideration of implicit processes are discussed.
____________________
Symposium: Constructing Otherness: The Foreigner/Immigrant in Europe
Convenor: Xenia Chryssochoou
Discussant: Martha Augoustinos
Participants:
Laurent Licata/Olivier Klein
Margarita Sanchez-Mazas/Frederic Van Humskerken
Xenia Chryssochoou
Tilemachos Iatridis
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Abstract
The study of discrimination and exclusion in social psychology has been traditionally
based on the seminal studies conducted principally in the United States in relation to
Race. Thus, Otherness has been conceptualised in the framework of racial
relationships in the historical and social context of the North American continent.
While inspired by this tradition, it is important in social psychological research to
investigate the phenomenon of exclusion within the particular social context in which
it takes place. This symposium aims to contribute to such a debate by looking at how
the image of the Other, the Foreigner is constructed in the context of a multicultural
Europe, which is not any more an immigrant provider but is transformed to an
immigrant reception continent. This phenomenon of immigration comes to be
anchored within a past of national construction and for some countries on colonialism
and is constructed now in the context of European integration where the issue of
citizenship faces new challenges. In the symposium these issues will be debated.
The first presentation by Licata and Klein will discuss how in remembering their
colonial past, people address current issues within which the image of the Other is
constructed. The second presentation by Sanchez-Mazas and Van Hunskerken, will
bring the discussion within the context of European Integration and will show through
experimental and correlational data how xenophobia, implying the rejection of
foreigners’ rights, and new racism implying the rejection of different cultural values,
are intertwined and embedded in the contents that define the national ingroup. The
third presentation by Chryssochoou will further discuss how the image of the
immigrant/asylum seeker is constructed in the media and public discourse within a
national context where the Nation-State seems not anymore able to protect its
symbolic and physical boundaries. Finally, Iatridis will draw upon experimental
studies in Greece to show how the context in which people express their attitudes
and affect towards immigrants characterises the normative conflict people face and
results in a hardening of exclusion. Martha Augoustinos will lead a debate on these
issues bringing in the discussion the experience of her own research in Australia, a
country that, although unlike Europe is based on immigration, is however facing now
new multicultural challenges.
Crossed perspectives on a common past: ex-colonials and ex-colonised
remembering the Belgian action in Congo
Laurent Licata and Olivier Klein, Université Libre de Bruxelles
This paper examines the construction of otherness in a context characterised by the
collective memory of colonial relationships between groups. Belgian (N = 18) and
Congolese (N = 14) people who have lived in Congo before independence (1960)
were interviewed. Questions focused on (1) the first colonial period, from 1885 to
1908, when Congo was seen as the private property of King Leopold II, and (2) the
Belgian colonial period, from 1908 to 1960. For each of these periods (remote and
close past), participants were invited to express their perception of the Belgian action
in Congo, of Congolese reactions to this action, as well as of the colonisers/colonised
relationships. Content analysis using a software (Alceste) was performed on the
material that was also subsequently discourse analysed. We observed, among the
Belgians and some Congolese, a recurrent paternalistic representation typical of
colonialism: the Congolese is attributed childlike traits while the Belgian is described
as benevolent and rational. Conceptions of "the Other" expressed by the Belgian
colonials and the Congolese are not always clearly antagonistic: the latter sometimes
adhere to representations that justify the system that dominated them. In addition, we
notice defensive reactions among the former colonials against recent critiques
addressed towards the Belgian colonial past. Both groups revisit the past with
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reference to the independent Congo's history. Hence, collective memory serves to
justify past social practices as well as to protect the group’s social identity. When
sketching their past, social groups are addressing present challenges. The image of
“the Other” emerges in this context.
The Foreigner and the Other: Two solitary paths of exclusion in today's Europe
Margarita Sanchez-Mazas and Frederic Van Humskerken Université Libre de
Bruxelles, [email protected]
The present communication approaches the issue of "otherness" in its intrinsic
association with social identity concerns. " Otherness " will be conceptualized in
terms of a social-psychological process of simultaneous construction and exclusion,
so that the construction of the outgroup draws upon the specific contents that are
retained to define the ingroup (Jodelet, 1998). Hence, when the ingroup is framed in
terms of national belonging and citizenship, the outgroup is defined primarily as a
foreigner who is not entitled to benefit from national's rights. As it will be illustrated
through experimental work (Sanchez-Mazas, 1994), the classical logic of xenophobia
is highly concerned with "immigrants' " rights. Yet, in the framework of the emergence
of the European Community and foreigners' access to political rights, cultural
concerns are brought to the fore and contribute to redefine "immigrants " in terms of
cultural " Otherness ". Drawing upon correlational research (Sanchez-Mazas & Van
Humskerken, in preparation), we will illustrate the notion that in the European
immigration countries, the figures of the Foreigner and of the Other reinforce each
other in the present-day, so that a logic of xenophobia (concerned with the rights of
foreigners) and a logic of a new racism (concerned with the cultural values of the "
Other ") appear to be closely intertwined. In discussing our findings, we will propose
the notion that the construction of an outgroup has to be related to the prevailing
frame of reference (political, racial, cultural...) adopted by the members of the ingroup
(Jahoda, 1991). The coexistence of diverse frames of reference in today's European
context allows the simultaneous use of different modes of exclusion.
