Third Parties and the Social Scaffolding of Forgiveness

It is widely accepted that only the victim of a wrong can forgive that wrong. Several philosophers have recently defended “third‐party forgiveness,” the scenario in which A, who is not the victim of a wrong in any sense, forgives B for a wrong B did to C. Focusing on Glen Pettigrove's argument for third‐party forgiveness, I will defend the victim's unique standing to forgive, by appealing to the fact that in forgiving, victims must absorb severe and inescapable costs of distinctive kinds, a plight that third parties do not share. There are, nonetheless, significant, even essential, roles played by third parties in making forgiveness possible, reasonable, or valuable for victims of serious wrongs. I take a closer look at the links between victims, wrongdoers, resentment, and forgiveness in showing why the victim alone can forgive.     

Too many Asians in universities? The effect of social dominance orientation on support for admissions limits

This paper tests the hypothesis that support for limits on the admission of Asian students into universities is motivated by people’s social motivation—namely, the desire to maintain the status hierarchy. Study 1 found that, among participants who evaluated a proposed limit to the number of Asian applicants admitted to universities, social dominance orientation (SDO) was positively related to policy support. Conversely, among participants who evaluated a proposed limit on White admits, SDO was negatively related to policy support. Study 2 found that the perceived threat of the group getting admitted at high rates explained differential support of policies that seek to limit group-specific admissions. In all, these findings suggest that attitudes toward changes in campus demographics may be rooted in a desire to maintain the status hierarchy.     

Implementation in a Changing Landscape: Provider Experiences During Rapid Scaling of Use of Evidence-Based Treatments

This study examined 133 service providers’ perspectives on a rapid shift to mandated evidence-based treatment delivery, utilizing an inductive coding process to capture themes present in their qualitative feedback. The majority of provider comments were negatively valenced, but attitudes varied considerably across response categories: comments regarding practice context and support were nearly uniformly negative, while comments regarding treatment fit and therapeutic consequences were more balanced. Treatment fit was the most commonly cited category; the fit to therapist (e.g., ease of use) subcategory was predominantly positive in contrast with the fit to client (e.g., flexibility) subcategory, which was predominantly negative. Results illustrate the intended and unintended consequences of large-scale implementation efforts on community providers, and may aid implementation researchers and system decision makers optimize the conditions under which community providers are asked to implement evidence-based treatment.     

Association between cognitive vulnerability to depression - dysfunctional attitudes and glycaemic control among in-patients with type 2 diabetes in a hospital in Beijing: a multivariate regression analysis

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and cognitive vulnerability to depression (dysfunctional attitudes) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 245 valid records from June 2016 to December 2016 were collected from a hospital in Beijing. Participants were asked to complete four questionnaires (Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, and World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form) to assess mental health and quality of life. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to determine the correlations between HbA1c, mental health, quality of life and other clinical variables. The results showed that dysfunctional attitudes were associated with HbA1c, with a standardized regression coefficient (β) of .13 (p = .01), although 1 h C-peptide (β = ?.75, p < .0001) was the most significant predictor of HbA1c in the regression model. The results indicated that dysfunctional attitudes, as a cognitive vulnerability to depression, were a relevant factor in HbA1c, although further studies are needed to establish the nature of the connection between dysfunctional attitudes and glycaemic control in diabetes patients.     

Relationship between perceptions of ageing and frailty in English older adults

Older adults’ negative beliefs about ageing are related to their health and functioning, but little is known about how perceptions of ageing (POA) relate to frailty status. This study aimed to explore the relationship between POA and frailty. Secondary analysis of data used were from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Waves 2 and 5. A POA score was based on participants’ responses to 12 statements using a five-point Likert scale at baseline, and a Frailty Index (FI) score was calculated for each participant for both waves. Multiple linear regression models were conducted to assess the relationship between POA and frailty cross-sectionally and longitudinally in models controlled for age, gender, depression symptoms, and socioeconomic status. Older adults with more negative POA had greater frailty (β = .12, p < .001). Negative POA predicted greater frailty 6 years later (β = .03, p < .05). Future work regarding the mechanisms of this relationship is needed to identify ways of intervening to improve health.     

