Will we be harmed,will it be severe,can we protect ourselves? Threat appraisals predict collective angst (and its consequences)

Across four studies, we applied the cognitive model of anxiety to explicate the appraisals that elicit collective angst (i.e., concern for the in‐group's future vitality). In Study 1a, consistent with the model, Québécois experienced collective angst when they appraised the following: (1) a threat as likely to harm their group, (2) a threat as severely harming their group, and (3) Québécois as not having efficacy to protect their group. In Study 1b, results were replicated in the context of the realistic threat that Islamic extremists pose to Christian‐Lebanese. In Studies 2a and 2b, we manipulated the three appraisals and found a similar pattern of results in the context of a potential terrorist attack on American soil by Islamic extremists. Importantly, collective angst mediated the threat appraisal effect on (non‐Muslim) Americans' prejudice towards Muslims. The utility of the appraisal model for regulating collective angst (and thus its consequences) is discussed.     

Evaluating the heat‐aggression hypothesis: The role of temporal and social factors in predicting baseball related aggression

We examined the role that season progression and social threats play in the heat‐aggression hypothesis within Major League Baseball put forward by Reifman, Larrick, and Fein (1991). Box score data from 38,870 Major League Baseball games between the years of 2000 and 2015 was used to test the heat‐aggression relationship, while accounting for temporal and social factors that may be simultaneously exerting influence on player behavior. Controlling for a number of other variables, we observed that the effect of temperature on aggressive behavior is partially contingent on the point of the season in which the game took place. Aggressive behavior was also more likely to occur when teams played divisional (compared to league and inter‐league) rivals, however this relationship was contingent on season progression. We provide potential boundary conditions relating to the heat‐aggression relationship, indicating this may not be a ubiquitous phenomenon.

     

Thawing Rivalries and Fading Friendships: An Experimental Approach to Rapprochement and Alienation

Although international relations (IR) theorists generally assume that actors update their beliefs about the intentions of adversaries and allies based on structure, costly signaling, and past actions, little is known about how the process of rapprochement between adversaries differs from the process of alienation between allies, particularly with respect to the nature and degree of costly signaling. Furthermore, until recently the role of the individual in these processes has only been engaged by a small number of scholars, and fewer still have integrated this perspective with conventional approaches to rapprochement and alienation. Drawing from findings in social psychology, We present results from an original survey experiment showing that (1) political belief systems are a powerful determinant of how individuals perceive the intentions of other states, more so than an observed state's signaling behavior; (2) there are diminishing returns in increasing the cost of a signal; and (3) hostile signals are more effective in signaling intent than reassuring signals.     

Territorial Conflicts and Japanese Attitudes Towards East Asian Countries: Natural Experiments with Foreigners' Landings on Disputed Islands

Japan disputes the sovereignty of two islands: Senkaku/Diaoyu with China and Takeshima/Dokdo with South Korea. These disputes have triggered political performances. In August 2012, Chinese activists landed on Senkaku/Diaoyu, and South Korean politicians landed on Takeshima/Dokdo. The group threat theory suggests that these events constitute threats to Japanese citizens, which lead to negative attitudes towards these countries. The theory also expects personal variations in the reactions to the threats, and the empirical findings of the theory predict an improvement in the worsened attitudes immediately after the event. Drawing on a Japanese social survey that was conducted every month for the two years during which these landing events occurred, I tested the effect of the events on Japanese attitudes towards China and South Korea in a natural experimental framework. The results show that the events negatively impacted Japanese attitudes towards both countries. However, contrary to the expectations of the group threat theory, individual variations (i.e., socioeconomic status, media exposure, and political orientation) in the responses to the events are not supported. Additionally, the attitudes do not return to preevent levels for one year. The contradictions between previous studies and this study potentially originate from the importance of the territories.     

Repressors benefit from reappraising a threatening emotional event

Background and Objectives: The malleability of emotion-focused coping was investigated by manipulating the situational context so that dispositional repressors, who typically utilize an avoidant strategy when confronted with a stressor, were led to use reappraisal and then were reexposed to the stressor. Design: A mixed design with one measured between-subjects factor (dispositional repression), two randomized between-subjects factors (performance feedback and coping strategy), and multimodal assessments across phases of the experiment was used. Method: During a face-perception task, participants (170 female and 120 male university students) received bogus performance feedback that was inconsistent with and thus threatening to self-concept. Participants then completed a writing activity encouraging them to perceive a face-perception task as either an invalid (reappraisal) or a valid (control) assessment tool. Afterward, participants continued with the task. Results: A repressive disposition was associated with a defense response (decreased perceived emotion to actors' expressions, increased skin conductance levels, and increased heart rates) during the face-perception task that participants perceived as threatening, but not during reexposure to the event after they had reappraised it as nonthreatening. Conclusions: This research provides a more detailed understanding of the dynamic nature of emotion-focused coping by exploring how the disposition-situation interaction affects self-regulation of emotion.     

