Social Categories Research Articles

Do young American children essentialize ethnicity? Examining inductive inferences about Hispanic/Latinx individuals in an ethnically diverse sample

AbstractHispanic and Latinx individuals represent one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. Yet research has not investigated whether young children hold essentialist beliefs about this prevalent social category. The present study addressed this issue by examining whether children used this ethnic category to make inductive inferences about novel individuals, one dimension of essentialism. A total of 108 children, 5 to 7 years of age (54 female; 56 Hispanic, 46 non‐Hispanic), completed a forced‐choice inference task. Children did not expect members of the same ethnic group to share properties, and this did not vary with their own ethnic group membership. This suggests that in the US, the belief that ethnicity is causally informative undergoes a protracted developmental trajectory, as has been observed for essentialist beliefs about race.

Intersecting inequalities: (re)producing the marginalized other

ABSTRACT In their introduction, the editors of this Special Issue argue that critical discursive approaches which embrace an intersectional lens can, in combination, reveal the ways in which identities and social categories are shaped by power structures in society. Indeed, the case studies presented in the Special Issue demonstrate the key role of discourse analysis in revealing the mechanisms which create and reproduce inequality. They speak to the need for a critical intersectional analysis which highlights how structural systems of marginalization – such as racism and sexism – combine and interact. The articles illustrate, too, the ‘intra-categorical’ approach to intersectionality – whereby a person’s experience of one aspect of identity is understood to be fundamentally informed by its intersection with other factors – by showing us that we cannot analyse issues such as racism, or identities such as masculinity, in isolation.

Hawai‘i face database: a racially and ethnically diverse set of facial stimuli

ABSTRACT Within psychology, face perception processes have been widely studied, examining traits and social categories that a face can communicate. However, much of this research has predominately focused on White faces. We review existing face databases that include racially diverse stimuli and note the lack of representation of Asian subgroups (e.g. East, South, and Southeast Asian), Pacific Islanders, as well as both Multiracial and multiethnic faces (especially with multiple minoritized backgrounds). We provide a new racially diverse set of free, standardized images including 140 unique faces representing eight different groups that vary in ethnicity and race (Asian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian, Hispanic/Latinx, White, Multiracial, and Multiracial Asian), along with norming data. These images and data are available for access use in research: https://osf.io/fkn7y

A Novel Approach to the Evaluation of Groups: Type of Group and Facet of Evaluation Matter

In three studies, we examined a novel approach to the social evaluation of groups whereby we combined a typology of groups with a recent model of the two fundamental dimensions and four facets of social evaluation. We investigated two main questions. First, whereas previous research has proven the usefulness of the two-dimension/four-facet model for individuals, we here tested it for groups. Second, whereas previous research has not systematically distinguished between different types of groups, we here applied a typology of groups that distinguishes between intimacy groups, task groups, and social categories. Furthermore, we hypothesized that these dimensions and facets would manifest differently across various group types. We conducted studies in three countries and analyzed judgments of the three main types of groups, resulting in a standard list of 20 traits. The data confirmed our two-dimension/four-facet model while showing variations of the structure across different types of groups. These results, as well as the facets ratings, highlight the relevance of distinguishing the types of groups in social evaluation.

The unpopular (manosphere) men of popular feminism

ABSTRACT This article draws from Stuart Hall and Sarah Banet-Weiser to examine how ‘orthodox’ and ‘dissident’ popular feminist literature cite the manosphere to reflect and (re)produce cultural norms about men, masculinity and, politically pressingly, the possible relations men can have with feminism. While orthodox feminism represents men as patriarchal threats to the realization of a feminist social order, dissident feminism represents men as natural threats to women and criticizes other feminists for refusing to accept the ‘reality’ that men and women are ‘naturally’ different. Despite this difference, each contributes to a feminist culture in which it is both ‘popular’ to extract insights about man as a general social category by making use of the manosphere, and in which the idea that men and feminism are necessarily antagonistic is central. Each participates, in other words, in a representational project wherein ‘man’ poses a fundamental threat to ‘woman’.

