Thinking of Others: Feminist Identification and the Perception of Others’ Beliefs

Previous research has shown that most women in the United States support feminist goals but do not label themselves as feminists. Concern over other people’s opinions of feminists may predict rejection of the feminist label. In the present study we predicted that feminists would be more likely than non-feminists to believe that other people view feminists favorably. One hundred seventy-one female participants completed the Berryman-Fink Semantic Differential Scale twice, once to indicate how they view feminists and again to indicate how they believe others view feminists. Contrary to our hypothesis, all women, regardless of feminist identification, believed that others view feminists negatively and as more likely to be homosexual than heterosexual. Relationships between participants’ own views of feminists and their perceptions of others’ views of feminists were explored. Transformative experiences that may lead a feminist to ignore their perception of society’s views are discussed.     

Preschoolers’ Compliance With Others’ Violations of Fairness Norms: The Roles of Intentionality and Affective Perspective Taking

ABSTRACT

Young children are remarkably compliant with social norms, especially those governing fairness and equality. Yet children also frequently observe and face opportunities to violate those social norms, particularly in situations in which doing so is self-beneficial. In 3 studies, we investigated the conditions under which children adhere to social norms using a novel resource distribution paradigm in which children met an experimenter who expressed either a norm-consistent (equal distribution) or norm-inconsistent (unequal distribution) intention. In Experiment 1, we found that preschoolers generally complied with an experimenter’s intention, regardless of its norm consistency. In Experiment 2, the experimenter again expressed a norm-consistent or norm-inconsistent intention but accidentally placed resources in the opposite distribution of that intended. Preschoolers mostly defaulted to the social norm of fairness. However, they were less likely to do so (and more likely to comply with the norm-violating experimenter) when the inequality was self-benefitting. The likelihood of norm defiance in the face of self-benefit appeared to relate to children’s affective perspective taking. In Experiment 3, we found that training preschoolers in affective perspective taking increased the likelihood children would defy a norm-violating experimenter’s unfair intention. Thus, although preschoolers were generally compliant, both fairness norms and affective perspective taking served as important mechanisms to help children selectively defy adults’ instructions and intentions.     

The Role of Social Context During Television Viewing on Children’s Moral Judgments About Social Exclusion and Stigmatization of Others

Research has considered how exposure to prosocial television narratives influences children’s social inclusion behaviors (e.g., Mares & Acosta, 2010). In these experiments, children typically view a stimulus episode alone; however, we know that children often watch with others at home (Chandler, 1997). Thus, in this study we examined how children’s proximal social context during viewing influenced effects. Using data collected from a 3-condition experiment (control, view-alone, coview with close friend) with Dutch children ages 5 and 6 (N = 80), we found that exposure largely did not influence children’s inclusion judgments or stigmatization beliefs. There was, however, an age × condition interaction, such that 6-year-old children in the coview condition demonstrated greater stigmatization beliefs toward other children, compared to 5-year-olds in the same condition, or all children in the other conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings while considering previous work on learning inclusion from prosocial television shows, reality judgments, and the bystander effect.     

The Sound of Social Cognition: Toddlers’ Understanding of How Sound Influences Others

Understanding others' perceptions is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Children's construal of visual perception is well investigated, but there is little work on children's understanding of others' auditory perception. The current study assesses toddlers' recognition that producing different sounds can affect others differentially—auditory perspective taking. Two- and 3-year-olds were familiarized with two objects, one loud and one quiet. The adult then introduced a doll, and children were randomly assigned to one of two goals: either to wake the doll or to let her sleep. Children's object choice and the sound intensity they produced significantly varied in the predicted direction as a function of the goal task. These findings reveal young children's understanding of the effects of sound on other people's behavior and psychological states.     

Social Comparison and the ‘Circle of Objectification’

The purpose of this study was to test a new theoretical model that integrates self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison as contributors to the development and maintenance of body image disturbance and disordered eating behavior. Within the new theoretical model, self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison are conceptualized as a self-perpetuating cycle, rather than as processes that occur independently of one another. Measures of self-objectification, objectification of others, social comparison, body shame, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology were completed by 549 female students between the ages of 18 and 30?years from a large university in the southeastern United States. Structural equation modeling with nested model comparisons was used to examine the fit of the new theoretical model relative to less complex models which contain only relationships which have received previous attention in the research literature (e.g., the relationship between self-objectification and body shame). Results indicated that the new theoretical model demonstrates good fit for the data and that the fit of this model is significantly better than the original model suggested by the literature. This model also brings together two distinct lines of research and offers a more complete understanding of processes underlying women’s body image and eating behavior. Implications for clinical work as well as theory and measurement are discussed.     

