Application Of Social Psychological Theories Research Articles

COVID-19 masks and limited number of shoppers as determinants of shop assistants' (dis)honesty.

Previous laboratory and field studies have demonstrated that the dishonesty of commercial transaction participants may depend on subtle cues. In this field study conducted on a sample of 216 shop assistants in Poland, we planned to demonstrate that coronavirus disease-related factors could result in an increased propensity for dishonesty among shop assistants. This investigation is unique in its application of social psychological theories to illuminate hitherto unexplored side effects of combating the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Our supposition was that the potential detriment encountered by individuals wearing solid surgical masks would involve being viewed as more abstract and remote, thereby heightening the likelihood of being deceived by a vendor. Moreover, we examined the potential relationship between the limited number of customers in retail establishments (related to pandemic restrictions) and the unscrupulous practices of sellers-specifically the act of retaining change. The effect of wearing masks was statistically non-significant, whereas the impact of other customers' absence was significant. Moreover, unexpected results related to transaction parties' genders were obtained, showing that shop assistants tended to be more honest when dealing with customers of the same gender. The results are discussed in the context of empathy toward masked customers, self-awareness theory, social norms of honesty, and identification with gender groups.

Navigating non‐normative roles: Experiences of female‐breadwinning couples in Pakistan

AbstractThis study aims to explore the experiences of female‐breadwinning couples (FBCs) in Pakistan. Using the constructivist grounded theory approach, a sample of twenty participants (10 male and 10 females) was interviewed. The study findings show that FBCs experience social stigmatisation, social isolation and differential treatment. These couples are viewed as abnormal, different and violators of the normative gendered expectations. FBCs not only experience societal backlash, but their relationship dynamics are also negatively affected. To deal with societal responses and relationship problems, these couples adopt various normalisation strategies such as exercising discretion, relocation and performing gender identities. This study contributes to the literature by providing a culturally informed perspective on how deeply embedded gender norms shape interpersonal dynamics, normalisation strategies and overall experiences with non‐normative roles. The study also suggests for a more explicit consideration of cultural and normative contexts to enrich the application of social psychological theories.

Leaders and followers behaving badly: A meta‐analytic examination of curvilinear relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors

AbstractWe draw from social psychological and resource‐based theories to meta‐analytically examine curvilinear relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors (i.e., job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and workplace deviance). Overall, our meta‐analytic results demonstrate that relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors are essentially linear. The limited evidence of curvilinear relationships we did find supports the application of social psychological theories when examining high levels of destructive leadership. Overall, this study's meta‐analytic regression, relative weight, and semipartial correlation results have important implications for how to interpret the conclusions drawn from prior destructive leadership research, how to conduct future studies that examine destructive leadership, and practitioners’ attempts to limit the effects of destructive leadership on followers’ workplace behaviors.

The Psychology of Morality

Five questions regarding the nature of the moral sense, the origin of conscience, the development of morality, variability in the moral sense, and the relation of morality to behavior are examined from the point of view of four theoretical approaches (psychoanalytic theory, social learning theory, cognitive-developmental theory, and evolutionary psychology). In addition, some concepts and findings from outside the four approaches are also touched upon. The moral sense is shown to be complex, comprising cognitions, feelings, and behaviors. The theoretical approaches disagree regarding the issues of whether conscience directly reflects social teaching, or is constructed by the developing individual. They also disagree on whether moral development is incremental or stagewise. Explanations of individual, gender, and cultural differences in morality differ across the four approaches. None of the approaches explains the relation of behavior to morality; rather, application of social psychological theories is suggested. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. This article is available in Online Readings in Psychology and Culture: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol2/iss1/6

Efficacy and well‐being in rural north India: The role of social identification with a large‐scale community identity

