Showing papers in "Journal of Social Issues in 1999"
TL;DR: A review of research and theory on the motivations for maintaining ingroup boundaries and the implications of ingroup boundary protection for intergroup relations, conflict, and conflict prevention can be found in this paper.
Abstract: Allport (1954) recognized that attachment to one's ingroups does not necessarily require hostility toward outgroups. Yet the prevailing approach to the study of ethnocentrism, ingroup bias, and prejudice presumes that ingroup love and outgroup hate are reciprocally related. Findings from both cross-cultural research and laboratory experiments support the alternative view that ingroup identification is independent of negative attitudes toward outgroups and that much ingroup bias and intergroup discrimination is motivated by preferential treatment of ingroup members rather than direct hostility toward outgroup members. Thus to understand the roots of prejudice and discrimination requires first of all a better understanding of the functions that ingroup formation and identification serve for human beings. This article reviews research and theory on the motivations for maintenance of ingroup boundaries and the implications of ingroup boundary protection for intergroup relations, conflict, and conflict prevention.
2,768 citations
TL;DR: The authors hypothesize two clusters of outgroups, one perceived as competent but warm (resulting in paternalistic prejudice) and another perceived as not competent but not warm, resulting in envious prejudice.
Abstract: As Allport (1954) implied, the content of stereotypes may be systematic, and specifically, ambivalent. We hypothesize two clusters of outgroups, one perceived as incompetent but warm (resulting in paternalistic prejudice) and one perceived as competent but not warm (resulting in envious prejudice). Perceived group status predicts perceived competence, and perceived competition predicts perceived (lack of) warmth. Two preliminary surveys support these hypotheses for 17 outgroups. In-depth analyses of prejudice toward particular outgroups support ambivalent prejudice: Paternalistic prejudice toward traditional women, as well as envious prejudice toward career women, results in ambivalent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996). Envious prejudice toward Asians results in perceived competence but perceived lack of social skills. Ambivalent content reflects systematic principles.
751 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of empathic skills in improving intergroup relations is discussed. And three types of empathy are defined: cognitive empathy, reactive and parallel, along with a series of recommendations for its implementation.
Abstract: This article analyzes the role that empathy can play in improving intergroup relations. Three types of empathy are defined: cognitive empathy and twotypes of emotional empathy, reactive and parallel. Research indicating that empathy causes prosocial behavior is reviewed, along with studies indicating that training can be used to increase levels of empathic skills. Intergroup relations programs that employ empathy are also reviewed. Studies of the effects of empathizing with outgroup members on prejudice are discussed, andseveral processes by which empathy may mediate changes in prejudice are presented (e.g., reducing perceived dissimilarity and anxiety concerning the outgroup) and cognitive dissonance. The ways in which empathy can be introduced into intergroup relations programs are discussed, along with a series of recommendations for its implementation.
703 citations
TL;DR: The authors integrates and elaborates the basic premises of Blumer's group position theory of prejudice and makes explicit, more fully integrated, and empirically pliable the theoretical foundations of a sociological analysis of the nature of racial prejudice.
Abstract: This research integrates and elaborates the basic premises of Blumer's group position theory of prejudice. It does so in order to make explicit, more fully integrated, and empirically pliable the theoretical foundations of a sociological analysis of the nature of racial prejudice. In so doing, the research identifies important areas of agreement between Gordon Allport's approach to prejudice and that of Blumer. Blumer neither provided a full synthetic statement of his several major pieces on prejudice nor pursued sustained empirical research in the area. Hence, the present article (1) identifies the core assumptions of the group position model, (2) summarizes a recent line of empirical work examining claims embedded in the group position approach, (3) specifies how this approach differs from other closely related approaches, and (4) identifies major tasks for future theoretical and empirical work.
665 citations
TL;DR: The media itself is one potential vehicle for communicating productive, accurate, and deglamorized messages about eating and shape-related disorders as mentioned in this paper, and social activism and social marketing approaches are suggested as methods for fighting negative media messages.
