Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy最新文献

There is limited empirical research into the experiences of people diagnosed with HIV in the era before antiretroviral therapy (ART) was introduced, and who are living with long-term HIV. Positive psychological insights into coping can inform clinicians working with clients from this population. Eight people in the United Kingdom were interviewed regarding their experiences of living with long-term HIV. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data. Participants described their experiences of individual and collective trauma, but also how they used these experiences to derive resilience and post-traumatic growth. Two superordinate generalized experiential themes were developed: Coping through education, learning, and reflection, and Relationships. Subordinate experiential themes included the significance of being the educator and the provision of education, meaning-making, self-reflection, and learning, as well as both community belonging and connection, and the careful management of HIV disclosure in relationships.

People with gender minority (e.g., transgender, agender, nonbinary) and sexual minority (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, queer) identities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In the current research, we examine whether gender and sexual minorities report greater epistemic exclusion (i.e., institutional devaluation of their contributions) and worse academic outcomes compared to their cisgender and heterosexual peers. In a survey of 329 PhD students, we find that students who identified as gender and/or sexual minorities were more likely to experience epistemic exclusion, report greater stress in graduate school, and intend to leave their PhD programs (relative to their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts). Importantly, we found this pattern both within and outside of STEM. This research highlights how epistemic exclusion can serve as a barrier to gender and sexual minorities’ success, not only in STEM, but in academia more broadly.

The US Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case stands to exacerbate maternal mortality and other pregnancy-related health risks, especially for women of minority backgrounds. To empirically examine the psychological and behavioral consequences of Dobbs, the indirect moderating influence of racial bias on abortion-related outcomes was assessed across two experiments conducted on Qualtrics using participants from Amazon's Mechanical Turk. In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to read information on the effects of abortion restrictions on maternal mortality that either framed the issue in terms of racial justice or did not include such a framing and then asked about their support for abortion rights. Conditional indirect effects of framing on policy support were found through the mediating mechanisms of moral outrage and realistic threat. In Experiment 2, participants imagined themselves as physicians deciding whether to perform abortions under highly restrictive laws while the patient (described as either Black or White) is experiencing complications, then asked about their willingness to perform the procedure. For the second experiment, conditional indirect effects were found through the mediating mechanism of perceived patient symptom severity. Implications of these findings for maternal health and mortality in the Dobbs era are discussed.

Climate change mitigation requires collective efforts, but the fact that the climate issue has become highly polarized may thwart such endeavors. In this article, we examine how negative emotions in response to climate change threats are associated with affective polarization—the tendency to view those from opposing political groups with hostility and bias, and to view those from one's own group more favorably. We hypothesize that anger in response to climate change threats is associated with higher affective polarization, whereas fear responses are associated with lower affective polarization. First, we conducted a survey in Sweden (N = 1575) and found that participants who perceived climate change as threatening were lower on affective polarization. Second, we conducted a survey experiment in Sweden (N = 1110), where participants were presented with content describing climate change threats or a control condition. Participants exposed to climate change threats reacted with increased anger and fear as expected. Fear was associated with lower affective polarization, while anger was not significantly associated with affective polarization. We conclude that fear in response to climate change threats may, under certain circumstances, depolarize the electorate.

Past research suggests that experiences with discrimination motivate members of marginalized groups to work together to change their condition. In the current work, we test whether relations within a marginalized community also matter in motivating group members to work together to confront injustice enacted against their ingroup. Drawing from the experiences of Latinxs (S1/S2) and Asians (S2) in the United States, we examine how feedback from outside of the ethnic ingroup and relations within their ingroup each uniquely shape feelings of solidarity and willingness to engage in political action on behalf of the ingroup. Consistent with past work, perception of group discrimination was associated with a sense of solidarity with and willingness to act on behalf of the ingroup among both Latinxs and Asians. Importantly, findings show that individuals’ standing within the group also predicts solidarity among both Latinxs and Asians and also willingness to engage in political action on behalf of the ingroup, but only among Latinxs and not among Asians. Together, these findings suggest that ingroup solidarity and motivation to work on behalf of the group are shaped not only by influences enacted by outgroup members but also by relations within the group.

