Contributions Of Social Psychology Research Articles

The sustainable challenge: Where does social psychology stand in achieving the sustainable development goals?

The United Nations Agenda 2030, inclusive of its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), serves as the global blueprint for sustainability for both present and future generations. Scientific research is entrusted with the responsibility of contributing by informing the current situation and future challenges in achieving the SDGs. This paper investigates the role of social psychology in contributing to the SDGs and the environmental, economic and social pillars of the UN Agenda. We analysed 4808 papers using Natural Language Processing to identify (i) the relevance of social psychology within the SDG-related literature and (ii) the current and potential contribution of social psychology to the SDGs. Results highlight that social psychology contributes to the SDGs by addressing typical social issues, primarily those related to health and gender, while noting its under-representation in some environmental and economic areas, despite social psychology well-established research on these topics. This paper introduces a novel approach for assessing the SDGs, fostering a critical reflection on the SDG framework and social psychology to guide less explored research paths. This approach could potentially enhance the evaluation and advancement of the 2030 Agenda, facilitating a deeper dialogue between the scientific community and policymakers, driving social change.

A Perspective on the Intersection of Social Psychology and Linguistics

Social psychology and linguistics are two scientific disciplines that deal with human as their principle subject matter. Focusing on where these disciplines meet and how they feed each other, this paper aims to investigate the interdisciplinary contribution of social psychology and linguistics to each other. To achieve this, the contrastive analysis (CA) is applied which is composed of three steps as (1) description; (2) juxtaposition; (3) comparison (Krzeszowski, 1990). This comparative revision reveals that social psychology applies and investigates many fundamental areas in linguistics and particularly benefits from the language as data collection tool and method in the investigation to understand human behavior. Specifically, social psychology discusses the language with its communication aspect to examine and to analyze the human behavior. On the other hand, linguistics benefits from social psychology as it provides insights into the social and behavioral factors. There are some research areas and theories that these disciplines contribute to each other such as communication accommodation theory, speech act theory, expectancy theory, prejudice, politeness, patronizing speech, gender. Such a review is expected to benefit researchers by encouraging a wider view of intersection of these two disciplines and interdisciplinary critical thinking.

Does personal relative deprivation mediate the relationship between passive social media use and beliefs in conspiracy theories? Cross‐sectional correlational and experimental evidence

AbstractSocial media use occupies a prominent space in social sciences scholarship and beyond. However, the distinction between active and passive use of social media, although important in explaining a variety of users’ behaviours, has been overlooked in terms of its potential to predict key socially relevant outcomes like beliefs in conspiracy theories. In three studies (N = 1388, in total), we provide evidence on (a) the role of passive social media use in believing in conspiracy theories via personal relative deprivation; (b) the interaction effect between social media use and personal relative deprivation on beliefs in conspiracy theories. The results showed that passive social media use is linked to, and increases, beliefs in conspiracy theories and this relationship is partially mediated via increased personal relative deprivation (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 3, personal relative deprivation was also manipulated experimentally in the context of a ʻmoderation‐of‐process' design, yielding a significant interaction with social media use. The results are discussed in the light of their social and media psychological contribution and implications in the digital era, when misinformation often becomes prevalent.

Individual and institutional discrimination: Theoretical and methodological contributions of social psychology

In France, as in many other countries, research has established the existence of origin-based discrimination. Where does this racial or ethnic discrimination come from, and why does it seem to last despite efforts to eradicate it? This article outlines the main findings on the issue in social psychology, whose contribution is still largely ignored in France. First, I describe the intergroup approach by discussing three major theories of intergroup relations developed in social psychology: realistic conflict theory, social identity theory, and social dominance theory. These theories have spurred much research, mostly about stereotyping and prejudice, but more rarely about discriminatory behavior. The reason for this neglect is that it is difficult to measure discriminatory behavior in a laboratory. In the second section, I present an experimental procedure inspired by social dominance theory, which aimed precisely at measuring discrimination. The first results obtained with this method are promising. The objective, in this case, was to measure individual discriminatory behaviors. However, discrimination and racism are not limited to individual attitudes or behaviors. In the third and final section on institutional discrimination, I show how social dominance theory and research developed in the United States to measure unintended racist bias provide an original and novel approach for understanding the contemporary manifestations of institutional discrimination. The findings of a series of studies conducted in France using different methods appear to be theoretically consistent with those obtained in the United States.