I’m Not Feeling It: Momentary Experiential Avoidance and Social Anxiety Among Individuals With Social Anxiety Disorder

Previous studies have found that social anxiety and experiential avoidance (EA) are significantly associated, but the directionality of this relationship has not been firmly established. The present study examined momentary EA and social anxiety using repeated measurements during an opposite-sex interaction. Participants were 164 individuals (50% female): 42 were diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and the remaining 122 were non-socially-anxious individuals (NSAs). Participants formed 42 experimental dyads including 1 individual with SAD and 1 NSA individual, and 40 control dyads including 2 NSA individuals. Lower-level mediational modeling indicated that for individuals with SAD, a reciprocal relationship was observed in which changes in both EA and social anxiety mediated changes in each other. However, changes in EA explained approximately 89% of changes in social anxiety whereas changes in social anxiety explained approximately 52% of changes in EA throughout the interaction. For NSA individuals, only social anxiety predicted EA. These findings point to a deleterious cycle driven mostly by EA among individuals with SAD, but not NSA individuals. Findings are discussed within the context of previous empirical findings as well as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive-behavioral models of psychopathology.     

Social Identity and Perceptions of Media Persuasion: Are We Always Less Influenced Than Others?1

People typically perceive negative media content (e.g., violence) to have more impact on others than on themselves (a third-person effect). To examine the perceived effects of positive content (e.g., public-service advertisements) and the moderating role of social identities, we examined students' perceptions of the impact of AIDS advertisements on self, students (in-group), nonstudents (out-group), and people in general. Perceived self-other differences varied with the salience of student identity. Low identifiers displayed the typical third-person effect, whereas high identifiers were more willing to acknowledge impact on themselves and the student in-group. Further, when influence was normatively acceptable within the in-group, high identifiers perceived self and students (us) as more influenced than nonstudents (them). The theoretical and practical implications of this reversal in third-person perceptions are discussed.     

Patterns of Women’s Aggression Against Partners and Others: Broadening Our Understanding of Violence

Research on women's aggression typically focuses on relational aggression. However, the study of violence must include multiple forms of violence such as aggression against partners and non‐partner others, while also considering victimization experiences by partners and non‐partners. The focus of this study is the multiple experiences of violence (perpetration and victimization) of women who are incarcerated. Incarcerated women are likely to experience higher rates of both than women in community settings, but most will be released in a brief period of time. Using a random sample (N = 580) we conducted cluster analyses to identify five patterns of women's aggression. Clusters varied depending on the target/s of aggression (i.e., partner and/or others), and type of aggression (i.e., physical and/or intimidation). Multinomial logistic regression was performed to determine the relationship between women's membership in a perpetration cluster and their victimization. Victimization history was related to an increased risk of perpetrating aggression, and varied depending on the target and type of aggression. Our findings provide support that research and interventions addressing women's use of aggression must also address their victimization history. Furthermore, results indicate that for some women, aggression towards partners and others is related. Future research should investigate multiple forms of aggression.     

Wellbeing at Work and the Great Recession: The Effect of Others’ Unemployment

The recent recession has generated a tremendous increase in unemployment rates in Spain. In this paper we use a very rich repeated cross-section dataset on workers’ job conditions, together with regional unemployment rates, to investigate whether peers’ unemployment affects individuals’ job satisfaction. We find that, once perceived job stability is controlled for, peers’ unemployment shows a positive effect on individuals’ wellbeing at work, greater and more precisely estimated for men and private-sector workers. The impact is highly non-linear and the greatest effect is found for unemployment rates exceeding 10 %. Interestingly, the results are robust to controlling for workforce selection.     

Parental Social Bonds and Adolescents’ Convictions

Social control theory suggests that adolescents are more likely to deviate when their parental bonds are weak or broken. However, are strong bonds to unconventional parents also a protective factor, or do they increase the risk of delinquency? There is almost no empirical evidence on this puzzle. Combining Danish survey and register data (N = 2,677), this study uses fixed effects linear regressions and finds that parental convictions do not moderate the effect of strong parental social bonds. Rather, the main result shows that indirect supervision (mother knowing the adolescent’s friends) reduces the risk of child conviction, irrespective of maternal conviction.     

Typification in Society and Social Science: The Continuing Relevance of Schutz’s Social Phenomenology

This paper examines Alfred Schutz’s insights on types and typification. Beginning with a brief overview of the history and meaning of typification in interpretive sociology, the paper further addresses both the ubiquity and the necessity of typification in social life and scientific method. Schutz’s contribution itself is lacking in empirical application and grounding, but examples are provided of ongoing empirical research which advances the understanding of types and typification. As is suggested by illustrations from scholarship in the social studies of social science, studies of social identity associated with membership categorization analysis, and constructionist social problems theory, typification can be found to be central to social research whether it is taken up as a largely unacknowledged resource or whether it is addressed by different names. The overview and illustrations suggest the continuing, widespread, and indeed foundational relevance of Schutz’s insights into types and typification.     

