Showing papers on "Social psychology (sociology) published in 2007"

Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences

Abstract: Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. By Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. 331p. 20.00 paper.In recent years, there has been a surge in work on what has come to be known as “qualitative methods.” The trend is essentially reactive, developing as a response to the outpouring of work on quantitative and formal methods and the assertions by scholars in those areas that case studies and historical work are impressionistic, unscientific, and noncumulative. To counter such claims, some of the field's most distinguished qualitative scholars (e.g., Stephan Van Evera, Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science, 1997; James Mahoney and Dietrich Rueschemeyer, eds., Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, 2003; and Marc Trachtenberg, The Craft of International History, 2006) have spent much time and ink to show that researchers who eschew regressions or game theory can be just as methodologically aware and sophisticated as those who embrace them. Alexander George and Andrew Bennett's Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences is an impressive and welcome addition to this literature.

Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior?

Abstract: Psychology calls itself the science of behavior, and the American Psychological Association's current "Decade of Behavior" was intended to increase awareness and appreciation of this aspect of the science. Yet some psychological subdisciplines have never directly studied behavior, and studies on behavior are dwindling rapidly in other subdisciplines. We discuss the eclipse of behavior in personality and social psychology, in which direct observation of behavior has been increasingly supplanted by introspective self-reports, hypothetical scenarios, and questionnaire ratings. We advocate a renewed commitment to including direct observation of behavior whenever possible and in at least a healthy minority of research projects.

Pervasiveness and correlates of implicit attitudes and stereotypes

Abstract: Correspondence should be addressed to Brian A. Nosek, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 102 Gilmer Hall, Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. E-mail: nosek@virginia.edu This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-41328, MH-01533, MH-57672, and MH-68447) and the National Science Foundation (SBR-9422241, SBR-9709924, and REC-0634041). The authors are grateful for technical support from N. Sriram, Ethan Sutin, and Lili Wu. Related information is available at http://briannosek.com/ and http://projectimplicit.net/ EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2007, 1 – 53, iFirst article

Moral sentiments and material interests : the foundations of cooperation in economic life

Abstract: Multidisciplinary research into cooperation and the implications for public policy, drawing on insights from economics, anthropology, biology, social psychology, and sociology.

Culture and Identity-Protective Cognition: Explaining the White Male Effect in Risk Perception

Abstract: Why do white men fear various risks less than women and minorities? Known as the white male effect, this pattern is well documented but poorly understood. This paper proposes a new explanation: identity-protective cognition. Putting work on the cultural theory of risk together with work on motivated cognition in social psychology suggests that individuals selectively credit and dismiss asserted dangers in a manner supportive of their preferred form of social organization. This dynamic, it is hypothesized, drives the white male effect, which reflects the risk skepticism that hierarchical and individualistic white males display when activities integral to their cultural identities are challenged as harmful. The article presents the results of an 1,800-person study that confirmed that cultural worldviews interact with the impact of gender and race on risk perception in patterns that suggest cultural-identity-protective cognition. It also discusses the implication of these findings for risk regulation and communication.

The Psychological Functions of Function Words

Abstract: anguage is the currency of most human social processes. We use words toconvey our emotions and thoughts, to tell stories, and to understand theworld. It is somewhat odd, then, that so few investigations in the socialsciences actually focus on natural language use among people in the real world.There are many legitimate reasons for not studying what people say or write.Historically, the analysis of text was slow, complex, and costly. The purpose of thischapter is to suggest that social scientists in general and social psychologists inparticular should reconsider the value of language studies. With recent advancesin computer text analysis methods, we are now able to explore basic social processesin new and rich ways that could not have been done even a decade ago.When language has been studied at all within social psychology, it has usuallyrelied on fairly rigorous experimental methods using an assortment of standardizedhuman coding procedures. These works are helping researchers to understandsocial attribution (Fiedler & Semin, 1992), intercultural communication (Hajek G Winter & McClelland, 1978)Over the last decade, a small group of researchers have adopted a somewhatdifferent strategy. Their goal has been to understand how the words people use intheir daily interactions reflect who they are and what they are doing. As detailedbelow, this strategy has also been method-driven. With the development ofincreasingly versatile computer programs and the availability of natural languageIn K. Fiedler (Ed.)(2007). Social Communication (pp. 343-359). New York: Psychology Press.

A feminist analysis of organizational research on sex differences

Abstract: Based on a survey of empirical research on gender in organizations published over a twenty-year period, we argue that, cumulatively, studies of sex difference tend to neglect organizational features. Drawing on concepts from feminist theory about gender as a system, as identity, and as power, we outline how greater attention to the links between gender identity and organizational structures and practices would enrich the field. We conclude with a research agenda that retains a focus on the individual while incorporating an analysis of the impact of organizations.

