Mattering at the Intersection of Psychology,Philosophy, and Politics

Mattering is an ideal state of affairs consisting of two complementary psychological experiences: feeling valued and adding value. Human beings can feel valued by, and add value to, self, others, work, and community. To make sure that the need for mattering is fulfilled, we must balance feeling valued with adding value. Moreover, we must balance adding value to self with adding value to others. Unfortunately, the dominant neoliberal philosophy does not support the values required to ensure the experience of mattering. Whereas a healthy and fair society would require equilibrium among values for personal, relational, and collective well-being, the dominant philosophy in many parts of the world favors personal at the expense of relational and collective values. Neoliberal economic and social policies have resulted in diminished sense of mattering for millions of people. Some people respond to cultural pressures to achieve higher status by becoming depressive or aggressive. Some marginalized groups, in turn, support xenophobic, nationalistic, and populist policies in an effort to regain a sense of mattering. To make sure that everyone matters, we must align the psychology, philosophy, and politics of mattering. The political struggle for a just and equitable distribution of mattering takes place in social movements and the policy arena. The perils and promises of these efforts are considered.     

Social identity uncertainty: Conceptualization,measurement, and construct validity

The following paper establishes a measurement of social identity uncertainty. Based on uncertainty-identity theory, we propose social identity uncertainty is a unique type of self-uncertainty related to group identification. We further believe social identity uncertainty is comprised of two components: identity-uncertainty (i.e., uncertainty about one’s group identity) and membership-uncertainty (i.e., uncertainty about being a group member). Study 1 (N = 314) and Study 2 (N = 299) explored and confirmed that two subcomponents exist within social identity uncertainty. Study 3 (N = 295) developed convergent validity using various social identity-related constructs, and discriminant validity using dispositional constructs. Overall, we found (a) identity-uncertainty and membership-uncertainty are distinct constructs, and (b) our measurements have both convergent and discriminant validity.     

Links between relational aggression,parenting and personality among adolescents

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the mediating role of behavioral inhibition system, referring to the inhibition of behavior, and behavioral activation system (BAS), related to impulsivity, in the association between perceived parenting behaviors and relational aggression. It simultaneously investigated the moderating effects of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in this association in a sample of 261 (127 girls) Greek junior high school students who completed a self-report questionnaire. Results of the mediation analyses revealed that BAS was a partial mediator in the relationship between low parental psychological autonomy and relational aggression, as well as between low parental behavioral control and relational aggression. The effect of low parental psychological autonomy on relationally aggressive behavior was also significantly stronger when CU traits were present (moderator). The results emphasize that both individual and interpersonal factors should be taken into consideration when studying relational aggression.     

Within-culture variation in the content of stereotypes: Application and development of the stereotype content model in an Eastern European culture

There is little and unsystematic evidence about whether the content of stereotypes can vary within a culture. Using the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) as a theoretical framework, in two studies we examined the content of stereotypes in an Eastern European culture, namely Romania. Data were collected from four regions prototypical in terms of economic and social development in Romania, and we examined whether the content of stereotypes varies across these regions. As expected, the findings confirm the applicability of the SCM in Romania to reveal culture-specific stereotypes and provide initial support for within-culture variation in the content of stereotypes. We discuss, in particular, possible reasons for two main findings: a strong one-dimensional structure of stereotypes, and regional differences in stereotype content.     

Interfaith Groups as Mediating Structures for Political Action: A Multilevel Analysis

This study investigates interfaith groups from across the United States to understand how these religious settings may serve as mediating structures to facilitate individual political action. Based on a multilevel modeling analysis with 169 individuals from 25 interfaith groups, we found that core activities of the group, such as group members sharing community information (e.g., announcing upcoming events, political meetings, community issues) or sharing religious information (e.g., educating members about their religion) positively and negatively predicted individual political action as a result of group participation, respectively. Moreover, a sense that the interfaith group served as a community to work for local change, but not trust within the group, predicted political action as a result of group participation. However, this effect for a sense the group served as a community to work for local change was stronger and more positive as the degree of community information sharing in the group increased. These results show that a core activity of sharing community information may enhance the ability of a group to mediate political action. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential role of interfaith groups to mediate political action, and show the importance of considering both individual and group characteristics when understanding these religious settings. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Ethical Challenges of Personal Disclosure in Gaining Entry with Religious Congregations

This is a story about learning how to navigate my social identities as a non‐religious gay man attempting to conduct data‐based consultation with a religious congregation. Beyond my own growth in knowing myself better, this story speaks to the larger ethical challenge of how we build trust in community relationships, and in particular how much of our personal selves we need to disclose in the process of an individual or group deciding to work with us. Individuals and groups make decisions to work with us based on who they perceive us to be; thus, what is our ethical obligation to disclose aspects of who we are to promote full informed consent? To illustrate this ethical challenge of personal disclosure, I tell the story of discussions I had with three different religious leaders and a congregational committee about potentially working together. Throughout these stories, I reflect on my own messy process of growth as a window into the more general question of how we navigate our identities and values as community psychologists in the work we do with communities.     

Childhood inhibitory control and adolescent impulsivity and novelty seeking as differential predictors of relational and overt aggression

Impulsivity is commonly conflated with novelty seeking, but these traits are conceptually independent and hold different predictive implications. Using a multi-informant, longitudinal design, we examined childhood inhibitory control, as well as adolescent impulsivity and novelty seeking, as predictors of aggression in a sample of 976 twins. Lower childhood inhibitory control and higher adolescent impulsivity predicted both overt and relational aggression in regression analyses that accounted for sex, puberty status, age, and socioeconomic status. As predicted, novelty seeking did not predict aggression, a finding that supports its independence from impulsivity.     

Deciding to give to charity: a focus group study in the context of the household economy

Research on charitable giving has tended to examine either the individual characteristics of donors, or those of households. However, both approaches overlook the interactive processes that take place within households which may influence charitable donation in a variety of ways. For example, the system of financial organisation adopted by a couple can set limits on the degree of individual financial autonomy, and this in turn can influence the financial decision‐making of each partner. This paper presents the results of a study that examined charitable decision‐making within the context of household financial behaviour. It investigated whether such decisions tend to be individual or joint, and the extent to which they are regarded as an integral part of household financial management. Six focus groups were carried out with people who were currently married or living with a partner. The results suggest that charitable giving is dealt with in accordance with the style of money management of the household, although it occupies a more marginal position than other items of expenditure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.