Predictors of Strength of In‐Group Identity in Northern Ireland: Impact of Past Sectarian Conflict,Relative Deprivation,and Church Attendance

Social identity in Northern Ireland is multifaceted, with historical, religious, political, social, economic, and psychological underpinnings. Understanding the factors that influence the strength of identity with the Protestant or Catholic community, the two predominate social groups in Northern Ireland, has implications for individual well‐being as well as for the continuation of tension and violence in this setting of protracted intergroup conflict. This study examined predictors of the strength of in‐group identity in 692 women (mean age 37 years) in post‐accord Northern Ireland. For Catholics, strength of in‐group identity was positively linked to past negative impact of sectarian conflict and more frequent current church attendance, whereas for Protestants, strength of in‐group identity was related to greater status satisfaction regarding access to jobs, standard of living, and political power compared with Catholics; that is, those who felt less relative deprivation. The discussion considers the differences in the factors underlying stronger identity for Protestants and Catholics in this context. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Making Sense in and of the Asexual Community: Navigating Relationships and Identities in a Context of Resistance

Despite some increased visibility in recent years, the asexual community and asexuality generally remain largely unknown. Aiming to demystify asexuality, this paper discusses the context of anti‐asexual animosity in which the (largely American) asexual community is situated. Specifically, the asexual community constructed itself in response to hostility, including explicit anti‐asexual discrimination, homophobia against asexual people perceived to be lesbian or gay, and the negative impact of (implicit) pathologising low sexual desire. This theoretical paper outlines some of the unique challenges asexual people face negotiating identities and relationships; the collective sense‐making strategies they use (generating language and discourse) to do so; and why these things are central to understanding asexual people's experiences. This is accomplished through a purposeful review of literature and a case study of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network as an asexual community space. Understanding the challenges asexual people face and the resources they invoke to overcome them helps applied psychologists develop the cultural competence they need to work effectively with the asexual people they will encounter. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Balancing awareness: Vestibular signals modulate visual consciousness in the absence of awareness

The processing of visual and vestibular information is crucial for perceiving self-motion. Visual cues, such as optic flow, have been shown to induce and alter vestibular percepts, yet the role of vestibular information in shaping visual awareness remains unclear. Here we investigated if vestibular signals influence the access to awareness of invisible visual signals. Using natural vestibular stimulation (passive yaw rotations) on a vestibular self-motion platform, and optic flow masked through continuous flash suppression (CFS) we tested if congruent visual–vestibular information would break interocular suppression more rapidly than incongruent information. We found that when the unseen optic flow was congruent with the vestibular signals perceptual suppression as quantified with the CFS paradigm was broken more rapidly than when it was incongruent. We argue that vestibular signals impact the formation of visual awareness through enhanced access to awareness for congruent multisensory stimulation.     

Cycle commuting intention: A model based on theory of planned behaviour and social identity

Although cycling as a mode of transport can provide various important benefits to cities and their transport systems, it accounts for only a small proportion of commuter trips in southern Europe. The aim of this study was to develop a new model based on Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behaviour (TPB), but including social identity as an additional predictor variable to improve the explanatory capability of the TPB. We conducted a telephone survey of a representative sample of 595 non-cycle commuters in the Spanish city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, which has a moderate proportion of bicycle users (6.9%). Confirmatory factor analysis to test the model showed satisfactory overall measurement fit, and all sub-scales had high reliability and validity coefficients. The findings demonstrated the value of incorporating social identity into the TPB to capture motivational factors relevant to cycle commuting. The relationships between the factors in the model indicated that there is a strong link between identifying as ‘a cyclist’ and perceived self-efficacy with respect to cycling. Furthermore, the results suggest that a more specific measure of perceived self-efficacy, targeting concrete behaviours could be used to inform development of initiatives to promote urban cycling. Our data also revealed that, excluding control variables such as journey time, economic cost and distance, the psychosocial variables included in the model predicted 32% of the variance in car users’ intention to start commuting by bicycle.     

