Taming Uncivil Discourse

In an era of seemingly intense populist politics, a variety of issues of intergroup prejudice, discrimination, and conflict have moved center stage in much of the industrialized world. Among these is “political correctness” and, in particular, what constitutes a legitimate discourse of political and social conflict and opposition. Yet the meaning of legitimate discourse is being turned on its head as some disparaged groups seek to reclaim, or reappropriate, slurs directed against them. Using as a context a U.S. Supreme Court case about whether “The Slants”—a band named after a traditional slur against Asians—can trademark its name, we test several hypotheses about reappropriation processes based on a nationally representative sample with an oversample of East Asian Americans and several survey experiments. We find that motives attributions influence how people understand and evaluate potentially disparaging words. In particular, when reappropriation motives are perceived, insulting words are judged to be less insulting. In this sense, uncivil discourse can to some degree be tamed.     

Examining the Association Between Racial Identity Attitudes and Coping With Racism-Related Stress

The authors examined the association between racial identity attitudes and coping with racism-related stress among Asian, Black, and Latinx college students (N = 195). Results of the canonical correlation analysis indicated that higher scores on a combination of all racial identity attitudes were significantly associated with greater active coping for Black and Latinx students. Among Asian students, the authors found that higher scores on conformity, dissonance, and immersion-emersion racial identity attitudes were significantly associated with greater avoidant coping. Los autores examinaron la asociación entre las actitudes de identidad racial y el afrontamiento del estrés relacionado con el racismo en estudiantes universitarios asiáticos, negros y latinxs (N = 195). Los resultados del análisis de correlación canónica indicaron que unos valores más altos en la combinación de todas las actitudes de identidad racial estaban asociados significativamente a un mayor afrontamiento activo en estudiantes negros y latinxs. En estudiantes asiático-americanos, los autores hallaron que unos valores más altos en las actitudes de identidad racial de conformidad, disonancia e inmersión/emersión estaban asociados significativamente a un mayor afrontamiento evasivo.     

Relationship Quality of Aggressive Children and Their Siblings: A Multiinformant, Multimeasure Investigation

Sibling influence on the learning and enactment of aggressive behavior has been consistently demonstrated in studies of sibling relationships. Available evidence suggests that, compared with nonaggressive children's sibling interactions, the sibling interactions of aggressive children are marked by more frequent, intense, and prolonged aggressive behaviors. Although research on normative and aggressive children's sibling interactions has increased recently, a number of limitations in this literature were addressed in this study by: (1) including both an aggressive and nonaggressive comparison group, (2) examining both positive and negative features of sibling relationships, (3) employing a multimethod/multiinformant approach to data collection, and (4) utilizing an improved self-report method. In support of our hypotheses and consistent with previous research, results showed that aggressive children's sibling relationships were marked by higher levels of observed conflict and lower levels of self-reported positive features. When gender was examined, results showed that older brother/younger sister dyads were characterized by higher levels of negative features and lower levels of positive features.     

New York City young adults’ psychological reactions to 9/11: findings from the Reach for Health longitudinal study

This research examines psychological distress among 955 economically disadvantaged New York City residents surveyed during high school and again after the September 11th terrorist attacks (9/11), when they were young adults. As part of the longitudinal Reach for Health study, young adult surveys were conducted from 6–19 months post-9/11 (average 8 months), providing opportunity to assess types of exposures and psychological distress, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, hopelessness, and anger. Regressions of psychological distress on 9/11 exposure were performed, controlling for high school distress, prior exposure to violence victimization, and socio-demographic characteristics. Exposure to 9/11 was positively associated with anger, hopelessness, and PTSD symptoms and a measure of global distress. The relationship was greater among women for PTSD symptoms. Although those who reported high school distress also reported more distress in young adulthood, prior psychological distress did not moderate the relationship between exposure and psychological outcomes. Greater exposure is related to distress among those who, during high school, reported lower distress, as well as among those who reported prior greater distress.     

