Social Psychological Phenomena Research Articles

How the manner in which data is visualized affects and corrects (mis)perceptions of political polarization.

While the mechanisms underlying polarization are complex, scholars have consistently found a pervasive overestimation of perceptions of polarization to be a contributing factor. We argue that one mitigation strategy that can work at scale to address such misperceptions might be relatively straightforward: better data visualizations of cross-party attitudes on key issues. In a large-scale (N = 6603), international replication, we find that mode of presentation-or the manner in which data are visually presented-plays a significant role in moderating perceptions of polarization, even for longstanding, divisive issues for which partisans would likely hold strong prior beliefs. Additionally, we find the effects that different modes of presentation have on issue-specific polarization also extend to participant beliefs about overall interparty polarization, with certain modes proving capable of not only promoting less polarized views but also enabling more accurate estimates of the extent to which political groups agree. Finally, our findings also suggest that the manner in which intergroup data are visualized may also exert influence over the degree to which political groups are essentialized-a finding with implications for not only political perception but also for apolitical social psychological phenomena such as dehumanization.

The Toxic Mix of Multiculturalism and Medicine: The Credentialing and Professional-Entry Experience for Persons of African Descent

This essay is based on a case study of international medical graduates (IMGs) in Canada who migrated from sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter examines how narratives of race are situated and deployed in the field of medicine and can produce some aversive social–psychological landscapes in the credentialing and the professional-entry process as it relates to persons of African descent. It will show that, often without predetermination or intent, professionals of African descent in Canada are highly susceptible to implicit racial associations and implicit racial stereotyping in relation to evaluations of character, credentials, and culture. The article exposes some of the critical intersections of common experience, such as: (a) cultural deficit bias—Whiteness as an institutionalized cultural capital attribute; (b) confirmation bias—reaching a negative conclusion and working backwards to find evidence to support it; (c) repurposed sub-Saharan Blackness stereotypes—binary forms of techno-scamming and fraud; and (d) biased deception judgement—where the accuracy of deception judgements deteriorates when made across cultures. These social psychological phenomena result in significantly disproportionate returns on their foreign education and labour market experience for Black medical professionals that require decisive efforts in changing the narratives.

Актуальные направления исследований предпринимательства в социальной психологии: карта научного ландшафта

Background. Currently, the number of entrepreneurs who want to run a traditional business or a startup is growing rapidly. In scientific circles, there is also increasing interest in the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and, in particular, in the personality of the entrepreneur. The question arises as to which areas of research in the social psychology of entrepreneurship are relevant at the moment. Objective. The study is aimed at creating a map of scientific landscape in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as at highlighting relevant areas of entrepreneurship research in social psychology. Methods. Scientific mapping was carried out using the VOSviewer programme version 1.6.15. A scientometric analysis of keywords from 3,235 scientific articles published in the field of social psychology over the past 5 years was carried out (according to The Lens platform). The interpretation of the map in order to highlight the current directions was made using the metaphor of the city. Results. Current research topics include personal and environmental aspects. Among the relevant areas of entrepreneur's research are socio-psychological personality traits (optimism, enthusiasm, perseverance, traits of the dark triad, etc.), entrepreneurial intentions, motivation. When studying entrepreneurship, the question of the choice to become an entrepreneur as well as the process of entrepreneurial self-determination are important. At the same time, at this stage of research, the thematic bundle “identity-self-determination-intentions” is of interest only from the point of view of intentions. Conclusions. Entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in modern social psychology is of scientific interest in terms of point constructs: entrepreneurial intentions, socio-psychological personality traits, values. It is the study of entrepreneurial identity that seems promising, since it will allow to predict the professional path of young people and their predisposition to entrepreneurship.

Study on the Critical Attitude of College Students' Self-Awareness and Social Status to the People Who Are not in School

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the self-awareness of college students and the critical attitude of social status to the people who are not in school. Through questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with a large number of college students, combined with relevant literature review, this study deeply analyzes this complex and important social psychological phenomenon from the perspective of psychology and sociology. The results show that there is a certain correlation between the self-awareness level of college students and their critical attitude towards the people who are not in school. Students with high self-awareness tend to show a certain sense of superiority, which leads to a certain critical concept of the people who are not in school. This phenomenon may be related to the successful experience of college students in academic and social fields, which may lead to psychological prejudice against others. This study not only provides a new perspective for deeply understanding the social psychological phenomenon of college students, but also provides the basis for empirical research to promote social harmony and the healthy development of interpersonal relationships. Future research should further explore the formation mechanism of critical attitude in order to formulate more effective intervention measures.

