Group Size and the Trajectory of Religious Identification

The relative size of religious groups or denominations within societies or nations influences variation in the extent to which group members psychologically identify with their religion. National‐level census data measuring the proportional size of religious groups in New Zealand are merged with nationally representative data on self‐reported psychological identification drawn from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. A multilevel random coefficient model shows a logarithmic function for the relationship between religious group size and average group‐level religious identification. Members of smaller religious groups (less than 1.5 percent of the population) tend to strongly identify with their religion, whereas members of groups that are larger in size (over 6 percent of the population) tend to be less identified, on average. Religious group cohesion may be a dynamic process. Larger religious groups are less cohesive and experience more contested identities and ideological positions (average group identification is lower).     

Conséquences et corrélats associés au soutien de l’autonomie dans divers domaines de vie

Self-determination theory (0160 and 0170) suggests that autonomy-supportive environments, where one's perspective is considered, feelings are recognized, meaningful informations are given, and opportunities for choice are provided, promote optimal functioning. Many studies show that autonomy support leads to positive affective, cognitive, and behavioral consequences. However, this body of research is little known because studies are scattered throughout various research fields and no review of the overall positive impact of autonomy support in various life domains is available. This literature review presents studies on this interpersonal style in five life domains.     

Fear of the drunk driver: Analysis of an emergent social problem

This paper analyzes public perceptions of drunk driving with respect to risk of being victimized, seriousness of the offense, and fear of being victimized. This is based on a state‐wide survey of Louisiana driver's license holders. Compared to other crimes, even murder and rape, it was found that drunk driving ranked highest in its fear invoking quality. An argument is made that this phenomenon should be interpreted from a theoretical standpoint viewing the crimi‐nalization process as a form of collective behavior. Implications for understanding fear of crime as a function of perceived risk and seriousness are discussed, and the implications of the findings for understanding of further legislation and policy action against drunk driving is examined.     

Un jury sous influence : l’impact des affects, du type d’expertise et des circonstances aggravantes sur l’activité décisionnelle des jurés

We investigated the effects of three variables on jurors' verdict and sentence concerning a motorist responsible for the accidental death a man. Specifically, we assessed the effects of some aggravating circumstances, and those of two extra legal variables, namely, the nature of the feelings presumably expressed by the accident perpetrator regarding the victim, and the content of a medical and psychological expertise about him. The perpetrator was given a harsher sentence, assigned a negative identity, and was the target of little identification when he was submitted to a biological expertise, said to have displayed some indifference regarding the victim, and when he was charged with aggravating circumstances. Conversely, when the accused showed some sadness, he received a lenient sentence, especially in the absence of aggravating circumstances.     

Gender Typed Advertisements and Impression Formation: The Role of Chronic and Temporary Accessibility

In this research, we tested the effects of chronic and temporary sources of accessibility on impression formation. Although some research suggests that chronicity amplifies temporary effects because of greater susceptibility to external primes, other research suggests that chronicity masks temporary effects because of redundance. We demonstrate in a thought listing study that in the domain of gender stereotypes, trait stereotypes may be routinely applied by those with a medium or high tendency to stereotype women, making external primes redundant. Based on this redundancy, we proposed that gender stereotypical primes will have little influence on subsequent judgments of those with a medium or high tendency to gender stereotype. In contrast, gender stereotypical primes will result in the classic assimilation effect for those with a low tendency to gender stereotype. We tested these propositions in the domain of female role portrayals in advertising and examined the effect of advertisements that feature women as homemakers (vs. do not feature women) on trait judgments of a target woman whose behaviors are ambiguously described. Results from 2 experiments show that, as predicted by the redundancy hypothesis, judgments of medium and high tendency to stereotype participants are not affected by advertisements portraying homemakers. Also as expected, judgments of low tendency to stereotype participants are assimilated to the homemaker prime. These results hold across tendency to trait stereotype (Experiment 1) and tendency to role stereotype (Experiment 2) and for trait judgments as well as gift choice. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

A simple technique to study embodied language processes: the grip force sensor

Research in cognitive neuroscience has shown that brain structures serving perceptual, emotional, and motor processes are also recruited during the understanding of language when it refers to emotion, perception, and action. However, the exact linguistic and extralinguistic conditions under which such language-induced activity in modality-specific cortex is triggered are not yet well understood. The purpose of this study is to introduce a simple experimental technique that allows for the online measure of language-induced activity in motor structures of the brain. This technique consists in the use of a grip force sensor that captures subtle grip force variations while participants listen to words and sentences. Since grip force reflects activity in motor brain structures, the continuous monitoring of force fluctuations provides a fine-grained estimation of motor activity across time. In other terms, this method allows for both localization of the source of language-induced activity to motor brain structures and high temporal resolution of the recorded data. To facilitate comparison of the data to be collected with this tool, we present two experiments that describe in detail the technical setup, the nature of the recorded data, and the analyses (including justification about the data filtering and artifact rejection) that we applied. We also discuss how the tool could be used in other domains of behavioral research.