Movement Synchrony Influences Intergroup Relations in a Minimal Groups Paradigm

Studies show that synchronizing movements with others encourages a collective social identity, leading to increased cooperation within a group. The current study investigated whether movement synchrony impacts social categorization and cooperation across intergroup boundaries. Two 3-person groups were brought together under movement synchrony conditions designed to emphasize different social categorizations of the aggregate: all individuals moved to the same beat, each minimal group moved to a different beat, or each individual moved to a different beat. Results demonstrate that movement synchrony influenced social categorization and cooperation across intergroup boundaries. Implications for approaches to intergroup relations using movement synchrony are noted.     

Generational Differences in Work Ethic: Fact or Fiction?

Even though stereotypes suggest that older generational cohorts (e.g., Baby Boomers) endorse higher levels of work ethic than younger generations (e.g., Millennials), both the academic literature and popular press have found mixed evidence as to whether or not generational differences actually exist. To examine whether generational differences exist in work ethic, a dataset was compiled (k = 105) of all published studies that provided an average sample age and average work ethic score, with each sample becoming an observation, and being assigned a generational cohort based upon the average age of the sample. Three hierarchical multiple regressions found no effect of generational cohort on work ethic endorsement. In two of the three phases, results found a main effect of sample type, such that industry samples had higher work ethic endorsement than student samples. Implications for applied practitioners and future research streams for generational and work ethic research are discussed.     

Folded Futurity: Epigenetic Plasticity,Temporality, and New Thresholds of Fetal Life

The life sciences are generating a transformative view of the biological body not as fixed and innate but as permeable to its environment and, therefore, plastic: development is open and malleable. Emblematic of these new sciences is environmental epigenetics, which investigates environmental factors that come into the body to shape expression of genes across the life course; prominent are environmental exposures during fetal development, which epigeneticists propose influence not only birth outcomes but also lifelong health. How does this new emphasis on permeability and plasticity during fetal development change how the fetus and fetal vulnerability are understood in the current scientific literature? Perspectives on genomic and reproductive temporality help conceptualize environmental epigenetics as a dynamic relationship between plasticity and determinism. This epigenetic temporality links past, present, and future in way that gives the fetus a keystone role as the vulnerable space-time of environmental epigenetics. Epigenetic temporality produces a new, folded futurity that brings multiple, future generations into the present, influenced by current environmental conditions. In doing this, epigenetics shifts thresholds of fetal vulnerability and intervention to incorporate other entities, including reproductive cells (gametes and primordial germ cells) and very young children. Epigenetic temporality folds in on itself, producing new versions of vulnerable, plastic life that require protection now, in the enduring present, even as the future toward which epigenetics is oriented constantly recedes.     

The Effects of Weight Loss Attempts, Exercise Initiation, and Dietary Practices on Health Related Quality of Life

This study (N = 98) randomly placed participants in either a higher protein or American Heart Association diet group with each group initiating an aerobic exercise program. Body composition (BC) was measured using four different methodologies (DEXA, BIA, skinfold, BMI) along with height and weight, while Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) changes were measured using the Medical Outcomes Short Form 36 (SF-36). There were no significant time/diet interactions in HRQOL scores, body fat measures, and weight with the exception of Role-Physical scores (p = .006) with posttest scores higher in participants in Diet 1. Role-Physical scores changed significantly in participants in Diet 1 (p = .0001) and Diet 2 (p = .026) with higher posttest scores in each group. Social functioning had a significant main effect for time in both groups with pretest scores in both diet groups lower than their respective posttest scores (p = .015). HRQOL pretest scores were not significantly different between groups at baseline (p = .56). ANOVA revealed no significant differences in average calories between groups (p = .88). Analysis revealed no differences in exercise in minutes (p = .66) nor statistically significant changes in BC or weight (p = .65). Conclusions: Improvements in HRQOL were demonstrated in two subscales related to physiological and psychological functioning. These novel findings add to literature suggesting that HRQOL, at least concerning social functioning, work and other daily activities (Role-Physical) may improve by initiating an exercise and dietary program even when weight loss or BC improvements have been unsuccessful.     

