Employee adjustment to an organizational merger: An intergroup perspective

Adopting an intergroup perspective, the research was designed to examine predictors of employee responses to an organizational merger Data were collected from 465 fleet staff employed in a newly merged airline company. As predicted from social identity theory, the negative effects of the merger were most marked for employees of the low-status premerger organization. Also, as predicted, the perception of permeable intergroup boundaries in the new organization was associated positively with identification with the new organization and both job-related and person-related outcomes among employees of the low-status premerger organization but negatively with person-related outcomes among employees of the high-status premerger organization. As predicted, there was some evidence that the main and interactive effects involving status, perceived permeability, and intergroup contact on employee adjustment were mediated through strength of identification with the new organization.

Rumors and stable-cause attribution in prediction and behavior

Two stock-market simulation experiments investigated the notion that rumors that invoke stable-cause attributions spawn illusory associations and less regressive predictions and behavior. In Study 1, illusory perceptions of association and stable causation (rumors caused price changes on the day after they appeared) existed despite rigorous conditions of nonassociation (price changes were unrelated to rumors). Predictions (recent price trends will continue) and trading behavior (departures from a strong buy-low-sell-high strategy) were both anti-regressive. In Study 2, stability of attribution was manipulated via a computerized tutorial. Participants taught to view price-changes as caused by stable forces predicted less regressively and departed more from buy-low-sell-high trading patterns than those taught to perceive changes as caused by unstable forces. Results inform a social cognitive and decision theoretic understanding of rumor by integrating it with causal attribution, covariation detection, and prediction theory. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Putting the group back into unions: A social psychological contribution to understanding union support

Industrial relations research that attempts to grapple with individuals' union-related sentiments and activities often draws on one of two traditions of psychological research—the individual-level factors tradition (for example, personality and attitude-behaviour relations) and the social context tradition (for example, frustration-aggression and relative deprivation). This paper provides an overview of research conducted from within these traditions to explain union-related phenomena and identifies some of the limitations that arise as a consequence of a shared tendency to treat people in an atomistic fashion. The paper argues for an understanding of the psychological processes that underpin group-based action. To this end, it elaborates a theoretical framework based on social identity theory and self-categorisation theory that would allow us to examine the dynamic interplay between the individual, their cognitions and their environment. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of a specific case of union mobilisation, to indicate how this theoretical framework might aid empirical analysis.

A representação social de prática profissional para psicólogos clínicos da Grande Vitória/ES

Ao longo dos últimos trinta anos, os profissionais da Psicologia têm buscado conhecer suas práticas profissionais. Tem-se feito estudos e discussões referentes aos paradigmas que sustentam a profissão, às práticas e crenças sobre o psicólogo e sua prática. Dentre eles, percebe-se a relevância e a importância da psicologia clínica, entretanto, poucos são os estudos realizados com os profissionais inseridos nessa área. A pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar e analisar a representação social de prática profissional para psicólogos clínicos da Grande Vitória/ES. Foi utilizada a Análise Dimensional e Dinâmica das Representações Sociais (Teoria das Representações Sociais) para investigar as noções que compõem a prática. Foram entrevistados 18 psicólogos clínicos atuantes em consultório. Utilizou-se o software ALCESTE na análise. Trabalhou-se com os elementos das classes identificadas pelo Alceste para compor as dimensões da representação social. Constatou-se que os entrevistados construíram informações sobre a psicologia clínica e sua prática antes da entrada no curso ou cedo na formação. As teorias utilizadas na clínica são aspectos importantes nessa aproximação. As atitudes frente à prática são extremamente favoráveis, sendo desfavoráveis quando comparadas às crenças da população ou às práticas médicas, tocando em aspectos identitários. Quanto ao campo, reconheceu-se uma imagem dividida em duas: 1) Imagem das atribuições e da prática clássicas do psicólogo clínico; 2) Imagem dos problemas, das mudanças e das dificuldades. Foi possível identificar a representação social de prática profissional para os psicólogos clínicos, levantando questões importantes para a área da psicologia clínica e para a teoria das representações sociais.

