Evaluations of relational aggression as a function of relationship type and conflict setting

The present study examined influences on girls' evaluations of relational aggression situations. Second‐, third‐, fifth‐, and sixth‐grade girls evaluated four relational aggression conflict scenarios in terms of attributions of aggressor's intentions, evaluator's behavioral response, evaluator's affective state, and how likely the situation was to actually occur. Girls evaluated intentions of a best friend more positively, reported being more mad at an enemy, and perceived conflict to be more likely to occur with an enemy than a best friend. Aggressor intentions in direct conflict scenarios (aggressor said something mean to evaluator) were perceived as more negative than aggressor intentions in indirect conflict scenarios (aggressor said something mean about evaluator to another peer). Younger girls reported intentions of their enemy as being more positive than did older girls. Further, older girls reported intentions of their best friend as being more positive than intentions of their enemy. Older girls also were more accurate in conceptualizing variations in the conflict setting (direct, indirect) and responding in a context‐consistent manner. Findings are discussed in terms of the social‐relational and social‐situational processes that influence children's evaluations of relational aggression and how the current study extends previous research on relational aggression. Aggr. Behav. 26:179–191, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Influence of Attentional Style and Risk Perceptions on Intentions to Undergo Prophylactic Oophorectomy Among First-Degree Relatives

This study examined the predictors of women's intentions to undergo prophylactic oophorectomy. Eighty female first-degree relatives (FDRs) of ovarian cancer patients completed a measure of attentional style upon enrollment into a Family Risk Assessment Program. Following participation, measures of cancer risk perceptions, perceived benefits and costs of surgery, and intentions to undergo preventive surgery were obtained. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that a high monitoring attentional style, as well as greater perceived risk of ovarian cancer and greater perceived benefits of the procedure, was associated with greater intentions to undergo prophylactic oophorectomy. In addition, a significant interaction between attentional style and perceived risk revealed that high monitors who felt at increased risk for ovarian cancer were less inclined to undergo surgery, whereas low monitors who perceived themselves to be at increased risk were more inclined to undergo surgery. The implications of the results for the design of counseling interventions are discussed.     

The Influence of Other's Morality and Own Social Value Orientation on Cooperation in The Netherlands and the U.S.A.

The present study examines a two-person social dilemma characterised by the conflict between the pursuit of own benefits and collective benefits. The main purpose is twofold: (1) to examine the effect of perceptions of one person's morality (e.g. honesty) on expected cooperation from another and own cooperation, and (2) to examine whether pre-existing differences between individuals in their social value orientation, or preferences for certain patterns of outcomes to self and others (McClintock, 1978), would modify these effects of other's morality. As predicted on the basis of the Might over Morality hypothesis (Liebrand, Jansen et al., 1986), it was found that considerably more cooperation was expected from one perceived as highly moral than from another perceived as low on morality. Contrary to a second Might over Morality prediction, however, this effect was not moderated by individual differences in social value orientation. In addition, it was found that subjects with pro-social value orientations, as well as those with individualistic and competitive orientations cooperated considerably more with a person perceived as highly moral than with another perceived as low on morality. This latter finding extends previous work on social value orientation in that it suggests that individuals who are predisposed to choose noncooperatively in social dilemmas are willing to cooperate if they are quite confident that the other has truly cooperative and good intentions. Finally, the aforementioned findings were observed in two experiments, one conducted in The Netherlands, the other in the United States. This supports the cross-cultural generalisability of the present findings.     

“Seeing is believing”: The effects of facial expressions of emotion and verbal communication in social dilemmas

In social dilemmas, verbal communication of one's intentions is an important factor in increasing cooperation. In addition to verbal communication of one's intentions, also the communication of emotions of anger and happiness can influence cooperative behavior. In the present paper, we argue that facial expressions of emotion moderate verbal communication in social dilemmas. More specifically, three experiments showed that if the other person displayed happiness he or she was perceived as honest, trustworthy, and reliable, and cooperation was increased when verbal communication was cooperative rather than self‐interested. However, if the other person displayed anger, verbal communication did not influence people's decision behavior. Results also showed interactive effects on people's perceptions of trustworthiness, which partially mediated decision behavior. These findings suggest that emotion displays have an important function in organizational settings because they are able to influence social interactions and cooperative behavior. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SITUATIONS SOCIALES À POTENTIEL CONFLICTUEL ET CARACTÉRISTIQUES SOCIO-COGNITIVES D'ENFANTS AGRESSIFS ET REJETÉS*