The debate about cultural diversity in Britain: Immigrants and Asylum-seekers
in media and public discourse
Xenia Chryssochoou Social Psychology European Research Institute University of
Surrey. [email protected]
This paper argues that the question of immigration in Great Britain opens a debate
on multiculturalism and concerns more generally the representation of the NationState as culturally diverse. The “threat” that immigrants and asylum seekers
represent does not only refer to arguments about competition for resources or to the
different cultural values that these people represent but also to the fact that their
presence changes the scenery of the Nation-State which seems no longer able to
protect its symbolic and physical boundaries. Furthermore, these categories, that in
fact refer to different groups of people (economic migrants or people seeking refuge
from persecution), are constructed in similar ways in media and popular discourses
and are used interchangeably. These arguments are supported by an analysis of the
way the terms immigrants/asylum seekers are used in the British press between
September and December 2002 (230 publications approx.). The context in which
each term has been used and the attributes associated with them were considered.
In addition, during the same period, 120 British people from the South of England
responded to a questionnaire asking them to associate words with either the word
immigrants or the word asylum seekers. Their responses have been analysed in
relation to socio-demographic factors, beliefs about acculturation, level of threat,
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tolerance to foreigners, social distance, political beliefs and newspaper readership.
All these factors influence the construction of the categories immigrants/asylum
seekers. This analysis revealed that the terms immigrants/asylum seekers are used
both by media and public interchangeably and refer to desperate people that are
determined to escape poverty. The discussion concerns how peoples’ representation
of immigration crystallises their fears about social changes and challenges to the
national framework.
Just foreign or of lower class? Perceptions of immigrants within different
discriminatory contexts
Tilemachos Iatridis Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens
Greece. [email protected]
The main argument of this paper concerns the importance of the situational context
in which discrimination against immigrants takes place. In two experimental studies
conducted in Greece, participants were asked to express their attitudes and affects
towards immigrant/foreign targets in different situational contexts. The targets (in a
between subjects design) were either a general category of foreigners-immigrants or
information was given concerning their origins (from the Balkans, Third World
Countries or the EU) and their socio-economic status (this variable was added in the
2nd experiment). Before expressing their attitudes/affects participants were asked to
give a series of pro or anti arguments (between subjects factor) in relation to the
Human Rights of immigrants or to their position and role within the Greek society.
Further they were asked to name the groups they had in mind when performing this
task. If the image of foreign immigrants in general became more positive after
participants were asked to discriminate overtly (anti immigration arguments) this was
not the case when their socio-economic status was explicitly mentioned, thus
suggesting that the salience of the status contributes to the rationalisation of
immigration. The results highlight the importance of the interaction between the
salience of the status of immigrants (socio-economic and origins) and the different
‘conflicts’ people face when expressing their attitudes in relation to immigration.
These results will be discussed within the framework of theories of overt and subtle
racism (Pettigrew & Meertens, 1995) and the concept of normative conflict in Conflict
Elaboration Theory (Pérez & Mugny, 1993).
____________________
Symposium: Beyond The Condemnation-Tolerance Models of Heterosexism
Convenor: Peter Hegarty, University of Surrey
Participants:
Peter Hegarty/Felicia Pratto/Anthony Lemieux
Diana Milillo/Diane Quinn
Ian Hodges
Nicola Tee
Abstract
Within social psychology, heterosexism is usually defined as a one-dimensional
variable ranging from condemnation to tolerance of lesbians and gay men (e.g.,
Herek, 1998). This approach has been often critiqued by radical scholars (e.g.,
Kitzinger, 1987). However, such critiques rarely come from quantitative researchers
in the field. The present symposium highlights two themes that are not captured by
the tolerance-condemnation axis; heterosexist ambivalence and heteronormativity.
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First, much like earlier shifts in racist ideologies, we argue that many heterosexual
people now give lip service to sexual orientation based equality, but continue to
harbor negative feelings towards lesbians and gay men. These lead to ambivalence
in opinion statements (Hodges) and behaviouroid measures (Hegarty, Pratto, &
Lemieux).
Second, we argue that tolerance is a limited pro-lesbian/gay ideology
because of the continued operation of heterosexist norms.
We expose these
shortcomings by focusing on the implications of voicing discomfort about
heterosexual spaces (Hegarty, Pratto, & Lemieux) and the relationship between
heterosexual identity and other ideologies such as ambivalent sexism (Milillo &
Quinn).
Heterosexist norms and heterosexist ambivalence: Drinking in Discomfort
Peter Hegarty, University of Surrey, Felicia Pratto, University of Connecticut,
Anthony Lemieux, University of Connecticut
Public opinion data in the United States shows a marked shift in favor of lesbian and
gay equality, but no shift in overall negative affect towards lesbians and gay men.
