Beliefs about group malleability and out‐group attitudes: The mediating role of perceived threat in interactions with out‐group members

Recent research suggests that inducing fixed (rather than malleable) beliefs about groups leads to more negative attitudes toward out‐groups. The present paper identifies the underlying mechanism of this effect. We show that individuals with a fixed belief about groups tend to construe intergroup settings as threatening situations that might reveal shortcomings of their in‐group (perceived threat). In the present research, we measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2) participants' lay theories about group malleability. We found that the extent to which individuals had an entity (versus an incremental) group theory influenced the level of threat they felt when interacting with out‐group members, and that perceived threat in turn affected their level of ethnocentrism and prejudice. These findings shed new light on the role of lay theories in intergroup attitudes and suggest new ways to reduce prejudice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

To Pass or Not to Pass: A Mathematical Model for Competitive Interactions in Rugby Union

ABSTRACT. Predicting behavior has been a main challenge in human movement science. An important step within the theory of coordination dynamics is to find out the rules that govern human behavior by defining order parameters and control parameters that support mathematical models to predict the behavior of a system. Models to describe human coordination have been focused on interlimb coordination and on interpersonal coordination in affiliative tasks but not on competitive tasks. This article aims to present a formal model with two attractors to describe the interactive behavior on a 2v1 system in rugby union. Interpersonal distance and relative velocity critical values were empirically identified and were included as task constraints that define the attractor landscape. It is shown that using relative velocity as a control parameter the model offers reasonable prediction concerning the decision-making process. The model has the plasticity to adapt to other settings where interpersonal distances and relative velocities amongst system components act as significant task constraints.     

Sustainable Technologies and Transdisciplinary Futures: From Collaborative Design to Digital Fabrication

This paper argues for hands-on, contextual and problem-solving collaborations, that is, for a transdisciplinary approach that establishes direct connections between social and technical disciplines. It is based on our experience as a team of researchers at the Vitruvius Fab Lab (Digital Fabrication Laboratory) of ISCTE-IUL (University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal). The paper presents a particular research and learning initiative–STTF2013 Summer School ‘Sustainable Technologies and Transdisciplinary Futures: From Collaborative Design to Digital Fabrication’, which served as a testbed for our transdisciplinary, critical and open approach. We address its rationale and main challenges, while also discussing recommendations for other transdisciplinary projects striving to integrate social and technical disciplines in research and innovation.     

Psychological intervention with couples coping with breast cancer: A systematic review

Objective: Information about psychological intervention with couples coping with breast cancer is not well-disseminated. This can be explained, at least in part, by the absence of knowledge about the efficacy of this kind of intervention. The aim of the present systematic review is to identify and describe psychological interventions for couples coping with breast cancer and evaluate their efficacy.

Design: Studies identified by a searching multiple literature databases related to health and psychology between 1975 and 2013. Rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria were utilised.

Results: Of 129 abstracts, 13 were extracted for further analysis and a final ten studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. Data were extracted from each study regarding study sample characteristics, design, results and methodological limitations. The results obtained were mixed in regard to efficacy, although the overwhelming majority of studies (eight studies) found benefits for both women and their partners in some dimensions, such as quality of life, psychological distress, relationship functioning and physical symptoms associated with cancer.

Conclusion: Psychological interventions for couples coping with breast cancer appear to be effective for both women and their partners. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of couple-based interventions and, to identify for whom and how they are more effective.