Invisible Disabilities and Inequality

In this address, I consider the realized and potential contributions of sociological social psychology to research on inequality based on invisible disabilities and the challenges that invisible disabilities pose to current social psychological theories. Drawing from the social structure and personality framework, I advance the general notion of invisible disability as a dimension of inequality, consider how four basic social psychological processes (social categorization, identity, status, and stigmatization) have and can help us understand how invisible disabilities shape outcomes over the life course, and suggest new lines of research social psychologists could pursue. I close with brief comments about the benefits of such an agenda for sociological social psychology as well as how these lines of research can inform theories of stratification.

Enfoques Teóricos Metodológicos de J.B. Thompson em Pesquisas da Psicologia Social

This work is an integral part of the research line “Contributions of Social Psychology to the understanding of social problems”, of the Postgraduate Program in Social Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, together with the Center for Gender, Race and Age Studies. Many of our studies are supported by John B. Thompson’s theory of ideology (2011), focused on the search for understanding the axes of inequalities and are interested in apprehending the ways in which symbolic forms intersect with power relations. In this writing, we present John B. Thompson’s contributions on ideology and power relations, considering that they prepare the way, both theoretically and historically, for the dialogue with the fields ofstudies adopted in our collective research.

The role of social psychological factors in vulnerability to financial hardship

AbstractPrevious research attributes vulnerability to financial hardship either to structural inequities or to poor financial behavior. Less attention has been paid to the role of social psychological factors or to the relative contribution of demographics, behavior, and social psychology in understanding an individual's vulnerability to financial hardship. While studies have examined psychosocial factors in financial outcomes, we argue that these factors represent a missing perspective in the construction of interventions to lessen vulnerability. We further argue that a holistic perspective considering all three factors is needed to address vulnerability to financial hardship. Capitalizing on the richness of the CFPB National Financial Well‐Being Survey data (n = 6394), we examine the unique contribution of psychosocial factors in explaining an individual's financial vulnerability over and above demographics and behaviors. Using four different measures of financial hardship, we find that all three types of factors play important roles in understanding vulnerability to financial hardship. Our findings suggest that more holistic measures and interventions are needed to enhance consumer financial well‐being.

Psycho-discursive practices of bystanding and democratic citizenship in ‘bullying’ and ‘violence’ discourse: combining the micro- and the macro-level of analysis in lay talk

The goal of the present article was twofold: to analyze the contributions of qualitative methodologies and discursive psychology in the field of bullying studies, as well as to develop an argument to analyze rhetorical practices on bullying/cyberbullying, following the approach of Critical Discursive Social Psychology. In the Greek context there is a body of institutional interventions, as well as non-official institutional interventions endorsed by the civil society. The latter are guided by the framework of inclusion, democratic citizenship and Community Psychology, shedding particular emphasis on integrating social groups. By analyzing these interventions, dilemmas related to humanism or recognizing the engaged members as political subjects could be evident. In the present article, it is analyzed how educators talk about bullying and school violence, by invoking repertoires that may disempower the ‘victim’/child, through humanistic discourse, but on the other hand, may criticize the use of disempowering practices of bystanding. In the main analysis of the present article, it seems that the constructions reflecting the non-potentiality of critical agency of the victim intersect with repertoires reflecting democracy and autonomy, reflecting dilemmas of liberalism. As it is discussed, the contribution of Critical Discursive Social Psychology concerns the potential to trace flexible ways in which social agents create or disempower the spaces of critical agency in the school community, without ignoring the ideological limitations in lay talk.