Abstract: Survey, correlational, randomized control, and covariance structure modeling investigations indicate that the media are a significant factor in the development and maintenance of eating and shape-related disorders. One specific individual difference variable, internalization of societal pressures regarding prevailing standards of attractiveness, appears to moderate or even mediate the media's effects on women's body satisfaction and eating dysfunction. Problematic media messages inherent in existing media portrayals of eating disorders are apparent, leading researchers to pinpoint intervention strategies that might counteract such viewpoints. Social activism and social marketing approaches are suggested as methods for fighting negative media messages. The media itself is one potential vehicle for communicating productive, accurate, and deglamorized messages about eating and shape-related disorders.
469 citations
TL;DR: For instance, the authors found that women generally have greater difficulty exerting influence than men do, particularly when they use influence that conveys competence and authority, and that women possess higher levels of referent power than men.
Abstract: This article reviews research on gender differences in power and their effect on social influence. Evidence indicates that men generally possess higher levels of expert and legitimate power than women do and that women possess higher levels of referent power than men do. These differences are reflected, to some extent, in the influence strategies used by men and women and, more clearly, in gender differences in social influence. Women generally have greater difficulty exerting influence than men do, particularly when they use influence that conveys competence and authority. These findings indicate that gender differences in influence are mediated by gender differences in power.
332 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the need for cooperative learning groups in integrated schools in order to promote more cross-race relationships than might otherwise be the case, and review research on 8 cooperative learning procedures.
Abstract: This article discusses the need for cooperative learning groups in integrated schools in order to promote more cross-race relationships than might otherwise be the case. We review research on 8 cooperative learning procedures. Evidence for the effectiveness of these programs in facilitating cross-race peer interaction is presented.
309 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a long-term resolution of the Israeli-Palestine conflict requires development of a transcendent identity for the two peoples that does not threaten the particularistic identity of each.
Abstract: The interactions between identity groups engaged in a protracted conflict lack the conditions postulated by Gordon Allport in The Nature of Prejudice (1954) as necessary if contact is to reduce intergroup prejudice. The article examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from this perspective. After summarizing the history of the conflict, it proposes that a long-term resolution of the conflict requires development of a transcendent identity for the two peoples that does not threaten the particularistic identity of each. The nature of the conflict, however, impedes the development of a transcendent identity by creating a state of negative interdependence between the two identities such that asserting one group's identity requires negating the identity of the other. The resulting threat to each group's identity is further exacerbated by the fact that each side perceives the other as a source of some of its own negative identity elements, especially a view of the self as victim and as victimizer. The article concludes with a discussion of ways of over-coming the negative interdependence of the two identities by drawing on some of the positive elements in the relationship, most notably the positive interdependence between the two groups that exists in reality. Problem-solving workshops represent one setting for equal-status interactions that provide the parties the opportunity to “negotiate” their identities and to find ways of accommodating the identity of the other in their own identity.
304 citations
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the amount and nature of racial/ethnic content on television, including limited portrayals of race/ethnic groups and interracial/ethnic interaction, contributing to the development of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination among children.
Abstract: Televised role portrayals and interracial interactions, as sources of vicarious experience, contribute to the development of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination among children. The first section of this article reviews the amount and nature of racial/ethnic content on television, including limited portrayals of racial/ethnic groups and of interracial/ethnic interaction. The second section focuses on theoretical models that help explain television's role in the development, maintenance, and modification of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. The third section addresses research on the effects of television in altering stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, with particular attention given to media intervention programs specifically designed to address these issues (Sesame Street and Different and the Same). This article concludes with a discussion of suggestions for future research.
190 citations
TL;DR: The failure of design more effective programs is attributed to a lack of breadth and sophistication in the theoretical models and empirical research on which intervention strategies have been based as mentioned in this paper, and specific recommendations for expanding and evaluating the impact of multicultural curricula and materials are presented.