Twenty aggressive and rejected children (boys and girls), twenty socially competent and popular children, and twenty children having average social skills - all of which were first and second graders attending regular school - participated in this study. All were presented on videotape with nine typical peer-conflict situations. Each child was asked about the way that he/she felt, and the way that he/she would resolve each problem situation. In addition, each child had to specify what he/she thought to be the offender's intentions in each problem situation. Several points differentiated first grade from second grade subjects. However, aggressive, socially skilled and average subjects distinguished themselves on only a few items. Differences relating to subject's sex were also scarce. Data support the view that aggressive children know as well as other children how to appropriately resolve interpersonal conflict situations. However, they do not use this knowledge because of impulsivity control problems, an inability to correctly identify others' intentions or a lack of motivation.     

Crossing the Threshold: The Spillover of Community Racial Diversity and Diversity Climate to the Workplace

We examined the spillover of community diversity to the workplace using a sample of 2,045 professionals living in communities across the U.S. Spillover effects were examined using 2 measures of community diversity: the degree to which employees were racially or ethnically similar to others in their community and perceptions of their community's diversity climate. Aligned with theories of group threat and racial segregation, Whites who were racially dissimilar to their communities expressed stronger intentions to leave their communities, and ultimately their workplaces, than those living in primarily White communities. However, community diversity climate offset these relationships; Whites who lived in communities that were racially dissimilar to them, but experienced the climate as inclusive, had lower moving intentions than those in communities that were experienced as racially intolerant. In contrast, for people of color, community diversity climate, rather than racial similarity to the community, predicted moving intentions. For both groups, the diversity climate in the community predicted moving intentions, which in turn predicted work turnover intentions, job search behaviors, and physical symptoms of stress at work. These findings suggest that the intention to leave one's community, and ultimately one's workplace, is influenced by community experiences and the community's perceived diversity climate.     

‘Tied together feelings’ Group psychotherapy with latency children: the process of forming a cohesive group

In this paper we describe our experience of running a psychoanalytic psychotherapy group for six children, ranging in age from 4-8 years old. The group ran for a year, with sessions held weekly for an hour. The rationale for group work, selection criteria and the treatment setting are discussed. The paper charts the evolution within the children of the concept of an internal 'work group' (Bion, 1961), as opposed to a 'gang', as their self-awareness and capacity to relate to each other improved. This reflected a corresponding shift in their relationship to the two group leaders, moving from their initial perception of us as neglectful and in conflict with each other, towards recognizing us as a therapist couple who could work together thoughtfully for their benefit. The children's relationship to the group leaders, representing a 'parental couple' in the transference, was the focus of much of the work group. The positive outcomes for most of the children, resulting from this treatment, are reported.     

When disagreement gets ugly: perceptions of bias and the escalation of conflict

It is almost a truism that disagreement produces conflict. This article suggests that perceptions of bias can drive this relationship. First, these studies show that people perceive those who disagree with them as biased. Second, they show that the conflict-escalating approaches that people take toward those who disagree with them are mediated by people's tendency to perceive those who disagree with them as biased. Third, these studies manipulate the mediator and show that experimental manipulations that prompt people to perceive adversaries as biased lead them to respond more conflictually-and that such responding causes those who engage in it to be viewed as more biased and less worthy of cooperative gestures. In summary, this article provides evidence for a "bias-perception conflict spiral," whereby people who disagree perceive each other as biased, and those perceptions in turn lead them to take conflict-escalating actions against each other (which in turn engender further perceptions of bias, continuing the spiral).     

Perceived Fairness,Marital Conflict,and Depression: A Dyadic Data Analysis

This study explored associations among perceived fairness, marital conflict, and depression. Data for this study included married participants (n = 401 couples) from the Marriage Matters Panel Survey of Newlywed Couples. This study tested three autoregressive cross-lagged models and hypothesized that fairness would precede marital conflict, and continued conflict would lead to greater depression. The final model found that wives' Time 1 perceived fairness was associated with their husbands' conflict at Time 2, and that husbands' perceived fairness at Time 2 was associated with their wives' depression at Time 3. Findings suggest some support for addressing perceived fairness with couples.     

