Contemporary Social Psychology Research Articles

Social Psychology of and for World-Making.

Social psychology's disconnect from the vital and urgent questions of people's lived experiences reveals limitations in the current paradigm. We draw on a related perspective in social psychology1-the sociocultural approach-and argue how this perspective can be elaborated to consider not only social psychology as a historical science but also social psychology of and for world-making. This conceptualization can make sense of key theoretical and methodological challenges faced by contemporary social psychology. As such, we describe the ontology, epistemology, ethics, and methods of social psychology of and for world-making. We illustrate our framework with concrete examples from social psychology. We argue that reconceptualizing social psychology in terms of world-making can make it more humble yet also more relevant, reconnecting it with the pressing issues of our time. We propose that social psychology should focus on "world-making" in two senses. First, people are future-oriented and often are guided more by what could be than what is. Second, social psychology can contribute to this future orientation by supporting people's world-making and also critically reflecting on the role of social psychological research in world-making. We unpack the philosophical assumptions, methodological procedures, and ethical considerations that underpin a social psychology of and for world-making. Social psychological research, whether it is intended or not, contributes to the societies and cultures in which we live, and thus it cannot be a passive bystander of world-making. By embracing social psychology of and for world-making and facing up to the contemporary societal challenges upon which our collective future depends will make social psychology more humble but also more relevant.

Black or White? The Impact of Clothing Color on Impression Formation and Judgment

Contemporary social psychology must take into account the rapid increase in the availability of virtual environments for social interaction. In two experiments, we aimed to advance the knowledge of how the colour of clothing influences the assessment of aggressiveness and guilt of a suspect. In addition to replicating the classic effect, we have attempted to verify it in a virtual environment. Study 1 has been conducted on a sample of 144 people. Firstly, the participants were informed that they would be exposed to a mug shot of a woman taken into police custody. Later, they received information that the female is suspected of committing an unspecified crime; however, her guilt still needs to be proven. The colour of the suspect’s clothes (white or black) was manipulated. Finally, the participants were asked to fill out the Aggressive and Guilty Impression Scale. The study confirmed the hypothesis that a woman dressed in black was perceived as more aggressive. This effect did not occur in the case of assessing her guilt. Study 2 was conducted to verify the black clothing effect in a virtual environment along with the female’s 3D avatar. A total of 189 subjects participated. Participants were informed of the alleged crime and shown a video that depicted a self-presentation of the woman represented by an avatar. The video was made in the vTime application. Finally, the participants answered the manipulation check and filled out the questionnaire. The results of the second study did not confirm the black colour effect. Gender identification did not moderate the effect of clothing colour on creating the impression of aggressiveness and guilt.

“Some uninteresting data from a faraway country”: Inequity and coloniality in international social psychological publications

AbstractModern systems of knowledge production reinforce inequalities and coloniality, especially in the Global South. We investigated whether this was the case in contemporary social psychology. We examined manifestations of coloniality of knowledge (in the form of internalized Global North standards and practices) and critical awareness and reflection (historic and systemic attributions for collective disadvantages) in a survey of social psychologists in 64 countries (N = 232). Although colleagues in the Global South and Southern and Eastern Europe adopted Global Northern publication standards and tendencies, their compliance seemed motivated by institutional demands and pragmatic concerns rather than internalized inferiority or principled conviction. Regarding international mainstream publication practices, participants from all regions (most prominently outside the Global North) reported biases, under‐representation, lack of relevance, and structural disadvantages. Participants offered mainly systemic attributions for these and other disadvantages. These findings suggest that social psychologists engaged with the international publication system are caught in a double‐bind between collective systemic disadvantages and coerced compliance, especially outside the Global North. Discussion focuses on the mixed‐motive tensions these social psychologists experience in publishing internationally under these conditions, and the implications of this status quo for knowledge production in the discipline.