The Relationship between 8th grade students’ social media use and hope and life satisfaction

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the duration of social media use and the level of hope and life satisfaction of eighth-grade students. To this end, the study tested two hypotheses: (a) life satisfaction decreases with increasing duration of social media use, and (b) the level of hope decreases with increasing duration of social media use. The study sample consists of 261 secondary school students, including 163 girls (62.5 %) and 98 boys (37.5 %), attending the eighth grade in central districts of East Anatolia Region in Türkiye (mean age = 18, SD = .589). The data collection instruments used in the study were the personal information form and the hope and life satisfaction scales. The personal information form included demographic variables and asked students how many minutes per day they used social media in the past six months, aiming to determine the amount of time spent by students on social media platforms. Platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter were included in the social media category. The results indicate that as the duration of social media use increases, students` life satisfaction and hope levels decrease. Regression analysis results, conducted to understand the causality of the relationship between variables, suggest that the increase in the duration of social media use can be identified as one of the reasons for the decrease in life satisfaction and hope levels.

Pressures on Egyptian Red Sea fisheries from the artisan fishers’ perspective

The Egyptian Red Sea (ERS) supports artisanal, commercial and recreational fisheries, managed using a summertime closure, not applied to recreational fishing. Stock status is little known and management options are severely limited. To inform future management, we report the results of a questionnaire survey of artisan fishers from four Red Sea ports, collecting basic socioeconomic and fisheries data: fleet characteristics, self-reported landings, plus attitudes towards current management. Relationships among catches, technical and social categories and categorised attitudes were analysed using ordinal and multinomial logistic regressions. Median income of ERS artisanal fishers was 54% of the mean income from work in rural Egypt in 2020. Almost all respondents reported declining catches (61% blamed “overfishing”) and most were pessimistic (43% expected to remain fishing in 10 years time). The seasonal closure was poorly supported by artisanal fishers: 75% claimed it contributed to declining resources. The timing of the closure, intended to protect spawning fish, aligned with published spawning seasons for some, but not all important species. 66% of fishers identified this mismatch as the reason for policy failure. High dissatisfaction rates risk non-compliance: e.g. 23% of those interviewed switched to ‘recreational’ fishing during the closed season. Most artisan fishers of the ERS are in a precarious economic position, facing a declining resource, under management that few support, with concerns about the long term future for their livelihood. We suggest transition to a participatory approach with data-driven co-management as a long term solution.

Name and Power Relation to African-American Identity in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

This study aims to explore the relationship between names and African-American identity in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Through a qualitative descriptive analysis, the study investigates how power relations influence the construction of African-American identity in the novel. This study used semiotic approach by applying Charles Sander Peirce’s semiotic theory in examiningg the use of name, as well as sociological approach by applying Michel Foucault's concept of power relations in analyzing power relation to social identity. The findings reveal that names, while significant, are not the sole determinants of African-American identity. The study discovers that, after the Civil War, many African-American characters in the novel chose names of European origin in an attempt to avoid negative racial stigma and discrimination. Instead, the study finds that identity construction is primarily shaped by social categorization and comparison and that power relations play a crucial role in limiting positive representations of African-American identity. This study sheds new light on the relationship between names, power, and African-American identity in literature and provides insights into the ongoing discourse surrounding these important cultural and social issues.