Abstract: Intervention programs designed to reduce racial stereotyping and prejudice among children using multicultural curricula and materials are reviewed Specifically, the theoretical assumptions that have guided the development of multicultural programs for countering racism among children and the empirical limitations that characterize extant intervention studies are outlined The failure to design more effective programs is attributed to a lack of breadth andsophistication in the theoretical models and empirical research on which intervention strategies have been based Specific recommendations for expanding and evaluating the impact of multicultural curricula and materials are presented
185 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined ways of talking about race and racial evaluations in order to reduce rather than raise prejudice and found that peers may be valuable sources of influence in this dialogue, and that peers' responses when they overhear a peer's demeaning racial remark and conflicting pressures influencing their interventions.
Abstract: Three studies examined ways of talking about race and racial evaluations in order to reduce rather than raise prejudice. The first study evaluated an 11-week classroom program designed to encourage, through teacher-led discussion, the processing of internal attributes of people rather than their race. In a second study, high-prejudice White students were paired with a low-prejudice friend to discuss their racial evaluations. The third study explored ways thatstudents orally respond when they overhear a peer's demeaning racial remark and the conflicting pressures influencing their interventions. Results overall support the assumption that talking about race and racial attitudes can reduce prejudice under certain conditions, and that peers may be valuable sources of influence in this dialogue.
TL;DR: In this article, the use of verbal aggression and physical violence was associated with perceived marital power, the demand/withdraw interaction pattern, and self-reported use of physical violence in a sample of 42 married couples.
Abstract: Relations among perceived marital power, the demand/withdraw interaction pattern, and self-reports of the use of verbal aggression and physical violence were examined in a sample of 42 married couples. Couples completed several self-report questionnaires and discussed two areas of marital dissatisfaction, one identified by the wife and one identified by the husband. These interactions were rated for the use of the demand/withdraw interaction pattern. Regression analyses revealed that lower levels of perceived power by the husbands and higher levels of perceived power by the wives were associated with the use of verbal aggression and violence by husbands and wives, the husband demand/wife withdraw interaction pattern was associated with husband's use of verbal aggression, and the wife demand/husband withdraw pattern was associated with husband's verbal aggression and violence and with wife's violence.
TL;DR: The authors examined alternative forms of bilingual education that have significant implications for intergroup relationships and the reduction of prejudice in two different national settings: Canada and the United States, where the Canadian programs are intended for English-speaking students from the culturally dominant group, whereas the U.S. programs were intended for language minority and language majority students.
Abstract: We examine alternative forms of bilingual education that have significant implications for intergroup relationships and the reduction of prejudice in two different national settings: Canada and the United States. The Canadian programs are intended for English-speaking students from the culturally dominant group, whereas the U.S. programs we discuss are intended for language minority and language majority students. Both aim to promote proficiency in English and another language. These programs provide many of the conditions that are argued to be essential for the reduction of prejudice and discrimination. They also provide students with the communication skills and cultural awareness that facilitates intergroup contact. The history and current structure of these programs along with salient educational practices are reviewed, and research relevant to changes in intergroup behavior and attitudes is discussed.
TL;DR: This paper identified organizational structures and practices in schools that influence the frequency of interracial interactions, the likelihood of cross-race friendships, and students' attitudes and behaviors toward members of different racial and ethnic groups.
Abstract: This article identifies organizational structures and practices in schools that influence the frequency of interracial interactions, the likelihood ofcross-race friendships, and students' attitudes and behaviors toward members of different racial and ethnic groups. These formal and informal organizational practices include curriculum tracking, assignment to classes, attendance at school level functions, and extracurricular activities. The article discusses how the quality of interracial interactions and the resultingrelationships among students is influenced by the contexts of these different organizational practices, including students' status expectations, cooperative versus competitive modes of academic and extracurricular interactions, and educators' views on racial/ethnic issues and their preferences for instructional methods. By taking these effects into account, schools can make significant advances in promoting positive race relations.
TL;DR: In this paper, a general model is presented to account for the coercive response style often shown by adults with low perceived power when they are placed in a position of authority (e.g., as parents or teachers).