Integration of Social Identities in the Self: Toward a Cognitive-Developmental Model

Abstract: This article presents a model of social identity development and integration in the self. Classic intergroup theories (e.g., social identity theory, self-categorization theory) address the situational, short-term changes in social identities. Although these theories identify the contextual and environmental factors that explain situational changes in social identification, the intraindividual processes underlying developmental changes in social identities and their integration within the self remain to be identified. Relying on recent intergroup models as well as on developmental (i.e., neo-Piagetian) and social cognitive frameworks, this article proposes a four-stage model that explains the specific processes by which multiple social identities develop intraindividually and become integrated within the self over time. The factors that facilitate versus impede these identity change processes and the consequences associated with social identity integration are also presented.

Social neuroscience : integrating biological and psychological explanations of social behavior

Abstract: Part 1 Introduction Harmon-Jones, Winkielman, A Brief Overview of Social Neuroscience Part 2 Emotion Processes Beer, The Importance of Emotion-Social Cognition Interactions for Social Functioning: Insights from Orbitofrontal Cortex Heberlein, Adolphs, Neurobiology of Emotion Recognition: Current Evidence for Shared Substrates Kudielka, Hellhammer, Kirschbaum, Ten Years of Research with the Trier Social Stress Test - Revisited Norris, Cacioppo, I Know How You Feel: Social and Emotional Information Processing in the Brain Ochsner, How Thinking Controls Feeling: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Approach Part 3 Motivation Processes Harmon-Jones, Asymmetrical Frontal Cortical Activity, Affective Valence, and Motivational Direction Knutson, Wimmer, Reward: Neural Circuitry for Social Valuation Schultheiss, A Biobehavioral Model of Implicit Power Motivation Arousal, Reward, and Frustration van Honk, Schutter, Vigilant and Avoidant Responses to Angry Facial Expressions: Dominance and Submission Motives Part 4 Attitudes and Social Cognition Cunningham, Johnson, Attitudes and Evaluation: Toward a Component Process Framework Decety, A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Model of Human Empathy Fazendeiro, Chenier, Winkielman, How Dynamics of Thinking Create Affective and Cognitive Feelings: Psychology and Neuroscience of the Connection between Fluency, Liking, and Memory Lieberman, The X- and C-Systems: The Neural Basis of Automatic and Controlled Social Cognition Stone, An Evolutionary Perspective on Domain Specificity in Social Intelligence Part 5 Person Perception, Stereotyping, and Prejudice Amodio, Devine, Harmon-Jones, Mechanisms for the Regulation of Intergroup Responses: Insights from a Social Neuroscience Approach Bartholow, Dickter, Social Cognitive Neuroscience of Person Perception: A Selective Review Focused on the Event-Related Brain Potential Ito, Willadsen-Jensen, Correll, Social Neuroscience and Social Perception: New Perspectives on Categorization, Prejudice, and Stereotyping Part 6 Interpersonal Relationships Carter, Neuropeptides and the Protective Effects of Social Bonds Iacoboni, The Quiet Revolution of Existential Neuroscience Taylor, Gonzaga, Affiliative Responses to Stress: A Social Neuroscience Model Uchino, Holt-Lunstad, Uno, Campo, Reblin, The Social Neuroscience of Relationships: An Examination of Health-Relevant Pathways

The Social Psychology of Compassion

Abstract: This article places social work clinicians’ compassion fatigue, burnout, and other negative consequences in a broader context of positive social work. We argue for a paradigm shift towards identifying the factors that lead clinical social workers toward human flourishing in their field. We introduce a model for creating “compassion satisfaction” or feelings of fulfillment with clients, rooted in positive psychology and expanded to incorporate the social work perspective. The model suggests that affect, work resources, and self-care influence clinicians’ positivity–negativity ratio, which in turn can result in compassion satisfaction. To maximize compassion satisfaction, research, education, and training should consider how classroom instruction and workplace policies can promote the most success among clinical social workers.

The behavioral immune system: Its evolution and social psychological implications.

Abstract: November 27, 1966. For one of the authors (Mark Schaller) that was a bad day. It was his fourth birthday and his parents threw him a party, with balloons and ice cream and birthday party games. This wasn’t easy because the family was living on the Serengeti plains of Tanzania, where neither balloons nor ice cream (nor very many other young children for that matter) were readily available. Despite his parents’ intrepid efforts, the day was a disaster. Mark’s balloon popped. He dropped his ice cream into the dirt. He cried and cried and cried. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tanzania, on exactly the same day, a fellow named McGregor was also having a bad day—a really bad day. Indeed, the minor setbacks of Mark’s birthday party are trivial in comparison to the truly tragic events that befell McGregor that day. McGregor lived on the eastern edge of Lake Tanganyika, in an area that is now Gombe National Park. McGregor was a chimpanzee. Chimpanzees are, like people, a highly social species. Chimps typically stay in very close contact with their fellow group members. Their health and reproductive success depend on it. They may spend several hours each day grooming each other—removing fleas, mites, and other ectoparasites from each other’s fur. For most of McGregor’s life, his social experiences were not unusual. But, in 1966, a polio epidemic struck the Gombe chimpanzees, and McGregor fell victim. The consequences are described in detail by Goodall (1986). McGregor lost the use of his legs, forcing him to drag his body backwards with his arms, or to attempt a series of bizarre somersaults as a crude means of locomotion. He lost control of his bladder, and so his awkward movements were accompanied constantly by a buzzing swarm of flies. And, as if that wasn’t painful enough, McGregor’s physical privations precipitated near-complete social rejection—as indicated by observations recorded on November 27, 1966:

