Dimensions of Social Dominance Orientation: The Roles of Legitimizing Myths and National Identification

Using a representative sample of Dutch natives, the current study examined the distinction between two dimensions of social dominance orientation [SDO‐Dominance (SDO‐D) and SDO‐Egalitarianism (SDO‐E)] and their relation with prejudice towards immigrant groups. Results showed that an empirical distinction between the two dimensions could be made. Furthermore, the relation between SDO and prejudice was fully mediated by hierarchy‐enhancing (ethnic citizenship, assimilation) and hierarchy‐attenuating myths (civic citizenship, multiculturalism), but in different ways for both SDO dimensions. Moreover, there were distinct paths between the SDO dimensions and ethnic prejudice for higher and lower identifiers. For higher identifiers, the relation between SDO‐D and prejudice was fully mediated by the endorsement of hierarchy‐enhancing myths. For lower identifiers, there was an association between SDO‐E and prejudice that was predominantly mediated by the endorsement of hierarchy‐attenuating myths. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology     

A closer look at the discrimination outcomes in the IAT literature

To what extent the IAT (Implicit Association Test, Greenwald et al., 1998) predicts racial and ethnic discrimination is a heavily debated issue. The latest meta‐analysis by Oswald et al. (2013) suggests a very weak association. In the present meta‐analysis, we switched the focus from the predictor to the criterion, by taking a closer look at the discrimination outcomes. We discovered that many of these outcomes were not actually operationalizations of discrimination, but rather of other related, but distinct, concepts, such as brain activity and voting preferences. When we meta‐analyzed the main effects of discrimination among the remaining discrimination outcomes, the overall effect was close to zero and highly inconsistent across studies. Taken together, it is doubtful whether the amalgamation of these outcomes is relevant criteria for assessing the IAT's predictive validity of discrimination. Accordingly, there is also little evidence that the IAT can meaningfully predict discrimination, and we thus strongly caution against any practical applications of the IAT that rest on this assumption. However, provided that the application is thoroughly informed by the current state of the literature, we believe the IAT can still be a useful tool for researchers, educators, managers, and students who are interested in attitudes, prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination.     

Dynamic mechanisms of exercise to improve body satisfaction: Perceived or actual fat loss?

We examined the dynamic mechanisms of aerobic training (AT) and strength training (ST) to improve body satisfaction. Sixty-six participants were randomised to either the AT or ST condition and completed an 8-week intervention. Participants completed 3 weekly, 30-minute sessions of moderate intensity AT (65–75% VO₂max) or ST (65–75% 1-RM). The energy consumption of each session was approximately equivalent under both conditions. Body satisfaction, body composition, perceived fitness and exercise self-efficacy were measured at baseline and biweekly during the intervention. Exercise improved individuals' body satisfaction (p < .05). When the energy expenditures of AT and ST were equal, there was no difference in body satisfaction improvement. There were dynamic mechanisms underlying the effects of exercise on body satisfaction. Specifically, perceived fitness influenced body satisfaction improvements during the early stages of the exercise program, while changes in body composition influenced body satisfaction toward the end of the exercise program. There were sex differences in the mechanisms underlying body satisfaction. For women, perceived fat was more important in the early intervention period; for men, actual body fat was more valuable in the late intervention period. An effective strategy to improve body satisfaction is to initially target perceived fitness before focusing on changing body composition.     

Beliefs Contributing to HIV‐related Stigma in African and Afro‐Caribbean Communities in the Netherlands

Thirty years after the first diagnosis, people living with HIV (PLWH) around the world continue to report stigmatizing experiences. In this study, beliefs contributing to HIV‐related stigma in African and Afro‐Caribbean diaspora communities and their cultural context were explored through semi‐structured interviews with HIV‐positive (N = 42) and HIV‐negative (N = 52) African, Antillean and Surinamese diaspora community members in the Netherlands. Beliefs that HIV is highly contagious, that HIV is a very severe disease, and that PLWH are personally responsible for acquiring their HIV infection were found to contribute to HIV‐related stigma, as did the belief that PLWH are HIV‐positive because they engaged in norm‐violating behaviour such as promiscuity, commercial sex work, and, for Afro‐Caribbean diaspora, also homosexuality. These beliefs were found to be exacerbated and perpetuated by cultural taboos on talking about HIV and sexuality. HIV‐related stigma reduction interventions should focus on changing these beliefs and breaking cultural taboos on HIV and sexuality in a manner that is participatory and consistent with the current theory and empirical findings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