We propose that this creates heterosexist ambivalence such that straight people will
often endorse egalitarianism but not practice it. We test this claim experimentally. In
experiment 1 participants were presented with vignettes about a gay man who felt
discomfort in a straight bar, or a straight man who felt discomfort in a gay bar. Both
targets stifled their discomfort. Participants rated targets’ actions as equivalently
appropriate and produced counterfactuals that undid targets’ discomfort by its direct
expression. In Experiment 2, targets were described as expressing their discomfort
directly. Here, the straight target’s actions were rated as more appropriate than the
gay targets’, particularly by participants with negative attitudes to gay men.
Counterfactuals also suggested that gay men were more obliged than straight men to
shield others from discomfort arising from contact between sexual orientation groups.
Disentangling Sexuality from Sexism: Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual
Women’s Perceptions of Sexism
Diana Milillo and Diane Quinn, University of Connecticut
We distinguish how women’s varying intimate involvements with men affect what
lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual women perceive as sexist. We hypothesized that
heterosexual women hold a stake in garnering the rewards that accompany hostile
and benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996), and thus perceive both forms less
readily than lesbian and bisexual women. The 195 heterosexual women in the study
endorsed both hostile and benevolent sexism more than the 98 lesbian and bisexual
women as predicted. While completing the ASI, lesbian and bisexual women were
less likely to be thinking about male relationship partners than heterosexual women.
Finally, lesbian and bisexual women had higher gender identification than
heterosexual women, which negatively related to their endorsement of sexism.
Instead of explaining these group differences in a way that render sexual minorities
non-normative, we posit that investigating normative heterosexual ideologies proves
useful in explaining differences in perceiving sexism (Hegarty & Pratto, 2001).
Explaining ‘New’ Homophobia: A Q-Methodological Study
Ian Hodges, University of Westminster
The key aim of this study was to extend established (psychometric) understandings
of homophobia in a double sense; firstly to offer participants an opportunity to
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account for their beliefs, values and so on regarding sexuality and sexual identity in a
way that is less constraining than traditional psychometric strategies. Secondly, to
present a means of understanding homophobia which does not preclude reports of
ambivalence and other complexities, thus avoiding the bipolarisation which may
result from the construction of scales. Seventy five participants completed a Qsorting task which involved the arrangement of statements regarding sexuality and
sexual identity along a continuum from strong agreement to strong disagreement.
These sorts were then subject to a Q factor analysis and the resulting factors
interpreted. The results indicated a fragmentation of homo-negative forms of thought.
While one factor was recognizable as representing more traditional homophobic
beliefs (c.f. traditional scales), some of the accounts interpreted here deployed
contrasting logics and rationalities. It is argued that such positions of ambivalence
might tell us something about the ways in which anti-lesbian and anti-gay prejudices
are shifting in light of recent legal, cultural and societal changes.
This study has shown the variety and complexity of forms that homo-negative belief
systems can take. Moreover, it may be that the ambivalent accounts reported here
indicate a form of homophobia which, while less extreme than those indicated by
homophobic scores on traditional scales, are nonetheless pivotal for a full
understanding of recent shifts in contemporary anti-lesbian and anti-gay prejudice.
Transphobia: A Neglected Prejudice In Social Psychology?
Nicola Tee and Peter Hegarty, University of Surrey
There has been little substantive, empirical study of prejudice towards trans persons
in social psychology, although there is a wealth of (often conflicting) anecdotal data
about this form of prejudice (e.g., Greer, 1999, Hird, 2001). However, given the
consistent relationship between heterosexism and Right Wing Authoritarianism
(Altmeyer, 1988), and heterosexism and essentialism (e.g. Haslam et al.) the present
research examined if support for trans persons is linked to heterosexism,
authoritarianism and gender essentialism. A questionnaire was produced containing
RWA, Modern Sexism, and ATLG, as well as three new measures specifically
designed to measure attitudes and beliefs about gender and trans persons, support
for trans persons’ civil rights and perceptions of similarity between sexual minority
groups. Two separate groups of undergraduates (psychology and engineering),
(n=150) each completed the measures during single sessions. All the scales proved
reliable. Strong positive correlations between RWA, ATLG and attitudes towards
trans persons were observed. Correlations with modern sexism were weaker, while
the similarity measure suggested a perceived similarity between gay men and
lesbians and trans persons, but less so with other groups, such as transvestites. It is
proposed that this is an area crying out for further empirical social psychological
analysis. The results discussed in this paper are a small step towards reaching this
goal. Of greater significance in the long run, is the recognition that transphobia is a
prejudice, which requires a better knowledge of both in itself and as one sharing
common features with other prejudices.
