System Justification and Affective Responses to Terrorism: Evidence from the November 2015 Paris Attacks

A large stream of research has shown that emotional reactions have a powerful impact on political choices and decision-making processes. Yet little is known about individual-level differences in experiencing specific emotions in the light of threatening events. In this article, we argue that system justification, or the endorsement and bolstering of existing social and political arrangements, is positively associated with the experience of positive emotions and negatively associated with the experience of negative emotions in the light of threat. We test our hypotheses using a study conducted a few days after the November 13, 2015, Paris terror attacks on a large sample in France. Our results show that system justification was positively associated with experiencing hope in the light of the attacks and negatively associated with experiencing fear and anger. Moreover, the size of these effects exceeded the respective size of other psychological characteristics such as authoritarianism, conservatism, and national attachment. These findings extend research on the palliative function of system justification to the domain of emotional responses to terrorist shocks.     

Regulatory Focus and Political Decision Making: When People Favor Reform Over the Status Quo

Two studies examined the impact of self‐reported use of promotion‐related (i.e., eagerness) and prevention‐related (i.e., vigilance) strategies when making “risky” or “conservative” decisions about economic reform under good, average, or poor economic conditions. Consistent with regulatory focus theory ( Higgins, 1997, 1998, 2000 ), in both studies strategic vigilance was associated with making a conservative choice, whereas strategic eagerness was associated with making a risky choice. In addition, along with perceptions of economic conditions, chronic strength of prevention focus (Study 1) or situationally induced prevention focus (Study 2) was associated with using strategic vigilance, whereas chronic strength of promotion focus (Study 1) or situationally induced promotion focus (Study 2) was associated with using strategic eagerness. Finally, regulatory focus and economic perceptions indirectly predicted economic reform decisions through their impact on strategy use. Our studies are the first to demonstrate that vigilant or eager strategy use is associated with “conservative” or “risky” political decisions.     

Self-esteem: Its mediating effects on the relationship between discrimination at work and employee organisation commitment and turn-over intention

This study examined self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship between perceived discrimination, employee intentions to quit, and affective organisation commitment. A convenience sample of 414 South African employees were participants (female?=?44.9%; black?=?42.3%; 38.2% between the age of 26 and 35). Of the participants, 72.7% were from the private sector. The employees completed measures of self-esteem, perceived discrimination, and affective organisation commitment. We utilised Structural Equation Modelling to determine the direct and indirect effects of self-esteem on employee attitudes, affective organisation commitment, and intentions to quit. Findings indicate that high self-esteem scores predict affective organisation commitment by ameliorating a sense of work-place discrimination. This is influenced by race, ethnicity, and gender. By contrast, low self-esteem scores predicted high intensions to quit due to perceived work-place discrimination. As such, high self-esteem is important for the reduction of the perceived work-place discrimination effects on affective organisation commitment and for job retention among workers of a society with a history of race-based civil strife.     

A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo

Most theories in social and political psychology stress self-interest, intergroup conflict, ethnocentrism, homophily, ingroup bias, outgroup antipathy, dominance, and resistance. System justification theory is influenced by these perspectives—including social identity and social dominance theories—but it departs from them in several respects. Advocates of system justification theory argue that (a) there is a general ideological motive to justify the existing social order, (b) this motive is at least partially responsible for the internalization of inferiority among members of disadvantaged groups, (c) it is observed most readily at an implicit, nonconscious level of awareness and (d) paradoxically, it is sometimes strongest among those who are most harmed by the status quo. This article reviews and integrates 10 years of research on 20 hypotheses derived from a system justification perspective, focusing on the phenomenon of implicit outgroup favoritism among members of disadvantaged groups (including African Americans, the elderly, and gays/lesbians) and its relation to political ideology (especially liberalism-conservatism).     

A Sense of Powerlessness Fosters System Justification: Implications for the Legitimation of Authority,Hierarchy, and Government

In an attempt to explain the stability of hierarchy, we focus on the perspective of the powerless and how a subjective sense of dependence leads them to imbue the system and its authorities with legitimacy. In Study 1, we found in a nationally representative sample of U.S. employees that financial dependence on one's job was positively associated with the perceived legitimacy of one's supervisor. In Study 2, we observed that a general sense of powerlessness was positively correlated with the perceived legitimacy of the economic system. In Studies 3 and 4, priming experimental participants with feelings of powerlessness increased their justification of the social system, even when they were presented with system‐challenging explanations for race, class, and gender disparities. In Study 5, we demonstrated that the experience of powerlessness increased legitimation of governmental authorities (relative to baseline conditions). The processes we identify are likely to perpetuate inequality insofar as the powerless justify rather than strive to change the hierarchical structures that disadvantage them.     

Dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion: moderating effects at the work-unit level

Organizational change, although essential for business success, may negatively impact employees’ well-being. Based on person–environment fit theory, the authors investigate employees’ dispositional resistance to change as it impacts emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the authors examine boundary conditions that may affect dispositional resistance to change and its influence on emotional exhaustion. They take a trait activation approach and test the moderating roles of two work-unit-level internal contextual factors: perceived organizational support and informational team climate. Using a longitudinal research design of 709 participants in 30 work units, multilevel analyses reveal that dispositional resistance to change (time 1) is positively related to emotional exhaustion (time 2). Moreover, a lack of perceived organizational support and a high informational team climate strengthen these effects. The authors conclude that organizations should offer coaching and training programmes to cope with organizational change for employees who are highly change resistant. Furthermore, personal and organizational development strategies should consider the insights gained from the study regarding internal contextual factors that moderate change management processes.     

根系生命:医疗卫生体制道德根基探微——《医疗卫生体制改革进程与前景的生命道德思考》一书评介

2009年初启动的深化医疗卫生体制改革也即“新医改”,既是改革开放前30年改革的继续,也是全新改革进程的开始。10年来医改成就惠及人民并得到广泛肯定,体现了改革在经济制度上科学性与伦理性的统一。站在生命道德哲学立场上反观改革的进程,可以为改革方向和道路的合理性提供道德哲学的辩护。医疗卫生体制及其改革是经济学、公共管理学、政策科学等社会科学的研究领域,也是涵括诸多哲学课题的认识和实践领域,生命道德哲学提供的是价值理性的思考。     

医改"市场化"之争:目标定位与现实选择

"市场化"抑或"反市场化"之争,使得已整整20年的医疗体制改革基调突然变奏,医改在路向选择上也陷入模糊.医疗体制改革现状及其路径走向理性研判之后,"市场化"并非医改困局的根源.在此基础上,以国际上四种不同卫生体系模式的医改经验为鉴,明确了医疗体制改革的目标定位,并提出现实的对策构想.