The Mindset of Innovation: Contributions of Cognitive and Social Psychology

In order to consider anything as new, individuals have to accept it aspossible. To consider it as innovative, a person has to see it as necessary.These two concepts, derived from Piaget's theory (1987), are key elementsfor the analysis of innovation mindset. Theoretical framework explainshow “opening up for new possibilities” implies overcoming pseudoimpossibilities, and how possibilities are built up alongside individualdevelopment. In short, an innovation has to be considered possible andnecessary, feasible and viable. Thus, the cognitive processes involvedin defining what is possible, and accepting what doesn't have to be theold way, are crucial mental structures subjacent to innovations’ decisionmaking. This study examines mindset through mental models, cognitiveprocesses and executive functions, as well as Piaget and Gestalt theory'scontributions. The empirical investigation involved a search for articlespublished on the theme between 2019 and 2021, concluding that they applythe innovation mindset definition, taking for granted the psychologicalmechanisms inlayed in it. The article also points up to the gap betweenmanagement and psychology, indicating the urgent need of interdisciplinarystudies, due to the mutual benefits for both sciences and also, bettercomprehension of the constructs.

Expectations in Past and Modern Economic Theory. Foreword

This topic is not really new. Every economist or person interested by economic activity knows the crucial direct or indirect importance of the forecasts or views that decision makers hold about future prices, sales, incomes, profitability or other key microeconomic or macroeconomic magnitudes. As many commentators (see, for instance, Leijonhufvud [1986: 4]) mentioned, the central difference between economics and natural sciences precisely lies in the forward-looking predictions and decisions made by economic agents since certainty and determinism do not often prevail in the working of the economic system. Therefore, the analysis of the contents and the impact of expectations on the micro- and the macro-economic variables is complex and often requires sophisticated reflections and tools as well as the use of the contributions of other natural (mathematics, physics) or social (psychology, sociology, philosophy) sciences. This is the reason why expectations provide a basic building block of economic theory. Notably they lie at the core of economic dynamics as they usually determine, not only the behavior of the agents, but also the main properties of the economy related to the evolution of these behavior in time. A central aspect of economic theories is indeed that expectations influence the time path of the economy, and conversely it must be the case that time path influences expectations.

PROBLEM SEMANTIS DAN SOLUSI PEMAHAMAN MULTIKULTURALISME, INTERKULTURALISME, DAN CROSS-CULTURAL

A semantic problem arises around the terms Multiculturalism, Interculturalism, and Cross-Cultural. The first two terms are involved in intensive discussion, while the last term tends to be in the realm of praxis. Semantic problems begin with Multiculturalism as a term that has many meanings. This problem received a response in the form of multiculturalism as an approach to the clarity of its features. In the development of perspectives, a multiculturalism problem occurs when dealing with the term Interculturalism as a comparative approach. There are two perspective arguments; arguments that support Multiculturalism and responsive arguments. Discussion of the problem increases when “interculturalism” is used to show a specific model of “managing cultural diversity” in Quebec which is articulated in explicit opposition to Canadian multiculturalism, but differs from important respect from the European interculturalism model. The two approaches contain indications of strategic advantages in the shift to the term “interculturalism” because the term “multiculturalism” is seen as being politically tarnished over the past decade. At the height of the discussion there was criticism of the flow of Multiculturalism studies which almost completely ignored the contributions of primary disciplines, especially anthropology and social psychology, especially contact theory. Finally, three points of understanding solutions can be proposed; (1) Multiculturalism is a holistic concept and an ideological basis of recognition of cultural differences, (2) Interculturalism is a model of managing cultural differences according to different regional cultural bases, (3) Cross-cultural interaction patterns, action programs, skills, and conflict management instruments.

The study of obesity and fatness from sociology and social psychology

El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar el estado del arte de los aportes de la psicologia social y la sociologia para comprender la obesidad y la gordura. Tradicionalmente, el cuerpo ha sido material de las ciencias naturales, donde las ciencias sociales han ocupado un rol secundario. Sin embargo, la complejidad que involucra el aumento de la obesidad en los ultimos anos ha creado una necesidad por una comprension psicosocial. Hemos agrupado estas contribuciones en cuatro grupos: (1) las teorias de discriminacion y estigmatizacion; (2) la sociologia de las desigualdades en salud; (3) la construccion social de la obesidad y los Fat Studies; y (4) la biopolitica de la obesidad. Concluimos que estos estudios han dado protagonismo a la norma medica, obviando otros modos desde los cuales pensar el cuerpo gordo. Sugerimos indagar en mayor profundidad en aquellos conceptos supuestos como contrarios, como la delgadez.

