On being more than just a part of the whole: Regional identity and social distinctiveness

This article reports the results of a questionnaire study that examined the relationship between regional identification and perceptual accentuation of ingroup distinctiveness in a natural field setting. Respondents were male inhabitants of the Saarland which is a small German state. Half the respondents were members of the leading political party of the Saarland, while the other respondents were members of the major opposition party. As expected, the former showed more pronounced regional identification than the latter. Our main prediction was that a higher level of regional identification would be accompanied by stronger accentuation of positive distinctiveness of the regional ingroup relative to the national ingroup. The prediction was confirmed, both in terms of intergroup differentiation and perceived group homogeneity. Additional results suggest that, depending on the level of social identification, perceived group homogeneity may be either positively or negatively related to familiarity with the ingroup. Finally, we discuss the applicability of social identity theory to social contexts comprising differentially inclusive ingroups instead of mutually exclusive ingroups and outgroups.     

The perception of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity: On the confounding of group size,level of abstractness and frame of reference. A reply to Bartsch and Judd

In this reply, I criticize Bartsch and Judd's (1993) article on several grounds. First, they under-utilize the efforts undertaken in prior work to rule out the possibility of an inverse relation between group size and perceived group homogeneity as an alternative explanation of the observed ingroup homogeneity effect. Secondly, Bartsch and Judd's design doubles and thus aggravates the confounding problem. By trying to avoid the target group size confound, they end up with two other confounds involving level of abstractness and frame of reference. Finally, I criticize Bartsch and Judd's methodological advice to avoid within-subjects comparisons of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity in minority–majority contexts. Quite on the contrary, I highlight the socialpsychological significance of these comparisons.     

The influence of stereotypes on decisions to shoot

Using a videogame to simulate encounters with potentially hostile targets, three studies tested a model in which racial bias in shoot/don't-shoot decisions reflects accessibility of the stereotype linking Blacks to danger. Study 1 experimentally manipulated the race-danger association by asking participants to read newspaper stories about Black (vs. White) criminals. As predicted, exposure to stories concerning Black criminals increased bias in the decision to shoot. Studies 2 and 3 manipulated the number of White and Black targets with and without guns in the context of the videogame itself. As predicted, frequent presentation of stereotypic (vs. counterstereotypic) targets exacerbated bias (Study 2) and—consistent with our process account—rendered stereotypes more accessible (Study 3). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Censored Mixture Model for Modeling Risk Taking

Psychometrika - Risk behavior has substantial consequences for health, well-being, and general behavior. The association between real-world risk behavior and risk behavior on experimental tasks is...     

Society matters: The mediational role of social recognition in the relationship between victimization and life satisfaction among gay men

This article examines the role of social recognition in the relationship between gay men's victimization and their life satisfaction. Using a comprehensive catalog of victimization, we obtained empirical evidence that strongly suggests that victimization negatively affects gay men's life satisfaction and that this relationship is mainly mediated by a perceived lack of social recognition in society. In addition, although active involvement in the gay community served as a coping mechanism, concealment of one's sexual identity played no role in the victimization–life satisfaction relationship, neither as a coping mechanism nor as a competing mediator. The mediational role of societal recognition underlines the importance of the symbolic meaning of victimization. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children's Spatial Behavior is Differentially Affected After Traumatic Brain Injury

Spatial behavior in 20 children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 20 healthy controls was investigated using the Kiel Locomotor Maze. Children had to remember defined locations in an experimental chamber with completely controlled intra- and extra-maze cues until learning criterion was reached. In a second experiment, spatial orientation strategies were assessed. Children with TBI were shown to be impaired in spatial learning and spatial memory. Spatial orientation was found to be deficient even in cases where spatial learning and memory proved to be unimpaired, especially in tasks that demanded the use of relational place strategies. Children who suffered a TBI at an early age proved to be more severely impaired in spatial learning and orientation than older children.     

Multilevel exemplar theory

This paper presents recent research that provides an overarching model of exemplar theory capable of explaining phenomena across the phonetic and syntactic strata. The model represents a unique exemplar-based account of constituency interactions encompassing both linguistic domains. It yields simulation and experimental results in keeping with experimental findings in the literature on syllable duration variability and offers an exemplar-theoretic account of local grammaticality. In addition, it provides some insights into the nature of exemplar cloud formation and demonstrates experimentally the potential gains that can be enjoyed via the use of rich exemplar representations.     

Dual Identification and the (De‐)Politicization of Migrants: Longitudinal and Comparative Evidence

The article examines the role of dual identification with both the ethnocultural ingroup and the society of residence in the politicization of migrants. The researchers employed a longitudinal and comparative research design with members of the two largest, but sociologically very different, migrant groups in Germany as research participants (i.e. Turkish migrants and Russian migrants). In line with prior work that has shown that, among members of aggrieved groups, dual identity functions as a politicized collective identity, we found that dual identification fostered political engagement among Turkish migrants. In contrast, Russian migrants reported no substantial grievances, and dual identification negatively affected their subsequent political engagement. The contributions of these findings to an articulation of research on politicization with research on intergroup conflict and a more comprehensive understanding of political phenomena driven by dual identification are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.