Instance Is the Converse of Aspect

According to the aspect theory of instantiation, a particular A instantiates a universal B if and only if an aspect of A is cross-count identical with an aspect of B. This involves the assumption that both particulars and universals have aspects, and that aspects can mediate between different ways of counting things. I will ask what is new about this account of instantiation and, more importantly, whether it is an improvement on its older relatives. It will turn out that the part of it that is new is the notion of cross-count identity among aspects. As I will show, this notion is both dubious and unnecessary. I will end by presenting a simplified aspect theory of instantiation that does not involve cross-count identity.     

Subjective socioeconomic status and departmental identity interact to reduce depressive tendencies and negative affective responding for female undergraduates

How do subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and departmental identity promote the mental health of female undergraduates? We conducted a questionnaire study (Study 1) and an experimental study (Study 2) with undergraduates enrolled in a women's junior college to examine whether subjective SES and group identity have an interactive effect on mental health. Results indicated that in participants with high subjective SES, increased identification with their reference in‐group (the academic department) was associated with a decreased tendency for depression (Study 1). These individuals also showed reduced negative affect when responding in situations of social exclusion (Study 2). These effects were absent, or had a reduced intensity in participants with low subjective SES. In sum, subjective SES and departmental identity interact to reduce depressive tendencies and negative affective responding for female undergraduates. Individuals with higher subjective SES may gain more benefits from group identity. We have discussed the implications of these findings.     

Outreach and Exclusion: Jewish Denominational Marketing in the Early 20th Century

How do religious denominations select potential adherents? Previous literature indicates that market niches direct this decision, yet few studies examine how religious groups determine their niche. Analyzing annual reports and periodicals of Reform and Conservative Jewish organizations from 1910 to 1955, I find that the two denominations responded differently to the mass influx of Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Compared to the Conservative organization, which openly welcomed new immigrants, the Reform organization actively chose not to recruit them. Reform statements make it clear that this decision was a result of how working‐class, Eastern European immigrants threatened their American‐centered organizational identity. This finding suggests that religious institutions carefully consider their organizational identity based on nativity, ethnicity, and social class when determining whom to include in their market niche.     

Bible Beliefs,Conservative Religious Identity,and Same‐Sex Marriage Support: Examining Main and Moderating Effects

Research finds that Americans who espouse theologically conservative beliefs about the Bible generally oppose same‐sex marriage. Studies exploring this link, however, have been limited in that their operationalization of fundamentalist belief has been problematically conceptualized and they have potentially confounded the effect of conservative religious identity. The current study asks: (1) How do distinct beliefs about the nature and authority of the Bible influence same‐sex marriage support? (2) Do these beliefs influence same‐sex marriage support independently of conservative religious identity? (3) To what extent do Bible beliefs and conservative religious identity moderate one another's effects? And (4) to what extent are these factors moderated by religious tradition and frequency of Bible reading? Analyses of 2006 Portraits of American Life Study data reveal that while identifying as religiously conservative is the strongest predictor of opposition to same‐sex marriage, believing in inerrancy and creationism remain strong predictors in full models. I also find moderating effects between belief in creationism, inerrancy, inspiration; religious‐conservative identity; and religious tradition. Findings clarify how theological beliefs and religious identity shape support for same‐sex marriage across religious traditions.     

Unfamiliar face matching: Pairs out‐perform individuals and provide a route to training

Matching unfamiliar faces is known to be difficult. Here, we ask whether performance can be improved by asking viewers to work in pairs, a manipulation known to increase accuracy for low‐level visual discrimination tasks. Across four experiments we consistently find that face matching accuracy is higher for pairs of viewers than for individuals. This ‘pairs advantage’ is generally driven by adopting the response of the higher scoring partner. However, when the task becomes difficult, both partners' performance is improved by working in a pair. In two experiments, we find evidence that working in a pair can lead to subsequent improvements in individual performance, specifically for viewers whose accuracy is initially low. The pairs' technique therefore offers the opportunity for substantial improvements in face matching performance, along with an added training benefit.