Improving intergroup relations with extended and vicarious forms of indirect contact

Research in social psychology has provided impressive evidence that intergroup contact reduces prejudice. However, to the extent that strategies based on direct contact are sometimes difficult to implement, scholars have more recently focused on indirect contact. An effective form of indirect contact is extended contact. According to the extended contact hypothesis, simply knowing that ingroup members have outgroup friends (extended contact), or observing these friendships vicariously (vicarious contact), can improve intergroup relations. Since its initial formulation a large body of studies has supported the validity of the extended contact hypothesis. In reviewing the available literature on two forms of indirect contact (extended and vicarious), we outline a model that identifies their antecedents and consequences, spanning from cognitive to affective to behavioural outcomes. In addition to identifying the main moderators of indirect contact, we also distinguish two different routes, one cognitive and one affective, that underlie what processes mediate their effects. Finally, we indicate some possible avenues for future research and we consider how direct and indirect contact strategies can be used in combination to improve intergroup relations.     

Safety behaviour does not necessarily interfere with exposure therapy

There has been much recent controversy regarding whether or not the use of safety and other neutralizing behaviour interferes with exposure-based therapy. The aim of this study was to examine the role of safety behaviour in the treatment of specific phobia. Sixty-two snake-fearful participants were randomized to a 45-min exposure session with or without the use of safety gear, such as gloves and goggles. During the treatment, participants in the safety behaviour group were able to achieve a significantly closer initial distance of approach to the snake compared to controls. When tested post-treatment without any safety gear, both groups demonstrated comparable treatment gains involving significant reductions in fearful cognitions and subjective anxiety, as well as significant improvements in distance of approach. Results suggest that reliance on safety behaviour during exposure therapy for anxiety disorders may not interfere with treatment outcome.     

Rasch analysis and item reduction of the hypomanic personality scale

The aim of the current study was to reduce the number of items in the 48-item hypomanic personality scale (HPS) and determine whether a unidimensional scale of the hypomanic trait could be derived. Previously collected HPS data from University students (n = 318) were applied to the Rasch model (one-parameter item response theory). Overall scale and individual item fit statistics were used to judge fit to the model and item maps employed to determine coverage of the trait. Cronbach’s Alpha and correlations with other questionnaires pre- and post-item reduction were evaluated. Rasch analysis indicated that the original HPS was not unidimensional, had significant redundancy and differential item functioning by age and gender. An iterative process of item reduction produced a 20-item HPS (HPS-20) that retained the concepts of the original HPS and had excellent fit to the Rasch model (χ² p = 0.27). Unidimensionality of the HPS-20 was confirmed. The traditional psychometric properties of the HPS-20 and coverage of the underlying hypomanic construct were similar to the original. It was possible to derive a unidimensional measure of the hypomanic trait. Further use of the HPS-20 is encouraged as it may increase understanding of the risk factors for affective disorders.     

Sub-Optimal Choice by Pigeons: Failure to Support The Allais Paradox

Pigeons show a preference for an alternative that provides them with discriminative stimuli (sometimes a stimulus that predicts reinforcement and at other times a stimulus that predicts the absence of reinforcement) over an alternative that provides them with nondiscriminative stimuli, even if the nondiscriminative stimulus alternative is associated with 2.5 times as much reinforcement (Stagner & Zentall, 2010). In Experiment 1 we found that the delay to reinforcement associated with the nondiscriminative stimuli could be reduced by almost one half before the pigeons were indifferent between the two alternatives. In Experiment 2 we tested the hypothesis that the preference for the discriminative stimulus alternative resulted from the fact that, like humans, the pigeons were attracted by the stimulus that consistently predicted reinforcement (the Allais paradox). When the probability of reinforcement associated with the discriminative stimulus that predicted reinforcement was reduced from 100% to 80% the pigeons still showed a strong preference for the discriminative stimulus alternative. Thus, under these conditions, the Allais paradox cannot account for the sub-optimal choice behavior shown by pigeons. Instead we propose that sub-optimal choice results from positive contrast between the low expectation of reinforcement associated with the discriminative stimulus alternative and the much higher obtained reinforcement when the stimulus associated with reinforcement appears. We propose that similar processes can account for sub-optimal gambling behavior by humans.     

Mindfulness-based stress reduction for patients with anxiety disorders: evaluation in a randomized controlled trial

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for patients with heterogeneous anxiety disorders. Seventy-six self-referred patients were randomized to MBSR or a waiting-list control condition. Eight participants did not complete the eight-week MBSR intervention. Treatment completers improved significantly on all outcome measures compared to controls. The completer sample showed medium to large effect sizes on measures of anxiety (Cohen’s d = 0.55–0.97), and a large effect size for symptoms of depression (Cohen’s d = 0.97). Intention-to-treat analyses yielded effect sizes in the small to moderate range (Cohen’s d = 0.32–0.76). Gains were maintained at six months follow-up. The percentage of participants reaching recovered status was highest for symptom measures of depression and anxiety, and lower for worry and trait anxiety. Mediation analyses indicated that mindfulness fully mediated changes in acute anxiety symptoms, and partially mediated changes in worry and trait anxiety. However, the present study did not find evidence of temporal precedence for the proposed mediator. In the absence of true mediation and an active control condition, it cannot be ruled out that results are due to non-specific aspects of treatment. Despite these and other limitations, we conclude that MBSR is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders and related symptomatology.     

