Biased language use in stereotype maintenance: the role of encoding and goals

In 4 studies, the authors investigated the relative impact of biased encoding of information and communication goals on biased language use. A category label (linguistic expectancy bias, Study 1) or a group label (linguistic intergroup bias, Study 2) was presented either before or after a story that participants were asked to communicate. Biased language use only emerged when participants learned about the group membership of the actor or the category label before hearing the story. However, communication goals had an effect on language use at the retrieval stage, independent of encoding (Studies 3 and 4). Although communication goal effects seemed to overwhelm encoding effects, encoding still influenced language use under externally imposed time pressure (Study 3) and self-imposed time constraints (Study 4). This research reaffirms the importance of both cognitive and communicative processes in stereotype maintenance and highlights the conditions under which they each operate.     

Aggression and self-esteem: a diary study of children's reactivity to negative interpersonal events

The study employs a daily diary design to assess self-esteem reactivity and its association with children's aggressive behavior. We test the hypothesis that the self-esteem of aggressive children will be more reactive to negative interpersonal events than the self-esteem of nonaggressive children. Results provide partial support for the aggression/reactivity hypothesis. Aggressive children's self-esteem was more reactive to negative peer events but less reactive to negative adult events than the self-esteem of less aggressive children. These findings are discussed in relation to the experimental literature relating self-esteem instability and ego-threat to aggression and in relation to the extensive body of research on childhood aggression. Intervention implications are also considered.     

Personality correlates of heroic rescue during the holocaust

This study investigated the extent to which personality variables can be used to discriminate non-Jewish heroes of the Holocaust from bystanders and from a comparison group of prewar European immigrants who left their countries of origin prior to World War II. Eighty verified rescuers, 73 bystanders, and 43 immigrants were administered measures of locus of control, autonomy, risk taking, social responsibility, tolerance/authoritarianism, empathy, and altruistic moral reasoning. A three-group discriminant function analysis was able to correctly classify 80.2% of the sample by a combination of personality and demographic variables. When the bystanders and immigrants, who differed very little from each other, were grouped together and compared to the rescuers, the personality variables alone correctly classified 93.1% of the sample. Implications regarding the relationship between personality and altruistic behavior, as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Individuality and social influence in groups: inductive and deductive routes to group identity

A distinction between forms of social identity formation in small interactive groups is investigated. In groups in which a common identity is available or given, norms for individual behavior may be deduced from group properties (deductive identity). In groups in which interpersonal relations are central, a group identity may also be induced from individual group members' contributions, making individuality and individual distinctiveness a defining feature of the group (inductive identity). Two studies examined the prediction that depersonalization produced by anonymity has opposite effects for groups in which social identity has been induced or deduced. Results confirmed the prediction that depersonalization increases social influence in groups whose identity was more deductive. In contrast, depersonalization decreases social influence in inductive identity groups. Implications for the role of social identity in small groups are discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).     

Striving for unwanted goals: stress-dependent discrepancies between explicit and implicit achievement motives reduce subjective well-being and increase psychosomatic symptoms

Three studies investigated the relevance of affect regulation, stressful life events, and congruence between explicit achievement orientation and implicit achievement motive for subjective well-being and symptom formation. According to personality systems interactions (PSI) theory, stressful life events were expected to reduce motive congruence when the ability to self-regulate affect was impaired (i.e., state orientation). Consistent with expectations, the State Orientation x Stress interaction predicted incongruence in healthy participants (Studies 1 and 3) and in patients (Study 2). Furthermore, incongruence partially mediated the direct State Orientation x Stress effect on subjective well-being (Studies 1 and 3) and the course of psychosomatic complaints over 3 months (Study 2). In Study 3, the experimental induction of threat reduced motive congruence in state-oriented participants compared with an acceptance condition. Findings underscore the importance of assessing motive congruence as a "hidden stressor" and validate a new operant multi-motive test.     

Dual scaling for the analysis of categorical data

Dual scaling is a set of related techniques for the analysis of a wide assortment of categorical data types including contingency tables and multiple-choice, rank order, and paired comparison data. When applied to a contingency table, dual scaling also goes by the name "correspondence analysis," and when applied to multiple-choice data in which there are more than 2 items, "optimal scaling" and "multiple correspondence analysis. " Our aim of this article was to explain in nontechnical terms what dual scaling offers to an analysis of contingency table and multiple-choice data.     

Relationships between critical thinking and attitudes toward women's roles in society

This exploratory study is the first examination of the relationships between critical thinking--as measured by subscales on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form S (WGCTA Form S; G. B. Watson & E. M. Glaser, 1994)-and attitudes toward women's roles in society--as measured by subscales on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS: J. T. Spence & R. L. Helmreich, 1972). The authors hypothesized that greater critical thinking skills would be associated with more liberal attitudes toward women's roles in society. Results from a sample of 90 nursing and management undergraduates supported the hypothesis. There were moderate correlations between scores from the WGCTA Form S Inference (.24 to .37) and Deduction (.19 to .26) subtests and scores from the AWS Freedom and Independence; Marital Relationships and Obligation; and Vocational, Educational, and Intellectual Roles subscales. These findings suggest that further research with larger samples and cross-cultural samples is warranted.     

Surgeons and the Spirit: A Study on the Relationship of Religiosity to Clinical Practice

This study aimed to identify the religious practices and beliefs of surgeons and the relationship between surgeons locus of control and religiosity. Thirty-five surgeons completed a survey that included items from the Duke University Religion Index, the Salesian Center Intrinsic Religiosity Scale for Clinicians, and Rotters Locus of Control Scale. Over 68% of sampled surgeons affirmed that their religious beliefs play a part in their practice, 47% attend religious services at least weekly, and 44% pray daily. There was no correlation between locus of control and religiosity. These results challenge the myth of the egocentric, agnostic surgeon.     

Gender subgroups and intergroup perception: adolescents' views of own-gender and other-gender groups

The authors examined intergroup bias and perceived group variability regarding gender subgroups relevant to the adolescent culture. Participants were 126 high school students, between 16 years and 19 years of age, who listed male and female subgroups, performed a series of group perception tasks, and, for each subgroup, indicated whether they themselves belonged to the group. Results showed that adolescents' perceptions of gender subgroups were subject to in-group favoritism and out-group derogation, as well as to group homogeneity effects. In line with predictions derived from Optimal Distinctiveness Theory, male and female participants favored in-groups over own-gender and other-gender out-groups and favored other-gender out-groups over own-gender outgroups. Ambivalence was particularly high with other-gender out-groups. The authors discussed implications for future research on the development of gender prejudice and for interventions to reduce prejudice.     

Acculturation and contact in Japanese students studying in the United Kingdom

Acculturation theory has been the dominant model that investigators use in examining the effects of transmigration. This theory indicates the problematic effects of intercultural contact in terms of adjustment and stress. One criticism of this theory, however, is its lack of integration with the more generic contact literature. This literature suggests that intergroup contact can have positive effects on intergroup relations. The authors presented a longitudinal study of 35 Japanese nationals living in the United Kingdom over a period of 12 months. The present results suggested that both conventional acculturation variables (e.g., language ability and perceived cultural distance) and intergroup variables (e.g., in-group bias and intergroup anxiety) were associated with acculturative stress and psychosomatic illness over time. Higher intergroup anxiety was associated with increased acculturative stress, whereas higher in-group bias was associated with reduced psychosomatic illness. The present results indicated the possibility that these variables add an important dimension to the acculturation literature.