Intercultural dialogue and intergroup relations in Europe: contributions of Cultural Studies and Social Psychology

This paper discusses the contributions of Cultural Studies and Social Psychology to the debates on the challenges inherent to the promotion of intercultural dialogue in Europe, in the current context of intergroup relations among several Others, facilitated by factors such as the intensification of migratory flows and the progress of information and communication technologies. To this end, we associate concepts and categories from different theoretical perspectives in these fields, in order to articulate discussions about identity processes, alterity, social representations, collective memory, symbolic asymmetries, coloniality of power, being and knowledge, in order to (re)initiate debates on complex phenomena that are intertwined in the development of intercultural dialogue. Therefore, different understandings about the concepts of multiculturalism and interculturality are presented, advocating the importance of a critical perspective in the understanding of interculturality, conceiving it as a project that starts from the experiences of the “subalterns”, in order to seek the transformation of social, institutional and epistemic structures. This perspective allows people to (re)create different ways of being and relating to others, implying not only the mere recognition and tolerance of other cultures, but also their appreciation, in mutual dialogue and transformation.

Critical social psychology and interdisciplinary studies of personal life: Greater than the sum of its parts

AbstractSingleness, parenting, sexual practices, sibling rivalries, through to meal times, investigating how intimacies and personal lives are organised have always been a mainstay in critical social psychology. However, in the interdisciplinary field of studies of personal life, sociologists often take the lead. In this article, I discuss three illustrative Examples—family practices, queered studies of personal life, and emerging emotional regimes in “late modernity,” and ask how critical social psychology, with its history of investigating the social processes of subjectivity‐making, could be deployed to resolve debates that have emerged within a sociology of personal life. I suggest that clarifying critical social psychology's position in relation to broader studies of personal and intimate life would showcase the distinctiveness of critical social psychological contributions in understanding relational selves, whilst simultaneously fostering interdisciplinary working.

Socio-Psychological Perspectives on the Potential for Serious Games to Promote Transcendental Values in IWRM Decision-Making

Modern day challenges of water resource management involve difficult decision-making in the face of increasing complexity and uncertainty. However, even if all decision-makers possessed perfect knowledge, water management decisions ultimately involve competing values, which will only get more prominent with increasing scarcity and competition over resources. Therefore, an important normative goal for water management is long-term cooperation between stakeholders. According to the principles of integrated water resource management (IWRM), this necessitates that managerial decisions support social equity and intergenerational equity (social equity that spans generations). The purpose of this discussion is to formulate preliminary recommendations for the design of serious games (SGs), a potential learning tool that may give rise to shared values and engage stakeholders with conflicting interests to cooperate towards a common goal. Specifically, this discussion explores whether SGs could promote values that transcend self-interest (transcendental values), based on the contributions of social psychology. The discussion is organized in the following way. First, an introduction is provided as to why understanding values from psychological perspectives is both important for water management and a potential avenue for learning in SGs. Second, a review of the description of values and mechanisms of value change from the field of social psychology is presented. This review highlights key psychological constraints to learning or applying values. Based on this review, recommendations are made for SGs designers to consider when developing games for water management, in order to promote transcendental values. Overall, the main conclusions from exploring the potential of value change for IWRM through SGs design are as follows: 1-SGs design needs to consider how all values change systematically; 2-SGs design should incorporate the many value conflicts that are faced in real life water management, 3-SGs could potentially promote learning by having players reflect on the reasoning behind value priorities across water management situations, and 4-value change ought to be tested in an iterative SGs design process using the Schwartz’s Value Survey (SVS) (or something akin to it).