Identidades fronterizas: intersticios y pluralidades en la construcción identitaria de las comunas étnicas de Manglaralto, Ecuador

This article demonstrates that the social categories of indigenous and white-mestizo are essentialist, reductionist, and therefore insufficient to encompass the diverse expressions of identity that exist. Understood through fluid and interchangeable lines, a new category is proposed: the border identity. Exemplified through the ethnic communes of the parish of Manglaralto, in the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador, this new category is intended to reconcile opposites and dismantle existing binaries to better capture the multifaceted social diversity of different sociocultural expressions. Previously agricultural, these communes have been transformed into internationally known tourist destinations, while being denied recognition of their ethnic identity due to the acculturations they have been subject to through various historical periods. Their members are labeled as acculturated indigenous or cholos, too mestizo to be considered indigenous and too indigenous to be considered mestizo. Qualitative methods such as participant observations, informal conversations, and semi-structured interviews were used for the ethnographic work spanning more than four years. The data collected and analyzed data showed how these communities, through constant negotiation with the white-mestizo world, achieve autonomy even within deeply dependent relationships. The study illustrates how they operate from an interstice, an intermediate space, which complicates their placement within existing social categories, underscoring the need to conceptualize new social categories beyond traditional binaries.

Effect of temporal water restrictions on drinking behavior and time budget in lactating dairy cows according to their position in the social hierarchy within the herd

On dairy farms, milking practices can temporarily restrict cows from accessing drinking water. This study examined how different types of temporary water restriction, similar to those commonly encountered on farms, may affect the individual behavior and physiological dehydration status of cows and whether these effects could differ according to the cow's position in the social hierarchy of the group. Four treatments were applied (CTRL = free access to the drinker and feed fence, HL = 2 h of headlock at the feed fence after morning and evening milking, D2H = free access to the feed fence and no access to water for 2 h after milking and D4H = free access to the feed fence and no access to water for 4 h after milking) to 4 groups of 10 lactating dairy cows using a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Each treatment period lasted 1 week. The cows were housed within a free-stall barn, and each group was in a pen equipped with 1 electronic drinker, 10 individual feeders, and 2 cameras. Cow social dominance hierarchies were characterized using normalized David's scores, which were calculated from video-detected replacements at each pen's drinker. During the last 4 d of each treatment period, drinking behavior was measured using interconnected drinkers, and eating, idle, and lying times were measured using accelerometers. On d 6 of each treatment period, during the morning and evening milkings, blood and then milk samples were collected to analyze bioindicators of dehydration and milk composition, respectively. The daily water intake of cows was unaffected by either social dominance or treatment type. Drinking rate and drinking bout frequency were higher during the HL, D2H, and D4H treatments than during the CTRL treatment, and drinking time was lower during the D4H treatment than during the CTRL treatment. Hourly lying time decreased at the end of the water restriction periods, i.e., at 1000 h in HL, at 1100 h in D2H, and at 1200 and 1300 h in D4H, which was not observed in CTRL, which could be interpreted as a sign of cow discomfort. For blood collected before the morning milking, hematocrit levels were lower in the D4H treatment than in the HL treatment. For blood collected before the evening milking, creatinine concentrations were lower in the D4H treatment than in the D2H treatment, with a greater difference seen for dominant cows than for subordinate cows. For both milkings, milk freezing point was higher in the HL, D2H, and D4H treatments than in the CTRL treatment, indicating dilution. In contrast to the other social categories, subordinate cows made more daily visits to the drinker during the D4H treatment than during the CTRL treatment but displayed no differences in drinking bout duration or the duration of drinking interruptions within bouts in the D2H treatment compared with the CTRL treatment. Overall, cows were able to maintain their water intake despite the temporary water restrictions when they had access to the number of drinkers recommended by animal welfare guidelines. That said, their idle and lying time appeared to be disturbed.

Emotional scenes as context in emotional expression recognition: The role of emotion or valence match.

