Journal of Applied Social Psychology最新文献

This research applies a social identity lens to show that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the classification of occupations and labor market sectors as essential versus nonessential negatively affected the professional identity of those categorized as nonessential workers. We hypothesized that nonessential workers would report lower professional identification (PI) during the pandemic relative to essential workers; explored whether this was partially due to mandatory shifts to working from home and working fewer hours; whether gender differences would emerge in the impact of (non)essential categorization on PI; and if lower PI would negatively relate to work productivity and performance during the pandemic. Empirical evidence based on three datasets sampled among the Dutch working population during two peak waves of COVID-19 infections and national lockdowns (May/June 2020; Study 1: N = 371; November/December 2020, Study 2: N = 467; Study 3 = 735) confirmed nonessential workers' lower PI relative to essential workers. During the first peak wave (Study 1), nonessential workers' lower PI was partially explained by being home-bound by reduced work hours. As the pandemic continued (second peak wave; Studies 2 and 3), gender differences emerged, with more negative consequences of being classified as nonessential for women than men. Nonessential workers' lower PI levels were associated with lower work productivity and performance. These findings underscore the importance of understanding social identity processes during the pandemic. We discuss the sociopsychological ramifications of government regulations to control health crises, given how these may inadvertently undermine the professional identity of over half a working population in society.

With rising numbers and increasing complexity of long-living conflicts, the effect of contact interventions is tested in that context. This meta-analysis investigated the effect contact interventions have on outgroup-attitudes in the context of a highly intractable conflict. Publications were included, if they quantitatively assessed a contact intervention with samples collected in the context of a highly intractable conflict, either still active or politically resolved, and assessed attitude toward the outgroup they met as a dependent variable. With these criteria, 38 publications with 57 samples and 143 outcomes were included. The influence methodological rigorousness has on the effect sizes in the primary studies is low. The present results suggest that contact interventions are associated with improved attitude toward the outgroup; however, this result is accompanied by high heterogeneity, suggesting high degree of uncertainty in the estimation of the main effect. Further, the mix of correlational and experimental studies makes causal inferences difficult.

Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples has been a named priority for many post-colonial societies. In this context, in August 2018, Victoria City Hall in Canada removed the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister, from its grounds; similar events followed across Canada. Research on this issue is lacking but can offer useful insights to researchers and policymakers. To understand how non-Indigenous Canadians respond to renaming or removing statues in the name of reconciliation, we qualitatively analysed online comments posted under news articles reporting the removal of Macdonald's statue (Study 1). Two narratives aimed at delegitimising renaming/removing emerged: depicting the actions as excessive ‘political correctness’ (PC) that represented the values of a powerful, but minority, outgroup of ‘liberal elites’; and depicting the actions as a symbolic threat to the ingroup through notions of ‘rewriting history’. In Study 2, with a Canadian community sample, we investigated anti-PC attitudes and symbolic intergroup threat via rewriting history as predictors of support for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Given the central role of ideological beliefs in intergroup attitudes, we examined RWA and SDO as predictors of anti-PC attitudes, symbolic threat in the form of rewriting history, and support for reconciliation. Path analysis results showed that RWA and SDO indirectly predicted lower support for renaming/removing via higher anti-PC attitudes and higher symbolic threat. Collectively, this research provides evidence that anti-PC and symbolic threat are important constructs in relation to responses to reconciliation proposals in Canada with potential implications for other post-colonial societies.

The pandemic changed people's lives and came with enormous restrictions on personal freedom, greatly restricting people's sense of agency. In response, people oscillated between fear and anger. We show (N = 2125) the ways in which people restored their perceived agency that was taken away by restrictions and that affective reactions to the pandemic may have guided people's pandemic behavior. In Study 1 (n = 276), psychological threat elicited by the pandemic predicted anxiety and was, in turn, related to reactance. While anxiety positively predicted reactions increasing the success of pandemic management, reactance was related to non-facilitating reactions such as belief in conspiracies and vaccine distrust. In Study 2 (n = 354), reading about a conspiracy myth as one form of defense increased positive affect. In Study 3 (n = 213) and Study 4 (n = 1282), we replicated findings from Study 1, extending the focus to belief in conspiracies and fake news, anti-vaccination attitudes, national trust, solidarity, and mainstream media mistrust. Interestingly, in Study 4, defensive reactions were associated with more perceived agency, indicating that defensive reactions may be tools to manage pandemic-induced affect. This study series shows that a threat and defense perspective may be a useful angle to understand human behavior in times of crisis.

Deep, high-quality listening that offers a nonjudgmental approach, understanding, and careful attention when speakers share disparate views can have the power to bridge divides and change speakers' attitudes. However, can people be trained to provide such listening while disagreeing with what they hear, and if so, are the effects of the listening training sufficient for creating perceptible change during disagreements? This study, conducted with delegates (N = 320) representing 86 countries experimentally tested a “deep” (otherwise termed “high quality“) listening training against a randomly assigned subgroup of attendees who served as a “waitlist” control. During a conversation with another participant on a subject about which they strongly disagreed, participants who had completed a 6-h training over 3 weeks in high-quality listening demonstrated improvements in their observed listening behaviors, reported higher levels of interactional intimacy with conversation partners, appeared to increase their self-insight and subsequently, showed evidence of attitude change. Among the first studies to test semi-causal outcomes of high-quality listening training between attendees with diverse and contrary attitudes in a real-world, cross-national setting; we discuss the potential and limitations for listening training to support positive relations and an open mind in the context of discourse, disagreement and polarization.

Stigma and prejudice towards individuals with disabilities is still prevalent in society today (Livneh, Chan, and Kaya 2014). Our aim was to evaluate the state of the research that tests interventions aiming to improve such attitudes, including uncovering which intervention methods can reduce this prejudice and identifying gaps in the research. Since a large proportion of nondisabled individuals will not have the opportunity for direct contact with disabled individuals, our systematic review focuses on non-direct-contact interventions, specifically knowledge-based and indirect contact techniques. Fifty-one studies published between 2001 and 2022 met all criteria, including the use of a comparison or control group. Overall, most studies did have a positive change on outcome measures, with some maintaining the effect weeks or months later. Despite intervention successes, trends indicating gaps in the research were uncovered including the focus on child and undergraduate student participants, and the lack of collaborative research with the disabled communities.