Abstract: Consideration is given to the paradoxical misuse of power by those who perceive themselves as powerless. A general model is presented to account for the coercive response style often shown by adults with low perceived power when they are placed in a position of authority (e.g., as parents or teachers). Specific hypotheses are tested here concerning control-oriented cognitive activity and speech patterns shown by “powerless” adults when their authority is challenged. Women with high or low perceived power (as measured by the Parent Attribution Test) attempted to teach a computer game to a responsive or unresponsive child. “Powerless” women showed high levels of control-oriented appraisal activity preceding teaching interactions and a high level of nonfluency during teaching interactions (an ineffective speech style). It was concluded that the responses shown by “powerless” women set the stage for misunderstanding and future conflict.
TL;DR: The authors found that minority group members would show horizontal hostility, a form of prejudice, against members of a similar, but more mainstream, minority group, even when the group is stigmatized.
Abstract: Two studies were conducted to examine the relations between similar minority groups. We predicted that minority group members would show horizontal hostility, a form of prejudice, against members of a similar, but more mainstream, minority group. The results of both studies confirmed this hypothesis. In Study 1, members of 3 Jewish congregations (reform, conservative, orthodox) showed prejudice against a member of a similar but slightly more secular congregation. In Study 2, members of a college varsity soccer team showed prejudice against junior varsity players. We conclude by suggesting that horizontal hostility is the result of social changes since Allport (1954) wrote The Nature of Prejudice. Members of minority groups value their minority social identity, even when the group is stigmatized. The positive value of minority social identity causes group members to look down on members of similar, more mainstream groups.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between involvement in athletics and disordered eating and propose a shift in emphasis from athletic performance to the health of the athlete, and make educational recommendations to reduce the athlete's risk of disordered food eating.
Abstract: This is a review article examining the relationship between involvement in athletics and disordered eating. According to research on risk factors in the general population, gender, race, and activities that encourage dieting or weight loss by emphasizing a thin shape play an important role in the prevalence of eating disturbance. Factors in the athletic environment that increase the athlete's risk are addressed, such as the belief among athletes and coaches that a reduction in weight or body fat can enhance athletic performance. The authors propose a shift in emphasis from athletic performance to the health of the athlete. Practical educational recommendations to reduce the athlete's risk of disordered eating are offered for athletes and sport management personnel. Additionally preventative suggestions are offered for modifying aspects of the athletic environment.
TL;DR: In this article, a power/interaction model of interpersonal influence is applied to the analysis of religions as mechanisms of social control, and the original six bases of power presented by French and Raven (1959) are expanded to include variants of these bases: personal reward and coercion and legitimacy of equity, reciprocity, and responsibility.
Abstract: A power/interaction model of interpersonal influence is applied to the analysis of religions as mechanisms of social control. The original six bases of power presented by French and Raven (1959)—coercion, reward, legitimate position, expert, referent, and informational—are expanded to include variants of these bases: personal reward and coercion and legitimacy of equity, reciprocity, and responsibility (Raven, 1992). Over centuries, certain sages, seers, and chieftains, feeling that they knew what was best for their people individually and collectively, have attempted to utilize these power resources (e.g., to counter tendencies toward murder, theft, adultery, mayhem, or harmful dietary practices). To implement power strategies, various preparatory devices were developed, which include the establishment of a Deity, whose ultimate reward and coercive power is enhanced by omnipotence; whose omnipresence establishes necessary continual surveillance; and whose ultimate expertise follows from omniscience. Much of what has been developed in holy works, and in supportive art and literature, can then be seen as further preparing the bases of power for social control. Tensions result when a populace that is educated to expect informational power is faced with a religion that emphasizes extreme coercion, reward, ultimate legitimate and expert power.
TL;DR: This paper examined how individuals implicitly orient themselves toward their social identities in situations in which one or another of these identities is relatively adaptive, i.e. an adaptive identity is one associated with stereotypes that predict desirable performance in a given context.