Reduction and emergence in the physical sciences: Reply to Rueger

I analyse Rueger’s application of Kim’s model of functional reduction to the relation between the thermal conductivities of metal bars at macroscopic and atomic scales. 1) I show that it is a misunderstanding to accuse the functional reduction model of not accounting for the fact that there are causal powers at the micro-level which have no equivalent at the macro-level. The model not only allows but requires that the causal powers by virtue of which a functional predicate is defined, are only a subset of the causal powers of the properties filling the functional specification. 2) The fact that the micro-equation does not converge to the macro-equation in general but only under the constraint of a “solvability condition” does not show that reduction is impossible, as Rueger claims, but only that reduction requires inter-level constraints. 3) Rueger tries to analyse inter-level reduction with the conceptual means of intra-level reduction. This threatens the coherence of his analysis, given that it makes no sense to ascribe macroproperties such as thermal conductivity to entities at the atomic level. Ignoring the distinction between theses two senses of “reduction” is especially confusing because they have opposite directions: in intra-level reduction, the more detailed account reduces to the less detailed one, whereas in inter-level reduction, the less detailed theory is reduced to the more detailed one. 4) Finally I criticize Rueger’s way of using Wimsatt’s criteria for emergence in terms of non-aggregativity, to construct a concept of synchronic emergence. It is wrong to require, over and above non-aggregativity, irreducibility as a criterion for emergence.     

How the interplay of imagined contact and first-person narratives improves attitudes toward stigmatized immigrants: A conditional process model

This article assesses the mechanisms whereby first-person narratives featuring stigmatized immigrants improve outgroup attitudes and encourage intergroup contact among prejudiced individuals. We rely on a 2 (imagined contact vs. control) × 2 (similar vs. dissimilar message protagonist) experiment on a systematic sample of native British adults. Results show that encouraging imagined contact prior to reading a short testimonial featuring an immigrant protagonist who is similar to the recipients in terms of social identity enhances identification with the protagonist, thereby improving outgroup attitudes and encouraging intergroup contact, and especially strongly among those who are prejudiced toward immigrants (i.e., high on modern racism). Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for the work on imagined contact, narrative persuasion, and identification, as well as for public communication campaigns, are discussed.     

Mindfulness training reduces neuroticism over a 6-year longitudinal randomized control trial in Norwegian medical and psychology students

Reducing neuroticism in young adults is likely to reduce future psychopathology and improve quality of life. One method of reducing neuroticism may be mindfulness training. This randomized control study examined the effect of mindfulness training on neuroticism and psychological distress over a six-year time period in a sample of Norwegian medical and clinical psychology students receiving either a modified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training (n = 144) or no intervention (n = 144). Mindfulness training decreased neuroticism and psychological distress over the six-year follow-up period, and decreases in neuroticism were associated with reduced psychological distress at the six-year follow-up. These findings suggest that mindfulness training can have a durable impact on neuroticism, and that mindfulness-based interventions may effectively reduce clinical symptomology linked with neuroticism.     

Self-help and long-term behavior therapy for obesity

The Trevose Behavior Modification Program, a self-help group offering continuing care for obesity, has recently been shown to produce large long-term weight losses. The present study aimed to replicate this finding across different settings and participants, assessing the weight losses and attrition rates of 128 participants in three Trevose program satellite groups that used the same treatment procedures and manual as the central Trevose group. The satellite groups' results closely paralleled those of the Central Group. Mean intent-to-treat weight loss, or final losses recorded for all participants regardless of their treatment termination date, was 13.7 +/- 0.7% of initial body weight (1.8 +/- 0.7 kg). At two years, 43.8% of participants remained in treatment, having lost a mean of 19.0 +/- 0.8% of their body weight (16.2 +/- 1.0 kg); at five years, 23.4% remained, having lost 18.4 +/- 1.1% of body weight (15.6 +/- 1.5 kg). These results demonstrate that the Trevose model of weight control, combining self-help and continuing care, can be extended and disseminated to other settings, with potentially significant public health consequences.     

Attention to phobic stimuli during exposure: the effect of distraction on anxiety reduction, self-efficacy and perceived control

To replicate and extend the finding that distraction facilitates between session anxiety reduction (), 27 spider phobics underwent three 10-min sessions of in vivo exposure followed by one 10-min exposure session at a 4-week follow-up, while having either stimulus-relevant focused conversation or stimulus-irrelevant distracting conversation with the experimenter. Physiological arousal and subjective anxiety were measured during exposure, and self-efficacy, perceived control and performance on a behavioural task were measured at pre-treatment, post session-3, and follow-up. Monitoring and blunting coping styles were also measured at pre-treatment to assess their impact on treatment outcome. Despite equal physiological activation between the groups, those who underwent distracted exposure showed greater reductions in subjective fear within and between sessions, and showed greater increases in self-efficacy ratings, internal perceived control and performance on a behavioural task. Coping style did not interact with the effect of distraction or focusing during exposure, however blunters had less subjective anxiety reduction overall, particularly when they underwent focused exposure. Results are discussed in terms of the emotional processing model and self-efficacy theory.