Understanding Change in Social-Movement Participation: The Roles of Social Norms and Group Efficacy

Across the globe, collective action has been a notable driver of social change. Previous research has identified numerous psychological antecedents of collective action participation, such as group efficacy. The mobilizing influence of social norms, however, has been comparatively neglected. Among a nationally representative Chilean sample (N = 3328), a three-wave longitudinal study tested the relationship between the perceived frequency of family and friends' participation in social movements (norms of close social networks) and change in the frequency of participants' own engagement over time. Perceived efficacy of social movements to facilitate social change was tested as a mediator of this relationship. A fully constrained bidirectional cross-lagged panel model revealed that norms of close social networks significantly predicted social-movement participation over time. This longitudinal relationship was also significantly mediated by group efficacy. Direct reverse paths were also observed, with social-movement participation predicting norms of close social networks over time. Considering low degrees of political participation often seen in societies, these results suggest that utilizing the normative context to promote participation in social movements may prove fruitful in mobilizing the drive for social change.     

With a little help from my friends: Understanding how social networks influence the pursuit of the ideal self

The present investigation examined how people utilize their social networks when pursuing the ideal self. Participants who spent time with social partners who possessed their desired ideal self characteristic experienced movement toward their ideal self when the partner provided behavioral affirmation (eliciting behaviors consistent with the ideal self), but experienced movement away from their ideal self when the partner provided perceptual affirmation (perceiving them as if they already possessed the desired characteristic). High self-esteem participants were especially likely to seek out social partners of the latter type, who saw them as their ideal selves, but did not offer behavioral assistance. This research highlights the importance of social networks for understanding the conditions in which social partners promote vs. hinder ideal self progress.     

Parent–infant co‐sleeping: fathers' roles and perspectives

Dyadic co‐sleeping (mother–baby) is a common strategy for night‐time infant care in the majority of world cultures. Triadic co‐sleeping (mother–father–baby) is less common, although still widely practised cross‐culturally. This paper examines triadic co‐sleeping in an opportunistic sample of parents from the North Tees region of England, and explores fathers' expectations and experiences of sleeping with their babies. Using a prospective study design, 36 sets of parents, pre‐ and post‐natally, were interviewed about infant care strategies, particularly at night. Although they did not anticipate sleeping with their infants at the pre‐natal interview, the majority of fathers (81%) had done so by the time of the second interview. First‐time fathers were afraid that they would squash or suffocate the baby in their sleep, and some were concerned that the infant's presence would adversely affect their own sleep. Fathers used a variety of strategies to help overcome their initial fears of co‐sleeping. Among those for whom triadic co‐sleeping became a regular night‐time infant care strategy, the pleasures of prolonged intimate contact with their infant were clearly apparent. It is suggested that the experience of sleeping with their infant ameliorates some of the distancing effects felt by fathers outside the breast‐feeding relationship, and helps encourage paternal involvement in night‐time infant care‐giving. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coping, competence, and aggression prevention: Part 1. Developmental model

According to coping-competence theory, current challenge encounters determine future life outcomes and competence. This theory provides a testable causal model of the development of persistent aggression. The model suggests that protective circumstances enable resilient youth to cope prosocially (helping self without harming others) even with uncontrollable challenges. Unprepared for language-based prosocial coping, high-risk youths' antisocial coping yields adverse life outcomes (e.g., school expulsion, teen pregnancy, police arrest). Each adverse outcome increases future antisocial coping, threatens future competence (i.e., self-definition, social reputation, dominant coping strategy), and aggravates status on risk-protection variables (i.e., parent warmth and skill, child temperament and intelligence). The same structural model may apply across the lifespan with changes in indicators and weighting of constructs during key developmental transitions. Part 2 presents the model's prevention implications.     

“Doing Gender” and “Doing Religion” in Science: A Cross-National Examination

Women tend to be both underrepresented in science and overrepresented in organized religion, yet the connection between these two phenomena is rarely examined. With survey data collected among 6,537 biologists and physicists from four national contexts—the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and India—we test whether science as a social field shapes religious expressions and attitudes differently for men and women. Findings reveal a religious gender gap in India and Italy but not in the United States and the United Kingdom. Further, except in Italy, men had higher odds of perceiving religion and science to be in conflict, believing that their colleagues have a negative attitude about religion, and reporting that science made them less religious. Evidence suggests that men in science may disproportionately internalize normative pressures to masculinize by eschewing religion. Our findings have implications for selection into academic science and the practice of religion among men and women in science.     

Conflict Between Religion and Science Among Academic Scientists?

Using new survey data ( N = 1,646), we examine the attitudes academic scientists at 21 elite U.S. research universities have about the perceived conflict between religion and science. In contrast to public opinion and scholarly discourse, most scientists do not perceive a conflict between science and religion. Different from what other studies would indicate, this belief does not vary between social and natural scientists. We argue that maintaining plausibility frameworks for religion is an important correlate of whether scientists will reject the conflict paradigm, with such frameworks taking surprising forms. When scientists do not attend religious services they are more likely to accept the conflict paradigm. When scientists think their peers have a positive view of religion, they are less likely to agree there is a conflict between science and religion. Religious upbringing is associated with scientists adopting the conflict paradigm. Spirituality is much more important in this population than other research would lead us to believe. Results reformulate widely cited earlier research, offer new insights about how scientists view the connection between religion and science, and expand public discussion about religious challenges to science.     

The impact of diabetes on psychological well being and quality of life. The role of patient education

People with diabetes live in a society that does not understand their condition. The overall perception that people with serious diabetes inject insulin and that Type 2 diabetes is relatively mild remains rife within the general population and even with some health care professionals. To make the situation worse, only few people understand that diabetes is a condition that cannot be simply controlled by medications and that the presence of diabetes markedly alters the lives of individuals and their families. Consequently, in this article we will be reviewing the scientific evidence of the effects of impaired psychological well being and poor perception of life quality on patients with diabetes. We will be enlightening the importance of patient education and self-empowerment on this aspect of management, which is crucial for the improvement in the physical, psychological and social well being of every patient suffering from this disease.     

Latent Trait Modeling with the Common beliefs Survey III: Using Item Response Theory to Evaluate an Irrational Beliefs Inventory

Assessment of irrational beliefs by such measures as the Common Beliefs Survey III (CBS) has traditionally relied upon classical test theory assumptions, in which the properties of specific test items are less important than the total test score as the aggregate of all item responses. An alternative approach using item response theory (IRT) methodology allows one to specify the parameters of difficulty and discrimination for each test item. Difficulty levels of CBS items range along a continuum of irrationality, the implied latent trait measured by responses to the questionnaire as a whole. We evaluated the CBS responses of 605 individuals from clinical and college settings, drawing from current and archival data. The original Likert scale ratings were recoded into dichotomous scores. Fourteen of the 54 items were highly or very highly discriminating in distinguishing respondents with high and low irrationality levels. However, discriminating items exhibited a very narrow range of difficulty; most functioned at a point a little above the halfway mark on the continuum of irrationality. Item characteristic curves and test information curves were very similar for female (n = 424) and male (n = 179) respondents. We derived a 4-item screening test for irrationality from our IRT analyses of the 54 CBS items. Further test development, focused on the selection and scaling of items with a much broader range of difficulty, would facilitate evaluation of the hierarchical structure of irrational beliefs. Portions of this paper were presented at the 39th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC, November, 2005.