Abstract: Most empirical work that examines the effects of stereotypes on targets considers only one of a target's many social identities. This study examined how individuals implicitly affectively orient themselves toward their social identities in situations in which one or another of these identities is relatively adaptive. An adaptive identity is one associated with stereotypes that predict desirable performance in a given context. One hundred and twenty-one Asian American females generated ethnicity- and gender-related memories in contexts in which their gender identity was relatively adaptive, their ethnic identity was relatively adaptive, or neither identity was relatively adaptive. Self-reported affect expressed in these memories was analyzed. In a context in which their ethnic identity was adaptive, participants generated more positive ethnicity-related memories than gender-related memories. In contrast, in a context in which their gender identity was adaptive, participants generated more positive gender-related memories than ethnicity-related memories. When neither identity was adaptive participants expressed similar affect toward both. Similar results were found when blind raters coded memory affect. Findings suggest that stereotypes and different social contexts do not simply result in targets' “identification” or “disidentification” along a single dimension of identity, but rather prompt a reorientation of implicit affect across their multiple identities.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate the practical value of studying a range of social problems in interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup situations from a perspective of power and influence processes.
Abstract: This issue aims to demonstrate the practical value of studying a range of social problems in interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup situations from a perspective of power and influence processes. In doing so, it extends the currently rapidly developing theoretical and experimental work on power and influence phenomena in a practical direction. This introductory article gives a brief historical overview of the area of social power and influence tactics by describing the core theoretical ideas.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relationship between client perceptions of therapist use of social influence strategies, therapist burnout, and clients' perceptions of the quality of their therapy and developed scales to measure personal coercive power, personal reward power, various forms of expert power, and compromise strategies.
Abstract: This study investigated the relationships between client perceptions of therapist use of social influence strategies, therapist burnout, and clients' perceptions of the quality of their therapy. Scales were developed to measure personal coercive power, personal reward power, various forms of expert power, and compromise strategies. A scale was also developed to measure clients' perceptions of their therapists' burnout that contained a combination of modified items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986) and original items based on stereotypical burnout behaviors. Research participants were 131 undergraduate students at the University of Pittsburgh who reported their experiences as therapy clients. Therapist use of personal coercive influence strategies and certain types of expert influence strategies were negatively associated with clients' perceptions of the quality of their therapy. Therapist use of personal reward influence strategies, compromise, and the therapist's reputation as an expert were positively related to clients' perceptions of the quality of their therapy. Perceived therapist burnout was positively associated with therapist use of personal coercive influence strategies, direct expert influence strategies, and indirect expert influence strategies. The implications of these findings are discussed.
TL;DR: The damaging side effects of the thinness pursuit are a growing social problem and public health threat causing concern for many health professionals, and there is considerable need to reinterpret previous data filtered through a thinness-biased lens that has led to inaccurate conclusions.
Abstract: The damaging side effects of the thinness pursuit are a growing social problem and public health threat causing concern for many health professionals. This concern stems from several areas of research outlined by the authors of this issue. First, research has consistently shown that weight loss programs do not have long-term positive outcomes. Continued participation in weight loss programs is associated with repeated weight loss and regain. This may cause problems, as weight fluctuation is associated with increased mortality and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, chronic restrictive dieting is a significant risk factor for the development of binge behavior and eating disorders. Direct adverse effects of weight loss programs and dangerous weight loss strategies such as laxative use, smoking cigarettes, very-low-calorie diets, prescription and over-the-counter diet pills, pose serious health risks. In a weight-centered approach toward health, thinness is viewed as a crucial goal for optimum health, and thus one to be strived for by all. Although thinness is believed to be synonymous with good health, this conclusion reflects only selective interpretations of research. There is considerable need to reinterpret previous data filtered through a thinness-biased lens that has led to inaccurate conclusions. The following past conclusions are reevaluated by the authors of this journal issue and summarized here: people can change their weight at will, dieting works and improves health, dieting makes you feel good, and fatness equal disease while thinness equals optimal health. Implications of this reconceptualization for a scientific and policy paradigm shift are discussed, and alternatives are proposed.
TL;DR: A wellness approach focused on healthy lifestyle, positive attitude to health and self-care, and a disregarding of predetermined weight standards in favor of preventing further weight gain and reducing risk factors should improve the physical and mental well being of obese patients.