____________________
Symposium: Social Theory and Social Psychology
Convenors: Darren Langdridge, University of Huddersfield
University of Northampton
and Simon Watts,
Participants:
Trevor Butt
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
Peter Lunt
Simon Watts
Steven D. Brown/Johanna Motzkau
Darren Langdridge
Abstract
The aim of this symposium is to illustrate the application of social theory to social
psychology. The dominant paradigm in social psychology is social cognition. There is
no doubt that this has led to some very robust findings. However, the search for
answers to very specific questions without further theoretical development has led to
the fragmentation of the social psychological project (Langdridge & Butt, 2003). This
is what Kelly (1955) referred to as accumulative fragmentalism, which entails a
misplaced faith in the emergence of meaningful patterns through the collection of
more and more data. Instead, Kelly (1955) argued that scientific knowledge is
advanced by the adoption of new perspectives. But advocating and adopting new
perspectives need not entail yet more critique of extant perspectives (Stenner, 2002).
In this symposium we seek to introduce a number of possible new perspectives to
further ‘unsettle’ (Brown, 2002; Lunt, 2002; Stenner, 2002a, 2002b) the status quo
from an as yet relatively untapped theoretical resource: social theory. It should be
emphasised that this symposium does not seek to critique ‘traditional’ social
psychology and set up yet another camp of social psychologists informed by social
theory. Instead, the symposium seeks to move beyond the traditional-critical divide
and offer new theoretical perspectives relevant to the whole social psychological
project.
The papers introduce the thought of a number of key social theorists, past and
present. The first paper by Butt entails a return to the work of Mead. Whilst many
contemporary psychologists regard Mead as a sociologist, Butt reminds us of the
psychology he advocated which resists the Cartesian dualism implicit in much
modern psychology and recognised both natural and constructed aspects of human
nature. Lunt introduces key concepts from the work of Jürgen Habermas. These
include concepts and themes of reason, identity and public opinion. The third paper
by Watts provides an introduction to the thought of the German social theorist Niklas
Luhmann. The importance of meaning, self-reference and the concept of
interpenetration will be discussed as a means of elucidating Luhmann’s conception of
the relationship between individuals and their social environments (or psychic and
social systems as Luhmann would call them). The fourth paper by Brown & Motzkau
introduces the thought of one of the most influential poststructuralist philosophers in
recent years – Gilles Deleuze. Key ideas, such as immanence, virtuality, the
machinic and territorilisation, are discussed and analysed for their value in the social
psychology project. Finally, Langdridge uses the work of Paul Ricoeur on the social
imaginary to critique the current crisis in social psychology. Drawing on Ricoeur’s
work a dialectical relationship is proposed to bridge the gap between social cognition
and critical social psychology. Aspects of Ricoeur’s work on hermeneutic
phenomenology are introduced to provide an example of the successful integration of
opposed traditions.
George Mead: Social Psychology¹s Lost Leader
Trevor Butt, Centre for Constructions and Identity, University of Huddersfield
Farr (1996) sees Mead as a theorist who should have been central to the
development of modern social psychology. However, because of the splitting off of
the experimental psychologists (including John Watson) from the Department of
Philosophy at the University of Chicago, modern psychology developed as a contrast
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to Mead¹s approach. Contemporary psychologists regard Mead as a sociologist
because some of his thought was rescued for sociology in Blumer¹s symbolic
interactionism. Mead advocated a psychology that resisted the Cartesian dualism
implicit in so much of modern psychology. As a convinced Darwinian, he recognised
both the natural and constructed aspects of humankind, seeing consciousness as a
property that emerged from social interaction. With a focus on Mead¹s central
concept - the philosophy of the act - this paper examines the implications of Mead¹s
thought for some of the contemporary debates in social psychology.
Critical Theory and Social Psychology: autonomy, intersubjectivity, rights and
sovereignty in Habermas’s Between Facts and Norms
Peter Lunt, Department of Psychology, University College London
In his early writings, Jurgen Habermas, continuing themes of early critical theorists,
suggests that modern industrial democracies face particular issues of legitimacy due
to the decline of public participation and the dominance of sectional interests in civic
culture and the institutionalisation of communication. There were a number of social
psychological aspects to this early theory including an account of the conditions for
legitimate public opinion as consensus through the free and open public discussion
and an account of crises of legitimation resulting from institutional control of public
discussion in the media. Public sphere theory has come under increasing attack.
Critics have pointed to problems in Habermas’s account of the history of public
deliberation, to problems of exclusion and the assumptions that institutions are
incapable of creating the conditions for public participation. In the meantime, in a
series of brilliant studies Habermas developed his discourse ethics and theory of
communicative action in which he finessed his account of the problematic
relationship between institutional rationality and the culture of everyday life. He
returned to questions of deliberation, public participation and their relation to
legitimacy in Between Facts and Norms. In this book Habermas attempts to integrate
insights from systems theory and postmodern theory in his account of the potential of
institutional arrangements to balance the contradictory needs of autonomy and
intersubjectivity. Habermas has received little critical attention within social
psychology despite his concerns with imminently social psychological questions. This
paper presents a critical exposition of Habermas’s account of social psychological
concepts and themes of reason, identity and public opinion.