Closing the Achievement Gap: The Association of Racial Climate with Achievement and Behavioral Outcomes

This study investigated the relationship between school racial climate and students' self-reports of academic and discipline outcomes, including whether racial climate mediated and/or moderated the relationship between race and outcomes. Using the Racial Climate Survey-High School Version (M. Aber et al., unpublished), data were gathered from African American (n = 382) and European American students (n = 1456) regarding their perceptions of racial climate. About 18% of the respondents were low-income and approximately 50% were male. Positive perceptions of the racial climate were associated with higher student achievement and fewer discipline problems. Further, race moderated the relationship between racial climate and both achievement and discipline outcomes. Finally, racial differences in students' grades and discipline outcomes were associated with differences in perceptions of racial climate. Results suggest careful attention should be given to the racial climate of secondary schools, particularly for adolescents who perceive schools as unfair.     

Information elaboration and team performance: Examining the psychological origins and environmental contingencies

Information elaboration enables functionally diverse teams to transform their breadth of knowledge resources into actionable solutions to complex problems. The current study advances information elaboration theory and research in two ways. First, we identify how team ability and social motivation composition characteristics provide the psychological origins of complex information processing efforts. Second, we identify environmental turbulence as an important boundary condition, clarifying when information elaboration benefits team performance and when it does not. These ideas were tested in a sample of 4-person self-managed teams (N = 68) which were functionally diverse and performed a cooperative strategic decision-making task. Results indicate that cognitive ability equips teams with the “can do” ability for complex elaboration efforts through emergent team mental models, whereas low preferences for self-reliance provide the “will do” motivation for in-depth information exchange through collective leadership. In turn, teams benefited from information elaboration in turbulent but not stable environments.     

Aggression Norms in the Classroom Social Network: Contexts of Aggressive Behavior and Social Preference in Middle Childhood

In a cross‐sectional sample of African‐American 2nd–4th grade students (N = 681), we examine the moderating effects of classroom overt and relational aggression norms on peers’ social acceptance of classmates who exhibit overt and relational aggression in urban schools. Extending theory and research on classroom norms, we integrate social network data to adjust aggression norms based on children’s direct and indirect connections in the classroom. Results of multilevel models indicate that network‐based classroom aggression norms moderated relations between children’s aggressive behavior and their social preference. Specifically, children benefited socially when their form of aggressive behavior fit with what was normative in the classroom social context. The moderating effect of classroom aggression norms was stronger for the association between overt aggression and social preference than relational aggression and social preference. Relationally aggressive youth were socially preferred by peers regardless of the classroom norm, although this positive association was magnified in classrooms with higher levels of relational aggression. Future research focused on aggression norms within classroom social networks are discussed and implications for school prevention efforts are considered.     

The Council of Newton: A Pedagogical Exercise for Understanding Conceptual and Historical Difference with Respect to Intra‐Religious Notions of Divinity

In this essay, I examine the following pedagogical question: how can we unlock students' mistaken notions that religious “traditions” are monoliths, and instead help them to recognize, puzzle over, and appreciate the complex multiplicity and vibrant set of doctrinal and ritual conversations that characterize religious traditions? More specifically, how can we teach students to recognize these differences with respect to a religion's notions of god? And how can we do so even when students are particularly stuck on, invested in, or trained to see homogeneity? In answer to these questions, I present an exercise that I have used in my World Religions courses. This exercise – which I call the “Council of Newton” (named for the building in which I first taught it) – is particularly effective because it helps students uncover and wrestle with this diversity at two levels: conceptually and historically.     

外语焦虑量表(FLCAS)在大学生中的测试报告

本研究通过外语课堂焦虑量表（FLCAS）在我国大学生中初步应用及因素分析,结果发现：（1）中文版FLCAS具有较好的信度和效度,可用于今后的有关研究或实际工作。（2）我国大学生在学习英语过程中产生的焦虑主要包括担心、紧张不安、害怕说英语和害怕课堂提问等四个方面;（3）女大学生的外语焦虑水平显著低于男大学生,这可能女性的语言能力相对较强有关;（4）我国非英语专业大学生的外语学习焦虑水平显著低于国外学习其它外语的大学生,这可能跟他们外语学习的经历较长有关。