Studies in group decision I: Social space,patterns of communication and group concensus

The discovery of the effects of risky shift focusses the interest on the study of decision processes. Nevertheless the researches carried on until now have always shown confusion between the theoretical and experimental analysis of these processes and the risk-related behavior. In the first part of the article the authors try to clear this confusion as well as to define the conditions of a systematic study of the mechanisms of decision leading either to an averaging or to a polarization of individual views. The authors insist on the necessity to compare groups rather than individuals to groups. To start with, one hypothesis concerning the effects of group organization on the degree of polarization of views is proposed. The experiment described in the second part of the article confirms the hypothesis: A group in which individuals have the possibility to communicate with each other and to interact directly take more extreme decisions than a group deprived of this possibility. It is presumptuous and inexact to state that groups take more extreme risk than individuals whereas it is right to say that certain groups take risks when circumstances are favorable.     

Culture, gender, and the self: variations and impact of social comparison processes

Psychological differences between women and men, far from being invariant as a biological explanation would suggest, fluctuate in magnitude across cultures. Moreover, contrary to the implications of some theoretical perspectives, gender differences in personality, values, and emotions are not smaller, but larger, in American and European cultures, in which greater progress has been made toward gender equality. This research on gender differences in self-construals involving 950 participants from 5 nations/cultures (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Malaysia) illustrates how variations in social comparison processes across cultures can explain why gender differences are stronger in Western cultures. Gender differences in the self are a product of self-stereotyping, which occurs when between-gender social comparisons are made. These social comparisons are more likely, and exert a greater impact, in Western nations. Both correlational and experimental evidence supports this explanation.     

The movement-induced self-reference effect: enhancing memorability through movement toward the self

Much evidence suggests that bodily actions affect cognitive states. In particular, pulling owned objects toward the self improves memory for those objects compared to memory for objects pushed away from the self. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the effect of incidental joystick movement on static stimuli, hypothesizing that using the physical self (rather than a computer monitor) as a reference point would enhance memory for items categorized via a toward-the-self action but not toward-the-computer-monitor action. Experiment 3 examined whether movement toward an external representation of self, one’s cellular phone, would enhance memory compared to the same movement toward an unfamiliar phone. Recognition memory was enhanced for both words and pictures evaluated during movements toward a representation of the self, regardless of whether the representation was a physical self or a disembodied self. Furthermore, movement toward the self enhanced memory, rather than movement away from the self depressing memory. These results suggest that self-referential processing can be induced by an approach motor action and impact episodic memory regardless of intention to learn, stimulus type, or motion of the stimuli. They also suggest that self-referential memory advantage can be disembodied.     

Preventive intervention strategies with hard-to-reach mothers: A collaboration between midwives and psychotherapists

Maternal refusal of psychiatric services can pose a problem for both the family and mental health practitioners. With a sample of mothers who had refused psychiatric services in the past, the present study examined the effectiveness of initiating and maintaining mental health services when midwives acted as mediators. After the midwives had developed a relationship with the mothers, suggestions for mental health services were made again. For part of the sample, therapists accompanied the midwife on a home visit and scheduled subsequent therapy sessions in the home. For the remaining subjects, referrals were made to the local community mental health center. Results indicated substantially greater success in both the initiation and maintenance of therapy when midwives acted as mediators and therapy continued in the home.