Situated Social Cognition

Abstract: Social cognition refers to the mental representations and processes that underlie social judgments and behavior—for example, the application of stereotypes to members of social groups. Theories of social cognition have generally assumed that mental representations are abstract and stable and that they are activated and applied by relatively automatic, context-independent processes. Recent evidence is inconsistent with these expectations, however. Social-cognitive processes have been shown to be adaptive to the perceiver's current social goals, communicative contexts, and bodily states. Although these findings can often be given ad hoc explanations within current conceptual frameworks, they invite a fuller integration with the broad intellectual movement emphasizing situated cognition. Such an approach has already been influential in many areas within psychology and beyond, and theories in the field of social cognition would benefit by taking advantage of its insights.

The Demand and Supply of Participation: social psychological correlates of participation in a social movement

Abstract: This paper provides a review of recent developments in the social psychology of movement participation. It begins with a description of forms of participation and continues with a discussion of participation in the life course. The centre piece, however, concerns the dynamics of participation. Elaborating on these dynamics the ‘demand-supply’ metaphor is borrowed from economics. Participation in a social movement is defined as the outcome of a process of mobilization that brings a demand for political protest that exists in a society together with a supply of opportunities to take part in protest offered by movement organizations. The social psychological transaction that is taking place between an individual considering to participate in a social movement activity and a movement organization trying to persuade the individual to take part in its activities is conceptualised in terms of three fundamental motives: people may want to change their circumstances (instrumentality), they may want to act as members of their group (identity), or they may want to give meaning to their world and express their views and feelings (ideology). The demand- and supplyside of participation are discussed in terms of these three motives. Steps in the process of mobilization are analysed. Keywords Participation, social movement, social psychology, political psychology, mobilization process Resumo Este artigo faz uma revisao do recente desenvolvimento da psicologia social dos movimentos sociais. Inicia-se com uma descricao das formas de participacao e continua com uma descricao da participacao na vida social. A questao central, no entanto, diz respeito a dinâmica de participacao. Palavras-Chave Participacao, movimentos sociais, psicologia social, psicologia politica, processo de mobilizacao

Social Psychology and Human Nature

Abstract: You are a member of a social world on a planet containing about 7 billion people. This social world is filled with paradox, mystery, suspense, and outright absurdity. Explore how social psychology can help you make sense of your own social world with this engaging and accessible book. Roy F. Baumeister and Brad J. Bushman's SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND HUMAN NATURE can help you make sense of the always fascinating and sometimes bizarre and baffling diversity of human behavior-and it's also just plain interesting to learn about how and why people act the way they do.

Gift giving: An interdisciplinary review

Abstract: The issue of why individuals choose to support charity has been the focus of considerable research in the disciplines of economics, psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology and more recently, management and marketing. This paper draws together extant work, developing a content model of giving behavior that fundraisers may use to inform their professional practice. A number of specific propositions are developed from the literature to assist in this goal. The paper provides summary tables of existing empirical studies categorized by the dimensions of the model, explores ambiguity in research findings, and concludes by highlighting opportunities for further research Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cosmopolitan attitudes through transnational social practices

Abstract: Within the scope of the debate surrounding globalization, ever increasing attention is being directed to the growth of border-crossing social relations and the emergence of transnational social spaces on the micro-level. In particular, the question of how these border-crossing interrelations influence the attitudes and values of the people involved causes some controversy. Some assume that the increasing trans-nationalization of social relations will foster the development of cosmopolitan attitudes, while others warn that renationalization may also be a result. On the empirical level, the relationship between transnationalization and cosmopolitanism has so far only been addressed with regard to certain groups or specific circumstances. However, we assume that on the general level there is a positive relation between the two syndromes and address this question empirically on the level of the entire German population. On the basis of a representative survey of German citizens carried out in 2006, we find that people with border-crossing experiences and transnational social relations are more likely to adopt cosmopolitan attitudes with respect to foreigners and global governance. The analysis shows that this general interrelation remains stable even when controlling for relevant socio-economic variables.