Abstract: The direct medical hazards of obesity, although real, have been overstated. Because current remedies for obesity have little long-term effectiveness, no controlled clinical trial has demonstrated improved longevity after weight loss. In contrast, advances in drug therapy for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol allow obese persons affected by these conditions to live healthier lives. Furthermore, weight cycling may cause much of the cardiovascular risk associated with obesity. Repeated loss and regain of weight increases human deaths from heart disease, and in obese laboratory animals weight cycling increases blood pressure, enlarges the heart, damages the kidney, increases abdominal fat deposits, and promotes further weight gain. Additional health risks in obesity may be caused by hazardous treatments for obesity, as illustrated by heart disease caused by diet pills. Obese patients often lack full access to medical services owing in part to social stigma and low self-esteem, which impair self-care activities, and the bias of health professionals. These barriers, along with the prevalence of poverty among the obese, may contribute to the association of obesity with poor health. Medical beliefs about obesity are shaped by expert panels that are highly selective in the data they consider. Experts included on government consensus panels have been disproportionately drawn from the ranks of diet clinic directors, which might explain the congruence between panel recommendations and the economic interests of the diet industry. One remedy is a wellness approach focused on healthy lifestyle, positive attitude to health and self-care, and a disregarding of predetermined weight standards in favor of preventing further weight gain and reducing risk factors. Medical conditions common in obese patients, including hypertension, type-2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and sleep apnea, are dealt with directly and aggressively rather than relying on weight loss as the primary treatment. This new approach should improve the physical and mental well being of obese patients.
TL;DR: In this paper, a new conceptual and theoretical approach to the relation of power to knowledge is presented, which distingushes between restrictive and promotive control, and it is hypothesized that restrictive control has negative consequences for the production of new or better knowledge because it induces information pathologies that in turn lower the effectiveness of joint action.
Abstract: Although the relation of power to knowledge is an often discussed theme, a psychological and sociological scrutiny of the issue is lacking. A new conceptual and theoretical approach to this issue is presented here that distingushes between restrictive and promotive control. Restrictive control is a form of power exertion in which one actor pushes his wishes through against the interests of another actor. In contrast, if an actor influences the other in line with his or her interests, this is called promotive control. Information pathologies, i.e., avoidable failures of distributed information processing, are introduced as an inverse measure for the quality and quantity of knowledge production. It is hypothesized that restrictive control has negative consequences for the production of new or better knowledge, because it induces information pathologies that in turn lower the effectiveness of joint action. These two hypotheses are tested in a study on 21 successful and 21 unsuccessful innovations with a dual qualitative and quantitative approach. The interpretive analysis of interviews with the main actors of each innovation case as well as the statistical analysis of questionnaire responses by the same actors strongly corroborate both hypotheses. Methodological problems, theoretical perspectives, and practical consequences are discussed. The second half of this century has seen the transition from industrial to informational societies. The coming century will see communication and information processing becoming even more important for the handling of any issue in politics, in the economy, or in private affairs. The amount of information produced is
TL;DR: This paper showed that stereotypes do not appear to affect self-expectations; instead, they appear to foster a climate of mistrust that results in depressed performance, and interventions that ameliorate the situation of mistrust, such as the presence of educators who are competent minority group members, tend to raise levels of performance.
Abstract: This article focuses on two aspects of Allport's (1954) investigation of the psychology of being a target of prejudice. Whereas most researchers in this area view Allport as an expectancy theorist, we revisit another aspect of Allport's theory: the situational threat posed by negative stereotypes. First, we examine this issue, as it applies to the academic underachievement of negatively stereotyped groups, by contrasting the situational threat posed by stereotypes with traditional and current expectancy-oriented conceptions. Second, we show that stereotypes do not appear to affect self-expectations; instead, they appear to foster a climate of mistrust that results in depressed performance. Finally, we discuss how interventions that ameliorate the climate of mistrust, such as the presence of educators who are competent minority group members, tend to raise levels of performance.
TL;DR: A review of individual differences in stereotyping can be found in this article, showing that both adults and children differ in social-cognitive factors related to stereotyping, namely the way they process social information and their endorsement of social ideologies.