Trajectories of Postpartum Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Children’s Social Skills

The vast majority of new mothers experience at least some depressive symptoms. Postpartum maternal depressive symptoms can greatly influence children’s outcomes (e.g., emotional, cognitive, language, and social development). However, there have been relatively few longitudinal studies of how maternal depressive symptoms may influence children’s social skills. The current study (n = 1363) examined the trajectory of maternal depressive symptoms (from 1 month to 36 months) and whether maternal depressive symptoms at 1 month postpartum and the change in symptoms over time (from 1 month to 3 years) predicted children’s parent- and teacher-rated social skills when they were 4.5 and 6.0 years old. A growth curve model indicated that, on average, maternal depressive symptoms declined over time in a nonlinear fashion. Further analyses indicated that after controlling for five demographic factors (child sex, family income, maternal age, mother’s marital status, and maternal education), initial maternal depressive symptoms significantly predicted children’s social skills as reported by mothers. The results support the notion that maternal depressive symptoms during children’s infancy can have long-term associations with children’s social skills. In addition, the results emphasize the importance of intervention and prevention efforts targeting maternal depressive symptoms during infancy, beginning immediately postpartum.     

New Religious Movement Membership and the Importance of Stable ‘Others’ for the Making of Selves

Challenging the view that people join New Religious Movements because they have fallen victim to powerful brainwashing techniques, the analysis of in-depth life history interviews of 23 former members from 11 different Australian ‘cults’ suggests that membership was personally negotiated and motivated by a desire for stronger social connections, albeit for different reasons. While for some participants, a desire for social connectedness was related to a strong need for guidance and direction from ‘stable’ others, for others it reflected a desire for self-change or self-enhancement. To make sense of the participant narratives, symbolic interactionist understandings of the self are applied.     

Not Half Bad: Self and Others’ Judgements of Body Size and Attractiveness Across the Life Span

Self-deprecating judgements of body size are a robust exception to the general tendency for people to make self-enhancing judgements of themselves. This paper investigates whether the failure to make self-enhancing body size judgements also generalises to judgements of other physically grounded attributes, namely, physical attractiveness and sexiness. Sixty Australian women and men aged between 18 and 88 years of age were photographed, and their own ratings of their body size, attractiveness and sexiness were compared with those made of them by others. Women and men made self-deprecating judgements of body size, but made self-enhancing judgements of attractiveness and sexiness. We suggest that the unambiguous nature of cultural standards for body size, rather than low self-esteem, accounts for the self-deprecating judgements of body size made by men and women.     

How Does Shopping With Others Influence Impulsive Purchasing?

Most research in consumer psychology assumes that impulsive purchasing can be best explained by factors at the individual level. In contrast, this research examines how the presence of others influences this behavior. Results of 2 experiments suggest that the presence of peers increases the urge to purchase, and the presence of family members decreases it. However, this difference is greater when the group (peers or family) is cohesive and when participants are susceptible to social influence.     

A Categorical Analysis of Children’s Attributions for Social Success and Failure

The Psychological Record - The social attributions of Grades 4 and 5 children were assessed within an open-ended interview format. Children were classified according to the number of peer...     

Parents’ Social Status and Children’s Daily Physical Activity: The Role of Familial Socialization and Support

Physical activity is a health relevant factor, particularly in affluent societies where overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent, even among children. Understanding the development of physical activity patterns in childhood is thus an important issue for health promotion. Following socialization theory, this study describes and explains differences in objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a socially and ethnically mixed sample of 6- to 11-year-old children in Germany. MVPA levels were objectively measured with accelerometers over the course of six consecutive days (Wednesday to Monday). Parents’ attitudes and practices as well as the family’s socio-economic status (SES) were assessed from the parents via questionnaires. Results indicate that MVPA levels of children vary with gender, but not with age and ethnicity. Moreover, parental SES, parental support for the child’s sports activities, parents’ own sport activities and the parents’ belief in sports’ capacities to foster personality development, character building and social integration significantly predict the MVPA level of children. It is concluded that interventions to promote MVPA among children need to take family interactions and lifestyles into account and should address families in socio-economically underprivileged areas.     

Militant Islam and Weber’s Social closure: interrelated secular and religious codes of exclusion

Weber’s concept of social closure can help to illuminate the social processes that result in the development of militant Muslim groups. Adapting and applying the concept helps to establish the interrelationships between secular processes and Islamification that are designed by the militants to exclude others and usurp governments. These processes include the implementation of secularisation, conversely concessions to religion and the reinvigoration of Islamic concepts that are used as codes of closure to unite followers and ostracize other Muslims and religious denominations.

Preschoolers’ Theory-of-Mind Knowledge Influences Whom They Trust About Others’ Theories of Mind

Two experiments examined whether particular aspects of social-cognitive knowledge predicted how preschoolers would treat informants who displayed a more or less developed understanding of that knowledge. In Experiment 1, children's own success on false-belief measures correlated with the extent to which they endorsed information generated by a confederate with a more developed sense of false belief over a confederate with a less developed sense of false belief. In Experiment 2, preschoolers were assessed for whether they possessed a more action-based or mental state-based understanding of pretense. They were then presented with informants who displayed each kind of knowledge. Children's own knowledge again correlated with which informant they believed was a reliable source of knowledge about novel pretend actions. These results not only extend findings in the “trust in testimony” literature beyond word learning, but also potentially reveal another mechanism by which children learn from others—they might trust others’ information about a specific piece of knowledge based on examination of their own knowledge of that domain.