Continence, temperance, and motivational conflict: Why traditional neo-Aristotelian accounts are psychologically unrealistic

ABSTRACT Traditional neo-Aristotelian accounts hold that temperance and continence are distinct character traits that are distinguished by the extent to which their bearers experience motivational conflict. In this paper, I formulate two pairs of necessary conditions – which, collectively, I call the conformity thesis – that articulate this distinction. Then, drawing on work in contemporary social and personality psychology, I argue that the conformity thesis is false. Being highly self-controlled is the best, psychologically realistic candidate for continence. However, our best evidence suggests that highly self-controlled/continent people do not experience more or stronger desires that conflict with their evaluative judgments than others, and they are not particularly good at directly resisting these desires. In this way, actual continent people exhibit motivational harmony that is more similar to the traditional picture of temperance. On the other hand, they achieve this harmony because they are able to effectively employ indirect strategies for handling motivational conflict. These strategies are correctly associated with continence. Recognizing that temperance and continence are overlapping character traits puts us in a better position to understand, and design interventions to improve, the neuropsychological capacities that enable humans to intelligently manage their desires.

From perceived polarization of immigration attitudes to collective action

In the context where immigration divides the political space of Western societies, perceived social polarization as an explanation of collective action is surprisingly understudied in contemporary social psychology. We hypothesize that the more people perceive polarization, the more they will engage in collective action in line with their attitudes. Moreover, this effect should be explained by two interrelated factors: identification and perceived efficacy. Perceived polarization should shape how important immigration attitudes are for individuals’ self-definition and thereby believing oneself capable of making a change, which in turn triggers collective action. To test our predictions, we conducted three studies (Studies 1 and 2 were correlational and Study 3 experimental) among mobilized and non-mobilized samples in two countries (i.e., Belgium and Switzerland). Results partially support our predictions that perceived social polarization on immigration issues relates to engaging in collective action. Indirect effect analyses revealed the predominant role of identity dynamics in the social psychological processes linked to perceiving polarization. These results provide potential explanations to the strong mobilization that emerged since 2015 following the so-called migrant crisis. Implications of our findings for collective action literature are discussed.

The social identity approach: Appraising the Tajfellian legacy

Since its original formulation, Tajfel's Social Identity Theory (SIT) has broadened considerably from its original focus on intergroup relations and is now applied to a wide range of phenomena. Indeed, the 'social identity approach' has become one of the most widely used perspectives in contemporary social psychology. In this article, I examine the popularity of Tajfel's writings on social identity and intergroup relations, especially over the last thirty years when they started to become more generally used. I offer a critical appraisal of the original SIT, both as a theory of intergroup relations and as a theory of identity, concluding that its real value lies in its success in offering an over-arching perspective on the importance of groups in social life and its ability to stimulate new areas of research. I then widen the discussion to consider how the social identity perspective has been used in a number of other fields of enquiry.

Deconstructing corporate hypocrisy: A delineation of its behavioral, moral, and attributional facets

Although the literature on corporate hypocrisy continues to grow, conceptualizations and deployed empirical measures of the concept are often discordant. The current research addresses the need for theoretical clarity by delineating multiple facets of corporate hypocrisy perceptions and by integrating diverse theoretical perspectives into a single framework that identifies its antecedents and consequences. Using contemporary social psychology theory, this study identifies three theoretical facets of corporate hypocrisy perceptions: moral hypocrisy, behavioral hypocrisy, and hypocrisy attributions. These perceptions emerge from two distinct conceptual routes: one driven by firms' deceptive practices and one driven by mere inconsistent behaviors. Moreover, these perceptions of hypocrisy drive stakeholders' cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses.

A Spotlight on Contemporary Language and Social Psychology Research: Selected Proceedings From the 16th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology

This introduction to the special issue offers a brief report on the proceedings from the 16th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP16) and concludes with an invitation to participate in the upcoming ICLASP17 (Hong Kong, 2020). The nine papers selected for this special issue represent the diversity of scholarship and methodology presented at ICLASP16 (held in Edmonton, Canada, 2018). It includes student debut work, student-faculty collaborative pieces, keynote addresses, competitive papers, and an invited state-of-the-scholarship review.