Emotion recognition is influenced by contextual information such as social category cues or background scenes. However, past studies yielded mixed findings regarding whether broad valence or specific emotion matches drive context effects and how multiple sources of contextual information may influence emotion recognition. To address these questions, participants were asked to categorize expressions on male and female faces posing happiness and anger and happiness and fear on pleasant and fearful backgrounds (Experiment 1, conducted in 2019), fearful and disgusted expressions on fear and disgust eliciting backgrounds (Experiment 2, conducted in 2022), and fearful and sad expressions on fear and sadness eliciting backgrounds (Experiment 3, conducted in 2022). In Experiment 1 (where stimuli varied in valence), a broad valence match effect was observed. Faster recognition of happiness than fear and anger was more pronounced in pleasant compared to fearful scenes. In Experiments 2 and 3 (where stimuli were negative in valence), specific emotion match effects were observed. Faster recognition occurred when expression and background were emotionally congruent. In Experiments 1 and 3, poser sex independently moderated emotional expression recognition speed. These results suggest that the effect of emotional scenes on facial emotion recognition is mediated by a match in valence when broad valence is task-relevant. Specific emotion matches drive context effects when participants categorize expressions of a single valence. Looking at the influence of background contexts and poser sex together suggests that these two sources of contextual information have an independent rather than an interactive influence on emotional expression recognition speed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The face pareidolia illusion drives a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender.

The happy face advantage, the faster recognition of happy than of negative, angry or fearful, emotional expressions, has been reliably found and is modulated by social category cues, such as perceived gender, that is, is larger on female than on male faces. In this study, we tested whether this pattern of results is unique to human faces by investigating whether ambient examples of face pareidolia can also evoke a happy face advantage that is dependent on perceived gender. "Face pareidolia" describes the illusion of facial structure on inanimate objects, such as a tree trunk or a piece of burnt toast. While it has been shown that these illusory faces have expressions that can be recognized by participants, it is unknown whether they drive the same behavioral biases as real facial expressions. Thus, we measured the speed and accuracy with which the expressions of illusory faces that are perceived as female or male are recognized as happy or angry. We found a robust happy face advantage for illusory faces that were rated as more feminine in appearance. Concomitantly, we also found a robust angry face advantage for illusory faces that were rated as more masculine in appearance. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that illusory faces confer the same behavioral advantages as human faces. They also suggest that both perceived emotion and perceived gender are powerful socioevaluative dimensions that are extracted from visual stimuli that merely resemble human faces. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

In-between group membership within intergroup conflicts: The case of Druze in Israel.

In-between groups encompass individuals who simultaneously belong to social categories that are often seen as mutually exclusive in addition to maintaining their distinct group identity. The current paper sheds light on how members of in-between groups manage their relations within intergroup conflicts. Three studies were conducted among the Druze minority in Israel, a group that is ethnically Arab and shares the Arab identity with the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel and simultaneously identifies as Israeli. In Study 1 (N = 300), we found that identification as Druze was positively associated with the identification as Arab and Israeli. In Study 2, we examined Druze's endorsement of conflict narratives compared to Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian citizens (N = 271). While the latter participants endorsed their ingroup narrative more than the outgroup narrative, Druze participants endorsed both narratives equally. In Study 3, we tested Druze's solidarity with the Palestinian minority against the 2018 Nation-State Law. We found that overall, Druze participants (N = 568) endorsed more inclusive amendments that benefited the Druze and Palestinians than exclusive amendments that benefited the Druze only. In all studies, we tested the role of identification with the rival groups. We discuss these findings and suggest possible underlying mechanisms.

Exploring the Impact of Age Diversity on Organizational Identification: A Study of HR Practices and Perceived Age Discrimination Climate

This study explores how age diversity influences organizational identification, emphasizing the role of HR practices and the perceived age discrimination climate in Polish enterprises. Background: Anchored in social identity and social categorization theories, the study posits that observable age diversity may trigger workplace conflicts over resources and power, potentially heightening perceptions of discrimination and lowering employee satisfaction. Methods: Quantitative data were gathered from 30 Polish organizations with more than 50 employees. The sample, comprising HR managers and employees, was analyzed using linear regression and mediation analysis. Results: The findings reveal that HR practices promoting age diversity have a significant positive effect on organizational identification, with effective diversity management reducing perceived discrimination and enhancing employee satisfaction. Conclusions: This study concludes that inclusive HR practices are vital for integrating diverse age groups and ensuring equitable opportunities within the workplace. Future research should investigate the long-term organizational and employee outcomes of age-inclusive HR strategies.

