Intergroup emotions and gateway groups: Introducing multiple social identities into the study of emotions in conflict

After 2 decades of extensive empirical studies on affective intergroup processes, it is now clear that emotional processes play a critical role in the dynamics of intergroup conflict. However, it seems that much of the research in this domain views intergroup relations in a dichotomous manner of pure in‐groups and out‐groups despite the developments in the realm of social identity that suggest otherwise. We here suggest that the incorporation of more complex social identity models into the study of affective social science can not only help to better understand intergroup conflict dynamics but can also offer new possible venues for conflict resolution. Specifically, we claim that the presence of groups with multiple identities, which include both the in‐group's and the out‐group's identity (e.g., biracial groups that encompass both a White and a Black social identity) can impact intergroup emotional processes between the different groups comprising those multiple identities (e.g., between Whites and Blacks). Accordingly, we review recent developments in the literatures of emotion in intergroup conflict and multiple social identity and offer a conceptual integration of the two. Thus, we attempt to enrich the theory in both fields, better explain intergroup conflict, and possibly pave the way for the development of novel conflict resolution methods.     

Object files across eye movements: Previous fixations affect the latencies of corrective saccades

One of the factors contributing to a seamless visual experience is object correspondence—that is, the integration of pre- and postsaccadic visual object information into one representation. Previous research had suggested that before the execution of a saccade, a target object is loaded into visual working memory and subsequently is used to locate the target object after the saccade. Until now, studies on object correspondence have not taken previous fixations into account. In the present study, we investigated the influence of previously fixated information on object correspondence. To this end, we adapted a gaze correction paradigm in which a saccade was executed toward either a previously fixated or a novel target. During the saccade, the stimuli were displaced such that the participant’s gaze landed between the target stimulus and a distractor. Participants then executed a corrective saccade to the target. The results indicated that these corrective saccades had lower latencies toward previously fixated than toward nonfixated targets, indicating object-specific facilitation. In two follow-up experiments, we showed that presaccadic spatial and object (surface feature) information can contribute separately to the execution of a corrective saccade, as well as in conjunction. Whereas the execution of a corrective saccade to a previously fixated target object at a previously fixated location is slowed down (i.e., inhibition of return), corrective saccades toward either a previously fixated target object or a previously fixated location are facilitated. We concluded that corrective saccades are executed on the basis of object files rather than of unintegrated feature information.     

On the emergence of deprivation-reducing behaviors: Subliminal priming of behavior representations turns deprivation into motivation

Building on recent research into the emergence of human motivation and goal pursuit in the absence of the conscious awareness of the source of this pursuit, the present article aimed to shed light on how states of deprivation (e.g., deprivation of fluid) actually produce the motivation and corresponding behavior that lifts the deprivation. Two studies established that when participants were relatively deprived of fluids, they experienced enhanced motivation to drink and consumed more fluid in an alleged tasting test, and these effects were more pronounced when the concept of drinking was rendered accessible by subliminal priming. These results suggest that specific motivational goal states and corresponding behaviors do not arise directly from deprivation per se, but that accessible goal-related cognitions play a role in this process. Implications for theory and research on deprivation and non-conscious goal pursuit are briefly discussed.     

Effects of prime-target spatial separation and attentional deployment on masked repetition priming

In two masked repetition priming experiments with letter stimuli, the positions of prime and target stimuli were varied horizontally from fixation. Priming effects did not interact with position when prime and target location covaried (Experiment 1A) but diminished with increasing prime eccentricity when targets were always centrally located (Experiment 1B). Two accounts of this pattern of priming effects were proposed that postulate two different mechanisms over and above effects of visual acuity. The integration account postulates degree of separation of prime and target stimuli as the critical factor, and the attentional account postulates spatial attention as the critical factor. The results of Experiment 2, in which prime and target positions were manipulated orthogonally, were in favor of the attentional account. Repetition priming did not vary as a function of whether or not primes and targets appeared at the same location, but target processing was facilitated independently of priming when targets appeared at the same location as primes, especially in the right visual field.     

The effects of a task-irrelevant visual event on spatial working memory

In the present experiment, we investigated whether the memory of a location is affected by the occurrence of an irrelevant visual event. Participants had to memorize the location of a dot. During the retention interval, a task-irrelevant stimulus was presented with abrupt onset somewhere in the visual field. Results showed that the spatial memory representation was affected by the occurrence of the external irrelevant event relative to a control condition in which there was no external event. Specifically, the memorized location was shifted toward the location of the task-irrelevant stimulus. This effect was only present when the onset was close in space to the memory representation. These findings suggest that the “internal” spatial map used for keeping a location in spatial working memory and the “external” spatial map that is affected by exogenous events in the outside world are either the same or tightly linked.     

Do self-statements enhance the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy? A comparative evaluation in acrophobia.

There is a clear need for more detailed analysis of the role of cognitive self-statements in virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET). To date, no research on this topic has been done. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether coping self-statements would enhance the effectiveness of VRET. In a randomized crossover design, 26 patients with acrophobia (DSM-IV diagnosis of specific phobia) were randomly assigned to two sessions of VRET followed by two sessions of VRET plus coping self-statements, or the other way around: first two sessions of VRET plus coping self-statements followed by two sessions of VRET. Results showed that VRET, regardless of addition of coping self-statements, decreased anxiety of heights, decreased avoidance of height situations, and improved attitudes towards heights. However, at 6-month follow-up, most gains during treatment were not fully retained.     

Going against the grain: regulatory focus and interference by task-irrelevant information

In this study it is argued that a perceiver's regulatory focus (promotion or prevention) influences the amount of attention allocated to processing stimuli from the environment. Results of two experiments, employing an interference task and using different manipulations of regulatory focus, supported this idea. More attention was allocated to stimuli incompatible with the activated focus (promotion-negative stimuli, prevention-positive stimuli). The incompatible stimuli therefore interfered more with an ongoing task than compatible stimuli. These results are discussed in terms of processing efficiency and integrated with motor-compatibility effects.     

Proclus on the order of philosophy of nature

In this paper I show that Proclus is an adherent of the Classical Model of Science as set out elsewhere in this issue (de Jong and Betti 2008), and that he adjusts certain conditions of the Model to his Neoplatonic epistemology and metaphysics. In order to show this, I develop a case study concerning philosophy of nature, which, despite its unstable subject matter, Proclus considers to be a science. To give this science a firm foundation Proclus distills from Plato’s Timaeus the basic concepts Being and Becoming and a number of basic propositions, among others the quasi-definitions of the basic concepts. He subsequently explains the use of these quasi-definitions, that are actually epistemic guides, in such a way that he obtains a connection between a rational and an empirical approach to the natural world. A crucial task in establishing the connection is performed by the faculty of doxa and by geometrical conversion. The result is that Proclus secures a universal, necessary and known foundation for all of philosophy of nature.     

Integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for: A further extension of the Social Identity Model of Collective Action

Collective action refers to any action that individuals undertake as group members to pursue group goals such as social change. In this chapter, we further extend the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA) by including not just (politicised) identity but also moral motivations into its core, effectively integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for. Conceptually, we utilise self-categorisation theory’s notion of normative fit to elaborate this special relationship between the moral and identity motivations for collective action. Empirically, we review two research projects (the experimental and survey-based Value-Identity Fit Project and the longitudinal Politicisation Project) that both suggest that the SIMCA needs to be extended to include, both conceptually and empirically, a broader range of (violated) moral beliefs and a focus on identity content. We discuss key implications of expanding the core of the SIMCA for the social psychology of collective action and social change, and suggest new directions for future theorising and research in this field.