Validação e aplicação clínica de uma escala de cognição social na esquizofrenia = Validation and clinical use of a measure of social cognition in schizophrenia

RESUMO: A cognição social encontra-se frequentemente alterada na esquizofrenia. Esta alteração relaciona-se com a diminuição do funcionamento social,caracterizando-se quer por défices quer por vieses cognitivos sociais. No entanto, existem poucos instrumentos fiáveis e válidos para avaliar a cognição social na esquizofrenia, nomeadamente capazes de medir os vieses cognitivos sociais e a cognição social auto-relevante. Adicionalmente, as bases biológicas da disfunção social não estão totalmente esclarecidas. Evidências recentes sugerem que o peptídeo oxitocina (OXT) influencia o funcionamento social, e que esta relação poderá ser mediada pela cognição social. Este Trabalho de Projecto descreve a contribuição do autor para o desenvolvimento e avaliação psicométrica inicial de um novo instrumento de avaliação da cognição social, e a utilidade desta escala na investigação das associações entre a OXT e a capacidade e vieses cognitivos sociais. A Waiting Room Task (WRT), uma escala constituída por 26 vídeos sequenciais que simulam a experiência de observar outra pessoa numa sala de espera, foi administrada num estudo transversal com 61 doentes com esquizofrenia e 20 controlos saudáveis. Observou-se uma menor capacidade cognitiva social e um aumento dos vieses cognitivos sociais nos doentes com esquizofrenia, comparativamente aos controlos. Nos controlos e doentes com delírios, o desempenho na WRT correlacionou-se significativamente com os níveis de OXT. Esta correlação não se observou nos doentes sem delírios, sugerindo que o papel da OXT na cognição social poderá encontrar-se atenuado neste grupo. Estes achados fornecem suporte inicial para a adequação da WRT como instrumento de avaliação da cognição social na esquizofrenia, podendo ainda ser útil na investigação da sua base biológica. ------------ ABSTRACT: Social cognition is often impaired in schizophrenia. This impairment is related to poor social functioning and is characterized by both social cognitive deficits and biases. However, there are few reliable and valid measures of social cognition in schizophrenia, particularly measures of social cognitive bias and of self-relevant social cognition. Also, the biological bases of social dysfunction are not well understood. Emerging evidence suggests that the peptide oxytocin (OXT) influences social functioning, and that this relationship may be mediated by social cognition. This Research Project describes the author’s contribution to the development and initial psychometric testing of a new measure of social cognition, and the utility of this instrument to examine associations between OXT and social cognitive capacity and bias. The Waiting Room Task WRT), a video-based test comprising 26 sequential videos simulating the experience of facing another person in a waiting room, was administered in a cross-sectional study involving 61 patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls. Social cognitive capacity was lower and social cognitive bias was increased in patients with schizophrenia compared with controls. Among controls and patients with delusions, performance on the WRT was significantly correlated with OXT level. This correlation was not found in patients without delusions suggesting that OXT’s role in social cognition may be blunted in this group. These findings provide initial support for the adequacy of the WRT as a measure for assessing social cognition in schizophrenia that may also be useful in understanding its biological underpinnings.

Invoking a cartesian product structure on social states: new resolutions of Sen's and Gibbard's impossibility theorems

The purpose of this article is to introduce a Cartesian product structure into the social choice theoretical framework and to examine if new possibility results to Gibbard's and Sen's paradoxes can be developed thanks to it. We believe that a Cartesian product structure is a pertinent way to describe individual rights in the social choice theory since it discriminates the personal features comprised in each social state. First we define some conceptual and formal tools related to the Cartesian product structure. We then apply these notions to Gibbard's paradox and to Sen's impossibility of a Paretian liberal. Finally we compare the advantages of our approach to other solutions proposed in the literature for both impossibility theorems.

Transforming scientific information with everyday thinking: A social representations perspective

Cette thèse examine la circulation et l'intégration des informations scientifiques dans la pensée quotidienne d'après la théorie des représentations sociales (TRS). En tant qu'alternative aux approches traditionnelles de la communication de la science, les transformations survenant entre le discours scientifique et le discours de sens commun sont considérées comme adaptatives. Deux études sur la circulation des informations dans les media (études 1 et 2) montrent des variations dans les thèmes de discours exposés aux profanes, et parmi les discours de ceux-ci, en fonction de différentes sources. Ensuite, le processus d'ancrage dans le positionnement préalable envers la science est étudié, pour l'explication qu'il fournit de la réception et de la transmission d'informations scientifiques dans le sens commun. Les effets d'ancrage dans les attitudes et croyances préexistants sont reportés dans différents contextes de circulation des informations scientifiques (études 3 à 7), incluant des études de type corrélationnel, experimental et de terrain. Globalement, cette thèse procure des arguments en faveur de la pertinence de la TRS pour la recherche sur la communication de la science, et suggère des développements théoriques et méthodologiques pour ces deux domaines de recherche. Drawing on the social representations theory (SRT), this thesis examines the circulation and integration of scientific information into everyday thinking. As an alternative to the traditional approaches of science communication, it considers transformations between scientific and common-sense discourses as adaptive. Two studies, focused on the spreading of information into the media (Studies 1 and 2), show variations in the themes of discourses introduced to laypersons and in the themes among laypersons' discourses, according to different sources. Anchoring in prior positioning toward science is then studied for the explanation it provides on the reception and transmission of scientific information into common sense. Anchoring effects in prior attitudes and beliefs are reported in different contexts of circulation of scientific information (Studies 3 to 7) by using results from correlational, field, and experimental studies. Overall, this thesis provides arguments for the relevance of SRT in science communication research and suggests theoretical and methodological developments for both domains of research.