SELF-EVALUATION METHODOLOGY OF PROGRAMMERS' COMPETITIVENESS IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFELONG EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Contemporary social sciences, including pedagogy and psychology, carry out researches in the field of competitiveness. The more competitive each member of the society is, the more competitive is the society as such. The aim of research was: experimentally approbate the developed methodology for evaluating the competitiveness of programmers. Research methods were: survey as pedagogical experiment, projective method for data obtaining; Wilcoxon test for data processing. The results of the pedagogical experiment testify that: during the pedagogical experiment, research participants changed their competitiveness self-assessment. Therefore it is very important to know self-evaluation indicators of professional development because it significant impacts both: programmers notions about professional self-development and competitiveness as result of this development, changing competitiveness self-assessment as well. During the experiment, the participants of the research gained new experience of reflection, reflecting on their professional development, including professionalism, career, in past, present and future, and this reflection experience can serve as a basis for programmer's professional development and adequate competitiveness self-assessment. The experimentally approbated self-assessment methodology of professional development and competitiveness is valid and can be used in further research.

Bad Methods Drive out Good: The Curse of Imagination in Social Psychology Research

We agree with Doliński (2018, this issue) that behavior is disappearing as an object of study of contemporary social psychology and it has been increasingly replaced by verbal declarations of imagined behaviors, which are analyzed as dependent variables. We read this as a case of a methodological version of Gresham’s law: “bad methods drive out good”. We notice a complementary trend on the side of manipulations of independent variables. Instead of manipulating real situations, researchers frequently instruct their participants to imagine these situations. In effect, social psychology drifts to studying imaginary behaviors in imagined situations and this poses a serious threat for the validity of our findings. We present one study comparing responses to imagined and actually experienced situations (concerning moral judgment and trust) and find that these two types of situation produce divergent responses. We conclude that imagined situations cannot be a source of knowledge about responses in situations that people really experience.

Сравнительные количественные исследования национальной идентичности в современной социальной психологии

The article presents a review of quantitative comparative cross-cultural studies on national identity conducted by psychologists during the last two decades. It considers the relation of theoretical and methodological grounds of these studies with the general agenda of the contemporary social psychology, interdisciplinary studies on nations and nationalism, and empirical resources of cross-national surveys. The relevant publications demonstrate the prevalence of descriptive approach in psychological studies, while sociology and political science mostly use the explanatory research approach on factors affecting the national identity. Nevertheless, the explanatory research results reveal the underestimated cross-cultural variability of correlations between national identity components and the correspondence of these components to essentially different cognitive mechanisms. To fulfil the potential of their discipline, cross-cultural psychologists studying national identity should explore relations of national identity with basic values and attitudes with paying a special attention to cross-level interaction effects and social dynamics.

Generation to Generation: Inter-Generationality and Spiritual Formation in Christian Community

The witness of the Scriptures and of virtually every human culture suggests that one of the most pivotal and thus crucial dimensions of human formation, and thus spiritual formation, is the intergenerational dynamic: older men with younger men; older women passing on the faith to younger women. One generation encouraging, blessing and transmitting wisdom to the next generation. And yet, it is often observed that this is a missing dimension of congregational life–that congregations are increasing stratified along generational lines. Thus this essay will make the case that the church is a liturgical, catechetical and missional community and that faith formation, in Christian community, will happen through the interplay of the generations in worship, teaching/learning and service. And that therefore congregations would be wise to be more attentive to how they foster intergenerational connections, rather than inadvertently or intentionally create generational divides in the church. Also, it is important to stress that a critical part of congregational life is that of equipping older men and women to be a means of grace to their younger counterparts. The essay will draw on the Biblical references to intergenerational formation, the insights of contemporary social-psychology and the observations of the author regarding contemporary congregational life.