Managing Anxiety and Uncertainty Through Social Networking Sites, How Effectively Can Youth Communicate Online?

This study examines the usage patterns of social networking sites among Malaysian youths and their Anxiety/Uncertainty Management levels. According to the anxiety and uncertainty management theory, members of a group should be cooperative, trustworthy, tolerant of diversity, and happy in order to affect their membership attitude and behavior. These days, youth choose to spend their time on social networking sites since they provide an effective virtual community platform for communication. Malaysian youths exhibit a nuanced understanding of personal and social identity, motivation to interact, reactions to others, social categorizations, situational processes, connection to others, ethical interactions, and overall communication effectiveness. This study surveyed 600 respondents, the findings highlight a deep-rooted integration of digital communication into the daily lives of Malaysian youths, with a significant majority having extensive experience of 11 to 20 years on SNS platforms. SNS platforms significantly reduced communication uncertainty, fostering positive relationships and smoother communication through active, passive, and interactive strategies. Locality plays a crucial role in anxiety and uncertainty management, with rural youths demonstrating better management compared to their urban counterparts, attributed to stronger social cohesion, tighter networks, and communal lifestyles. The study suggests that addressing anxiety and uncertainty can improve communication quality in virtual settings, particularly in rural areas. Social media can promote cultural integration and acceptance among diverse groups. A balanced approach to communication, emphasizing ethical interactions, can maximize its benefits. The findings can be used to design targeted interventions and promote positive digital engagement practices among Malaysian youths. Keywords: Virtual community, social networking sites, anxiety and uncertainty management, effective communication, digital communication.

Hermeneutical Injustice, Nonbinary Gender Identities and Category Invalidation

ABSTRACT This paper argues for category invalidation as a novel and distinct form of epistemic injustice that people who belong to a non-established social category face. This paper explores category invalidation in the context of nonbinary genders or people whose gender identity lies outside of the established gender binary, and who are placed in a marginalized position by virtue of their gender identity. Category invalidation is a form of hermeneutical injustice that consists of having one’s social experience obscured from collective understanding. Nonbinary people face category invalidation when their claims for their gender identity are met with a denial of the existence of the social category of nonbinary. While category invalidation stems from inaccurate and misinformed hermeneutical resources, it is also actively maintained by dominant knowers who refuse to adopt new and more accurate epistemic resources that marginalized knowers could provide. Category invalidation presents three harms to individuals, which are harms to self-conception, interpersonal harms and structural harms. This can result in diminished resources of self-understanding, not being treated as credible sources of information concerning their own gender and not being recognized as nonbinary on a legal or communal level.

The Elusiveness of Hermeneutic Injustice in Psychiatric Categorizations

ABSTRACT Miranda Fricker developed the concept of hermeneutic injustice as a subtype of epistemic injustice focusing on socially discriminatory obstacles to self-understanding. So, for example, before the consciousness- raising movement, women did not have the conceptual framework to understand their individual experiences as systematic sexual harassment. Fricker makes much of the ‘ah-ha’ moment (‘hermeneutical enlightenment’) that characterizes the experience of reaching greater self-understanding; feminist social epistemologists have described this in terms of achieving ‘standpoint’. While this is a fruitful and insightful example, it has been carefully critiqued by Ishani Maitra. This paper considers other examples from Fricker’s work and from the literature in philosophy of psychiatry to make a fuller assessment of Fricker’s ideas: Asperger Disorder (which was short-lived, in DSM-IV only), postpartum depression, schizophrenia, and the general concept of a psychiatric disorder. In each of these cases, the newly proposed concept has mixed (positive and negative) consequences for self-understanding. ‘Hostage taking’ – an ethically problematic strategy described by Hilde Lindemann Nelson – is common. In all cases, moments of ‘hermeneutical enlightenment’ may pass after reflection on such mixed consequences and after further research on the social categories in question.