Nondictatorial Arrovian Social Welfare Functions: An Integer Programming Approach

In the line opened by Kalai and Muller (1997), we explore new conditions on prefernce domains which make it possible to avoid Arrow's impossibility result. In our main theorem, we provide a complete characterization of the domains admitting nondictorial Arrovian social welfare functions with ties (i.e. including indifference in the range) by introducing a notion of strict decomposability. In the proof, we use integer programming tools, following an approach first applied to social choice theory by Sethuraman, Teo and Vohra ((2003), (2006)). In order to obtain a representation of Arrovian social welfare functions whose range can include indifference, we generalize Sethuraman et al.'s work and specify integer programs in which variables are allowed to assume values in the set {0, 1/2, 1}: indeed, we show that, there exists a one-to-one correspondence between solutions of an integer program defined on this set and the set of all Arrovian social welfare functions - without restrictions on the range.

Identifications multiples à des groupes de statut différent et changement social

Le but de cette thèse est d'étudier l'impact d'une appartenance groupale jouissant d'un supérieur dans la hiérarchie sociale sur la volonté de participer à des actions collectives en faveur d'une appartenance groupale désavantagée. Selon la Théorie de l'Identité Sociale, les individus sont en effet membres de plusieurs groupes simultanément, qui constituent autant d'identités sociales potentielles. Comme l'ont montré les recherches en sociologie du genre s'inscrivant dans le courant intersectionnel, les diverses catégories sociales auxquelles une personne appartient peuvent se trouver dans des positions différentes dans la hiérarchie sociale, plaçant ainsi les individus à l'intersection de divers rapports de domination. Toutefois, ces rapports ne sont pas indépendants les uns des autres, mais interagissent et contribuent conjointement à construire une façon spécifique de vivre et de percevoir l'expérience de la domination. Globalement, notre thèse montre que lorsque deux endogroupes dotés de statuts différents sont simultanément saillants, les individus tendent à agir prioritairement en accord avec les intérêts de l'endogroupe dont le statut est le plus élevé, au détriment de l'endogroupe dont le statut est le plus bas : les individus tendent en effet à adhérer à des idéologies qui contribuent à légitimer le maintien des inégalités intergroupes, ce qui a pour conséquence de réduire leur volonté de participer à des actions collectives en faveur de leur endogroupe de statut inférieur. - This thesis focuses on the impact of a high status ingroup on willingness to participate in collective action in favour of a low status ingroup. According to Social Identity Theory, individuals are members of various groups, each of which is a potential social identity. Moreover, the feminist sociological theory of intersectionality suggests that these various ingroups can occupy different positions in social hierarchies, placing individuals at the intersection of various relations of domination. However, these relations do not act independently of one another, but interrelate, and shape a specific way to live and perceive the experiences of domination. On the whole, our thesis shows that when two ingroups with different statuses are salient, people tend to acts uppermost in compliance with the higher status group interest, to the detriment of the lower status group : Indeed, people tend to agree with ideologies that contribute to legitimate the perpetuation of intergroup inequalities. Consequently their willingness to participate in collective action in favor of their low-status group is reduced.

Dynamic social representations of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic: Shifting patterns of sense-making and blame

We investigate dynamics of public perceptions of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic to understand changing patterns of sense-making and blame regarding the outbreak of emerging infectious diseases. We draw on social representation theory combined with a dramaturgical perspective to identify changes in how various collectives are depicted over the course of the pandemic, according to three roles: heroes, villains and victims. Quantitative results based on content analysis of three cross-sectional waves of interviews show a shift from mentions of distant collectives (e.g., far-flung countries) at Wave 1 to local collectives (e.g., risk groups) as the pandemic became of more immediate concern (Wave 2) and declined (Wave 3). Semi-automated content analysis of media coverage shows similar results. Thematic analyses of the discourse associated with collectives revealed that many were consistently perceived as heroes, villains and victims.