How Gullible are We? A Review of the Evidence from Psychology and Social Science

A long tradition of scholarship, from ancient Greece to Marxism or some contemporary social psychology, portrays humans as strongly gullible—wont to accept harmful messages by being unduly deferent. However, if humans are reasonably well adapted, they should not be strongly gullible: they should be vigilant toward communicated information. Evidence from experimental psychology reveals that humans are equipped with well-functioning mechanisms of epistemic vigilance. They check the plausibility of messages against their background beliefs, calibrate their trust as a function of the source's competence and benevolence, and critically evaluate arguments offered to them. Even if humans are equipped with well-functioning mechanisms of epistemic vigilance, an adaptive lag might render them gullible in the face of new challenges, from clever marketing to omnipresent propaganda. I review evidence from different cultural domains often taken as proof of strong gullibility: religion, demagoguery, propaganda, political campaigns, advertising, erroneous medical beliefs, and rumors. Converging evidence reveals that communication is much less influential than often believed—that religious proselytizing, propaganda, advertising, and so forth are generally not very effective at changing people's minds. Beliefs that lead to costly behavior are even less likely to be accepted. Finally, it is also argued that most cases of acceptance of misguided communicated information do not stem from undue deference, but from a fit between the communicated information and the audience's preexisting beliefs.

Two Bayesian tests of the GLOMOsys Model.

Priming is arguably one of the key phenomena in contemporary social psychology. Recent retractions and failed replication attempts have led to a division in the field between proponents and skeptics and have reinforced the importance of confirming certain priming effects through replication. In this study, we describe the results of 2 preregistered replication attempts of 1 experiment by Förster and Denzler (2012). In both experiments, participants first processed letters either globally or locally, then were tested using a typicality rating task. Bayes factor hypothesis tests were conducted for both experiments: Experiment 1 (N = 100) yielded an indecisive Bayes factor of 1.38, indicating that the in-lab data are 1.38 times more likely to have occurred under the null hypothesis than under the alternative. Experiment 2 (N = 908) yielded a Bayes factor of 10.84, indicating strong support for the null hypothesis that global priming does not affect participants' mean typicality ratings. The failure to replicate this priming effect challenges existing support for the GLOMOsys model. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Generality of Theory and the Specificity of Social Behavior: Contrasting Experimental and Hermeneutic Social Science

AbstractSince its inception, experimental social psychology has arguably been of two minds about the nature and role of theory. Contemporary social psychology's experimental approach has been strongly informed by the “nomological‐deductive” approach of Carl Hempel in tandem with the “hypothetico‐deducive” approach of Karl Popper. Social psychology's commitment to this hybrid model of science has produced at least two serious obstacles to more fruitful theorizing about human experience: (1) the problem of situational specificity, and (2) the manifest impossibility of formulating meaningful general laws of human social behavior. It is argued that a social psychology based on the search for this kind of lawfulness, under the auspices of either a strict or loose interpretation of the largely Hempelian model, is ultimately unworkable. An alternative approach to social psychology that is attentive both to the need for understanding individual situations and behaviors and to the need for generalized understanding of actual human behaviors is offered. This approach is grounded in the hermeneutic tradition.

When Too Much Integration and Regulation Hurts

Durkheim’s model of suicide famously includes four types: anomic, egoistic, altruistic, and fatalistic suicides; however, sociology has primarily focused on anomic and egoistic suicides and neglected suicides predicated on too much integration or regulation. This article addresses this gap. We begin by elaborating Durkheim’s concepts of integration and regulation using insights from contemporary social psychology, the sociology of emotions, and cultural sociology. We then posit a more coherent theory of suicides resulting from too much integration and too much regulation. Importantly, we shift attention away from motives (altruism = self-sacrifice). We also reject the idea that high levels of integration and regulation are in and of themselves harmful. Instead, we propose three sociocultural explanations—(1) disruptions, (2) the spread of negative emotions and ideas, and (3) the pervasiveness of negative, suicide scripts—that elucidate how and why too much integration and regulation can become harmful and facilitate suicide.