“Girls should cook,rather than kick!” – Female soccer players under stereotype threat

Based on the stereotype threat theory (Steele & Aronson, 1995), we tested if female soccer players’ performance decreased when the stereotype, “females are bad at soccer,” was activated. Additionally, girls under stereotype threat were assumed to experience lower flow while playing soccer and to be more worried, as compared to those in the control condition. The hypotheses were tested in three German soccer clubs (N = 36; age: M = 14.94, SD = 1.22). Participants completed a dribbling task two times (pre-post design) while their time was recorded. Flow and worry were assessed after each dribbling task. In between the two dribbling tasks, the girls read an article about either the incompetence of female soccer players or the growing popularity of soccer. The results showed that girls in the stereotype threat condition needed significantly more time to complete the dribbling task than did those in the control condition. No differences between the two conditions were observed with regard to flow and worry. These findings are discussed in terms of different mediating processes postulated in the stereotype threat literature focusing on sports.     

Genetic differences in the mouse defense test battery

The mouse defense test battery (MDTB) has been designed to examine anxiogenic- or anxiolytic-like properties of psychoactive drugs through effects on specific defensive behaviors. In the present study, the MDTB was used to evaluate the potential contribution of genetic factors to these behaviors. The data revealed pronounced differences in several defense reactions among four inbred strains (BALB/c, C57BL/6, CBA, DBA/2) and one outbred (Swiss) mouse line. Thus, when subjects were introduced into the apparatus, Swiss and C57BL/6 displayed the highest levels of horizontal and vertical activities, while BALB/c and DBA/2 mice showed intermediate and CBA low activity rates. When subjects were chased by the rat, C57BL/6 mice used flight as the dominant defense strategy, while the defensive responses of BALB/c, C57BL/6, and DBA/2 mice consisted of flight reactions and risk assessment activities. However, when flight or escape was not possible, risk assessment became the predominant feature of the defense repertoire in the C57BL/6 mice. When defensive threat/attack behaviors were required, Swiss, BALB/c, DBA/2, and C57BL/6 mice showed very similar reactions in terms of the magnitude of the responses observed. CBA mice were poorly defensive in all these test situations. Finally, after the rat was removed from the test apparatus, Swiss, DBA/2, and C57BL/6 mice displayed more vertical activities than BALB/c mice. These latter, however, showed an increased level of ambulation compared to the activity recorded before the rat exposure. Together, these findings indicate that genetic factors contribute to defensive behaviors in this animal model of anxiety. The different behavioral profiles displayed by the strains used here may provide the means to obtain a better insight into the neurobehavioral mechanisms involved in anxiety-related disorders. Aggr. Behav. 23:19–31, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Behaviors of Swiss-Webster and C57/BL/6N sin mice in a fear/defense test battery

When confronted by an approaching threat stimulus (experimenter or laboratory rat), Swiss-Webster mice show initial flight, followed by freezing and defensive vocalization and biting, the latter only when escape is blocked. These defense patterns resemble those of the wild rat, suggesting that mice of this strain do not show the reductions in flight and defensive threat/attack that are typical of laboratory rats. C57/BL/6N Sin strain mice showed fewer avoidances to an approaching predator, as well as reduced vocalization and defensive biting, a pattern more similar to that of laboratory rats. As with rats, female mice appeared to be more defensive to a predator. They showed greater reactivity to dorsal contact and more frequent defensive biting and jump attacks than males of the same strains. These patterns of defensive behaviors suggest that, although strain differences in defense are substantial, laboratory mice are suitable for, and may offer several advantages in, the study of the genetic, endocrine, and pharmacological basis of antipredator defense. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Cross-Community Contact, Perceived Status Differences, and Intergroup Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Mediating Roles of Individual-level versus Group-level Threats and the Moderating Role of Social Identification

We tested a model which examined the relationship between contact quantity and quality, relative ingroup status, and intergroup attitudes in Northern Ireland. Intergroup anxiety was considered an individual-level mediator and realistic and symbolic threat as group-level mediators in the model. We examined the idea that the strength of ingroup identification moderates the predictive power of individual- versus group-level variables. Both contact and relative ingroup status predicted anxiety and perceived threats to the ingroup, which were significant mediators in the model. Our results also suggest that while anxiety predicts attitudes for low but not high identifiers, symbolic threats to the ingroup are more important for high than for low identifiers. There was also some evidence indicating that status perceptions moderate contact effects. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for intergroup relations in Northern Ireland.