System-Environment
Relationships:
Meaning,
Self-Reference
and
Interpenetration in the Work of Niklas Luhmann
Simon Watts, Critical Research Group, Dept. of Psychology, University College
Northampton
Niklas Luhmann is widely recognised in Germany as the most noteworthy of
contemporary social theorists (Viskovatoff, 1999). Thus far, however, his work has
had a limited (although growing) impact in other countries and, indeed, in disciplines
other than sociology. No doubt the usual problems of translation and the sheer
density of Luhmann’s work have not helped his cause. Luhmann readily admits that
his Social Systems ‘is not an easy book’, nor does he pretend to ‘accommodate
those who prefer a quick and easy read’. He more than keeps his word. Add to this
Luhmann’s refusal to accept that social systems are in any way “composed of
individuals…or psychic processes” (1995: 256) and we have ourselves a recipe that
many social psychologists will find foul-tasting. Allow the palate to clear however and
one becomes distantly aware that quality ingredients have just ‘passed through’.
There are concepts and ideas here that are well worth thinking about. Without
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claiming any particular expertise, then, the current paper will offer a preliminary
sketch of meaning, self-reference and interpenetration as they appear in the work of
Niklas Luhmann.
Deleuze and Social Psychology
Steven D. Brown and Johanna Motzkau, Loughborough University
This paper outlines a brief introduction to the thought of one of the most influential
poststructuralist philosophers of the past few decades – Gilles Deleuze. Best known
for his collaborations with Felix Guattari on the Capitalism and Schizophrenia series,
Deleuze’s work may be characterised as an extended meditation of the concept of
immanence. This polyvocal term can be crudely rendered as a refusal to accept
dualism, transcendence or idealism. Deleuze offers social psychology a
thoroughgoing materialism which nevertheless is able to demonstrate how
abstraction or the ideational animates social practice. Such materialism cuts across
the now sterile distinction between realism and relativism. The paper will describe
key terms from Deleuze’s work – such as immanence, virtuality, the machinic,
territorialisation – and sketch out how the analytic value of these terms for social
psychology. Contrasts will be drawn with the use made by social psychology of other
cognate thinkers, such as Foucault, and other major social philosophers, such as
Habermas.
Ideology and Utopia: Social psychology and the social imaginary of Paul
Ricoeur
Darren Langdridge, Centre for Constructions and Identity, University of Huddersfield
Paul Ricoeur is considered one of the greatest living philosophers of language.
However, his work has yet to have an impact on psychology and social psychology in
particular. This is surprising when one considers the relevance of his work for the
social psychological project. In this paper, I outline his work on the social imaginary
and use this as a critical hermeneutic to explain the reluctance of social psychology
to move beyond the internecine debate between social cognition and critical social
psychology. The social imaginary is the ensemble of stories possessed by all
societies that serve to mediate human reality. Ricoeur uses this concept to
understand and conceptualise the distinction between the real and the imaginary by
examining it under two limits: ideology and utopia. The social imaginary operates in
two ways, as reaffirmation or rupture. Reaffirmation leads to ideology wherein
societies seek to preserve their identity. Rupture concerns the discourse of utopia,
which represents a sense of novelty and difference. Ricoeur argues for a necessary
dialectical relationship between ideology and utopia to avoid societies being ossified
through their engagement with the past or blinded by a practically unrealised vision of
the future. I argue that social psychology vacillates between these two positions and,
as yet, has not been able to engage dialectically with both. I finish by suggesting that
both positions are needed for a successful social psychological project, and that
Ricoeur’s hermeneutic phenomenology provides an example of the successful
integration of opposed traditions.
End of Section 2
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Section 3: BPS Social Psychology Section Conference 2003, Poster Abstracts
Experiencing Failure At School – Identifying Those Most At Risk
Poppy Nash, Centre for Reading and Language, Department of Psychology,
University of York
The proposed paper looks at the type of children who experience failure at school,
and the psychosocial implications of these experiences. For example, a child with
persistent communication difficulties or dyslexia, may feel inadequate, incompetent
and different to their peers. The impact of these experiences is often carried into the
playground, where the child can continue to feel stigmatised, socially excluded by
peers and be the target of school bullying.
The child's experience of school is not only coloured by anxiety surrounding the
classroom, but also a sense that they are failing in the playground too. This may be
seen in concomitant behaviour problems. Without appropriate intervention, these
negative self-perceptions can develop into a cycle of disadvantage and affect the
child's whole attitude towards school and motivation to learn. Nash and her
colleagues are currently developing a battery of assessments for identifying
vulnerable learners both in the classroom and the playground. The proposed paper
discusses these measures. It also discusses the effectiveness of their published
intervention programme (Nash et al., 2002) in addressing the psychosocial needs of
children who are experiencing failure at school.
Nash, P., Stengelhofen, J., Brown, J. and Toombs, L. (2002) Improving children's
communication, Managing Persistent Communication Difficulties. Whurr, London.
