Suppressing the negative effect of devaluation on group identification: The role of intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect

We examined (N = 76) how social creativity strategies such as intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect suppress the negative impact of threat to an ingroup's value on group identification. Threat was manipulated through false feedback concerning how other groups perceived an ingroup. Both intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect were higher when participants learned that the ingroup was devalued compared to when it was valued. Mediational analyses demonstrated that these factors suppressed the direct negative relationship between value threat and group identification. Discussion focused on the consequences of these social creativity strategies for group identification and collective action. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generic delimitation and phylogenetic uncertainty: An example from a group that has undergone an explosive radiation

Phylogenetic trees can provide a stable basis for a higher-level classification of organisms that reflects evolutionary relationships. However, some lineages have a complex evolutionary history that involves explosive radiation or hybridisation. Such histories have become increasingly apparent with the use of DNA sequence data for phylogeny estimation and explain, in part, past difficulties in producing stable morphology-based classifications for some groups. We illustrate this situation by using the example of tribe Mirbelieae (Fabaceae), whose generic classification has been fraught for decades. In particular, we discuss a recent proposal to combine 19 of the 25 Mirbelieae genera into a single genus, Pultenaea sens. lat., and how we might find stable and consistent ways to squeeze something as complex as life into little boxes for our own convenience. © CSIRO.

Not so ancient: the extant crown group of Nothofagus represents a post-Gondwanan radiation

This study uses a molecular-dating approach to test hypotheses about the biogeography of Nothofagus. The molecular modelling suggests that the present-day subgenera and species date from a radiation that most likely commenced between 55 and 40 Myr ago. This rules out the possibility of a reconciled all-vicariance hypothesis for the biogeography of extant Nothofagus. However, the molecular dates for divergences between Australasian and South American taxa are consistent with the rifting of Australia and South America from Antarctica. The molecular dates further suggest a dispersal of subgenera Lophozonia and Fuscospora between Australia and New Zealand after the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and west wind drift. It appears likely that the New Caledonian lineage of subgenus Brassospora diverged from the New Guinean lineage elsewhere, prior to colonizing New Caledonia. The molecular approach strongly supports fossil-based estimates that Nothofagus diverged from the rest of Fagales more than 84 Myr ago. However, the mid-Cenozoic estimate for the diversification of the four extant subgenera conflicts with the palynological interpretation because pollen fossils, attributed to all four extant subgenera, were widespread across the Weddellian province of Gondwana about 71 Myr ago. The discrepancy between the pollen and molecular dates exists even when confidence intervals from several sources of error are taken into account. In contrast, the molecular age estimates are consistent with macrofossil dates. The incongruence between pollen fossils and molecular dates could be resolved if the early pollen types represent extinct lineages, with similar types later evolving independently in the extant lineages.

Employee group memberships and organisational communication during organisational change

The preset study adopted an intergroup approach to information sharing and communication in three organisational samples during change. In Study 1, employees from a public hospital (N = 142) completed a survey measuring perceptions of organisational communication and strength of identification with the work unit and the organisation as a whole. Consistent with predictions, team members rated communication from double ingroup members (same work unit/same occupational group) more favourably than communication from partial group members (same work unit/different occupational group). Also as predicted, work unit identification was related to favourable ratings of work unit communication across occupational groups, whereas occupational identification was related to favourable ratings of work unit communication within occupational groups. In Study 2, strength of identification with three organisational groups was associated with positive ratings of communication among employees from the same public hospital (N = 189) and a military organisation (N = 2119). Based on these results, intergroup strategies for the management of information sharing and organisational communication during change are discussed.

On the distance between distinct group Latin squares

In an article in 1992, Drapal addressed the question of how far apart the multiplication tables of two groups can be? In this article we continue this investigation; in particular, we study the interaction between partial equalities in the multiplication tables of the two groups and their subgroup structure. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The generation of H-1-NMR-detectable mobile lipid in stimulated lymphocytes: Relationship ts cellular activation, the cell cycle, and phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C

Mobile Lipids detected using H-1-NMR in stimulated lymphocytes were correlated with cell cycle phase, expression of the interleukin-2 receptor alpha and proliferation to assess the activation status of the lymphocytes. Mobile lipid levels, IL-2R alpha expression and proliferation increased after treatment with PMA and ionomycin. PMA or ionomycin stimulation alone induced increased IL-2R alpha expressiom but not proliferation, PMA- but not ionomycin-stimulation generated mobile lipid, Treatment with anti-CD3 antibody did not increase IL-2R alpha expression or proliferation but did generate increased amounts of mobile lipid, The cell cycle status of thymocytes treated with anti-CD3, PMA or ionomycin alone indicated an. accumulation of the cells in the G(1) phase of the cell cycle, The generation of mobile lipid was abrogated in anti-CD3 antibody-stimulated thymic lymphocytes but not in splenic lymphocytes, using a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) inhibitor which blocked cells in the G(1)/S phase of the cell cycle, This suggests that the H-1-NMR-detectable mobile Lipid may be generated in anti-CD3 antibody-stimulated thymic lymphocytes by the action of PC-PLC activity via the catabolism of PC, in the absence of classical signs of activation. (C) 1997 Academic Press.

The personal constructs of coping with chronic low back pain: is coping a necessary evil?

The construct of coping is explored in this paper utilising repertory grid technique with a small group of non-patients with chronic pain. Nineteen volunteers with low back pain completed a repertory grid with eight given elements signifying various self and illness-related roles. Two constructs were given and the remainder elicited using the triad method. The 19 participants rated themselves as being in less pain than those they typified as ill or disabled and considered themselves to be coping with their pain. The constructs elicited emphasised authenticity, the limitations of being a coper, mastery, active stoicism, cheerfulness, acceptance and maintaining acceptable social interactions and appearances. Copers were considered to not be in constant pain. Self, ideal-self and social-self constructs were closely related, The participants rated themselves more like copers than ill, pain-suffering, invalid or hypochondriacal persons. Being a coper, however, was less desirable than being pain free, In essence, these volunteers with low back pain see coping as a necessary evil. This ambivalent and ambiguous construing of coping needs to be further explored in community and patient groups if we are to improve the collaboration between patients and therapists in achieving good pain management. (C) 1997 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.