Book Reviews

Luc Boltanski, Distant Suffering: Morality, Media and Politics
Stephen Frosh, The Politics of Psychoanalysis: An Introduction to Freudian and Post-Freudian Theory
Dennis Chong, Rational Lives: Norms and Values in Politics and Society
Zsolt Enyedi and Ferenc Erös, Authoritarianism and Prejudice: Central European Perspectives
Stephanie Riger, Transforming Psychology: Gender in Theory and Practice
V. M. Bekhterev, Suggestion and Its Role in Social Life
Ian Glynn, An Anatomy of Thought: The Origins and Machinery of the Mind
David O. Sears, Jim Sidanius, and Lawrence Bobo (eds.), Racialized Politics: The Debate About Racism in America
Philip A. Klinkner with Rogers M. Smith, The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America     

Perceived collective continuity and ingroup identification as defence against death awareness

Perhaps unique among the animal species, humans are aware that they will ultimately die. Terror management theory (TMT) posits that investing in a social group helps people to manage paralysing anxiety stemming from death awareness. In line with this proposition, research to date has shown that when reminded of their own mortality, people increase their identification with a relevant group and defend its beliefs, values, and practices. In the reported study, we demonstrate that a mortality salience induction enhances people’s perceptions of group temporal endurance—or perceived collective continuity (PCC), as we define it. Enhanced PCC leads, in turn, to enhanced group identification. This is in line with the TMT assumption that death awareness leads people to invest in a social group because this constitutes a temporally enduring meaning-system that imbues life with meaning, order, and permanence, and promises death transcendence to those who meet the prescribed standards of value.     

群体认同在集群行为中的作用机制

在集群行为背景下, 群体认同对个体的集群行为意愿既具有直接的动员作用, 同时也可以调节群体情绪和群体效能变量与人们行为意愿间的关系。政治认同、共同认同与双重认同等特殊形式的群体认同对集群行为的发生具有不同的影响。从动态性研究的角度看, 参与集群行为会强化个体对内群体的认同感, 而强烈的群体认同则会对参与者的行动产生持续影响。今后的研究应根据集群行为的不同触发情境、不同形式及不同发展阶段对群体认同的复杂工作机制进行探讨。     

自尊结构研究的发展趋势

近年来,自尊结构的研究领域内出现了一些新进展,主要表现在：（1）内隐自尊研究的逐步兴起;（2）由注重总体自尊的研究到注重研究自尊的结构和具体自尊;（3）注重对自尊稳定性维度的分析研究;（4）注重对自尊结构的跨文化研究。这些都为我们理解和探讨自尊结构提供了新的观点和视角。文章综述了该研究领域的进展,并对今后的自尊结构研究作了展望。     

不同群际威胁类型对集体自尊的影响:愤怒和自卑的中介作用

现有研究中有关群际威胁对集体自尊是增强作用还是削弱作用存在矛盾结论,可能是不同研究采用了不同类型的群际威胁,且情绪在群际威胁和集体自尊二者之间可能存在某种作用所导致的。本研究通过情景启动的实验发现,现实群际威胁唤起了更高水平的愤怒情绪,愤怒情绪越多,被试的集体自尊越高。而象征群际威胁唤起了更高水平的自卑情绪,自卑情绪越多,被试的集体自尊越低。总之,群际威胁类型的不同对集体自尊产生不同的影响,情绪在其中起中介作用。     

Collective Action as Individual Choice

We argue that conceptual analyses of collective action should be informed by game-theoretic analyses of collective action. In particular, we argue that Ariel Rubenstein’s so-called ‘Electronic Mail Game’ provides a useful model of collective action, and of the formation of collective intentions.     

小学生团队合作学习成绩之群体影响因素研究

将小学四年级实验班42名小学生组建成七个异质团队,进行为期三个月的团队合作学习训练,以探讨群体变量对团队合作学习成绩的影响,并比较实验班和对照班之间语文成绩之间的差异。研究结果表明:团队组长管理风格、团队承诺、团队集体效能感、团队凝聚力四个群体变量对合作学习型团队的学习成绩有显著的影响。团队满意感虽然与团队学习成绩显著相关,但对团队学习成绩的影响不显著。     

A social identity model of riot diffusion: From injustice to empowerment in the 2011 London riots

Previous research has shown that riots spread across multiple locations, but has not explained underlying psychological processes. We examined rioting in three locations during the August 2011 disorders in England to test a social identity model of riot diffusion. We triangulated multiple sources to construct a narrative of events; and we analysed interviews with 68 participants to examine experiences. In line with the model, we found evidence for two pathways of influence: “cognitive” and “strategic”. For some participants, previous rioting was highly self-relevant, and shared identity was the basis of their subsequent involvement. For others, previous rioting was empowering because it demonstrated the vulnerability of a common enemy (the police). In each location, interaction dynamics mediated the link between initial perceptions and collective action. The utility of this social identity approach is that it is able to account for both the boundaries and the sequence of urban riot diffusion.     

Greens or space invaders: Prominent utopian themes and effects on social change motivation

One way in which individuals can participate in action to change the society they live in is through the pursuit of an ideal society or “utopia”; however, the content of that utopia is a likely determinant of its motivational impact. Here we examined two predominant prototypes of utopia derived from previous research and theory—the Green and Sci-Fi utopias. When participants were primed with either of these utopias, the Green utopia was perceived to entail a range of other positive characteristics (e.g., warmth, positive emotions) and—provided it was positively evaluated—tended to elicit both motivation and behaviour for social change. In contrast, the Sci-Fi utopia was associated with low motivation, even when it was positively evaluated. Furthermore, the Green utopia was shown to elicit greater perceptions of participative efficacy, which in turn predicted the increase in social change motivation.     

The Impact of Comprehensive Community Initiatives on Population-Level Child,Youth, and Family Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs) represent a popular method for creating systemic change, yet there is a dearth of evidence on their effectiveness (Zaff, Pufall Jones, Donlan, Lin, & Anderson, 2016). This article presents a systematic review of the evidence on the population-level impact of CCIs, focusing specifically on documented effects from studies using an experimental or quasi-experimental design. Of 1,947 articles identified through a database and hand search, 25 articles examining six different CCIs—most of which employed prevention science frameworks—met the review inclusion criteria. The results of this review show that CCIs can strengthen protective factors and reduce risk factors, delay initiation of and reduce substance use, and reduce the likelihood of, and delay engagement in, violent and/or delinquent behaviors. Impacts have been documented as soon as one year after initial intervention, and as early as 7^th grade, with effects sustained as long as seven years post-intervention, and as late as a year post-high school. However, relative to the prevalence of CCIs as a practical intervention, the evidence base is small, potentially dated, and focused on a narrow set of outcomes and populations. Recommendations for interpreting the evidence base are discussed, including methodological limitations and implications for future work.