Group-centrism in the absence of group norms: The role of need for closure in social projection

The need for closure (NFC) promotes group-centrism, referring to the pursuit of a shared reality in a group, commonly achieved through conformity to and introjection of group norms. The present study expands this perspective by examining how NFC motivates projection of one’s own norms on groups, as an alternative means to achieve epistemic security in the absence of clear group norms. In Study 1 (N?=?261), individual differences in NFC predicted social projection onto an incidental crowd, providing evidence for the generic effect of NFC on social projection. In line with the assertion that the epistemic value of a collectivity is a function of the degree to which the collectivity matters for the individual, Study 2 (N?=?239) and Study 3 (N?=?223) revealed that NFC effects on social projection were strengthened for in-groups and disappeared for out-groups. Furthermore, mediation analyses demonstrated that essentialist entitativity beliefs mediate the relationship between NFC and in-group projection.     

The complexity of satisfiability for fragments of hybrid logic—Part I

The satisfiability problem of hybrid logics with the downarrow binder is known to be undecidable. This initiated a research program on decidable and tractable fragments.In this paper, we investigate the effect of restricting the propositional part of the language on decidability and on the complexity of the satisfiability problem over arbitrary, transitive, total frames, and frames based on equivalence relations. We also consider different sets of modal and hybrid operators. We trace the border of decidability and give the precise complexity of most fragments, in particular for all fragments including negation. For the monotone fragments, we are able to distinguish the easy from the hard cases, depending on the allowed set of operators.     

Broadening the individual differences lens on party support and voting behavior: Cynicism and prejudice as relevant attitudes referring to modern-day political alignments

Social-cultural and economic-hierarchical ideological attitudes have long been used to explain variation in political partisanship. We propose two additional, stable attitudes (political cynicism and ethnic prejudice) that may help in explaining contemporary political alignments. In a Belgian (N = 509) and Dutch sample (N = 628), we showed that party support can be segmented into four broad families: left, libertarian, traditionalist, and far-right parties. Both studies revealed that social-cultural and economic-hierarchical right-wing attitudes were negatively related to left party support and positively to libertarian, traditionalist and far-right support. Importantly, additional variance was consistently explained by political cynicism (lower libertarian and traditionalist support), ethnic prejudice (lower left support), or both (higher far-right support). Study 2 additionally demonstrated these patterns for self-reported voting.     

Generalisation of threat expectancy increases with time

Excessive fear generalisation is a feature characteristic of clinical anxiety and has been linked to its aetiology. Previous animal studies have shown that the mere passage of time increases fear generalisation and that brief exposure to training cues prior to long-term testing reverses this effect. The current study examined these phenomena in humans. Healthy participants learned the relationship between the presentation of a picture of a neutral male face and the delivery of a mild shock. One group was immediately tested with a novel picture of a somewhat different male face (generalisation test). Another group was tested one week later. A third group was also tested one week later and was additionally exposed to the training picture prior to testing. During picture presentations, shock-expectancy ratings were obtained as a measure of fear. Fear generalisation increased from the immediate test to the 1-week follow-up test. This result could not be attributed to level of neuroticism or a general increase in fear (incubation). Furthermore, the time-dependent increase in fear generalisation vanished following brief exposure to the training picture. Results indicate that human fear generalisation is a temporally dynamic process and that memory for stimulus details can be re-established following a reminder treatment.     

Attentional loads associated with interlimb interactions underlying rhythmic bimanual coordination

Studies of rhythmic bimanual coordination under dual-task conditions revealed (1) a dependence of secondary task performance on the stability of coordinative tasks, in that secondary task performance was better during in-phase than antiphase coordination, and (2) a shift in the mean relative phasing between the limbs compared to single-task conditions. The present study aimed to account for these phenomena by dissociating three qualitatively different interactions between the limbs that govern this motor behavior, related to movement planning, error correction, and interlimb reflex activity. The experiment probed the cognitive demands associated with each interlimb interaction by examining the attentional load under dual-task conditions, indexed by reaction times of the secondary task and kinematic changes in the coordinative tasks relative to single-task conditions. First, only in the condition that involved interlimb interactions at the level of movement planning reaction times were shorter for in-phase than for antiphase coordination, highlighting an intimate relation between movement planning and attentional processes. Second, under dual-task conditions a shift in the mean relative phase was observed relative to single-task conditions, but only for the interlimb interactions that depend directly on sensory feedback (error correction and interlimb reflex activity). These observations qualified the effects of attentional load reported in previous studies. Third, reaction times varied systematically over the movement cycle. These variations revealed a dynamical signature of the attentional load that differed between the three interlimb interactions.     

Labour market integration of refugees in Norway under changing macro-economic conditions

This paper describes the transition to ordinary employment among thirteen single-year cohorts of refugees who settled in Norway from 1987 to 1999. The refugees are observed once a year from 1992 to 1999 on the basis of register data. A central issue is how belonging to a certain settlement cohort, duration of residence in the receiving country, and observation period affect the chance of being employed. The effect of changing business cycles is also addressed. Earlier conceptions that macro-economic conditions at the time of settlement are more important for the chance of employment than duration of residence are tested and refuted.     

Micro-position effects in visual short term memory

Short-term memory for visually presented eight-digit numbers was tested in a forced recall, read-and-dial task. The digits were presented non-grouped or grouped in 2+2+2+2 or 2+3+3 digit formats. Spatial grouping enhanced memory performance and produced local discontinuities in the serial position curves related to grouping format. These micro-position effects are explained in terms of the relative spatial distinctiveness of individual digits.     

Relationships Between Social Support, Social Coping and Life Events in the Relapse of Schizophrenic Patients

The vulnerability-stress model for schizophrenia posits that relapses are at least partly determined by interacting triggering and protecting psychosocial factors. This study examined social support and general coping style in 42 consecutively admitted DSM:III schizophrenic patients, who were followed prospectively for up to four years. In a second part of the study, a subgroup of the patients were interviewed using the Life Event and Difficulty Schedule 9 months after discharge or at relapse. Patients contented with low social integration had a higher relapse rate over four years than patients lacking of social provisions, but wanting more. We found an excess of life events three weeks before relapse compared to events reported in the non-relapsing group. Suggesting a buffering effect of social factors, time between life event and relapse was significantly extended among patients with a high availability of attachment and a coping strategy characterised of active support seeking.     

Assessment of fear of fear among Agoraphobic patients: The Agoraphobic Cognitions Scale

A self-report scale for the measurement of fear of fear, the Agoraphobic Cognitions Scale (ACS), was psychometrically evaluated. Two samples of inpatients satisfying DSM-III-R criteria for unipolar depressive and/or anxiety disorder were studied. Intercorrelational and factor analyses indicated that the ACS measured three dimensions of fear of fear: fear of bodily incapacitation, fear of losing control, and fear of acting embarrassingly. Three subscales were constructed to measure these dimensions. The subscales proved to have satisfactory internal consistency and criterion-related validity. However, fear of losing control was related not only to other anxiety symptoms, but also to depressive symptomatology. Agoraphobic patients reported more fear of bodily incapacitation and fear of losing control than social phobic, generally anxious, and nonanxious depressed patients. Fear of embarrassing action was higher among agoraphobic and social phobic patients than among generally anxious and nonanxious depressed patients. These results were obtained after controlling for general anxiety and depression level and, thus, support the validity of the fear of fear construct.