Young immigrants in Norway: The role of national and ethnic identity in immigrants’ integration

The present work investigates the endorsement, antecedents, relationships, and consequences of young immigrants’ social identities in Norway. Despite increasing numbers of refugees and immigrants entering Norway in recent years, little is known about the relationship between immigrants’ different social identities and their feeling of integration into Norwegian society. The main goal of the present research is to fill this gap by investigating whether relationships found in other European countries replicate in the Norwegian context. In line with theoretical considerations and earlier international findings, results from two studies with different immigrant groups (Study 1: high school students; N = 97; Study 2: university students; N = 93) show that the more young immigrants in Norway endorse their national (i.e., Norwegian) identity, the less they endorse their ethnic identity (e.g., Kurdish). We further show that perceived conflict between the two cultures cannot explain the negative relationship between national and ethnic identity. In addition, immigrants’ national identity endorsement is positively related to their dual identity endorsement (e.g., Kurdish-Norwegian). Positive contact with members of the receiving society predicts young immigrants’ feeling of being integrated in Norwegian society and this relationship is mediated by national identity. Results are discussed in terms of the crucial role social identities play in immigrants’ feeling of integration into European societies.     

Framing a phenomenological interview: what,why and how

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - Research in phenomenology has benefitted from using exceptional cases from pathology and expertise. But exactly how are we to generate and apply knowledge...     

When a new group identity does harm on the spot: Stereotype threat in newly created groups

The detrimental consequences of negative stereotypes on performance have been demonstrated in a variety of social groups with various stereotypes. The present studies investigate the minimal conditions for stereotype threat using newly created groups. Results of three experiments (total N = 184) demonstrate that in the negative stereotype condition, the more participants identified with their novel group, the stronger was their decrease in performance. In the control condition, identification was either not related to performance, or it had by trend a positive effect. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed with regard to stereotype threat and social identity theory. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over: The effect of task completion on the savoring of success

The present research investigated a common yet to date unexamined assumption that individuals are unlikely to savor success when they have not yet fully completed a task. In Study 1 (N = 83), we assessed savoring responses of soccer players who were either winning or were tied at the end of the first half (in progress) and at the end of the match (completed). In Study 2 (N = 121 undergraduates), performance feedback (successful vs. average) and task completion (in progress vs. completed) were manipulated and savoring was assessed. In both studies, successful individuals reported savoring their positive experience less when the task was in progress as compared to completed. Results of a third study (N = 152 undergraduates) showed that lower savoring of success was due to individuals’ focus on and worries about future performance as well as the perception that positive emotions have limited utility. We discuss these findings in terms of the consequences for performance and well-being.     

Mothers’ Domestic Responsibilities and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Moderating Role of Gender Essentialist Beliefs About Parenthood

The present work investigates how the increased domestic responsibilities created by the Spring 2020 lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway and gender ideologies relate to the well-being of mothers with elementary school children. In June 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional online study including current and retrospective measures with 180 mothers (M_age?=?39.96 years, SD?=?6.11) of elementary school children across Norway. First, in line with earlier research on the strain of the pandemic on parents, and especially mothers, we found that Norwegian mothers’ well-being during the lockdown significantly declined compared to before the lockdown (both measured retrospectively). Furthermore, mothers’ well-being after the Spring 2020 lockdown did not immediately return to pre-lockdown levels. Finally, we predicted that gender ideologies (i.e., essentialist beliefs about parenthood) would exacerbate the negative impact of increased domestic responsibilities (i.e., childcare and housework) on mothers’ well-being (i.e., higher standard-higher stress hypothesis). As predicted, for mothers who more strongly endorsed the belief that mothers are instinctively and innately better caretakers than fathers, perceptions of increased domestic responsibilities were associated with lower well-being post-lockdown. These findings point to the specific challenges mothers face in times of crisis, and the importance of addressing and confronting seemingly benevolent ideologies about motherhood that place additional burdens on women.