Contexts and typologies in the analysis of welfare state legitimacy : a social psychological approach to political opinion formation

This dissertation analyses public opinion towards the welfare state across 29 European countries. Based on an interdisciplinary approach combining social psychological, sociological, and public opinion approaches to political opinion formation, it investigates how social position and shared beliefs shape perceived legitimacy of welfare institutions, and how social contexts impact on the processes of opinion formation. Drawing on social representations theory, as well as socialization and self-interest approaches, the dissertation analyses the role of social position in lay support for institutional solidarity. Normative beliefs-defined as preferred views regarding the organisation of social relations-mediate the effect of social position on welfare support. In addition, drawing on public opinion literature, the dissertation analyses opinion formation as a function of country-level structural (e.g., level of social spending, unemployment) and ideological factors (e.g., level of meritocracy). The dissertation comprises two theoretical and four empirical chapters. Three of the empirical chapters use data from the European Social Survey 2008. Using multilevel and typological approaches, the dissertation contributes to welfare attitude literature by showing that normative beliefs, such as distrust or egalitarianism, function as underlying mechanisms that link social position to policy attitudes (Chapter 3), and that characteristics of the national contexts influence the processes of political opinion formation (Chapters 3 and 4). Chapter 5 proposes and predicts a typology of the relationship between attitudes towards solidarity and attitudes towards control, reflecting the two central domains of government intervention. Finally, Chapter 6 examines welfare support in the realm of action and social protest, using data from a survey on Spanish Indigados activists. The findings of this dissertation inform contemporary debates about welfare state legitimacy and retrenchment. - Cette thèse avait pour but d'analyser l'opinion publique envers l'Etat social dans 29 pays européens. Basée sur une approche interdisciplinaire qui combine des perspectives psycho-sociales, sociologiques et d'opinion publique sur la formation d'opinion politique, la thèse étudie comment la position sociale et les croyances partagées façonnent la légitimité perçue des institutions de l'Etat social, et comment les contextes sociaux influencent les processus de formation d'opinion. Basée sur la théorie des représentations sociales, ainsi qu'une approche de socialisation et d'intérêt propre, cette thèse analyse le rôle des positions sociales dans le soutien envers la solidarité institutionnelle. Les croyances normatives-définies comme les visions préférées de l'organisation des rapports sociaux-médiatisent l'effet de la position sociale sur le soutien pour l'Etat social. De plus, s'inspirant de la littérature sur l'opinion publique, la thèse analyse la formation d'opinion en fonction des facteurs structurels (ex. le taux de dépenses sociales, le chômage) et idéologiques (ex. le degré de méritocratie). Cette thèse est composée de deux chapitres théoriques et quatre chapitres empiriques. Trois chapitres empiriques utilisent des données provenant de l'enquête European Social Survey 2008. Appliquant des approches multi-niveux et typoloqiques, la thèse contribue à la littérature sur les attitudes envers l'Etat social en montrant que les croyances normatives, telles que la méfiance ou l'égalitarisme, fonctionnent comme des mécanismes sous-jacents qui relient la position sociale aux attitudes politiques (Chapitre 3), et que les caractéristiques des contextes nationaux influencent les processus de formation d'opinion politique (Chapitres 3 et 4). Le chapitre 5 propose et prédit une typologie sur le rapport entre les attitudes envers la solidarité et celles envers le contrôle, renvoyant à deux domaines centraux de régulation étatique. Enfin, le chapitre 6 examine le soutien à l'Etat social dans le domaine de l'action protestataire, utilisant des données d'une enquête menée auprès des militants espagnols du mouvement des Indignés. Les résultats de cette thèse apportent des éléments qui éclairent les débats contemporains sur la légitimité de l'Etat social et son démantèlement.

Schizotypy as an organizing framework for social and affective sciences

Schizotypy, defined in terms of commonly occurring personality traits related to the schizophrenia spectrum, has been an important construct for understanding the neurodevelopment and stress-diathesis of schizophrenia. However, as schizotypy nears its sixth decade of application, it is important to acknowledge its impressively rich literature accumulating outside of schizophrenia research. In this article, we make the case that schizotypy has considerable potential as a conceptual framework for understanding individual differences in affective and social functions beyond those directly involved in schizophrenia spectrum pathology. This case is predicated on (a) a burgeoning literature noting anomalies in a wide range of social functioning, affiliative, positive and negative emotional, expressive, and social cognitive systems, (b) practical and methodological features associated with schizotypy research that help facilitate empirical investigation, and (c) close ties to theoretical constructs of central importance to affective and social science (eg, stress diathesis, neural compensation). We highlight recent schizotypy research, ie providing insight into the nature of affective and social systems more generally. This includes current efforts to clarify the neurodevelopmental, neurobiological, and psychological underpinnings of affiliative drives, hedonic capacity, social cognition, and stress responsivity systems. Additionally, we discuss neural compensatory and resilience factors that may mitigate the expression of stress-diathesis and functional outcome, and highlight schizotypy's potential role for understanding cultural determinants of social and affective functions.