Mozambican immigrants to South Africa: Their xenophobia and discrimination experiences

We explored Mozambican immigrants’ lived experiences of xenophobia and discrimination in South Africa. Informants were 15 Mozambican immigrants (female = 7, male = 8) living in an informal settlement in Zandspruit, Gauteng Province. They completed open-ended written narratives on xenophobic and discriminatory experiences. Following thematic analysis, we identified three themes to characterise the Mozambican immigrants’ experiences of xenophobia and discrimination: (i) abusive attitudes, (ii) ethnic discrimination, and (iii) scapegoating. The Mozambican immigrants’ experiences of xenophobia and discrimination are consistent with findings from the extant international literature on ingroup/outgroup social strife with real or perceived scarcity of resources.     

Social dominance and the disassociation between explicit and implicit representations of equality

This study tested whether social dominance orientation (SDO) predicted a conceptual disassociation between explicit (declarative or propositional) attitudes about equality and implicit (automatic or associative) views of how representative New Zealand Europeans and Maori are of the New Zealand nation (N = 48 Europeans). Explicitly stated attitudes framing equality in terms of procedural justice or meritocratic treatment were positively correlated with individual differences in the implicit tendency to view New Zealand Europeans as exclusively representative of New Zealand. This tendency to explicitly frame equality as based on individual merit and to implicitly favour the dominant (European) ethnic group as representative of the nation was observed only among people high in SDO. Our analysis provides novel support for the position that meritocratic ideology is malleable and may be employed by those high in SDO to frame concepts of equality and justice in ways that suit their desire for group‐based dominance. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Growing Up as a European? Parental Socialization and the Educational Divide in Euroskepticism

Research consistently shows that individuals with higher levels of education express lower levels of Euroskepticism. This relationship has been explained by values and skills acquired in education and by higher labor-market competitiveness. While these explanations assume a causal impact of education, previous research uses cross-sectional data. This is problematic, as students self-select into education. The contribution of this article is twofold. First, it provides a better test of the causal effect of education on Euroskepticism by using data from the Swiss Household Panel (1999–2011) that allow analyzing how Euroskepticism changes as students move through education from the age of 13 years onwards. Second, it advances theory by highlighting the role of parental socialization in explaining Euroskepticism. We argue that children of higher educated parents select into higher education and take over the pro-European attitudes of their parents. We find a strong educational divide in Euroskepticism. However, longitudinal analyses show no change in Euroskepticism as individuals pass through education. Supporting the parental-socialization hypothesis, parental Euroskeptic attitudes and education explain changes in youngsters' Euroskepticism. The results suggest that, rather than a genuine education effect, differences between educational groups are mostly a result of self-selection due to family background.     

Bystander responses to bias-based bullying and retaliation: Is retaliation perceived as more acceptable than bias-based bullying?

The current study examined intergroup-related and social-cognitive correlates of bystanders' acceptability judgements and their responses to bias-based bullying of immigrant peers and to possible retaliation for the bullying. Participants included 179 immigrant-origin and non-immigrant-origin youth (M_age = 13.23; SD = 1.55; 79 immigrant-origin youth). Participants' bystander judgements and responses to bullying and retaliation were examined via a hypothetical scenario. Further, participants' intergroup attitudes towards immigrants and their social-cognitive skills were evaluated. ANOVA results showed that immigrant-origin youth judged bullying as less acceptable and retaliation as more acceptable compared to non-immigrant-origin youth, documenting that group membership is related to adolescents' judgements. A similar pattern was observed in active bystander responses. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that immigration background, intergroup process in the context of immigration, and social-cognitive skills predict bystander responses to bullying and retaliation. This study provides important implications for anti-bullying intervention programmes to overcome the negative consequences of retaliation in the escalation of aggressive behaviours.