Marital conflict patterns: Links with family conflict and family members’perceptions of one another

The goal of this study was to explore the effects of marital conflict on conflict patterns in the family, and on family members’perceptions of one another. Sixty‐eight two‐parent families with adolescent twins participated, with parents reporting on the conflict patterns used by the marital dyad, and by themselves in interaction with each of their twins, and adolescent twins reporting on their interactions with each other. In addition, all four family members engaged in a videotaped decision‐making interaction and then made global ratings of each other on five dimensions. Links were obtained between marital conflict patterns and parent‐child conflict patterns, and between parent‐child conflict patterns and those used in sibling relationships. In contrast, marital conflict patterns were unrelated to sibling conflict patterns. Similarly, links were found between marital conflict and fathers’perceptions of their children, and between father‐child conflict and children's perceptions of each other. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models of conflict resolution and the transmission of conflict patterns within the family.     

Perceived Responder Legitimacy and Group Identification Predict Cooperation and Compliance in a Mass Decontamination Field Exercise

Emergency responders' failure to communicate effectively during decontamination following a chemical or biological incident has been associated with increased public anxiety and reduced public compliance. In this study we applied the social identity approach to evaluating a field exercise that involved mass decontamination. Questionnaires were collected from 115 volunteers, who participated in the exercise as simulated casualties. Volunteers' perceptions of effective responder communication predicted increased self-reported compliance with decontamination, mediated by perceived responder legitimacy and identification with other group members. Developing effective communication strategies using a social psychology perspective could improve the way in which incidents are managed.     

Counselling needs of patients receiving treatment with gamete donation

Couples experiencing infertility may be offered treatment with gamete donation where other methods of treatment have failed or are inappropriate. This paper examines a range of concerns related to gamete donation. The paper does not attempt to present a comprehensive and critical review of the literature but concentrates on selecting from the literature, in addition to clinical material, issues which have been identified as contributing to an understanding of patients' experience of treatment with donated gametes. The concerns include feelings and attitudes towards the donor, the role the donor plays in the couple's relationship, feelings about not being the genetic parent and whether to disclose the donation to the potential child and others. These concerns form a basis for counselling couples about the implications of gamete donation for themselves and any children born as a result. The difficulties faced by some people are illustrated by consideration of a single case where the experience of donation linked up with unique aspects of that individual. Therapeutic counselling offers couples faced with such difficulties the opportunity to explore in a more extensive way the underlying dynamics of their concerns, enabling them to think about and make sense of their experience. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Social Integration of Baalei Teshuvah

This article focuses on the perceptions of baalei teshuvah, Jews who were raised with little identification with Judaism as a religious system and subsequently became Orthodox, as an example of the social integration of a group that migrates from one community to another. The baalei teshuvah participants perceived themselves as unique and distinct from those who were raised Orthodox and preferred to associate with others like themselves. They experienced a mixture of pride in their own religious fervor and embarrassment over their lack of knowledge compared with those who grew up Orthodox. At the same time they expressed ambivalent feelings toward Jews who were raised Orthodox. Immigration theory and the concepts of human, social, religious, and spiritual capital are used to discuss the baalei teshuvah's marginal status and preference to associate with other baalei teshuvah.     

Self-affirmation moderates effects of unrealistic optimism and pessimism on reactions to tailored risk feedback

We examined whether self-affirmation would facilitate intentions to engage in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among individuals who were off-schedule for CRC screening and who were categorised as unrealistically optimistic, realistic or unrealistically pessimistic about their CRC risk. All participants received tailored risk feedback; in addition, one group received threatening social comparison information regarding their risk factors, a second received this information after a self-affirmation exercise and a third was a no-treatment control. When participants were unrealistically optimistic about their CRC risk (determined by comparing their perceived comparative risk to calculations from a risk algorithm), they expressed greater interest in screening if they were self-affirmed (relative to controls). Non-affirmed unrealistic optimists expressed lower interest relative to controls, suggesting that they were responding defensively. Realistic participants and unrealistically pessimistic participants who were self-affirmed expressed relatively less interest in CRC screening, suggesting that self-affirmation can be helpful or hurtful depending on the accuracy of one's risk perceptions.     