Smelling objects

Objects are central to perception and our interactions with the world. We perceive the world as parsed into discrete entities that instantiate particular properties, and these items capture our attention and shape how we interact with the environment. Recently there has been some debate about whether the sense of smell allows us to perceive odours as discrete objects, with some suggesting that olfaction is aspatial and doesn’t allow for object-individuation. This paper offers two empirically tractable criteria for assessing whether particular objects are exhibited in perceptual experience—(1) susceptibility to figure-ground segregation and (2) perceptual constancies—and argues that these criteria are fulfilled by olfactory perception, and thus there are olfactory objects. I argue that there are, in fact, two different ways that olfaction allows for figure-ground segregation. First, I look at various Gestalt grouping principles, which are thought to govern when features are perceived as grouped into structured wholes, segregated from everything around them. I argue that these principles apply to olfactory experience, providing evidence of non-spatial figure-ground segregation. Second, I defend the contentious idea that a spatial variety of figure-ground segregation can also occur in olfaction. To see this, however, we need to look to empirical evidence showing that tactile stimulation and bodily movements play a crucial role in olfactory phenomenology. Finally, I draw on empirical evidence and olfactory phenomenology to argue that there are perceptual constancies in olfactory experience, allowing us to perceive odours as coherent objects that survive shifts in our perspectives on the world.

     

Self-Objectification, Self-Esteem, and Gender: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

The purpose of the present research was to test the mediating roles of body shame and appearance anxiety in the relation between self-surveillance and self-esteem; and to investigate whether gender (male, female) and stereotypical gender roles (masculinity, femininity) moderated the proposed mediation model. Canadian undergraduate university men and women (n?=?198) completed measures of self-surveillance, gender, gender roles, body shame, appearance anxiety, and self-esteem. Regression analyses demonstrated that greater self-surveillance predicted lower self-esteem, and this relation was fully mediated by body shame and appearance anxiety. With the exception of masculinity interacting with self-surveillance to predict body shame and appearance anxiety, neither gender nor stereotypical gender roles moderated the proposed paths. Implications are discussed.     

Relations between risk perceptions and socio-political ideology are domain- and ideology- dependent

Public policy intended to address risks is largely determined by government officials who are typically elected by ‘the people’. Lay people presumably support political figures most likely to tackle the risks perceived as relevant. The present research investigated whether risk perceptions vary by risk domain and socio-political ideology. American community adults (N = 387) recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk completed measures of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), political conservatism, and perceived domain risks. Risk perceptions of conservatives versus liberals systematically differed by domain: Increases in political conservatism (vs. liberalism) and RWA were associated with perceiving “personal danger” hazards as more risky, whereas increases in SDO were associated with perceiving “competitive” hazards as less risky. A liberal-orientation was associated with heightened risk concerning collective (shared) hazards.     

The happy cyclist: Examining the association between generalized authoritarianism and subjective well-being

Although authoritarianism can negatively impact others (e.g., by predicting prejudiced intergroup attitudes), implications for the self are mixed and require clarification. Extending previous research, we examined the association between generalized authoritarianism (GA, indicated by right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation) and subjective well-being (SWB, indicated by positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) by testing simultaneously the general-level association between GA and SWB as well as specific residual associations between GA and SWB components, independent of basic personality dimensions. We observed a significant general-level association between GA and SWB whereby heightened authoritarianism predicted greater SWB. No residual associations were found between specific GA and SWB components. Despite being “bad” for others, generalized authoritarianism may be “good” for the self.     

From scapegoating to thinking and finding a home: delivering therapeutic work in schools

This paper discusses how the child psychotherapist's core skills can be usefully applied in a school setting. It outlines some of the important policy changes that have necessitated a move towards delivering therapeutic work in community settings such as schools. It is argued that the role of the child psychotherapist in schools has much in common with the role played by the psychotherapist in a therapeutic community. The paper suggests that therapy in schools is in many ways less simple than therapy in clinic settings, and in particular it is often unclear who exactly the client is and at what level to intervene when a referral is made. The referred patient is not necessarily the ‘problem’, so that the child psychotherapist must be prepared to tackle issues in the system to ensure that splitting and projection are reduced, and systems around children can become more containing. Clinical vignettes and one main clinical illustration are used to try to illustrate these points.