The role of social norm clarity in the influenced expression of prejudice over time

Social influence has been shown to be a powerful, but underexamined, tool in altering prejudice-related attitudes. Most notably, hearing one person condemn or condone discrimination can influence another person to do the same (Blanchard, Crandall, Brigham, & Vaughn, 1994). The current study assesses a potential underlying mechanism that may determine the extent to which participants are socially influenced to alter their prejudice-related beliefs: the clarity of the social norm regarding the expression of prejudice. In addition, the study assesses longer-term effects of social influence (see Stangor, Sechrist, & Jost, 2001). Results from 270 participants revealed that the extent of social influence was predicted by the clarity of the social norm for displaying prejudice and that participants were influenced both immediately and one month later by others’ opinions. We discuss the theoretical implications of the finding that one person can produce lasting change in another person’s prejudice-related belief system.     

Microblogging and the Value of Undirected Communication

Online social networks have become extremely popular, but what drives sharing through these channels? We demonstrate that one of the most popular features of online social networks, microblogging (e.g., tweeting or sharing Facebook status updates), is driven in part by its undirected nature. Microblogging allows people to simultaneously express themselves to a large number of potential communication partners without having to address anyone in particular. As a result, this communication channel is particularly valued when people feel socially apprehensive; it allows them to reach out without having to impose communication and potentially bother anyone in particular. These findings shed light on one reason why people use online social networks and provide insight into the value of undirected communication.     

Perceived norms and social values to capture school culture in elementary and middle school

The current study was designed to gain insights into shifting school culture by examining perceived peer group norms and social values across elementary and middle school grades. Perceived norms were assessed by asking participants (N = 605) to estimate how many grade mates were academically engaged, disengaged, and antisocial. To capture social values, peer nominations were used to assess “coolness” associated with these behaviors. Perceived norms became gradually more negative from fall to spring and across grades four to eight. Whereas academic engagement was socially valued in elementary school, negative social and academic behaviors were valued in middle school. Additionally, improved social status was associated with increased academic engagement in fifth grade, disengagement in seventh and eighth grades, and antisocial behavior in sixth grade. The findings suggest that differences between elementary and middle school cultural norms and values may shed light on negative behavior changes associated with the transition to middle school.     

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers: a multimethod assessment

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers were examined in 2 studies. Study 1 examined the degree to which 4th-8th-grade boys and girls (N = 408) nominated the same peers for multiple criteria. Children viewed liked others as prosocial and disliked others as antisocial but associated perceived popularity with both prosocial and antisocial behavior. In Study 2, a subset of the children from Study 1 (N = 92) described what makes boys and girls popular or unpopular. Children described popular peers as attractive with frequent peer interactions, and unpopular peers as unattractive, deviant, incompetent, and socially isolated. In both studies, children's perceptions varied as a function of the gender, age, and ethnicity of the participants.     

Social Anxiety in Children with Anxiety Disorders: Relation with Social and Emotional Functioning

Investigated the psychometric properties of the Social Anxiety Scale for children-Revised (SASC-R) as well as relations between social anxiety and children's social and emotional functioning. Participants were a clinic sample of children, ages 6–11 with anxiety disorders (N = 154) who completed the SASC-R. For a subset of these children, parent ratings of social skills, and self-ratings of perceived competence and peer interactions were also obtained. Factor analysis of the SASC-R supported the original three-factor solution and internal consistencies were in the acceptable range. Among children with simple phobia, scores on the SASC-R differentiated those with and without a comorbid social-based anxiety disorder. Social anxiety was also associated with impairments in social and emotional functioning. Specifically, highly socially anxious children reported low levels of social acceptance and global self-esteem and more negative peer interactions. Girls with high levels of social anxiety were also rated by parents as having poor social skills, particularly in the areas of assertive and responsible social behavior.     

Predicting parental social influences: The role of physical activity variability

Objectives

This study examined how variations in the activity of adolescents might relate to the social influences used by parents. Specifically, mean differences in activity across adolescents (individual differences) as well as variation in activity within adolescents (intra-individual variation) were used to predict the use of family social influence.

Design

A prospective design was used.

Methods

High school students (N = 329) completed measures of activity (six times) and social influences received from family (positive, negative, collaborative) (five times) over a one-year period. A multilevel analysis was used to predict each of the three types of social influence. The predictors included activity in two forms: The individual’s mean level of activity (i.e., individual differences) and activity at the previous time point as a deviation from the individual’s mean activity level (i.e., intra-individual variation).

Results

Controlling for age, gender and school, results revealed that both individual differences in mean activity level (b = 0.04, p < .001) and intra-individual variation in activity (b = −0.02, p = .055) predicted use of collaborative influence. For positive influence, only individual differences in mean activity level was a predictor (b = 0.02, p < .001). Neither form of activity predicted parental use of negative influence.