Identifying with a group can contribute to a sense of well-being. The mechanisms involved are diverse: social identification with a group can impact individuals' beliefs about issues such as their connections with others, the availability of social support, the meaningfulness of existence, and the continuity of their identity. Yet, there seems to be a common theme to these mechanisms: identification with a group encourages the belief that one can cope with the stressors one faces (which is associated with better well-being). Our research investigated the relationship between identification, beliefs about coping, and well-being in a survey (N = 792) administered in rural North India. Using structural equation modelling, we found that social identification as a Hindu had positive and indirect associations with three measures of well-being through the belief that one can cope with everyday stressors. We also found residual associations between participants' social identification as a Hindu and two measures of well-being in which higher identification was associated with poorer well-being. We discuss these findings and their implication for understanding the relationship between social identification (especially with large-scale group memberships) and well-being. We also discuss the application of social psychological theory developed in the urban West to rural north India. © 2014 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Putting consumers first in design for sustainable behaviour: a case study of reducing environmental impacts of cold appliance use

To slow down the increasing environmental degradation, design for sustainable behaviour (DfSB) has emerged in sustainable design aiming to promote behavioural change through design innovations to reduce environmental and social impacts from the demand side or consumer side. This paper presents a practice-based journey to investigate the process and results of the application of social-psychological theories into sustainable design. Focusing on the behaviour-related impacts of products and services during the use stage, a Design Behaviour Intervention Model (DBIM) is developed through the analysis and synthesis of the social-psychological theories and behaviour-changing strategies. The DBIM indicates that an in-depth study of consumer behaviour is the preliminary step in DfSB, which determines the application of design strategies and potentially the effectiveness of design interventions. A case study is presented to demonstrate the application of the model. The results show that consumer behaviour insights offer rich resources to assist designers in sustainable design innovation. Product-based design suggestions and a proposed solution highlight that the application of DBIM coupled with consumer involvement throughout the design process could produce desirable and sustainable patterns of household fridge use. Finally, the structured consideration of behavioural change and their possible application in DfSB are discussed.

Social‐Psychological Theories and Adolescent Health Risk Behavior

AbstractThis paper reviews several psychosocial theories that have been applied to the study of adolescent health behavior. Some of these theories have existed for several decades and, though not originally intended for this purpose, have proven quite useful in predicting and explaining many different types of health‐relevant behaviors. During the last 10–15 years, however, there has been a significant increase in the application of social psychological theories to the examination of what is increasingly being seen as a social‐psychological phenomenon: health risk behavior among adolescents. This interest has been prompted, in part, by an appreciation of the value of dual‐processing principles in explaining these behaviors, and, in particular, a recognition that much adolescent health risk behavior: a) is not always planful or premeditated, and b) involves both heuristic and analytic processing. The paper includes discussion of how dual‐processing principles and social‐psychological theories can inform intervention efforts.

Patterns of relations between immigrants and host societies

Abstract This paper provides an overview of migration and cultural diversity across seven countries in three major geographical regions. It describes the evolution of acculturation theory, models and research. Next, the paper briefly reviews the developments in the application of social psychological theory to the study of immigration and intergroup relations and illustrates the convergence of these approaches across ten studies. Finally, it makes recommendations for the course of future research. Specifically it recommends to clearly distinguish between cultural heritage and cultural identity, to take transnational contacts into account in models of acculturation, and to examine the concepts of pluralism and creolization as outcomes of culturally heterogeneous host societies.

Predictors and predictive effects of ambivalence.

Recent interest in people's ambivalence about social behaviours and social categories has provoked a number of challenges for the ways in which attitudes are conceptualized. Research into the implications of ambivalence for attitude-behaviour relationships and for information processing has developed alongside a concern with how best to measure ambivalence and with its implications for the application of social psychological theory. In a study (N = 197) of attendance at a local health club, two novel issues were addressed: firstly, an assessment of the effect of ambivalence on intention-behaviour relationships (using an objective behaviour measure) revealed the hypothesized moderation effect; secondly, in a move towards identifying some of the factors that may lead to ambivalence, an assessment of potential motivational conflicts based on a consideration of behavioural beliefs and outcome evaluations was introduced. We suggest that this method of assessing ambivalence represents a useful framework on which to build a fuller understanding of the relationship between people's attitudes and the variety of motives that may influence their social behaviour. Pointers for future research are outlined.