作文前构思时间分配及其对写作成绩影响的研究

通过3个分实验考察了优差生的作文前构思时间分配及其不同的构思时间分配策略对作文成绩的影响。实验1发现“优生”和“差生”在无时限写作情况下,前者花在构思上的时间更多,并运用了较好的构思策略;实验2发现“优生”和“差生在限时写作情况下,在构思时间上没有显著的差异,但他们在构思策略上仍表现出差异;实验3发现长时限构思比短时限构思能够带来更好的文本质量。作者对写作前构思的计划和管理,可能是提高作文质量的自我调控策略之一。     

The role of group identification in the well-being of Spaniards with gypsy ethnicity

ABSTRACT

Objective: To describe the role of sex, age, educational level and psychosocial group-identification factors in well-being and satisfaction with life. Method: 229 Spanish Gypsies completed a survey of demographic data, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, ethnic identity and the individual’s inclusion of self within the ingroup. Results: (a) only level of studies is related to satisfaction with life; (b) participants with higher scores in ethnic identity reported more well-being and more life satisfaction; and (c) assessment of ethnic belonging affects more areas of well-being than does perception of closeness to the ingroup. Conclusion: objective conditions of deprivation are not related to well-being as reported by the participants; it is important to study how Spanish Gypsies value and perceive their ethnicity in order to predict their well-being and satisfaction with life.     

Precarious and model minorities: Sikh identities in the ‘new’ global politics of religion

ABSTRACT

In many parts of the world, Sikhs have come to be perceived as a ‘model' minority – so much so that some have critiqued the Sikh community for taking up positions that are perceived as assimilationist. Such critiques, however, gloss over the sense of precarity, and the litany of hardships, racial discrimination and legal battles in which Sikhs have been forced to be engage in a post-9/11 world. Ultimately, this discrimination is enabled and justified by historical western notions of the incommensurability of the sacred and secular. Engaging with recent critical debates over the on-going meanings of the sacred and the secular, this paper argues that the contemporary moment requires a cosmopolitan religious outlook. Such debates reveal the separation between the public and the private, and between the sacred and the secular, to be ‘zombie categories' that fail to capture contemporary realities. Hence, conceptualizing Sikh identities as precarious, vulnerable ‘model minorities' in a post-Brexit/Trump era allows us to explore a Sikh ethics underpinned by the universal message of SGGS Ji. This is so because such ethics have never been conceptualized as simply being ‘other-worldly’, but rather as precisely grounded in the world that has been entrusted to us.     

Odanta through a child’s eye: a study on Buchi Emecheta’s The Moonlight Bride

An interesting story session often takes its listeners on a journey to an imaginary land where ‘good’ always prevails over ‘evil’. Such stories, generally narrated by elders, reinforce the spiritual values of a particular community by consciously building up its moral strength through its own religious beliefs and practices. However, in Emecheta’s The Moonlight Bride, the story is told by the child protagonist Ngbeke and in her responsibility as a griot, the profound spiritual message that she conveys through her story is: ‘the most important beauty is the beauty of the heart' (77). The focus of this study will be specifically on Ngbeke and how she explains the cultural traditions of Odanta community to an outside world.

In the course of this study, the researcher has understood that the traditional practices of Odanta community is a mixed bag in which a few precious conventional ideals deserve appreciation and assimilation, while a few need to be critically looked at and rejected even, taking the interest of women and children into consideration. Positive values can be inculcated universally in today’s world, where community living and its positive effects on people are fast disappearing and losing its value.     

Using Comedy to Explore Racial-Ethnic Identity with Clients: A Narrative Approach

ABSTRACT

The physical and mental health benefits of humor and comedy have been widely documented. This article presents a therapeutic framework outlining several clinical applications of comedy designed to facilitate client exploration of racial-ethnic identity. It also discusses how comedy can enhance narrative therapy approaches by serving as an engaging and effective tool for assisting clients in the process of externalizing storytelling, identifying exceptions to problems, and authoring new and positive stories about racial-ethnic identity.