A Study on the Contribution of Social Cognitive Psychology in Advertising and Public Relations

본 연구는 광고 홍보 영역에서 설득 커뮤니케이션의 효과를 보다 명확히 이해하기 위해 사회 인지적 패러다임을 통해 소비 심리를 설명하고자 한다. 심리학의 사회 인지 접근이 무엇인지 자세히 설명하고, 광고 및 홍보 연구에서 주요하게 다뤄지는 주제들을 중심으로 사회 인지의 여러 심리학적 이론들이 어떻게 적용되어 왔으며, 향후 적용될 수 있는지 소개 한다. 이를 통하여 궁극적으로 사회 인지 심리학의 이론들이 소비자 행동을 이해하고 효과적인 설득 커뮤니케이션을 위해 어떻게 활용될 수 있는지에 대한 이론적 준거를 제시하는 것이 주요한 목표라 할 수 있다. 보다 구체적으로 사회 인지 심리의 주요 특성 및 역사를 개관한 후, 기업의 사회 공헌 활동(CSR)에 대한 소비자 반응, 위기에 대한 반응과 위기 대처 커뮤니케이션, 건강과 헬스 커뮤니케이션, 공익 행동을 이끌어 내기 위한 설득과 같이 광고 홍보 연구에서 주요하게 다뤘던 연구 이슈들을 정리하고, 사회 인지 심리적인 관점의 여러 이론들을 통해 해당 주제를 보다 심층적으로 분석, 설명하고자 하였다. 이를 통하여 설득 효과에 대해 연구하는 연구자들에게 심리학적 이론들을 통해 현상을 보다 세밀히 설명하고, 관련 연구 주제에 적용할 수 있는 기회를 제공하고자 한다.

Psicologia Social, História Cultural e Filosofia da Diferença: a análise de documentos

This article is a theoretical essay aims to describe and some research procedures, on the relationship between Social Psychology, Cultural History and the Philosophy of Difference, based on the analysis of documents as methodology and form of resistance. Analyzes some processes of subjectivity; modes of power relations and truth production practices in information retrieval, which enables break crystallization and open tickets to new stories. Therefore, holders are brought from Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari, Michel de Certeau, Roger Chartier, Peter Burke and Paul Veyne. The aesthetics of stocks may be made by the ethical ratings in the polls and the political positions established at the work of historical and documentary analysis. Contributions of Social Psychology can be brokered the difference of philosophy, founded on tools of Cultural History and thus allow studies that trigger resistance and creating possible.

Racism as metaframe

Este artigo pretende discutir questões relativas ao racismo tendo como lastro principalmente contribuições da psicologia social. Para tanto, faz menção a dois conceitos. São eles: enquadre e metaenquadre. O primeiro foi teorizado pelo psicólogo social José Bleger e o segundo é uma ampliação desse e foi conceituado por René Kaës, teórico da psicanálise dos laços sociais. O artigo finaliza– se com situações que envolvem processos socioculturais, histórico–educacionais que trazem à baila possibilidades de enfrentar o racismo.

