Current research in ecological and social psychology最新文献

Blatantly likening humans to animals is associated with discrimination and hostility. The power of dehumanizing animal metaphors is thought to lie in the belief that animals are inferior to humans and do not deserve full moral concern. Previous work suggests that perceiving a narrower divide between humans and animals encourages the expansion of moral concern and reduces subtle dehumanization. Here we described animals as possessing human-like mental states, and tested if this manipulation would extend to the reduction of blatant dehumanization of an outgroup. Results demonstrate both children (5–12 years of age) and adults perceived animals as more similar to humans when animals were attributed feelings, intentions and beliefs. However, this manipulation did not reduce blatant dehumanization in either age group. These results suggest that subtle and blatant dehumanization may require distinct intervention strategies, and imply potential differences in their psychological mechanisms.

It is often assumed that ethnic differences are the source of cross-cultural conflict and misunderstandings in the United States. However, research indicates that socioeconomic differences, i.e., family ecologies, play an important role in producing cross-cultural value conflict between student peers in a university setting. Our prior research revealed two resolution styles: (1) a collectivistic strategy – maintaining interpersonal harmony by avoidance or implicit communication, or (2) an individualistic strategy – advocating for and expressing one's personal feelings via explicit communication. In a small qualitative study of first-generation university students from Latin American immigrant families, improved roommate relations resulted from use of the more individualistic strategy. The purpose of the present study was to extend this work by examining whether the positive role of explicit conflict resolution with dormitory roommates generalizes to a large diverse sample of university students in the United States and to examine the role of socioeconomic status, a key aspect of the ecological surround. By means of a survey of 347 first-year UCLA students, we explored the interrelations of socioeconomic status, conflict resolution style, roommate relations, sense of belonging in the university environment, and psychological distress. Socioeconomic status consisted of parent education and income, which were closely related. Being a first-generation university student (i.e., neither parent had a postsecondary degree) was, as predicted, associated with harmony-maintaining modes of resolving roommate conflicts. In accord with our earlier qualitative findings, these modes of conflict resolution were less effective than an explicit mode in producing satisfying roommate relations. Less satisfying roommate relations led, in turn, to a lower sense of belonging in the university environment and more psychological distress. This causal chain from first-generation university status to less satisfying roommate relations, a lower sense of belonging, and more psychological distress may help explain the prevalence of "imposter" syndrome among first-generation university students.

Dehumanization has figured prominently in intergroup discrimination and violence, which has inspired sustained social-psychological inquiry. Over two decades, researchers have brought an abundance of theories and methods to bear on the empirical study of dehumanization. Collectively, this work has painted an expansive portrait of the many ways we can overlook or deny the humanity of others. At the same time, these diverse conceptual and measurement approaches have progressed in relative isolation, which has created confusion about what, precisely, is meant by “dehumanization” and cast uncertainty on fundamental conclusions drawn from this research. To stimulate theoretical development and more-productive exchanges across the field, we offer a Family-Resemblances perspective on dehumanization research. Specifically, we conceptualize dehumanization as a multifaceted construct that encompasses a family of related processes with both overlapping and unique features. Thus, the diverse theoretical and methodological approaches to studying dehumanization are complementary means of capturing a fundamentally heterogeneous phenomenon. Further, we argue that this perspective can catalyze a more nuanced and precise understanding of dehumanization's many facets: by specifying the different varieties of dehumanization under investigation, the field can more precisely map them onto specific targets, causes, consequences, and intervention strategies.

Person-community fit is a timely and important concept in personality, social, and geographical psychology. The assessment of person-community fit poses statistical and conceptual challenges because there is inevitably greater variability among individuals than there is among communities. Leveraging data from the Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment project involving 75,705 individuals across the US, we investigated the impact of fit on education, health, and well-being. We first assessed fit using variable-centered (response surface analysis) and person-centered (profile similarity) approaches. We then introduced a typological approach to person-community fit which is predicated on the idea that communities, like persons, are diverse, and can include multiple social and environmental niches. In this approach, persons are categorized into types, communities are described in terms of type-profiles, and fit is assessed as the proportion of people in the community sharing one's type. Using a rudimentary typology based on the five-factor model, this approach revealed striking differences between communities in their type profiles. For both the profile and type approaches, we found modest associations between person-community fit and outcomes, but these effects were due primarily to normativity (person-country fit) rather than to the distinguishing characteristics of communities. Taken together, our results highlight the benefits of using a multimethod approach for conceptualizing the personality of communities and assessing person-community fit.