Conclusions

Results revealed support for the positive relationship between both positive and collaborative types of influence and individual differences in activity that is typically reported in the literature. However, a negative relationship between intra-individual variation in activity and collaborative social influences also was found. This negative relationship, where lower activity than normal by the adolescent was related to a greater use of collaborative influence by the parent, may be indicative of a regulatory form of social influence.     

Constructing a self: The role of self-structure and self-certainty in social anxiety

Current cognitive models stress the importance of negative self-perceptions in maintaining social anxiety, but focus predominantly on content rather than structure. Two studies examine the role of self-structure (self-organisation, self-complexity, and self-concept clarity) in social anxiety. In study one, self-organisation and self-concept clarity were correlated with social anxiety, and a step-wise multiple regression showed that after controlling for depression and self-esteem, which explained 35% of the variance in social anxiety scores, self-concept clarity uniquely predicted social anxiety and accounted for an additional 7% of the variance in social anxiety scores in an undergraduate sample (N = 95) and the interaction between self-concept clarity and compartmentalisation (an aspect of evaluative self-organisation) at step 3 of the multiple regression accounted for a further 3% of the variance in social anxiety scores. In study two, high (n = 26) socially anxious participants demonstrated less self-concept clarity than low socially anxious participants (n = 26) on both self-report (used in study one) and on computerised measures of self-consistency and confidence in self-related judgments. The high socially anxious group had more compartmentalised self-organisation than the low anxious group, but there were no differences between the two groups on any of the other measures of self-organisation. Self-complexity did not contribute to social anxiety in either study, although this may have been due to the absence of a stressor. Overall, the results suggest that self-structure has a potentially important role in understanding social anxiety and that self-concept clarity and other aspects of self-structure such as compartmentalisation interact with each other and could be potential maintaining factors in social anxiety. Cognitive therapy for social phobia might influence self-structure, and understanding the role of structural variables in maintenance and treatment could eventually help to improve treatment outcome.     

When do people cooperate? The neuroeconomics of prosocial decision making

Understanding the roots of prosocial behavior is an interdisciplinary research endeavor that has generated an abundance of empirical data across many disciplines. This review integrates research findings from different fields into a novel theoretical framework that can account for when prosocial behavior is likely to occur. Specifically, we propose that the motivation to cooperate (or not), generated by the reward system in the brain (extending from the striatum to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex), is modulated by two neural networks: a cognitive control system (centered on the lateral prefrontal cortex) that processes extrinsic cooperative incentives, and/or a social cognition system (including the temporo-parietal junction, the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala) that processes trust and/or threat signals. The independent modulatory influence of incentives and trust on the decision to cooperate is substantiated by a growing body of neuroimaging data and reconciles the apparent paradox between economic versus social rationality in the literature, suggesting that we are in fact wired for both. Furthermore, the theoretical framework can account for substantial behavioral heterogeneity in prosocial behavior. Based on the existing data, we postulate that self-regarding individuals (who are more likely to adopt an economically rational strategy) are more responsive to extrinsic cooperative incentives and therefore rely relatively more on cognitive control to make (un)cooperative decisions, whereas other-regarding individuals (who are more likely to adopt a socially rational strategy) are more sensitive to trust signals to avoid betrayal and recruit relatively more brain activity in the social cognition system. Several additional hypotheses with respect to the neural roots of social preferences are derived from the model and suggested for future research.     

Negative self-evaluations and the relation to performance level in socially anxious children and adolescents

The current study investigated whether negatively biased self-evaluations of nervousness and social skills are related to how well an individual actually performs, that is performance level. Sixty-eight high socially anxious and 68 control participants (age range 9–17 years) gave a 5 min speech in front of a pre-recorded audience of same age peers and a teacher. Participants' evaluations immediately after the task were measured on a number of performance dimensions. Three independent observers also evaluated recordings of the speech performances. Participants were further divided into good and bad performers based on their actual performance level as judged by the observers. Self-evaluations of the high socially anxious participants were negatively biased for nervous appearance regardless of how well they actually performed. In contrast, a negative bias for social skills only occurred in the high anxious participants with a good performance. The social skill evaluations of the poor performers appear warranted. Taking actual performance level into account may help to clarify the exact nature of a negative bias in socially anxious youth and has clear implications for the choice of treatment approach.     