Study of Characteristics, Functions and Criteria of Sanogenic and Pathogenic Thinking in Psychology

This article contains traditions of scientific-theoretical study of socio-psychological aspects of sanogenic and pathogenic thinking in the advanced experiences of foreign scientists. In these theories, the genesis of definitions for the category of sanogenic and pathogenic thinking is considered depending on how it is interpreted as a social psychological phenomenon. According to the analysis of scientific literature and developments, the concepts of thought, emotion, intelligence and sanogenic thinking have been developed as an independent direction of psychology in foreign theories. In particular, Sanogenic thinking is an effective way to improve the health of the human mind. That is, the method and criteria for overcoming the crisis situations that have arisen during the life activity of a person with the help of mental support and emotional-emotional self-influence are presented.

Intellectual Charisma

I present an account of an aspect of people’s intellectual characters that has yet to receive such direct treatment in the literature on the intellectual virtues. That aspect is our capacity to influence others in ways that make inquiry go more successfully, which I call “intellectual charisma”. In presenting this account, I first draw on work in empirical psychology to build a partial picture of intellectual charisma as a social-psychological phenomenon. I then draw on this partial picture in defining intellectual charisma, explaining some important features of it, and making the case that it meets some important conditions for qualifying as an intellectual virtue. I conclude by first discussing some of the ways that including intellectual charisma within our overall picture of the intellectual virtues changes that picture, and then outlining some of the benefits that result from those changes.

Resistance in Business-to-Business “Cold” Sales Calls

In “cold” sales calls, the salesperson's job is to turn call-takers, or “prospects,” into clients while, very often, the latter resist them. In contrast to laboratory-based research, “cold” calls provide a natural environment where the stakes are real and resistance is manifest. We collected and transcribed 159 “cold” calls the goal of which was for salespeople to secure an appointment to meet prospects. Using discursive psychology and conversation analysis, we identified two practices—“blocks” and “stalls”—through which prospects resisted salespeople's attempts to schedule a sales appointment while also moving to terminate the interaction or delay the scheduling of an eventual appointment. Our findings show that, when approached as an interactive and situated discursive accomplishment, rather than a cognitive process, the practices involved in resisting can be better identified, described, and shared in ways that transform our understanding of resistance as a social psychological phenomenon.

Interpreting human rights as the social psychological phenomenon of rights claiming.

In the last 5 years, the intersection between psychology and human rights has become more evident, with influential international, national and local human rights institutions, including the American Psychological Association, issuing reports and resolutions on the topic. Within jurisprudence, human rights are less of a legalistic regulatory enactment and more of what social psychologists refer to as injunctive norms. We argue that conceptualising human rights as the social-psychological process of both creating and aligning injunctive and descriptive norms clarifies human rights and makes them more accessible to groups and individuals in society engaged in rights claiming. Rights claiming is a term we use to describe the moral cognitive process of people engaged in individual and/or collective behaviour aimed at securing their social identity within the public sphere where that identity is marginalised or the subject of discrimination. We argue that placing rights claiming at the centre of human rights psychology advances human rights. Focusing psychological research on social identity, the alignment of injunctive norms, deontic moral cognitions, human dignity, social dominance orientations and collective and individual behaviours forms part of securing a clear specialty in psychological science dedicated to human rights and advancing the American Psychological Association (APA)'s human rights mandate.

How do people experience innocent suffering?

The paper examines the psychological facet of innocent suffering. One can find a description of this phenomenon in social psychology as a factor that affects the belief in a just world, but there is a lack of qualitative scientific data about related psychological features, processes, copings, and consequences on the personality level. To study innocent suffering, semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted (31 respondents, ~223 minutes per respondent, 6,924 min in total) aimed to gather data about the experiences of innocent sufferings happened to participants. For the analysis of texts, a narrative and content analysis are used within the framework of grounded theory. The reliability of the results is based on expert assessment. As a result, six essential properties of innocent sufferings were identified: complexity, stability, distress, injustice, casual incoherence, and breaks of integrity of a life story. The most "popular" life domains, in which participants reported about innocent sufferings, are violence, abuse (physical and psychological), and quitting romantic relationships. It is proposed a scientific definition of innocent suffering and the prototype of the phenomenon.

