How are social identities linked to self-conception and intergroup orientation? The moderating effect of implicit theories

Social identity approaches assume that social identification affects both self-conception and intergroup orientation. The authors contend that such social identification effects are accentuated when people hold a fixed view of human character and attribute immutable dispositions to social groups. To these individuals, social identities are immutable, concrete entities capable of guiding self-conception and intergroup orientation. Social identification effects are attenuated when people hold a malleable view of human character and thus do not view social identities as fixed, concrete entities. The authors tested and found support for this contention in three studies that were conducted in the context of the Hong Kong 1997 political transition, and discussed the findings in terms of their implications for self-conceptions and the meaning of social identification.     

Two Envelopes and Binding

This paper describes a way of defending a modification of Eckhardt's [2013] solution to the Two Envelopes Paradox. The defence is based on ideas from Arntzenius, Elga, and Hawthorne [2004].     

Linking self and ingroup: Self‐anchoring as distinctive cognitive route to social identification

The present paper investigates how cognitive projection processes instigate social identification. We complement the classical self‐stereotyping approach (i.e., conforming to prototypical group norms) by investigating self‐anchoring (i.e., projection from self to group) as a distinct cognitive route to social identification. Self‐anchoring has mainly been investigated as predictor of intergroup differentiation. Surprisingly, no reliable link has been provided yet between self‐anchoring and social identification. In Study 1, we provide first evidence for this positive link. In Study 2, we add self‐stereotyping to our model and show that self‐anchoring is still positively related to social identification when controlling for self‐stereotyping. Additionally, we show that self‐anchoring is positively related to affective components of identification, while self‐stereotyping is positively related to cognitive components. Moreover, we examined the impact of self‐concept stability on self‐anchoring. Self‐concept stability was positively related to self‐anchoring, and hence to social identification (Study 1), independently from self‐stereotyping (Study 2). In the discussion, we argue that disentangling self‐anchoring from self‐stereotyping is important as it increases our insight in how people identify, and how this may vary depending on self‐concept and group context. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scaling space with the mirror illusion: The influence of body plasticity on perceived affordances

How do body representations influence decisions about action? We developed a novel paradigm using the mirror illusion (Holmes, Crozier, & Spence, in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 4, 193–200, 2004) to examine two ways of evoking body plasticity—extension of body capabilities and visual capture—and its influence on perceived affordances. In two experiments, we manipulated the action capabilities of a seen left hand by lengthening the arm with a rod (Exp. 1) or enlarging the hand with a glove (Exp. 2). The right hand was unaltered physically and was occluded by placement in a mirror box. We induced visual capture through synchronous finger movements of both hands. Right-hand estimates of reaching and of fitting through apertures increased relative to actual capabilities during visual capture, supporting the claim that visual capture can induce the incorporation of an apparent body extension into action decisions. The results suggest that both perceptual and cognitive influences on bodily awareness underlie perceived affordances.     

Constructions of Mexican American family grief after the death of a child: an exploratory study

Using a collective case study ethnographic approach, nine individuals comprising three Mexican American families were interviewed about their family bereavement experiences after the death of a child. All families were Catholic, had surviving siblings, and had had three or more years to grieve their loss when interviewed. The deceased children ranged in age from 3 to 14, and all experienced sudden, traumatic, nonsuicide deaths. To provide a broader, contextual picture of their grief experiences, four individuals who supported these family members after the loss were also interviewed. Unique grief experiences were identified, and eight common themes emerged, reflecting the ways in which family members maintained their bond to the deceased: dreams, storytelling, keepsakes, sense of presence, faith-based connections, proximity connections, ongoing rituals, and pictorial remembrances. The cultural implications of family bereavement are highlighted.     

Choosing among alternative parties to be sponsored for supporting brand strategies,based upon emotional responses

• In recent years, much research has been concerned with the effects of sponsorships and the possible advantages a company can gain from engaging in sponsoring activities. Recently focus has been on the role, that sponsoring plays in branding strategy. Here it becomes important to understand exactly what a potential party to be sponsored contributes to the perception of a brand or a company. In this paper, the aim has been reversed to focus on the sponsored party. We propose a number of measurements to determine emotional responses and overall evaluations associated with a sponsored party who is a part of a sponsorship agreement with a company. Four different groups of parties to be sponsored are investigated: social aid organisations, culture, sport and TV‐programmes. Several interesting results emerged from this study; the parties to be sponsored were evaluated very differently on the dimensions used in the study and it is shown that a company can gain very different results depending on the type of object to choose to sponsor. Furthermore, it was shown that the overall evaluation of a party to be sponsored to a large extent is determined by emotions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.