Doddering but dear … even in the eyes of young children? Age stereotyping and prejudice in childhood and adolescence

This study aims to explore age prejudice, and to examine age stereotyping in children and adolescents by adopting the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) as a theoretical framework. It was hypothesised that children are socialised into adopting an ambivalent representation of old age (socialisation hypothesis) and that this cognitive bias becomes weaker in adolescence due to greater cognitive maturity (developmental hypothesis). By analysing representative data from Portugal (European Social Survey; N = 2367), it was ascertained that the ambivalent age stereotype (higher evaluations of warmth than competence for older people) is indeed a shared social representation of older people in Portuguese society. A total of 103 Portuguese children (6–10 year olds) and adolescents (11–15 year olds) were then sampled from a local school and responded to age‐appropriate measures assessing age prejudice as well as age stereotypes. Contrary to previous studies, the findings do not provide evidence for the existence of age prejudice because both children and adolescents reported positive feelings towards older people. However, the socialisation hypothesis was corroborated by showing that the ambivalent old age stereotype was already present in childhood. Contrary to the stipulated developmental hypothesis, the magnitude of this cognitive bias was very similar in adolescence.     

Justice for whom, exactly? Beliefs in justice for the self and various others

The present studies examine why people think the world is more just to themselves than to others generally. Beliefs in justice for the self were uniquely associated with psychological adjustment, consistent with the theoretical motive to believe in justice for the self (Studies 1 and 2). However, this "justice motive" did not appear to affect the relative strength of justice beliefs. Instead, self-other differences in justice beliefs appeared to reflect objective assessments of the justice received by various demographics. Undergraduates believed the world to be more just to themselves than to others but not their undergraduate peers specifically (Study 1). Participants of both genders believed the world to be more just to men, and to themselves, than to women (Study 2). Women did not exempt themselves individually from injustice but believed, similar to men, that undergraduate women receive as much justice as men (Study 3).     

Validity study of the Moral Judgment Test in Physical Education: development and preliminary validation

Teaching ethical behavior is an aspect of physical education. The purpose of the study was to present the construction and to estimate validity of a test which assesses physical education students' moral judgment, the Moral Judgment Test in Physical Education. The sample comprised 281 male and female participants (95 in Grades 7 to 9, 92 in Grades 10 to 12, and 94 university students), who completed Lind's Moral Judgment Test and the Moral Judgment Test-PE version. The validity of the latter was assessed using four criteria of Lind's moral theory. Analysis indicated that the Moral Judgment Test-PE had adequate construct validity and correlated positively, although relatively weakly, with the original test, so the new version has sufficient construct validity to be used in physical education.     

Philosophical dialogues as paths to a more ‘positive psychology’

Although family support programmes have been in place for several decades in Greece very little attention has been paid to evaluating the effectiveness of such endeavours, the techniques that influence their outcomes and the receptiveness to their messages. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of research findings collected during the first qualitative research phase of a community mental health promotion project. The research was conducted in order to delineate programme outcomes and the characteristics that had an impact on the participants' lives. The 3‐month family support programme intended to introduce ‘philosophical dialogues’ as means to developing personal and communal understandings of what makes life worth living. The programme was developed and implemented on Crete under the auspices of a non‐profit community organization appropriately named ‘The Lyceum for Women’. The features of the programme that contributed and enhanced the participants' tendencies to become not passive targets but active partners and stakeholders in the process will be clarified, as will the conceptualization and approach. Of the 45 evaluation protocols that were analysed the following themes were most important for the participants: ‘Group as‐a‐whole process’—the sense of sharing and development understandings in a ‘parea’ (in‐group); ‘relational outcomes’—feeling of belonging, ‘reciprocated kindness’, and giving of self to others; personal and emotional outcomes‐self‐efficacy and empowerment; knowledge outcomes‐learning about positive emotions and enjoying the simple things in life; and group facilitator outcomes‐sharing stories, ‘gives of self to the community’. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High school students’ suggestions for supporting younger pupils counteract cyberbullying

This study's aim was to explore high school students’ suggestions for supporting younger pupils prevent and deal with cyberbullying. Seventy-eight high school students participated in 11 focus groups, and had many concrete suggestions for ways they could support younger pupils against cyberbullying. The suggestions covered a range of activities, for instance advising younger pupils on how to avoid becoming victims of cyberbullying by teaching them netiquette. Furthermore, the students were positive toward involving adults in counteracting cyberbullying among younger pupils, for example educating younger pupils’ parents about cyberbullying. Moreover, the students suggested that they could show support for victims of cyberbullying by taking on the role of a friend when a younger pupil is cyberbullied and spend time with her/him during breaks. They also had ideas about supporting younger pupils in getting cyberbullies to stop, for instance by teaching the younger pupils technical skills for dealing with the cyberbullying on the Internet. To conclude, the findings in this study indicate that high school students want to be involved in supporting younger pupils against cyberbullying, and have many concrete suggestions for how this can be done. These findings have implications for counteracting cyberbullying in schools.     

Aggressive and socially insecure behaviors in kindergarten and elementary school students: a comparative study concerning gender,age and geographical background of children in Northern Greece

Social Psychology of Education - Aggression and social insecurity in children have received a lot of attention in recent research. In the current study the purpose was to examine whether specific...     

The New Paradigm in The Light of Ancient Hermetic Teachings

The information explosion we are witnessing nowadays not only entails a convergence of scientific discipline borderlines, but also means that teachings from long gone eras are becoming ever more clear. This study shows that the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus are only rendered truly comprehensible through the findings of postmodern science. A closer look at the Hermetic axioms reveals that they communicate significant scientific knowledge, although their terminology is reflective of the era in which they were created. These ancient concepts show essential differences from what classical physics teaches, much rather correlating with the results of quantum physics.     

The greatest magic of Harry Potter: Reducing prejudice

Recent research shows that extended contact via story reading is a powerful strategy to improve out‐group attitudes. We conducted three studies to test whether extended contact through reading the popular best‐selling books of Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups (immigrants, homosexuals, refugees). Results from one experimental intervention with elementary school children and from two cross‐sectional studies with high school and university students (in Italy and United Kingdom) supported our main hypothesis. Identification with the main character (i.e., Harry Potter) and disidentification from the negative character (i.e., Voldemort) moderated the effect. Perspective taking emerged as the process allowing attitude improvement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed in the context of extended intergroup contact and social cognitive theory.     

The Greek Referendum Vote of 2015 as a Paradoxical Communicative Practice: A Narrative,Future‐Making Approach

This article adopts a pragmatic‐communicative approach, derived from Gregory Bateson's cybernetic theory, to the Greek Referendum Vote of 2015. Applying this approach, we interpret the Referendum as a double‐bind situation. Our research question is twofold: (1) How do potential Greek voters discursively construct the Referendum? (2) How do they respond to the communicative situation posed? A total of 124 written narratives, “Letters from the Future,” written by 99 participants, were collected during the days prior to the vote. Their letters focused on a desired future situation after a YES or a NO vote outcome. Qualitative analysis showed how the letters were used to appropriate the Referendum query in a unique and deeply personalized manner. Moreover, we identified four types of responses to the ambivalent query: confirmation, rejection, disconfirmation, and meta‐communication. These responses are indicative of the psychological and emotional burden posed by the query and of ways people responded to the query. In conclusion, we reflect on the importance of recognizing the psychological dimension of the vote, the role of narratives from the future for personal and social transformation, and the wider relevance of the proposed future‐making, pragmatic approach to other Referendum situations.