Safety behaviors and judgmental biases in social anxiety disorder

Two experiments were conducted to examine the link between safety behaviors and social judgments in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Safety behaviors were manipulated in the context of a controlled laboratory-based social interaction, and subsequent effects of the manipulation on the social judgments of socially anxious participants (N = 50, Study 1) and individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for generalized SAD (N = 80, Study 2) were examined. Participants were randomly assigned to either a safety behavior reduction plus exposure condition (SB + EXP) or a graduated exposure (EXP) control condition, and then took part in a conversation with a trained experimental confederate. Results revealed across both studies that participants in the SB + EXP group were less negative and more accurate in judgments of their performance following safety behavior reduction relative to EXP participants. Study 2 also demonstrated that participants in the SB + EXP group displayed lower judgments about the likelihood of negative outcomes in a subsequent social event compared to controls. Moreover, reduction in safety behaviors mediated change in participant self-judgments and future social predictions. The current findings are consistent with cognitive theories of anxiety, and support the causal role of safety behaviors in the persistence of negative social judgments in SAD.     

Post-event processing in social anxiety

Clark and Wells’ [1995. A cognitive model of social phobia. In: R. Heimberg, M. Liebowitz, D.A. Hope, & F.R. Schneier (Eds.) Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment and treatment (pp. 69-93). New York: Guildford Press.] cognitive model of social phobia proposes that following a social event, individuals with social phobia will engage in post-event processing, during which they conduct a detailed review of the event. This study investigated the relationship between self-appraisals of performance and post-event processing in individuals high and low in social anxiety. Participants appraised their performance immediately after a conversation with an unknown individual and prior to an anticipated second conversation task 1 week later. The frequency and valence of post-event processing during the week following the conversation was also assessed. The study also explored differences in the metacognitive processes of high and low socially anxious participants. The high socially anxious group experienced more anxiety, predicted worse performance, underestimated their actual performance, and engaged in more post-event processing than low socially anxious participants. The degree of negative post-event processing was linked to the extent of social anxiety and negative appraisals of performance, both immediately after the conversation task and 1 week later. Differences were also observed in some metacognitive processes. The results are discussed in relation to current theory and previous research.     

From indirect aggression to invisible aggression: A conceptual view on bullying and peer group manipulation

Recent research has emphasized the importance of indirect aggression among children and has challenged the conception that aggressive children lack social–cognitive skills. In schools, victimization against non-provocative targets rarely involves just a dyad, but might not be simply the product of group processes either. This paper suggests that in most cases it results from the encounter between a skillful bully and a group that lacks true cohesiveness, through a process of normative social influence. Groups with low quality of friendships may be more likely than others to become instruments of aggression as victimization provides them with a common goal and an appearance of cohesion. We hypothesize that, in some cases, the manipulation of a healthy-functioning group is also possible but requires use of particularly subtle devices, and thus a higher level of social intelligence by the bully. We also suggest that in such a situation the aggressive act is not just indirect, but invisible and the influence exerted on the group might be informational and not normative. Implications for the characteristics of the victim and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Minds at rest? Social cognition as the default mode of cognizing and its putative relationship to the "default system" of the brain

The “default system” of the brain has been described as a set of regions which are ‘activated’ during rest and ‘deactivated’ during cognitively effortful tasks. To investigate the reliability of task-related deactivations, we performed a meta-analysis across 12 fMRI studies. Our results replicate previous findings by implicating medial frontal and parietal brain regions as part of the “default system”.However, the cognitive correlates of these deactivations remain unclear. In light of the importance of social cognitive abilities for human beings and their propensity to engage in such activities, we relate our results to findings from neuroimaging studies of social cognition. This demonstrates a remarkable overlap between the brain regions typically involved in social cognitive processes and the “default system”.We, henceforth, suggest that the physiological ‘baseline’ of the brain is intimately linked to a psychological ‘baseline’: human beings have a predisposition for social cognition as the default mode of cognizing which is implemented in the robust pattern of intrinsic brain activity known as the “default system”.     

Using the Personal Stroop to Detect Children's Awareness of Social Rejection by Peers

A personal (or emotional) Stroop methodology was used to assess children's internalisation of peer rejection. A computerised Stroop colour-naming task with a voice-activated timer was given to 59 socially popular and unpopular elementary schoolchildren. We presented negative social words and three sets of control words (positive social, negative nonsocial, and positive nonsocial) individually and in random order. Unpopular children (but not popular children) demonstrated significantly greater colour-naming interference on negative social words versus control words, suggesting that they had internalised personally relevant social status information. This sensitivity to negative social content words remained even after controlling for grade level, self-reported depressive symptoms, and self-reported social competence. Advantages and disadvantages of the personal Stroop methodology relative to self-report methodologies are discussed.     

