The psychology of social dilemmas: A review

Broadly defined, social dilemmas involve a conflict between immediate self-interest and longer-term collective interests. These are challenging situations because acting in one’s immediate self-interest is tempting to everyone involved, even though everybody benefits from acting in the longer-term collective interest. As such, greater knowledge of social dilemmas should help us understand not only the theoretical puzzles of why people cooperate (or not) but also the ways in which cooperation in groups and organizations can be maintained or promoted. This article reviews different types of social dilemmas, highlights recent developments in the field (especially within psychology), and suggests some new avenues for future research. We illustrate that the field of social dilemma is growing and flourishing in terms of theory, interdisciplinary collaboration, and applicability, producing insights that are novel, replicable, and applicable to many social situations where short-term self-interest is at odds with the long-term interests of teams, organizations, or nations.     

Experimentation in social psychology: A reappraisal

Psychological inquiry into social phenomena has become virtually indistinguishable from controlled experimentation. Although the assets and liabilities of psychological experiments have been subject to periodic debate, a continued increase in the reliance placed experiments is evidenced. The present paper re-examines the adequacy of experimentation in light of major features of social interaction. Significant failures of the experiment emerge when the following characteristics of social events are considered: their imbeddedness in broader cultural patterns, their position within extended sequences, their open competition within real-life settings, their reliance on psychological confluences, and their complex determination. The additional consideration of social phenomena within historical context indicates that all reasonable hypotheses are valid and that critical testing between hypotheses about social behaviour is fruitless. Criteria for the productive usage of experiments are detailed.     

Modern dialectics in social psychology: A reappraisal

The current status of dialectic theory in social psychology is critically examined. Its basic and interdependent assumptions are discussed and recent misconceptions analyzed. An attempt is made to clarify major confusions and misinterpretations of dialectics regarding such issues as dialectics as a conceptual versus a methodological tool, dialectics as a form of cognitive process, dialectics as a firm of interactionism, and dialectical contradictions as semantic opposites. To illustrate the relevance of dialectic theory to current issues a major dualism in social psychology is examined, namely that of individual versus social theorizing. Drawing liberally from Marxist social theory it is shown how the traditional dualism is resolved through dialectics. Finally, a response is firmed to criticisms addressed to the current status of social psychology. It is shown that dialectics not only incorporates most of the demands raised by these criticisms, but also enhances the field by pointing toward new perspectives and directions.     

A brief history of Romanian psychology

The evolution of Romanian psychology followed several stages, similarly to other countries in Eastern Europe, yet with its own particularities. The first psychology institutes were introduced by former students of Wilhelm Wundt, and the field saw a rapid development, with distinguished scholars making relevant scientific contributions. However, after the communist regime was enforced, psychology stagnated somewhat due to ideological, financial, and political reasons, and, in 1977, it was even removed from academia. After 1989, psychology revived in academia and research, and as a profession as well. This article summarizes the evolution of Romanian psychology through these stages, focusing on its postcommunist revival.     

Infant positioning: A brief review

The American Academy of Pediatrics (2016a) has made several recommendations regarding the safe positioning of infants by caregivers, including placing infants in a supine position for sleep and in prone for supervised periods of tummy time. However, caregivers may have difficulty adhering with these recommendations. A small, but growing, number of behavior analytic studies have examined these infant safety recommendations and strategies for increasing adherence. This review describes behavior analytic research on infant positioning and provides suggestions for future research.     

生命史理论概述及其与社会心理学的结合——以道德行为为例

生命史理论作为进化心理学的代表性理论之一, 同时关注了环境因素和个体经验, 是社会心理与个人心理的有机结合, 但是该理论目前在社会心理学领域得到的关注还相当有限。因此该理论具体的建立、发展过程, 主要理论观点, 以及主要测量方法、测量工具都需要进行详细的梳理和介绍, 以便于研究者对其有较为全面的理解。此外, 结合社会心理学的重要研究主题--道德行为, 可以发现不同生命史策略在个体的亲社会行为、不道德／暴力犯罪行为上可能有不同的表现, 并且控制感、安全感和调节定向理论都会是其可能的影响机制。因此在未来的研究中, 应该将生命史理论在社会心理学领域进行更广泛的应用, 为社会心理学研究者提供一个分析道德行为的新视角。     

Culture and career psychology: A social constructionist perspective

This paper reflects on the need to re-examine cultural and cross-cultural psychology with a view to re-invigorating them and placing them at the center of discourse in career psychology. One perspective that can be employed to achieve these goals is social constructionism in that it questions the centrality of post-positivism in cultural and cross-cultural career psychology and shifts the focus to people in relationships. Emphasis is placed on understanding relationships in culture and recognizing that cultures are neither static nor independent variables but central to and embedded in career psychology. Social constructionist perspectives on cross-cultural counseling in career psychology and the development of indigenous career psychologies are discussed.