Referring to Greenfield's (2009) theory of social, cultural, and developmental change, this study examines value and epistemological differences among three generations of women of Ethiopian origin whose families immigrated to Israel. Adapted from social dilemmas used with other populations, we created 12 short stories about people of Ethiopian origin facing dilemmas, with one character giving a response reflecting values or epistemology consistent with the social ecology prevalent in the rural villages of Ethiopia and the other character giving responses reflecting mainstream values and epistemology consistent with the dominant social ecology found in Israel. 13 grandmothers, 23 mothers, and 21 adolescent high-school girls were asked to say which characters they agreed with in the dilemmas. As predicted by Greenfield's theory, quantitative analyses indicate a historical trend towards the value of gender equality and relativistic epistemology across the three generations. Responses to family commitment dilemmas were less consistent than for the other topics. Qualitative analyses of three of the dilemmas, one from each category, did reflect the shifts expected according to the theory. Grandmothers tended to endorse values of gender hierarchy and assigned roles, obligation to the family, and a single, authoritative perspective on knowledge. The adolescent girls tended to endorse greater gender equality and choice of roles, commitment to individuals in the close family while maintaining autonomy, and diverse sources and perspectives on knowledge. The mothers’ responses tended to fall between those of the other two generations. Many interviewees of each generation explicitly contrasted the values and epistemologies of Ethiopia and Israel.

Confinement and isolation have negative mental health consequences. It is however unknown how the characteristics of these singular situations interact with psychological vulnerability factors in the development of psychological disorders.

The present study was designed to test the extent to which trait anxiety is a predictor of the level of repetitive negative thinking in individuals and how this relationship may be moderated by the environmental characteristics in which individuals experience confinement. An internet survey was conducted on a sample of 435 participants aged 18 to 85, including 82 % women and mainly students (65 %). The results showed that the level of repetitive negative thinking was significantly higher for participants who exhibited a high level of trait anxiety and this was even more the case for participants who had the most detrimental environmental characteristics during confinement.

Future studies should replicate these results in other contexts, and also test the mediating role of repetitive negative thinking in the relationship between psychological vulnerability factors and psychological disorders, and whether such mediation is moderated by environmental characteristics.

Social identity theory posits that individuals perceive the in-group as a homogenous entity comprised of depersonalized individuals, and this theory has provided a foundation to understand intergroup processes for many years. Cross-cultural research has suggested social identity theory may not apply to East Asians, who conceptualize their in-groups differently than those in from Western cultures. Specifically, Yuki and colleagues contend that East Asians perceive in-groups as networks wherein each individual is connected through personal ties, rather than homogenous entity comprised of depersonalized individuals. Furthermore, prior research has shown that East Asians are more likely to trust out-group members with potential personal connections, similarly to how they trust actual in-group members. This reflects their group boundary perception based on personal linkages rather than categorical membership. Conversely, individuals from Western cultures tend to trust in-group members more than out-group members, regardless of potential personal connections. Our preregistered study (N = 332 Japanese and 345 American university students) aimed to conceptually replicate key findings that support Yuki's account and expand upon the theory in the context of intergroup cooperation. Overall, we failed to find evidence for the network-based and category-based cooperation and trust among Japanese and Americans, respectively. Consequently, our results highlight the need for further experimental investigation and validation of Yuki and colleagues' theoretical framework.

When mentalization fails, dehumanization can occur. Perceiving others as lacking fundamental mental states is the basic principle of dehumanization. Past research has already demonstrated the influence of both perceptual and contextual information on mentalization, while a recent line of research has tried to distinguish mentalization in a two-stage process: a mind detection phase in which we first identify a mind in others thanks to primary visual cues and a mind attribution phase in which both perceptual and contextual information are integrated to finalize the attribution of mental states to others. The current research aimed at deepening our understanding of the timeline of the mentalization process by specifically manipulating a perceptual, visual cue that has been related to dehumanization: the configural face process. This process was tested adapting the inversion effect that allowed us to show for the first time how and when this effect impacts and modulates the timeline of mentalization. Results indicated that the inversion effect impacted the early mind detection phase and resulted later in time in the elaboration of inverted human stimuli as more object-like.