Coding Schemes, Observational Studies and Social Psychology
Brendan Wallace, Psychology Department, University of Strathclyde
One of the most interesting trends in recent years has been the increasing use of
computers by qualitative social psychologists. For example, there are now various
computer programmes available for content analysis (West, 2001) as well as for
more general qualitative analysis or CAQDA (Computer Aided Qualitative Data
Analysis (Lee and Fielding, 1991)). These programmes tend to be based on the
same basic theory: that textual data can be ‘coded’ by various coders and then
analysed.
The Centre for Applied Social Psychology (CASP) at the University of Strathclyde
developed and ran the national Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System
(CIRAS) project, the confidential reporting system for the UK Railways. In doing this it
was necessary to develop new methodologies to deal with large numbers of
confidential interviews. The current paper demonstrates how the system was built up,
and in particular how the creation of an efficient and reliable taxonomy for coding was
essential in terms of achieving a valid and useful system. Differences between the
various qualitative techniques developed at Strathclyde and other methodologies are
discussed, especially in the emphasis on reliability trials. Finally the implications for
the system are discussed in terms of further applications. Specifically, can social
psychologists progress from coding texts to coding general adult behaviour (as
already takes place in the psychology of facial emotions, cf Tronick, 1980) with
computer software? It is suggested that if the answer was to be in the affirmative it
might be a powerful new research tool for social psychology.
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Lee, R. M. and Fielding, N. G. (1991) 'Computing for Qualitative Research: Options,
Problems and Potential' in N. G. Fielding and R. M. Lee (editors) Using Computers in
Qualitative Research. London: Sage
Tronick, E.Z. Als, H. & Brazelton, T.B. (1980) Monadic phases: A structural
descriptive analysis of infant-mother face-to-face interaction. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
of Behaviour and Development, 26, 3-24
West, Mark (2001) Theory, Method, and Practice in Computer Content Analysis.
London: Ablex Publishing;
Secondary School Students’ Self-Concepts and Aspirations
Anni Ahmavaara
In the region of East Kent the eleven-plus examination, now called the Kent Test, is
still used to determine whether a child will receive his or her secondary education in a
selective or a non-selective school. The present research explored the effects of this
selection on students’ self-concepts, future aspirations and school satisfaction with a
sample of 856 students drawn from two selective and two unselective schools in East
Kent. A model that included school type, gender and age as independent variables,
Self-Esteem and Belief in Fixed Intelligence as predictor variables, Academic SelfConcept as a latent variable, and School Satisfaction and Future Aspirations as
outcome variables was constructed and tested in EQS. After post-hoc modifications
the final model fitted data well indicating that students in selective vs. non-selective
schools differ from each other significantly on many dimensions. Most importantly,
students in non-selective schooling were shown to have less positive academic-self
concept and less ambitious future aspirations implying that selective secondary
schooling may not bode well for students failing to obtain a place in a selective
school.
Experiencing covert workplace aggression: A preliminary study using
university teaching and research staff
Sarah Forrest and Nigel Hunt
(Works in Progress)
Objectives: Research investigating workplace aggression is becoming increasingly
interested in less obvious forms of aggression (e.g. the work of Björkqvist et al.,
1994; Kaukiainen et al., 2001). Covert aggression, although more difficult to measure
and observe, is thought to be commonplace in most working environments. This
small-scale preliminary study aimed to examine experiences of covert aggression
among a small sample of university teaching and research staff.
Design: Data are drawn from a series of 8 in-depth semi-structured interviews with
adults aged between 19 and 42.
Methods: The interviews asked about aggressive experiences across a variety of
settings. The analysis here is restricted to workplace conflicts. Interpretative thematic
analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994) will be used to identify common patterns and
processes underlying the interviewees’ experiences.
Results: A number of key themes are outlined and supported using extracts from the
interviews. The lack of a clear hierarchy within the university working environment
was seen to facilitate covert, indirectly aggressive victimisation. The interviewee’s
expressed considerable frustration and feelings of anxiety related to this form of
workplace conflict.
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Conclusions: The results are discussed in terms of the previous literature and the
implications of such research. In addition plans are made for future larger-scale
research in this area, examining how employees develop different coping styles to
deal with workplace stress and covert conflict.
Perceptions of aggressive experience: How do we understand and explain
aggressive beliefs and behaviour?
Sarah Forrest and Virginia Eatough
(Empirical Research)
Objectives: Research into perceptions of aggression has focused upon instrumental
and expressive social representations / beliefs about aggression. This research
aimed to re-examine the content and structure of such beliefs, investigating how
individuals understand and explain the role of aggression within their lives.
Design: Four in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with young adults
aged between 19 and 25.
Methods: Individuals were interviewed about their aggressive experiences.
Interpretative thematic analysis was carried out based upon the Miles & Huberman
(1994) technique. This led to the creation of an explanatory model of the processes
found to underlie the interviewees perceptions of aggressive beliefs and behaviour.
Results: The interviewees appeared to have a dynamic belief system of aggression,
which was largely derived from past personal experience. They talked about their
beliefs as being highly individualised, and the beliefs often seemed to contain both
instrumental and expressive elements. This overarching belief system was largely
perceived as determining their behaviour in a given situation, and it was found to be
very adaptive in nature. Participants discussed how they sometimes felt limited by
their beliefs, and sought to change their beliefs in order to change their behaviour.