Developing a social psychology of climate change

Pennsylvania State University, USADespite overwhelming consensus among scientists about thereality of anthropogenic climate change (Bray, 2010; Oreskes,2004), there remains significant reluctance on the part ofcitizens and politicians to take the action needed to addressit. This resistance has been repeatedly identified in socialresearch (Leiserowitz & Maibach, 2010; Leviston, Leitch,Greenhill, Leonard, & Walker, 2011; Lorenzoni & Pidgeon,2006; McCright & Dunlap, 2011; Reser, Bradley, Glendon,Ellul, & Callaghan, 2012) and is mirrored by the lack of prog-ress made by salient political summits (Rogelj et al., 2010).Perhaps as a response to this, scholarly journals and articlesthat are focused on climate change are growing. Naturalscientists tell us that we know what needs to be done to avertdangerous climate change (IPCC, 2014), and economists tellus that delaying action in the short term will lead to muchgreater costs in the long term (Stern, 2007). Understandingpublic responses to climate change and developing solutionsto catalyse action is a critical challenge for the social sciences,and we propose that the development and elaboration of asocial psychology of climate change would be a cornerstoneof such an approach.We do not make the claim that social psychology has all theanswers but rather that the theories, models and researchmethods of social psychology can provide a powerful arsenalto complement the approaches of other disciplines. Re-searchers have already begun to apply social psychologicaltheory and methods to the issue of climate change, and wehighlight in the following sections examples of the insightsthat have flowed from this. We cannot assume, though, thatour theories and findings will automatically generalise to theclimate change context. As Moser (2010) has noted, thereare unique dimensions to climate change that make it distinctfrom other environmental, risk and health issues: The causesof climate change are invisible to humans, the impacts are dis-tal and it is complex and riddled with uncertainties. Modernurban humans are to some extent insulated from their physicalenvironment, and the lags between the climate and social sys-tems make it difficult for people to understand their role ininfluencing climate.These factors suggest the importance of developing a socialpsychology of climate change, empirically testing, integratingand refining existing theories and models to develop newframeworks. The notion that psychology can play a role inunderstanding and addressing climate change is not a newone. The American Psychological Association’s Task Forceon the interface between psychology and global climatechange comprehensively detailed the ways in which psycho-logical research can help to understand people’s perceptionsof the risks of climate change, the contribution of human be-haviour to climate change, the psychosocial impacts of climatechange, the ways in which people can adapt and cope withclimate change and the psychological barriers that could limitclimate change action (Swim et al., 2009, 2011).It is also not a new idea that social psychology can play animportant role in understanding and addressing environmentalproblems and solutions (Clayton & Brook, 2005). Social psy-chology, specifically, has a long tradition oftheory andresearchthat is relevant to addressing key climate change questions.Attitudes, social cognition, persuasion and attitude change, so-cial influence, and intragroup and intergroup behaviour, forinstance, are fundamental foci for social psychology and havedirect relevance for understanding the human and social dimen-sionsofclimatechange.Thetimeisripetounderstandtherangeof research that has been developing in social psychology onattitudes, beliefs and actions, to build upon these insights, andintegrate them with knowledge from other sciences to developmodels and theories indigenous to the climate change context.In the following section, we provide a brief overview of re-cent social psychological research that addresses three broadthemes relevant to understanding and responding to climatechange. These themes are as follows: (i) social psychologicalinfluences on climate change attitudes and beliefs; (ii) facilita-tors and barriers to climate change action; and (iii) changingclimate change attitudes and behaviour. Although there issome overlap in these themes, as an organising principle theyintuitively map on to key questions that arise in relation to cli-mate change. Our aim is to highlight recent examples of socialpsychological research that provide interesting and importantinsights in relation to these themes. Swim, Markowitz, andBloodhart (2012) have noted that much of the social psycho-logical research on climate change has emerged since 2006;we focus in on the most recent of this research that has beenpublished since 2010. We also outline how the studies in thespecial issue relate to these themes. We recognise that theseare not the only areas where social psychological researchand theory can make important contributions but they never-theless relate to key questions that need to be addressed. Weconclude the introduction by proposing considerations thatsocial psychologists could take into account in their futureresearch on climate change.European Journal of Social Psychology, Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 44, 413–420 (2014)

Approaching Nature, ‘Sustainability’ and Ecological Crises from a Critical Social Psychological Perspective

AbstractThis article considers the potential contribution of critical social psychology to the study of the relationship between humans and nature, particularly in terms of the role of human activities in ecological degradation. That human behaviour is having a profound impact on global climate and related phenomena has garnered broad scientific consensus and is communicated to the public in increasingly sophisticated ways. Psychology has been increasingly drawn upon by policy makers, pressure groups and related institutions in this context, in the hope of understanding, predicting and shaping behaviour and lifestyles towards more sustainable ends. In the past few decades, cognitive behaviourist models have dominated research and policy agendas concerned with identifying barriers to, and/or promoting ‘environmentally sustainable’ or ‘pro‐environmental’ behaviour. Yet despite the emergence of critical work, to date, there has been very little work in this field explicitly under the banner of critical social psychology. In this article, a brief outline of some of the tenets of critical social psychology is followed by a consideration of how these principles have been taken up in existing cross‐disciplinary critical approaches to the interrelated issues of environment, sustainability and human behaviour and the potential contribution of critical social psychology in these areas.