     

Managing one's social identity: Successful and unsuccessful identity management

This work explores the motivational dynamics of social identity management. Following social identity theory, we hypothesized that a threat to a positive social identity elicits specific negative emotions (i.e., outgroup‐directed anger) and motivates identity management. Successful identity management restores a positive social identity and decreases outgroup‐directed anger. However, when a successful identity management is blocked (e.g., because of limited cognitive resources), identity management will be unsuccessful and outgroup‐directed anger will remain at a higher level. This effect of unsuccessful identity management on outgroup‐directed anger should be particularly strong for group members who highly value their group (i.e., high group‐based self‐esteem). A negative comparison outcome is discrepant with these group members' positive view of the ingroup, and therefore, unsuccessful identity management should especially elicit negative emotions (i.e., anger) towards the threatening outgroup. Two studies tested these predictions. Study 1 (N = 110) showed that participants' outgroup‐directed anger increased when threatened under cognitive load. Study 2 (N = 99) demonstrated that this was particularly true for participants high in group‐based self‐esteem. The results' implications for research on the motivational processes underlying social identity management are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Relationship between Egalitarian Gender Role Attitudes and Life Satisfaction

In the present study, we investigated the relationship between egalitarian gender role endorsement, gender role satisfaction, and satisfaction with life among women in two cultural contexts, Kurdistan in Iraq and Norway, which differ widely in their acceptance of gender inequality according to the World Values Survey and the UN Gender Inequality Index. We predicted the relationship between egalitarian gender role endorsement (measured by the ENRICH- Equalitarian Roles Scale) and gender role satisfaction would vary across these two cultural contexts, but that gender role satisfaction would predict satisfaction with life in both cultures. Responses from 899 female university students (252 Kurdish and 246 Norwegian student teachers; 211 Kurdish and 190 Norwegian student nurses) confirmed our hypotheses. Egalitarian gender attitudes more strongly predicted gender role satisfaction in Norway than in Kurdistan (student teachers: r = .17 vs .07; nursing students: r = .37 vs. .18), but gender role satisfaction predicted life satisfaction in both cultures (r = .40 and .47; r = .49 and .47, respectively). Analyses confirmed that the mediating role of gender satisfaction was moderated by country. Our results shed light on the important role of gender satisfaction in explaining cultural differences in the relationship between egalitarian gender role attitudes and life satisfaction.     

Can we trust the phenomenological interview? Metaphysical,epistemological, and methodological objections

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - The paper defends the position that phenomenological interviews can provide a rich source of knowledge and that they are in no principled way less...     

Not Feeling Good in STEM: Effects of Stereotype Activation and Anticipated Affect on Women’s Career Aspirations

Despite great efforts to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), relatively few women choose careers in these fields. We argue that women might expect to feel less good in contexts where unfavorable gender stereotypes are activated in their minds (e.g., by strong underrepresentation) and, consequently, are less likely to aspire to STEM careers. In two pilot studies (Ns?=?28/61), we confirmed that undergraduate women expect more negative and less positive affect (i.e., generally (un)pleasant emotions) and a heightened sense of threat in a stereotype-activating, compared to a not stereotype-activating, test scenario. In Study 1 (N?=?102), the scenario indirectly lowered college women’s STEM career aspiration (adjusted for preliminary domain identification) due to lower anticipated positive affect, but not to higher negative affect, in the stereotype-activating scenario. The scenario had no detrimental effect on college men’s anticipated affect or their career aspirations. In Study 2, 91 high school students reported anticipated affect and self-efficacy in different university majors and their intentions to choose the subject as a major. The more stereotypically male (in terms of gender distribution) the subject, the more negative and the less positive was young women’s, but not young men’s, anticipated affect. Only lower positive, but not higher negative, affect predicted low study intentions over and above self-efficacy. To increase women’s aspirations, their expected feelings in STEM deserve attention. One approach to foster positive affect might be to create less stereotypical STEM contexts.