Happy and unhappy adolescent bullies: Evidence for theoretically meaningful subgroups

Are all bullies unhappy and socially disconnected? The majority of theorists argue that bullies are a homogeneous group, such that their aggression is linked to less happiness and a greater probability of social exclusion. Recent findings, however, indicate some bullies obtain social benefits from the act of bullying, increasing their happiness. We sought to identify whether subgroups of bullies exist among 481 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 16.9, SD = 1.5) using self-report data on bullying, victimization, and various psychological and behavioral variables. Cluster analytic results identified four subgroups differentiated primarily by level of bullying, happiness, and perceived social connectedness. Subgroups included (1) happy, socially connected non-bullies (33.4%), (2) unhappy, socially disconnected non-bullies (26.9%), (3) unhappy, socially disconnected bullies (17.3%) and (4) happy, socially connected bullies (22.4%). These results suggest that, not only are some bullies happy and socially connected, but only a minority of bullies are unhappy and socially disconnected. Our findings offer unique insights into potential positive consequences of bullying that may differentiate subgroups of bullies. Such insights might inform existing and future anti-bullying interventions.     

Mere social knowledge impacts children's consumption and categorization of foods

How does social information affect the perception of taste early in life? Does mere knowledge of other people's food preferences impact children's own experience when eating? In Experiment 1, 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children consumed more of a food described as popular with other children than a food that was described as unpopular with other children, even though the two foods were identical. In Experiment 2, children ate more of a food described as popular with children than a food described as popular with adults. Experiment 3 tested whether different perceptual experiences of otherwise identical foods contributed to the mechanisms underlying children's consumption. After sampling both endpoints of a sweet‐to‐sour range (applesauce with 0 mL or 5mL of lemon juice added), children were asked to taste and categorize applesauce samples with varying amounts of lemon juice added. When classifying ambiguous samples that were near the midpoint of the range (2 mL and 3 mL), children were more likely to categorize popular foods as sweet as compared to unpopular foods. Together, these findings provide evidence that social information plays a powerful role in guiding children's consumption and perception of foods. Broader links to the sociality of food selection are discussed.     

Assessing body image in patients with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma): validation of the adapted Satisfaction with Appearance Scale

People with scleroderma often experience disfiguring appearance-related changes in socially visible and interpersonally salient areas. Although disfigurement can lead to body image dissatisfaction, this phenomenon has not been well investigated due to the lack of a disfigurement-specific measure. The Satisfaction With Appearance (SWAP) scale, previously developed in burn survivors, was adapted and administered to 254 participants with scleroderma to evaluate its psychometric integrity and its validity for use in a different medical population that experiences changes in appearance. Principal component analysis revealed two factors – Subjective Dissatisfaction and Perceived Social Impact – rather than the four found in burn victims. Excellent estimates of internal consistency and temporal stability and strong evidence for the reliability of the two-factor solution were found. The resulting factor structure in a scleroderma population suggests that differing medical conditions may create alternate constellations of BID, reflects the need for body image researchers to assess psychometrics across medical populations and may have clinical implications for BID interventions.     

The reward of a good joke: neural correlates of viewing dynamic displays of stand-up comedy

Humor is enjoyable, yet few studies to date have reported that humor engages brain regions involved in reward processing (i.e., the mesolimbic reward system). Even fewer have investigated socially relevant, dynamic displays of real actors telling jokes. Instead, many studies have focused on responses to static cartoons or written jokes in isolation. In the present investigation, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activation in response to video clips of comedians performing stand-up comedy, a more socially relevant task than reading jokes or cartoons in isolation. Participants watched video clips of eight stand-up comedians, half female/half male, that were prerated by a separate group of participants from the same population as eliciting either high or low levels of amusement, thereby allowing us to control for comedian attributes and comedic style. We found that high-funny clips elicited more activation in several brain regions involved with reward responses, including the nucleus accumbens, caudate, and putamen. A regression with participants’ own ratings of humor revealed similar activity in reward areas as well as in regions involved in theory of mind. These findings indicate that dynamic social displays of humor do engage reward responses. The rewarding nature of humor may help explain why it is so valued socially.     

The object of my protection: Shielding fundamental motives from the implicit motivational influence of others

Goal shielding theory suggests that one's focal pursuits automatically inhibit the activation of interfering goals (Shah, Friedman, & Kruglanski, 2002); however, it is not entirely clear how individuals come to identify what constitutes “interfering”. Three studies examine how this identification process may be guided by fundamental social motives that individuals possess, particularly in social situations wherein goals are primed through mere exposure to others' goal-directed behavior (“goal contagion”, Aarts, Gollwitzer, & Hassin, 2004). Participants' fundamental motives for positive self-regard (Study 1), autonomy (Study 2), and distinctiveness (Study 3) were either manipulated or measured and participants read scenarios that manipulated the goal-directed behavior of a target other. Results indicated that participants inhibited the activation of goals being primed by others when the implicit influence interfered with their fundamental motives in some way. These findings suggest that fundamental motives can guide whether individuals will catch goals from others or shield themselves from such influences.