Moral Hypocrisy and Acting for Reasons: How Moralizing Can Invite Self-Deception

According to some, contemporary social psychology is aptly described as a study in moral hypocrisy. In this paper we argue that this is unfortunate when understood as establishing that we only care about appearing to act morally, not about true moral action. A philosophically more interesting interpretation of the “moral hypocrisy”-findings understands it to establish that we care so much about morality that it might lead to (1) self-deception about the moral nature of our motives and/or (2) misperceptions regarding what we should or should not do in everyday or experimental situations. In this paper we argue for this claim by elaborating on a fascinating series of experiments by Daniel Batson and his colleagues who have consistently contributed to the moral hypocrisy findings since the late nineties, and showing in what way they contribute to a better understanding of moral agency, rather than undermine the idea that we are moral agents.

Imagery in research

THE CONSIDERABLE growth of imagery-based research and use of visual methods that seek to engage children and young people has, over the past 20 years, generated widespread interdisciplinary and global interest. With improved use, these methods have made significant contributions to health and social sciences research methodology (Fraser et al 2004). One of the reasons frequently cited for using imagery based visual methods is that researchers want to enrich their research in the main qualitative approaches. For participants, one of the strengths of visual methods is that they have the potential to reduce power imbalances. In terms of adult researchers and children or young people, use of imagery is also felt to facilitate communication channels so that views, expressions and emotions can be explored in what is a potentially more comfortable, positive experience (Thomson 2008). However, despite this widespread growth and productive use, the evidence surrounding the different types of visual methods, techniques and analysis remains relatively under-explored. The options can be daunting, especially to novice researchers, when considering which techniques to use, skills needed, and process matters including ethics and handling and analysis of data. The two articles in the theme of imagery-based research in Nurse Researcher (January 2015) are sound contributions to the growing body of evidence. Lisa Whiting (2015) draws on a research study that used photo elicitation as a data collection method when conducting research with children of primary school age (nine to 11 years) to identify the assets underpinning children’s wellbeing. Vicki Cope (2015) has written a methodological paper which describes positively the use of the portraiture method and the relationship this approach may have with contemporary social science and positive psychology research. As they are reporting on different imagery based approaches, each article will be reviewed, and then conclusions drawn together.

Reconsidering Durkheim's Assessment of Tarde: Formalizing a Tardian Theory of Imitation, Contagion, and Suicide Suggestion

Emile Durkheim summarily rejected Gabriel Tarde's imitation thesis, arguing that sociology need only concern itself with social suicide rates. Over a century later, a burgeoning body of suicide research has challenged Durkheim's claim to a general theory of suicide as 4 decades worth of evidence has firmly established that (1) there is a positive association between the publicization of celebrity suicides and a spike in the aggregate suicide rate, (2) some social environments are conducive to epidemic‐like outbreaks of suicides, and (3) suicidal ideas or behavior spreads to some individuals exposed to a personal role model's suicidal behavior—for example, a friend or family member. Revisiting Tarde, the article examines why Tarde's theory deserves renewed attention, elucidates what he meant by imitation, and then formalizes his “laws” into testable theses, while suggesting future research questions that would advance the study of suicide, as well as other pathologies. Each “law” is elaborated by considering advances in contemporary social psychology as well as in light of its ability to supplement Durkheim's theory in explaining the “outlier” cases.

Realizing the Promise of Social Psychology in Improving Public Health

The theories, phenomena, empirical findings, and methodological approaches that characterize contemporary social psychology hold much promise for addressing enduring problems in public health. Indeed, social psychologists played a major role in the development of the discipline of health psychology during the 1970s and 1980s. The health domain allows for the testing, refinement, and application of many interesting and important research questions in social psychology, and offers the discipline a chance to enhance its reach and visibility. Nevertheless, in a review of recent articles in two major social-psychological journals (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology), we found that only 3.2% of 467 studies explored health-related topics. In this article, we identify opportunities for research at the interface of social psychology and health, delineate barriers, and offer strategies that can address these barriers as the discipline continues to evolve.