Conclusions: Perceptions of aggression appeared to be much more complex,
contradictory and personalised than the existing literature on social representations /
beliefs of aggression suggests. The research is discussed in terms of potential
benefits of an idiographic approach to investigating perceptions of aggression, and
potential for future study.
'But in a way I'm an adult': Youth culture and the negotiation of identity
Eleanor Johnson and Abigail Locke, School of Health and Community Studies,
University of Derby
This paper approaches youth identity from the perspective of discursive psychology
and focuses on how young people construct and negotiate their identities. Through
the use of focus group data with adolescents from a secondary school, the
construction of youth identity was examined. The management and allocation of
blame by the young people onto others was prevalent throughout the analysis and
three main themes became apparent. Firstly the pressures of teenage life
exasperated by misunderstandings by significant others, such as parents or
teachers. Secondly the importance of image within youth identity and how the media
portrayal of youth has implications for the negotiation of their own identities. Finally,
the third theme considered how constructions of identity are seen as a negotiation
between childhood and adulthood, with the young person talking about themselves
as being more grown up than significant others give them due credit for. This paper
extends previous work on identity by examining aspects of youth culture that move
away from deviant youngsters in society (Hester, 1998) and those who do not identify
themselves within a specific youth sub-cultural group (Widdicombe & Wooffitt, 1995).
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Place identity in inner-city youths: 'It's all I know'
Donna Duffield and Abigail Locke, School of Health and Community Studies,
University of Derby
Identity is a salient topic in every field, in all disciplines of knowledge (Karnofsky,
2002). Using a discursive psychological approach, this paper explored how young
people from inner city areas constructed their identity. Specifically the concern was
with the resources that young people draw on to construct their accounts of events.
The dominant theme to arise was place identity that was rooted in a sense of
belonging and familiarity and the perception of differentiation with other areas. The
status associated with living in their area was constructed as the most important
aspect. Furthermore they invoked others' reputation of their areas as being relevant
to them. The findings were evaluated within the context of both early (Social Identity
Theory) and contemporary (discursive) theories of social identity. It was concluded
that this research adds weight to the body of discursive work that focuses upon
identity as an interactional resource. The wider implications are discussed in terms of
what social functions might be accomplished and social relations legitimated in other
contexts outside of the interview setting.
Differences between English Secondary School Children’s Use of the Internet
and Mobile Phones
Dominic Madell, Durham University
Katz and Aspden (1997) have discussed the “digital divide”, a disparity in the U.S.
between those who are online and those who are not. This study was carried out to
see if there is a “digital divide” amongst secondary school children in England, and
also to see if there were any differences in mobile phone use in this group. Initially, a
questionnaire which contained 26 questions about Internet and mobile phone use
with “tick-box” responses was used to gain information (although space was also
included for participants to write answers not found on the tick-box list) from 1340
students from four mixed secondary schools in different wards of the Teesside area.
From the original 1340 participants, 26 age-matched students from each school were
randomly selected for comparison. It was found that there were no major differences
in the survey data between the schools with different mean GCSE grades and in
areas of differing economic prosperity (although there were some minor differences).
Furthermore, data collected from the original sample of 1340 participants had
indicated that 83% of respondents considered themselves Internet users and that
86% considered themselves mobile phone owners. Taken together, these results do
not support the idea of a “digital divide” with regard to Internet and mobile phone use
amongst English secondary school children in the Teesside area.
Gender Differences in the Use of the Internet by English Secondary School
Children
Dominic Madell, Durham University
The UK government has stated that “Our goal is to ensure that everyone who wants
it has access to the Internet by 2005.” (UK Online annual report, 2002). Therefore,
this survey of Internet use by 1340 secondary-school students from four schools in
the Teesside area of England was carried out, first, in order to assess whether the
government is realising this ambition amongst 11-16 year olds, and second in order
to determine whether or not gender differences exist in this activity. Furthermore, the
data supplied are intended to inform later studies of more specific aspects of
children’s Internet use. Generally, it was found that most children used the Internet,
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were quite comfortable with it, and used it for a variety of applications. However, a
considerable minority of respondents also considered themselves non-users of the
Internet and there were also some gender differences found in the data which
suggested something of a male bias towards Internet use. It was concluded that
these were issues that needed to be addressed for the purposes of equity and if the
government is to achieve its goal of Internet access for all by 2005. A number of
suggestions for further research into Internet use by children are also suggested in
this paper.
Face-to-face vs. Computer-mediated focus groups
Donna Reid
This study compares face-to-face (FTF) focus groups with focus groups conducted
via computer-mediated communication (CMC), using outcome measures. Predictions
were derived from past work on other social tasks compared across these media, like
decision making. Sixteen groups of three participated in both FTF and CMC focus
groups, discussing two topics. Topics and communication media were
counterbalanced. Amongst the results it was found that despite CMC groups having
twice the amount of time to communicate, FTF groups contributed significantly more
words than CMC. When the greater number of contributions of FTF groups was
controlled, CMC groups generated more ideas/answers than FTF. These results
suggest CMC may be a viable alternative to FTF focus groups. Limitations and
directions for future research are discussed.