Abstract: This article describes research findings on individual differences in stereotyping and shows how these findings have been and can be further applied to prejudice reduction efforts. A notable strength of this “new” generation of individual difference work is its dynamic nature—that individual differences can be both stable and malleable. The first section of this article reviews work showing that both adults and children differ in social-cognitive factors related to stereotyping, namely the way they process social information and their endorsement of social ideologies. The second section describes intervention strategies that target these factors. In the final section, limitations and future directions of basic and applied research on individual differences and stereotyping are discussed.
TL;DR: The means by which low-power groups might achieve power, and how those who are in high-power positions might retain and subvert acts of power are addressed, and research that addresses these same issues from a static and individualistic approach to power is countered.
Abstract: Language is a communication medium for turning a power base into influence. But more than that, the creation of power and its maintenance or change can also occur in and through language. In the present article, we discuss some of the dynamic links between language and power to underscore their relevance to the study of intergroup relations. In particular we address the means by which low-power groups might achieve power, and how those who are in high-power positions might retain and subvert acts of power. In doing this, we counterpose our discussion with research that addresses these same issues from a static and individualistic approach to power. Our central argument is that the latter work lacks theoretical facility for describing and understanding the aforementioned dynamic processes of power, and moreover, that its application may unwittingly serve to reify and cement existing control relationships.
TL;DR: A review of the literature on the psychological consequences of dieting can be found in this paper, where the authors examine the impact of eating on mood, self-esteem, cognition, and eating behavior.
Abstract: This article reviews the literature on the psychological consequences of dieting. In particular, the authors examine the impact of dieting on mood, self-esteem, cognition, and eating behavior. The famous Keys study of starvation is discussed in relations to impaired concentration, food preoccupation, negative affect, and binge eating behavior. Overall, the literature indicates that dieting has a negative impact on psychological well-being. As a result, alternative nondieting approaches toward eating are presented and recommended to promote psychological health.
TL;DR: The author summarizes the research establishing that weight loss itself can cause physical changes that may be adverse to health or may escalate the risk of death, and suggests a new approach toward health, one that provides a sound framework for dealing realistically with eating and weight problems.
Abstract: Because treating obesity through weight loss has been a major public health priority, a large number of people are trying to lose weight at any given time. Many weight loss techniques widely available and widely used have adverse physical effects. This article reviews the research on risky weight loss methods, including prescription and over-the-counter diet pills, semistarvation and other food restriction diets, stomach reduction surgery, purging, laxatives, diuretics, vomiting, and fasting. These weight loss methods can lead to a range of serious health problems, including life-threatening conditions and death. Additionally, the author summarizes the research establishing that weight loss itself can cause physical changes that may be adverse to health or may escalate the risk of death. Given these findings, the author suggests a new approach toward health, one that provides a sound framework for dealing realistically with eating and weight problems by recognizing the interrelatedness of the four major eating and weight problems: overweight, eating disorders, dysfunctional or disordered eating, and size prejudice. This approach recognizes that each of these problems is increasing in prevalence, has health risks, and needs to be dealt with in ways that do no harm. The new paradigm emphasizes, first of all, prevention of these problems, enhancing overall health and well-being, and second, research-based treatment that promotes healthy, normal eating, and does not disrupt normal, internally regulated eating patterns.
TL;DR: The authors reviewed and described the traditional way services have been delivered in relationships and a newer way service is delivered in service encounters, where a customer interacts with a different service provider, or even a machine, each time she needs the same kind of service.
Abstract: My talk today will be successful if I am able to persuade some scholars to study commercial interactions between strangers, a class of social interaction that has been neglected by researchers interested in social issues. Interactions between a provider of goods or services and a customer who are strangers to each other are important because they are now so common, a by-product of the modern service economy. In my talk today, I review and describe the traditional way services have been delivered—in relationships—and a newer way service is delivered—in service “encounters,” where a customer interacts with a different service provider, or even a machine, each time she needs the same kind of service. I will describe some research findings relating to how these two forms of service delivery differ and how the recipients of service respond to these different forms of service delivery. I will then describe some areas for future research, drawing on existing theories (such as attribution theory and stereotyping), and show how they apply to the study of service interactions.