Advancing the Applied Psychology of Inclusion and Diversity: A Special Issue by Fons van de Vijver

This introduction to the special issue outlines key issues in research on inclusion—as the process of recognizing an individual’s needs for both belonging and distinctiveness. Whereas past research often focuses on diversity in relation to discrimination, this special issue attempts to offer a positive lens and asks how we can build inclusive societies. The answers range from emphasizing similarities based on multiple group memberships (intersectionality); creating inclusive workplaces by nurturing leadership that is authentic, respectful, creating belonging and valuing individuals’ unique contributions (ideas, skills, etc.); to developing bridging social capital as a means of cultural integration (vs. separation). The methodological approaches employed by the contributions in this special issue include an experimental vignette study, comparative studies of different ethnicities within a country and cross-culturally comparative work spanning multiple countries. The special issue is dedicated to the memory of Fons van de Vijver, who had initiated the special issue and sadly died last year.     

Einprägen und Aktivierung bei gleichzeitiger Variation der Absichtlichkeit des Lernens und der Ich-Bezogenheit des Lernstoffs

Zusammenfassung Eine Gruppe von Wörtern mit höherer Ich-Bezogenheit und eine von Wörtern mit niedrigerer Ich-Bezogenheit war einmal absichtlich, einmal beiläufig einzuprägen. Als abhängige Variablen dienten die Zahl der behaltenen Glieder und — zur Bestimmung des Aktiviertheitsgrades während des Einprägens — die Höhe des elektrischen Hautwiderstands. Sowohl einzeln als auch in Wechselwirkung verursachten die genannten unabhängigen Variablen bedeutsame Unterschiede hinsichtlich des Behaltens und der Aktivisierung. Der Deutung der Ergebnisse wurde die Annahme zugrunde gelegt, daß Aktivierungsvorgänge zu den Geschehnissen gehören, die für das Behalten von Bedeutung sind.

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Summary Two series of nouns with high and low emotional tone had to be memorized both intentionally and incidentally. During learning the amount of electrodermal skin resistance was registered as a measure of organismic activation, thereafter the Ss had to recall the words presented previously. The independent variables mentioned led to significant main and interaction effects in regard to both retention and activation data. The interpretation of the results is based on the assumption that retention is affected by activational processes.

     

When self-prioritization crosses the senses: Crossmodal self-prioritization demonstrated between vision and touch

The investigation of self-prioritization via a simple matching paradigm represents a new way of enhancing our knowledge about the processing of self-relevant content and also increases our understanding of the self-concept itself. By associating formerly neutral material with the self, and assessing the resulting prioritization of these newly formed self-associations, conclusions can be drawn concerning the effects of self-relevance without the burden of highly overlearned materials such as one’s own name. This approach was used to gain further insights into the structure and complexity of self-associations: a tactile pattern was associated with the self and thereafter, the prioritization of the exact same visual pattern was assessed – enabling the investigation of crossmodal self-associations. The results demonstrate a prioritization of self-associated material that rapidly extends beyond the borders of a sensory modality in which it was first established.