Simulating rumor spreading and rebuttal strategy with rebuttal forgetting: An agent-based modeling approach

Rumor is a typical social psychological phenomenon, and forgetting is a universal psychological trait. Exploring the role of forgetting will improve the understanding of rumor spreading and its control. Based on the classical SIR epidemic framework, the conceptual model of rumor spreading and rebuttal strategy is proposed with consideration of forgetting, and the mathematical model at the individual level is constructed from a competitive innovation diffusion perspective. A Java-based Agent-based Modeling approach is adopted to conduct comprehensive simulation experiments. Results indicate that both rebuttal strategy and rebuttal forgetting would affect the process and the result of rumor spreading and control, and complex interactions exist among different factors. Although the influence of control strategy is dominant in most cases, more active control might be not optimal in extreme cases because of the moderation of forgetting, the nonlinearity of influence increases the control challenge.

Typologies of people's preexisting political ideology and values would determine their post-pandemic mental health and political behaviors: Evidence from China.

The pandemic of COVID-19 has caused economic and social crisis across the world. Existing studies have shown that the uncertain social context has profoundly affected people's life, triggering a variety of social psychological phenomena including the deterioration of mental health and the change of political behavioral patterns. However, little has been known about the differences in people's pre-pandemic political ideology and their influences on people's mental health and political behaviors after the pandemic. Using the secondary data from the 2018 and 2020 China Family Panel Studies, we measured nationalism tendencies, state performance ratings, social justice evaluation and life satisfaction of 29,629 adults before the pandemic. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we examined the typologies of respondents' political ideology and values. Five types emerged to identify respondents with different political ideology and values: (Class-1) High nationalism tendency, country evaluation, social justice perception, and life satisfaction; (Class-2) Low life satisfaction; (Class-3) Moderate ratings; (Class-4) Low nationalism tendency; and (Class-5) Low country evaluation, low social justice perception. We further explored the predicting roles of those typologies on people's depressive symptoms and political engagement behaviors after the pandemic. We found that, after the pandemic, although the depressive symptoms of people with low life satisfaction (Class-2) and low country and society ratings (Class-5) eased, they still tended to have more severe depressive symptoms than the Moderate ratings group (Class-3). People with low life satisfaction (Class-2) were also less likely to follow political information than the moderate group (Class-3). Our research revealed how the psychology and behaviors of Chinese people with different political views changed when faced with uncertainty in social context. Further research needs to be carried out to depict how these changes occur.

Прикладні проблеми збереження психологічного здоровʼя особистості

The article describes the applied problems of preserving the psychological health of an individual. The structure of emotional well-being is revealed as one of the important criteria of psychological health. The parameters that determine the emotional well-being of a healthy individual and are risk factors for his psychological health are highlighted: internality in the field of family relations, which means responsibility for events in family life; contact, which means the ability to establish deep relationships with others; subjective well-being, which means a reluctance to complain of discomfort; creativity, which means high creative orientation in professional activity; self-acceptance, which means the ability to accept oneself with flaws and weaknesses; behavioral flexibility as the ability to quickly respond to a changing situation; the morality index as the state of the moral sphere; personality maturity as responsibility and self-respect. It is emphasized that these factors can contribute to a decrease in the level of psychological health, which is manifested in the form of the inability to establish deep relationships with others, the tendency to complain of discomfort, a decrease in the ability to quickly respond to a changing situation, indifference to significant events in professional life and many other social psychological phenomena. Key words: personality, psychological health, emotional well-being, rehabilitation, extreme stress factors.

