When in Rome… Identification and acculturation strategies among minority members moderate the dehumanisation of the majority outgroup

The study of humanness as a dimension of social judgment has received extensive attention over the past decade. Although the common reported finding is that people attribute more human characteristics to their ingroup than to the outgroup, similar tendencies are expected to be tempered for minority groups when judging the host society. In Study 1, carried out with Gypsy minority members, we tested the hypothesis that those group members who adopt an assimilative strategy identifying more with the host compared with the heritage culture will display the lowest levels of dehumanisation. In Studies 2 and 3, conducted with immigrants in Italy and in Portugal, respectively, the hypothesis was extended from an identification conceptualisation to an acculturation one. Despite significant variability in intergroup settings and measures, results confirmed our hypothesis that immigrants who choose to assimilate with the host culture dehumanise the outgroup less compared with those who adopt any of the other acculturation strategies. Implications for the ethnocentric nature of dehumanisation biases and for intergroup relations in general are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential Effects of Right‐Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation on Dimensions of Generalized Prejudice in Brazil

Previous research within a dual‐process cognitive‐motivational theory of ideology and prejudice has indicated that dimensions of generalized prejudice are structured around attitudes towards dangerous, derogated and dissident groups, and that these prejudice dimensions are differentially predicted by the ideological attitudes of Right‐Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). However, to date, these findings have been restricted to New Zealand samples. We describe two studies examining whether the structure of prejudiced attitudes and the differential prediction by RWA and SDO replicate in the Brazilian context, incorporating context‐relevant examples of each group—politicians, those from the northeast region of Brazil, and environmentalists. Results broadly supported the three‐factor structure of dangerous, derogated, and dissident groups. Consistent with previous research, regression and structural equation analyses showed that RWA explained prejudice against dangerous groups, SDO explained prejudice against derogated groups, and both RWA and SDO explained prejudice against dissident groups. This research provides some evidence for the generalizability of the three‐dimensional structure of generalized prejudice and differential prediction by RWA and SDO. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Effects of trophic poisoning with methylmercury on the appetitive elements of the agonistic sequence in fighting-fish (Betta splendens)

The aggressive display in Betta splendens is particularly prominent, and vital to its adaptation to the environment. Methylmercury is an organic variation of Hg that presents particularly pronounced neuro-behavioral effects. The present experiments aim to test the effect of acute and chronic poisoning with methylmercury on the display in Bettas. The animals were poisoned by trophic means in both experiments (16 ug/kg in acute poisoning; 16 ug/kg/day for chronic poisoning), and tested in agonistic pairs. The total frequency of the display was recorded, analyzing the topography of the agonistic response. The methylmercury seems to present a dose- and detoxification-dependent effect on these responses, with a more pronounced effect on motivity in acute poisoning and on emotionality in the chronic poisoning. It is possible that this effect could be mediated by alteration in the mono-amino-oxidase systems.     

Disorders in planning and strategy application in frontal lobe lesion patients

The aim of this study was to investigate deficits in planning ability using an adapted version of the Modified Six Elements Test, from the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome—BADS [Wilson, B. A., Alderman, N., Burgess, P. W., Emslie, H., & Evans, J. J. (1996). Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS). Bury St Edmunds, U.K.: Thames Valley Test Company. Trans. Ricardo O Souza, Sergio L Schmidt. Rio de Janeiro: Cognição]. Subjects were left- and right-frontal lobe lesion patients. Other measures of executive dysfunctions used were verbal fluency, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and the Trail Making Test. These other instruments were sensitive to detect executive deficits in the left frontal lobe lesion group, except the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, which showed impairment only for the frontal lobe lesion group as a whole. The Modified Six Elements Test detected planning disorders in left frontal lobe lesion patients. The deficit of these patients was due to a greater likelihood to break the rules of the task, that is, in plan-following processes, rather than in planning the strategic approach to solve it.     

Belief in a zero-sum game and subjective well-being across 35 countries

Current Psychology - This article presents a short research report on the relationship between perceived antagonism in social relations measured using the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) scale,...     

Experiential avoidance and self‐compassion in chronic pain

The present study investigates the role of coping, experiential avoidance, and self‐compassion on psychological distress prediction (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms). A battery of self‐report questionnaires was used to assess coping, experiential avoidance, self‐compassion, and psychological distress in 103 adults with chronic pain from Portuguese primary health care units. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed and showed that experiential avoidance and self‐compassion are the factors that mostly explain psychological distress. Our results suggest that when people with chronic pain are willing to remain in contact with particular private experiences without attempting to control them, they reported less depression, anxiety, and stress. Implications for clinical practice were discussed, suggesting the importance of helping people with chronic pain to increase their willingness to pain rather than avoiding it.     

Honor Scale: evidence on construct validity

Honor is an important construct, mainly emphasized in collectivist cultures, such as Brazil. However, there is a lack of studies regarding honor in this cultural context. Therefore, the current research aims at proposing a short version of the Honor Scale (HS‐16) to the Brazilian context. Construct validity (i.e., factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity, as well as internal consistency and composite reliability) is reported in Studies 1 (n = 220) and 2 (n = 222), with participants from general population. In both studies, participants answered the Honor Scale and demographic questions. The authors find the HS‐16 to be a reliable and valid scale, thereby enabling its use in quantitative studies regarding the correlates of honor concerns.     

Human values and social identities: A study in two collectivist cultures

The current study examines the value correlates of social identities (identification with in‐groups and geospatial units) in two collectivist cultures (Brazil, n = 471; Spain, n = 476). According to previous research, it was expected that subjects who score higher on social values would be more identified with the various traditional in‐groups and with the local geospatial units and that social identities would be predicted by different values among Brazilians and Spaniards. Subjects were undergraduate students (228 males; 719 females), with age ranging from 16 to 55 years (M = 21.9; SD = 4.57), from three states in Brazil (Paraíba, Distrito Federal, and São Paulo) and Spain (Pontevedra, Madrid, and Barcelona). They were administered the Individualism‐CollectivismQuestionnaire, the Basic Value Survey, the In‐group Identification Scale, the Geospatial Identification Scale, and a questionnaire with demographic questions (e.g., gender, age, religious affiliation). Results confirm that importance attributed to social values is correlated with traditional in‐group and local geospatial identification, and that values predicting social identities are different across cultures, especially in the case of values related to geospatial identification. Specifically, among the set of social human values, belonging and tradition were most important to explain social identities. Subjects that assigned more importance to privacy were less identified with traditional ingroups, independently of their national culture. Geospatial identification was based on the values religiosity and belonging for Brazilians, and tradition, social order, honesty, and power for Spaniards. In general, these findings corroborate previous ones, suggesting the existence of a common set of values to explain social identity, based on principally normative values (social order and tradition). Moreover, they indicate the specificity and complexity of the geospatial identification in Spain, where the values of honesty and power contribute to explaining it. In this country, it is possible that the determinants of geospatial identification surpass the social orientation endorsed by people.