Scenting movie theatre commercials: The impact of scent and pictures on brand evaluations and ad recall

We utilize a novel advertising context—commercials seen in a simulated movie theater setting while ambient scent is emitted into the atmosphere—to explore the effects of multisensory cues on brand evaluation and advertising recall. Although both pictorial and olfactory cues enhance brand evaluations and ad recall overall, we find that olfactory (vs pictorial) cues generate more positive feelings toward the brand and enhance recall to a greater extent. We also find that, after a long time delay, re‐experiencing the scent activates pictures' ability to facilitate recall. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coalition or derogation? How perceived discrimination influences intraminority intergroup relations

Five studies explored how perceived societal discrimination against one's own racial group influences racial minority group members' attitudes toward other racial minorities. Examining Black-Latino relations, Studies 1a and 1b showed that perceived discrimination toward oneself and one's own racial group may be positively associated with expressed closeness and common fate with another racial minority group, especially if individuals attribute past experiences of discrimination to their racial identity rather than to other social identities (Study 1b). In Studies 2-5, Asian American (Studies 2, 3, and 4) and Latino (Study 5) participants were primed with discrimination against their respective racial groups (or not) and completed measures of attitudes toward Black Americans. Participants primed with racial discrimination expressed greater positivity toward and perceived similarity with Blacks than did participants who were not primed. These results suggest, consistent with the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000), that salient discrimination against one's own racial group may trigger a common "disadvantaged racial minority" (ingroup) identity that engenders more positive attitudes toward and feelings of closeness toward other racial minorities.     

Reactions to a survey among those who were and were not sexually assaulted while serving in the military

Surveys are among the most common methods for evaluating military sexual assault experiences among members of the U.S. military; however, little research has examined how receiving surveys about such sexual assaults might affect recipients. In the present sample of 530 active duty and veteran military personnel, just 10% reported unexpected upset, 11% reported regretting participation in the survey, and 22% reported benefitting from that participation overall. A minority of respondents with a history of sexual assault while in the military reported unexpected upset, although the prevalence was three times higher than that of participants without such history (24% vs 8%). There were no statistically significant differences in perceived regret and benefit of participation in the survey between those with and without a history of sexual assault while in the military. Although limited in number, male military sexual assault survivors (n = 8) were significantly more likely than female survivors to report being more upset by the survey than they had anticipated. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Indiscriminate behavior observed in the strange situation among institutionalized toddlers: Relations to caregiver report and to early family risk

Socially disinhibited or indiscriminate behavior (IB) has traditionally been investigated using caregiver reports. More recently, an observational measure based on the Strange Situation Procedure (M. Ainsworth, M. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978), the Rating of Infant and Stranger Engagement (RISE; C. Riley, A. Atlas‐Corbett, & K. Lyons‐Ruth, 2005), was validated in home‐reared at‐risk children. The present study aimed to validate the RISE in an institutionally reared sample using the caregiver report, to assess whether IB assessed with the RISE was elevated among the institutionalized children, and to explore potential risk factors associated with IB. The study was conducted among 74 institutionalized toddlers aged 11 to 30 months. Sociodemographic questionnaires were used to assess pre‐admission experiences, and aspects of institutional placement were coded from the children's files in the institution and staff's report. Institutionalized children displayed high frequencies of IB as assessed on the RISE, and this instrument was validated against caregiver report. Pre‐admission experiences of the institutionalized children in their biological families—namely, prenatal risk and maternal emotional neglect risk—predicted IB. Results suggest that the RISE is adequate to use among institutionally reared toddlers and point to aspects of the early familial environment that may be implicated in IB.     

Anti-fat Prejudice: The Role of Psychology in Explication, Education and Eradication

The field of psychology’s explication of anti-fat prejudice and its impact on psychological practice in the U.S. is reviewed. The medical perspective that obesity is itself a disease or a psychological disorder and that fat is the cause of various physical or mental health conditions is challenged and viewed as contributing to weight-based prejudice in the U.S. The role of psychology in educating students and future practitioners about anti-fat bias and research on the ineffectiveness of dieting is examined. Research documenting anti-fat bias in the diagnosis and treatment of fat female clients in the U.S. is reviewed, and potential solutions for eradicating anti-fat prejudice in the clinical practice of psychology, including alternatives to dieting for women, are described.