Agency and communion as fundamental dimensions of social judgment – and Bogdan Wojciszke’s brilliant idea on perspective

The fundamental dimensions of social judgment and social evaluation, called agency and communion, are overarching constructs in many fields of psychology. Agency is related to goal-striving and “getting ahead”, communion is related to forming bonds and “getting along”. These dimensions are used both to interpret behaviors, and to evaluate targets. Bogdan Wojciszke was the first to relate these dimensions to perspective, and to show that the perspective of an actor is more closely related to agency, whereas the perspective of an observer is more closely related to communion. The “Dual Perspective Model” combines the fundamental dimensions of social judgment and evaluation with perspective and leads to a number of far-reaching hypotheses on social interactions. The model has inspired research in diverse areas of psychology, such as evaluation of brands, stereotypes of groups, evaluation of political leaders, gender research, social desirability research, self-evaluation, bodily posture in social interaction, to name just a few. It has been further developed to a broad-ranging theory applicable to many phenomena in (social) psychology. Bogdan Wojciszke lives his ideals and it is a pleasure and an honor to cooperate with him.

The Phenomenon of Anomie in the Context of Marginality

It’s difficult to imagine any social community without marginal phenomena – marginal groups, people, social roles, displays of marginal consciousness and behavior. In every society individuals, social and ethnic groups and social strata act as bearers of marginal qualities. In other words, marginality is a social-cultural and social-psychological phenomenon, which has always been an indivisible part of different historical societies of various social types. In this sense, the study of the phenomenon of anomie, considered in the context of marginality, is especially important. The importance of problems of anomic identities increases especially in transforming societies, where in the result of political, economic, social and cultural reconstructions oncestable social structures are changed. Their elements – the social institutes, social groups and individuals appear in intermediate and transitional situations. In a sense, anomie becomes one of the main characteristics of marginality in transforming societies.

Nicknames in teaching Russian as a foreign language

The question of expanding the range of linguistic units involved as a linguo-didactic material is raised in the article. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the need to use such a category of proper names as nicknames in the framework of the Russian as a foreign language course. Illustrative material mainly includes well-known, culturally significant nicknames of historical and political figures, as well as modern informal names. The relevance of the research is ensured by the fact that the selection of anthroponyms as educational materials in teaching Russian as a foreign language is not typical for the current linguistic, linguo-cultural and socio-cultural situation. In particular, there is a contradiction between the negative attitude to nicknames established in the society and their real status in the Russian anthroponymic system. Due to the underestimation of the role of nicknames in the society, this type of anthroponyms is not represented in the didactic materials on Russian as a foreign language. However, it is advisable to introduce nicknames in teaching, since they have been a fact of the Russian linguistic and cultural space throughout its existence and meet all the basic approaches of modern Russian pedagogy: competence-based, meta-subject and axiological. The descriptive-analytical method was the leading research method in the article. Nicknames are considered as a category of anthroponyms. The author shows that nicknames are a fact of linguistic and social communication, a linguistic, socio-cultural and individual psychological phenomenon. Nicknames are multifunctional: they perform nominative, identifying, differentiating, individualizing, marking, emotive, axiological, and other functions. The teacher of Russian as a foreign language taking into account the relevance, cognitive significance and communicative value of nicknames; it is necessary to distinguish them from similar categories - pseudonyms and Internet nicknames. The adequacy of the selection will be facilitated by relying on the authors classification of nicknames. Nicknames provide rich material for mastering various linguistic topics properly and establishing meta-subject connections. This approach will make it possible to overcome the separation from reality to some extent, and to improve the quality of teaching Russian to foreigners, develop their competencies, improve their linguistic personality, and introduce them to Russian culture.

E.V. Shorokhova as an Economic Psychologist (To the 100th Anniversary)

The article presents the results of the analysis of E.V. Shorokhova's works in the field of economic psychology. Shorokhova's ideas about psychological aspects of property relations, the results of her studies of social-psychological dynamics in the conditions of changing forms of ownership during the NEP period are considered. Her views on the relationship of social-economic and social-psychological phenomena are analyzed. The article presents the results of theoretical and empirical research into the attitude to property under the conditions of social-economic changes in the agriculture of Russia in the 20-30-s of the 20th century and in the Vietnamese village in the 1990-s under the conditions of transition to multiform economy. The paper presents the results of historical-psychological reconstruction performed by Shorokhova on the large empirical material of documentary sources, characterizing the psychological features of Russian entrepreneurship, which include the features of entrepreneurial motivation, entrepreneurial personality, social-psychological phenomena in business communities. Shorokhova's scientific-organizational and editorial activity that had promoted the formation and intensive development of Russian economic psychology is analyzed.

The event-focused interview: what is it, why is it useful, and how is it used?