Chinese Perceptions of Threats from the United States and Japan

People's threat perceptions play a role in influencing foreign policies towards perceived adversary countries. Earlier research has identified multiple components shaping mass-level threat perceptions including military power, adversary country's perceived intentions, and national identities. On the individual level, education, use of media, and interest in politics have been shown to influence threat perceptions. However, most studies on perceptions of security threats fail to include both contextual and individual-level explanatory factors and to consider that different national threats may be constructed differently. This research bridges formation of threat perceptions on the individual level to wider societal processes and provides an empirical perspective to understanding threat perceptions among the educated section of the Chinese population. To analyze threat perceptions, students from leading Chinese universities (N = 771) took part in a survey in the autumn of 2011 and spring of 2012. Respondents who followed conventional media were more likely to perceive both the United States and Japan as threatening, and the effect of media consumption was particularly strong with regards to perceived threat from Japan. In addition, each threat perception was significantly associated with threat-specific explanatory factors. Potential explanatory factors of threat perceptions were explored with linear regression models.     

Attribution of Control as a Determinant of Cooperation in Exchange Interactions

Parties to conflict and to exchange interactions typically experience a considerable uncertainty as to the intentions and strategic plans of their adversaries. Such uncertainty is threatening and can therefore elicit competitive responses. Perceived control over an adversary's actions and over the course of an interaction can reduce uncertainty, lower the perceived risk of exploitation, and thus facilitate cooperative responses. This mediating role of perceived control was demonstrated in two experiments. They showed that certain patterns of change in one party's strategy enhanced the other party's perception of control and, concurrently, increased the frequency of its cooperative responses. A third experiment showed that variations in perceived control affect the tendency to cooperate, even if such variations are not directly related to or induced by the adversary's strategy.     

Condom Use Among U.S. Students: The Importance of Confidence in Normative and Attitudinal Perceptions

Abstract

The author performed a study among U.S. undergraduates to test an earlier conclusion (D. Trafimow, 1994) that confidence in the correctness of one's perceptions of normative pressure to use a condom influences the correspondence between those perceptions and the intentions actually to perform the behavior. Consistent with previous findings (Trafimow), the participants' perceptions of normative pressure strongly predicted their intentions to use condoms only under conditions of extreme normative confidence. Otherwise, their attitudes were better predictors of their intentions to use condoms. In addition, 2 other variables (attitudinal confidence and perceived behavioral control) were found to be unimportant predictors of intentions. Results of a 2nd study suggest that behaviors performed by sexual partners and knowing the sexual partners affected the participants' normative confidence.     

Voting Intentions and the 1980 Carter-Reagan Debate1

A study was conducted to assess the impact of the 1980 Carter-Reagan debate on subsequent voting intentions. As predicted, perceptions of Reagan's debate performance significantly affected respondents' post-debate intention to vote for him; perceptions of Carter's debate performance were not significantly related to post-debate intentions regarding Carter. Additionally, it was found that while party identification had a predictable effect on debate perceptions (Republican respondents favoring Reagan; Democratic respondents favoring Carter), this effect did not prevent respondents from also making more “objective” assessments of the candidates' performance. Within the general context of viewing “their” candidate more favorably, respondents (1) perceived Carter as more honest in the debate, (2) perceived Reagan as stronger, and (3) perceived Reagan as performing better overall in the debate.     

双向偏见引发冲突情境下自我归类对民族社会化觉察的影响——来自景颇族、傣族和汉族初中生的证据

采用情境实验法和故事补全任务,考察双向偏见引发冲突情境下的自我归类对景颇族、傣族与汉族初中生的民族社会化觉察的影响。结果表明,作为冲突事件的当事者,景颇族学生和傣族学生觉察到的促进和睦、文化社会化及促使不信任等民族社会化信息存在差异;景颇族、傣族和汉族学生的自我归类存在差异;自我归类对促进和睦、文化社会化与报告权威等信息的觉察的影响亦存在民族差异。在双向偏见冲突情境下,三族学生的自我归类与民族社会化觉察有一定关系:无论是做当事者/内群体归类、旁观者/外群体归类,还是做调解者/群际归类,被试对促进和睦的觉察均最多。偏见准备主要与当事者归类有关,而进行调解者归类的被试更容易觉察到"报告权威"。     

Say the right thing: Apologies,reputability, and punishment

This research investigates how and when apologies work. Findings from three studies suggest that apologies influence punishment decisions, but not by reducing concerns about recidivism or perceptions of bad intentions. The extent to which future expectancies or perceived intent mediates the effects of apologies on punishment depends on the offender's reputability. However, the perceived appropriateness of the response fully mediates the effect of apologies on punishment, regardless of the offender's reputability. Overall, the findings suggest that saying the right thing helps those who do the wrong thing, but not by influencing others' beliefs about their past intentions or future behaviors.