Workplace adjustment of an expatriate manager: identifying key components from a social capital perspective

Perustaen tutkimuksen kansainvälisen sopeutumisen teoreettiselle rungolle täydentäen sitä sosiaalisen pääoman teorialla, tämä tutkielma tutkii kuinka johtoasemassa oleva ulkosuomalainen luo hyvin toimivan sosiaalisen verkoston hong kongilaisella työpaikallansa. Tutkielma lähestyy aihetta Nahapietin ja Ghoshalin (1998) kehittämän sosiaalisen pääoman kolmen ulottuvuuden mallin avulla. Tutkielmassa kirjallisuudesta haettua teoriaa käytetään tutkimustavarten tehtyjen haastattelujen analysointiapuna. Tutkimalla sosiaalista pääomaa, kansainvälisen sopeutumisen kirjallisuutta, ekspatriootin perinteisiä menestystekijöitä ja guanxia (kiinalaisten henkilökohtaisia siteitä) tämän tutkimuksen teoriaosuus implikoi, että sosiaalisella pääomalla tulisi olla täydentävä rooli kansainvälisen sopeutumisen kirjallisuudessa. Sosiaalisen pääoman kolmen ulottuvuuden mallia käytetään pohjana empiirisen datan analysointiin. Tutkielman empiiriset tulokset osoittavat, että työpaikan sosiaaliseen verkostoon sopeutuminen liittyy exspatriootin kykyyn käsitellä estäviä ja mahdollistajia sosiaalisen pääoman luontiin vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Lisäksi sopeutuminen vaatii exspatriootin tunnistavan kohdemaalle tyypillisiä exspatriootin menestystekijöitä ja ekspatriootinomia tärkeitä henkilökohtaisia ominaisuuksia.

How Social Dominance Orientation affects union participation: The role of union identification and perceived union instrumentality

Bridging social dominance theory and labour studies, this field study investigated the mechanisms underpinning the relationship between rejection of group-based domination and participation in union activities. Respondents (N = 135) were members of a public sector union in California, that is, a hierarchy-attenuating institution. Results revealed that union identification mediated the negative relationship between social dominance orientation and active union participation. Moreover, the mediational effect of union identification was moderated by perceived union instrumentality (i.e. outcome- and process-based benefits afforded by the union), indicating that the relationship between union identification and participation was stronger among those union members who consider that the union affects workplace justice. The findings reveal the importance of both identity-based and instrumental motivations underlying union participation. The novelty of applying social dominance theory to union behaviour is underscored.

Social Cognition and Behavior in Relationship Context

Social information processing (SIP; Crick & Dodge, 1994) and social-cognitive learning theories have been often used to understand children’s problem behaviors, such as aggression. According to these theories, children’s thinking guides their subsequent behaviors. Although most of us agree that social behavior and underlying thought processes are context-dependent, personality and social development researchers have usually engaged in searching for stable patterns of dispositions and behaviors, ignoring (or treating as error) the variance across different situations and relationship types. This, however, can result in erroneous conclusions and question the interpretation of previous findings. Four studies were conducted to explore the influence of relationship context on children’s social-cognitive evaluations and behavior. Samples were fourth to sixth graders from Estonia and Finland. Social cognitions were assessed by presenting children with hypothetical vignettes where the previously identified relationship partner’s behavior had a negative consequence for the child (Studies I, II, and IV), followed by questions measuring different social-cognitive processes (e.g., hostile attributions, behavioral strategies, outcome expectations and self-efficacy beliefs for aggression). In addition, in Studies II and IV, children provided information about their behavior within a specific relationship context. In Study III, an affective priming paradigm was employed where participants were presented with a short display of photographs of children’s liked and disliked classmates, and unknown peers. The results of this thesis suggest that children’s thinking and behavior are largely influenced by the affective valence of the relationship. Moreover, cognitions guide behavior within the relationship. The current findings offer a fruitful avenue for studying the heterogeneity of peer interactions.