Biotechnology concepts, emotions and imagery: Effects of gender and
expertise
Alexa Spence and Ellen Townsend, School of Psychology and Institutes for the
Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society, University of Nottingham
This study investigated perceptions, emotions and imagery relating to different types
of biotechnologies and how these may vary between genders and between those of
differing levels of knowledge. A repeated single criterion card sort task was used to
elicit information from participants regarding how biotechnologies are perceived and
organised conceptually. Information was also gathered on knowledge, emotions and
imagery relating to the concepts and on the individual’s gender, religiosity and
previous experience with biotechnologies. Data obtained from the card sorting was
qualitative and analysed using Nvivo and Verbal Protocol Analysis Techniques.
Biotechnology concept groupings displayed parallels with previous research in
several aspects, including the separation of product and process, and divisions
between plant, animal and human research. Some new common different groupings
(e.g. between applications liked vs. disliked and different types of technology) and
the examination of associated emotions provided insights into differential attitudes
between groups. Further to this, examination of emotions and imagery relating to the
different biotechnology concepts revealed differences between genders and between
those with differing levels of knowledge. Differences in emotion were found between
groups and qualitative differences in the associated emotions were discovered.
Findings provide some insight into differences in attitudes and decision making
towards biotechnologies displayed by different groups and also highlight the
importance of including feelings about biotechnology in future research.
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
A discursive analysis of the use of rhetorical strategies in managing children’s
food consumption
Maria Hunter and Sally Wiggins (all correspondence to the second author please)
Encouraging children to eat – and to eat the ‘right’ kind of foods – is a fundamental
concern for both parents and health organisations. The volume of academic
research in this area, particularly within social psychology, reflects this concern.
However, much of the focus has been on either attitudes (of parents or children) or
the external pressures on children to eat particular foods (e.g. eating similar foods to
their peers). What is missing is research that examines the specific interactions in
which food is managed and consumed. This study provides this focus and examines
some of the ways in which children negotiate food with their parents during
mealtimes. Using a discursive psychological approach on the tape-recorded
conversations from family mealtimes, we examine the rhetorical strategies used by
the family members to manage the quantities of food eaten by the children. For
example, sharing one’s food with others was treated as both a positive action and as
a way of avoiding large quantities of food. Requests for water and questioning the
qualities of food were further strategies used in the talk. The analysis demonstrates
the specific ways in which these issues may be constructed and managed, and the
dilemmas that they raise for parents in encouraging children to eat. We suggest that
more research needs to be carried out on the daily interactions between parents and
children to provide a fuller understanding of food management issues.
Prison inmates’ perceptions of aggressive events: The effect of crowding
Claire Lawrence and Kathryn Andrews
This study examines whether in a male prison, the inmates’ subjective experience of
crowding increases (i) the likelihood that events are perceived as being more
aggressive in nature, and (ii) whether the protagonists involved are viewed as being
more hostile, malevolent and aggressive. In addition, this paper also examines the
possible mediating effects of stress, arousal and psychological well-being. Seventynine prison inmates were questioned about their personal space needs, their
perceived levels of crowding, their stress, arousal and psychological well-being, and
their judgement of an account of an aggressive event. The results confirmed previous
findings that crowding is linked to increases in arousal and stress and a reduction in
psychological well-being. For the first time, however, this study also found that those
inmates who experienced crowding were also more likely to interpret events as being
aggressive and violent, and judge that those involved in the incident had acted more
aggressively. This relationship was not mediated by any other factor. However,
arousal, stress or psychological well-being partially mediated the relationship
between personal space needs and the experience of subjective crowding. The
implications of this study for social interactionsist explanations of the link between
crowding and prison violence are offered.
Simplifying Social Decisions Under Environmental Constraint
Joseph M. Ungemah University College London
The poster explores the relationship between stereotype and attributional processes
in social decisions. Presenting the results from one experiment in a series of studies,
the poster discusses how environmental constraint and individual differences interact
in shaping evaluations of others. Subjects were presented with a hiring scenario and
made a selection between two job candidates, differentiated by a greater percentage
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BPS Social Psychology Section Conference September 2003
of positive characteristics (schematic candidate choice) or the possession of key job
prerequisites (individuated candidate choice). The study hypothesised that certain
environmental factors (i.e. opportunity, anxiety, and status) and biological
attributional preferences would increase the use of schematic and stereotypic
thought. Significant main effects were discovered for anxiety and attributional
preference, the latter itself influenced by opportunity and status. Environmental
constraint was thus demonstrated to affect hiring choice in favour of the
schematically superior individual, through both direct and indirect means. However,
individual differences in attributional preference are thought to play an important role
in mitigating the effects of environmental constraint in social decisions.
End of Section 3
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