Social determinants influence multiple life outcomes including depression, poverty, and mortality. While causal beliefs shape public views on these issues, studies have remained siloed across disciplines. We surveyed 1000 UK adults on 43 social and non-social risk factors for these outcomes, using a broader set of social factors than previous work. We ask which social determinants are perceived to be causally important, how these are weighted relative to non-social causes, and whether this differs across outcomes. To explore psychological predictors of beliefs, we measured political orientation, subjective socioeconomic status, sense of control, and material deprivation. Respondents viewed social factors as more causal for poverty and depression than for mortality. Left-leaning views and lower perceived control were linked to stronger causal beliefs in social factors. These findings reveal that UK respondents perceive a causal role for social determinants that is comparable to that of non-social factors.

Although performative activism is often disparaged as actions meant to increase the participant's social status rather than make real social change, not much is known about what defines it, and who, why, and where people participate in performative activism, and indeed, if it is a bad thing. The current study examined these questions in a qualitative case study of thirty students on a small residential college campus. We looked at how students understood performative activism in terms of identity (in-group vs. ally), site (offline vs. online), and motivation (ideological vs. peer- or self-focused). We found that students almost universally reported having participated in performative activism in the past, both offline and online, for causes related and unrelated to their social identities, and had multiple motives for participating. It was rare for a student to report completely peer- or self-focused motivations for participating. We conclude that performative activism, though disparaged, seems to be a normal part of young adult political development.

The purpose of the current studies was to examine perceptions of sex crime severity, framing, and framing congruency on mock juror decision making. Study 1 (N = 230) was exploratory and investigated lay perceptions of legally equivalent sex crimes for both a typical victim and perpetrator. Participants were presented with six sex crimes and answered questions regarding expected nonconsensual behaviors, physical and psychological injuries, perceived severity, and injury likelihood associated with each sex crime. Rape, criminal sexual act, and gross sexual imposition were perceived as high, moderate, and low severity sex crimes, respectively. Informed by Study 1, Study 2 (N = 545) tested whether sex crime frame severity (i.e., high severity versus average or low) or framing congruency among the prosecution and defence would influence mock juror judgments in the context of a criminal trial. Mock jurors read a mock trial, responded to identical measures from Study 1, and additionally completed measures regarding their perceptions of the victim, defendant, and rendered a verdict. Framing influenced perceptions of the defendant rather than the victim or verdict. No significant results emerged regarding framing congruency. Taken together, results from both studies suggest that equivalent sex crimes are perceived differently based on frame alone.

Understanding the social-psychological mechanisms underlying parental attitudes toward school-based sexuality education is increasingly important in polarized societies. Guided by the Dual Process Motivational (DPM) model, the current research examined how right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and religiosity relate to opposition to school-based sexuality education among Greek parents. Two studies were conducted with a combined sample of 643 parents (Study 1, 376 participants, M_age = 38.47, SD_age = 7.39; 336 female participants; Study 2, 267 participants, M_age = 44.91, SD_age = 6.77; 240 female respondents) residing in Greece. Data were analyzed using bivariate correlations, multiple regression, and bootstrapped moderation analysis. Results showed that both RWA and SDO were negatively associated with support for school-based sexuality education. Furthermore, higher religiosity intensified the negative relationship between RWA and attitudes toward sexuality education. These findings highlight how ideological and religious worldviews may shape parental opposition to sexuality education, offering new directions for research and policy development.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens of many countries have been faced with health-related fear, as well as anti-establishment and anti-governmental anger. This emotional landscape colored the ongoing efforts by the authorities to convince citizens to accept various public policy proposals. In two studies (total N = 528, one preregistered) conducted in Poland in two different situations, we focused on the role of the simultaneously evoked pandemic fear and anti-government anger in shaping attitudes toward the pandemic regulations. For negatively evaluated proposals, both of these emotions worked in opposite directions: fear was associated with increasing support, while anger was associated with increasing rejection. However, for positively evaluated policy proposals, fear and anger worked in consonance, and both were associated with increasing acceptance of the proposed regulations. Thus, while fear seems to motivate the acceptance of even negatively evaluated proposals that are seen as protective ones, anger works to amplify or polarize the proposals’ basic evaluations. Our findings could help plan the implementation of public policies in societies in times of turbulent emotional landscapes.