Analysis of wheat traits that determine female farmers’ preferences for wheat varieties: Gender insight from southern tigray, ethiopia

BackgroundWheat productivity has been constrained by changing agroecological and socio-economic conditions, coupled with a lower uptake of new farm technologies. Gender difference is one major social category that needs systematic estimation to distinguish the adoption of technology and the preference between male and female farmers. Hence, this study analyzes wheat traits that determine female farmers’ preferences for wheat varieties in southern Tigray, Ethiopia.MethodsThe primary data was collected by using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews from 169 female farmers who were selected by using a two-stage sampling procedure. This study used descriptive statistics and a multinomial logit model to estimate the wheat traits that determine the wheat variety preference of female farmers.ResultThe result obtained from descriptive statistics shows the existence of heterogeneity in trait preference of female farmers among bread wheat, durum wheat, and local wheat variety types. The result indicates that risk-averting traits were the most frequently selected traits for both wheat types. Furthermore, the result of multinomial logit model indicates that wheat variety traits such as yield difference, marketability, resistance to drought, and resistance to frost and disease significantly influenced female farmers’ choice of wheat variety to grow.ConclusionThis study aims to fill the current knowledge gaps and tackle the significant issues faced by wheat-growing female farmers by examining the wheat traits that influence the wheat variety choice of these farmers. The finding scrutinized that even though the female farmers’ choices of wheat variety traits were heterogeneous, the majority of their decisions on the choice of wheat variety were primarily guided by risk-averting and yield traits. This evidence provides significant insight for developing gender-sensitive variety traits in crop breeding programs. Moreover, the findings significantly help policymakers, input suppliers, breeding programs, and extension workers to become more gender-responsive, to increase the productivity of wheat-growing female farmers.

What the Dutch benefits scandal and policy's focus on ‘fraud’ can teach us about the endurance of empire

In the benefits scandal, the Dutch state wrongfully accused at least 35,000 Dutch parents of young children of committing fraud with subsidies for childcare, based on ethnic profiling. Especially families with heritage in the former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean and Suriname were hit. Because they had to compensate for this supposed ‘fraud’, families were often thrown into severe debt and years of financial and legal struggle, a struggle that is ongoing for many. For the parents of more than 2,000 children, this even led to the loss of custody of their children. The Dutch state has formally acknowledged that ‘institutional racism’ was part of the problem, yet the scandal remains analysed by many, especially white scholars and journalists, as unintended, incidental and unrelated to Dutch colonial history. This commentary addresses the scandal as a case of an enduring colonial legacy of targeting racialised and gendered citizens in social policy. ‘Fraud’ is a social policy category through which this is made possible and violence continues to be inflicted upon racialised and gendered members of the Dutch population.

Racism on Trial in U.S. Symphony Orchestras

Abstract This essay examines how racial discrimination operates under the surface and through the guise of preserving musical excellence, as exemplified through the 1969 lawsuit filed by double bassist Arthur Davis and cellist Earl Madison charging the New York Philharmonic with racial discrimination in hiring practices. Analyzing the narratives that emerged during the 1969 hearings around artistic merit, racial discrimination, and screened auditions, I argue that the New York Philharmonic weaponized musical excellence as a pure entity abstracted from race and other social categories in order to claim that its sanctity required protection from societal charges of discrimination. Notably, these same legal arguments were used in a subsequent case in which timpanist Elayne Jones charged the San Francisco Symphony with discrimination on the basis of race and sex following her tenure denial in 1974. Placing these two cases in conversation not only illuminates the tenacity and power of discriminatory ideas and practices in U.S. orchestras, but it also demonstrates how the experience of fighting legal battles reverberated personally and professionally for Black classical musicians. These lawsuits exacted a significant toll on Davis, Madison, and Jones, each of whom was sacrificed at the altar of change that, decades later, has yet to come.