BARRIERS TO NATURE CONSERVATION IN GERMANY: A MODEL EXPLAINING OPPOSITION TO PROTECTED AREAS

Germany is particularly plagued in its nature conservation strategies by widespread and persistent opposition to the designation and management of protected areas through local resistance. This opposition is continuing, despite Germany's commitment to international and European mandates to enhance biodiversity within its borders. This paper seeks to explain why this opposition is so coherent and so protracted with reference to research into the attitudes of residents, landowners and managers on both sides of the debate. The research involved the use of grounded theory approaches, sensitive interactive interviewing, and the gradual application of social psychological theories of social identity and reactance. The evidence is strong that there are powerful emotional and cultural drivers that divide nature conservationists and local landusers and residents into two camps, maintained by stereotyping and group bonding. Based on these findings, practical and constructive ways are proposed to reconcile these differing perceptions.

Integrating Social Psychology and Aging Research: Toward a Social-Developmental Theory of Behavior

We consider 2 questions in this commentary. One is the extent to which the understanding of aging can be advanced by the application of social psychological theories. The second is the extent to which social-psychological theories can be enriched by considering issues in aging. We argue that the focus on situational causes of behavior in social psychological theories provides a vital balance to accounts of aging that have emphasized internal causes, and that the social psychological focus on process provides an important addition to more descriptive emphases. We also argue that applying social-psychological theories to issues in aging will strengthen their predictive power by necessitating greater attention to descriptive content as well as by revealing new moderator variables and domains of inquiry. Finally, we offer several methodological suggestions for future research. Ultimately, integrating social psychology and aging research will build social-developmental theories that are more powerful than either social or developmental theories alone.

Integrating Social Psychology and Aging Research: Toward a Social-Developmental Theory of Behavior

We consider 2 questions in this commentary. One is the extent to which the understanding of aging can be advanced by the application of social psychological theories. The second is the extent to which social-psychological theories can be enriched by considering issues in aging. We argue that the focus on situational causes of behavior in social psychological theories provides a vital balance to accounts of aging that have emphasized internal causes, and that the social psychological focus on process provides an important addition to more descriptive emphases. We also argue that applying social-psychological theories to issues in aging will strengthen their predictive power by necessitating greater attention to descriptive content as well as by revealing new moderator variables and domains of inquiry. Finally, we offer several methodological suggestions for future research. Ultimately, integrating social psychology and aging research will build social-developmental theories that are more powerful than either social or developmental theories alone.

The role of the ‘other’ in national identity: exploring the context‐dependence of the national ingroup stereotype

Analysts from a range of disciplines (especially sociology and social anthropology) highlight the role of the ‘other’ in the construction and definition of national identity. Recently some social psychologists have come to emphasize the inherently relational nature of identity. Drawing upon these recent investigations, the present paper reports a field study investigating the context-dependent nature of group identity. Using a modified version of the Katz–Braly task, British subjects (n=240) stereotyped two national groups: Americans and British. They did so in two conditions. In the ‘one-group’ conditions, subjects rated either of the two groups. In the ‘two-group’ conditions, they rated one whilst also considering the other. Following Oakes, Haslam and Turner (1994) we predicted that whereas subjects' stereotypes of the national outgroup (the Americans) would be unaffected by this manipulation, their stereotype of the national ingroup (the British) would be affected. This prediction was confirmed. We also predicted that the national ingroup stereotype obtained in the ‘two-group’ condition would be one which was defined in contrast to the American ‘other’ which constituted the comparative context. Using a measure which takes into account the applicability of ingroup-defining terms to both the ingroup and the outgroup (the diagnosticity measure of stereotyping proposed by McCauley and Stitt, 1978) we show that the ingroup identity definition produced in this condition did indeed differentiate the British from the Americans. The significance of these data for those concerned with the application of social psychological theory to real-life social problems is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Introduction to the special issue: Application of social psychological theories to health and exercise behavior

(1993). Introduction to the special issue: Application of social psychological theories to health and exercise behavior. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 95-98.