ABSTRACT There has been longstanding interest in understanding how people think, feel, and behave in sport and exercise activities. Although naturalistic recordings, momentary assessments, and post-event questionnaires have been employed to capture information on people’s experiences, these methods can have some shortcomings for researchers interested in advancing knowledge of certain social-psychological phenomena, especially in natural settings. The purpose of this paper is to describe the event-focused interview method and outline its utility for researchers who are interested in capturing rich, in-depth information on episodic phenomena, such as particular moments, events, psychological states, and experiences. First, we describe the event-focused interview method and the background to its development. Second, we highlight the limitations of naturalistic recordings, existing momentary assessment methods, and post-event questionnaires for certain types of research, before explaining why event-focused interviews can add to the suite of methods researchers use to obtain information on episodic phenomena in specific sport and exercise activities. Third, we provide guidance on how the event-focused interview method can be implemented, using illustrative examples from several recent event-focused interview studies. Fourth, to guide researchers in future, we identify some methodological dilemmas and considerations for applying this method. We conclude by outlining several methodological avenues that could be employed in future event-focused interview studies. Overall, we propose that the event-focused interview method may be a promising addition to the collection of methods available to researchers interested in generating new theoretical and practical knowledge about episodic phenomena in sport and exercise.

Forced Leadership as a Social Psychological Phenomenon in Professionally Successful Women Scientists

In today's world, women are increasingly taking the place of leaders, so they have to be active, focused, resistant to stress, have a high level of self-regulation, and be able to work in a team. So, we can see how women are sometimes forced to become leaders in difficult life circumstances. Due to persistence, self-education, determination, they work in leadership positions and demonstrate masculine personality traits. The study aimed to study the psychological characteristics of women scientists who hold high positions in educational establishments - vice-rector, dean, and department head. We hypothesized that the professional success of women scientists depends on the level of their potential leadership skills. The study involved 75 women from higher education institutions who successfully work as vice-rectors, deans, heads of departments. All of them have the degree of doctors of philosophy from various scientific fields and combined scientific activity with managerial activity. Analysis of the results of empirical research showed that a high level of leadership skills determines the professional success of 37% of women studied, but 63% of women scientists have other determinants of professional success. Differences in indicators were identified, and three groups of women were characterized depending on the level of development of their leadership abilities. In groups of women with a medium and low level of leadership skills, the main determinants of professional success are the focus on real-life circumstances, high level of development of stable emotional and volitional sphere, voluntary self-regulation, self-control in difficult situations, emotional stability. Women who have achieved professional success, not on the basis of potential leadership abilities, form a socially determined personal quality - forced leadership, which we tend to consider as a social psychological phenomenon, which is based on the ability to adapt to living conditions in situations requiring a person to choose against own individual psychological features, namely to become a leader, to cultivate the traits inherent in a true leader.

The Sense of Supernatural Agency

Abstract The sense of supernatural agency constitutes a defining characteristic of the religious sphere of life. But what accounts for the continued cross-cultural recurrence of this psychological phenomenon over the course of human history? This paper reviews evidence indicating that the source of panhuman or universal cognitive patterns of thought and behaviour such as this lies in the common characteristics of the evolved human mind. Further, that the sense of the supernatural is constituted by a unique combination of commonly recurring cognitive processes that together give rise to a panhuman conviction in the reality of supernatural agencies able and (when minded) willing to assist each individual in situations deemed beyond the capacities of that individual. These cognitive processes are driven most acutely by existential anxiety in response to extrinsic physical, economic and social pressures indicating that religiosity is best understood as a social-psychological phenomenon.

Social representations theory: An approach to studying translators’ socio-cognitive processes

Social Representations Theory provides a comprehensive theoretical model for researching translators’ socio-cognitive processes. Developed in social psychology in the 1960s, the theory offers an integrative view of both individual and social processes in the construction and re-construction of knowledge. It draws attention to embodied meaning-making and the effect of material surroundings in perpetuating and disseminating social representations. Importantly, Social Representations Theory does not see representations as individual, solely conscious, or static mental constructions but as dynamic social–psychological phenomena that are enacted in discourse and social interaction. This article discusses Social Representations Theory as an approach to the empirical study of translators’ cognitive processes. Introducing the main concepts of the theory and using translators’ conceptualizations of source-text authors and target-text readers as an example, the article suggests avenues for using the theory in Cognitive Translation Studies.