The Relationship Between Social Status Motivation and the Detection of Trustworthy and Affiliative Cues in Faces

A prominent feature of human (and non-human primate) social group structure involves the establishment and maintenance of a social hierarchy; that is, social groups are arranged hierarchically, based on individuals’ level of status, and conspecifics who more effectively ascend this status hierarchy accrue more reproductive and resource benefits (Hawley, 1999). Thus, for any individual, other group members could be either a threat to one’s status, or an ally to assist status goals, and accurate identification of these various social targets would have adaptive utility in status maintenance or status hierarchy ascension. The current study tested the hypotheses that activation of status motives would enhance accurate discrimination of trust and affiliative cues from faces, thus aiding in status acquisition, especially for men. Participants were randomly assigned to a status or control prime condition and completed two face perception tasks: a trustworthy/untrustworthy discrimination task and a real/fake smile discrimination task. Individual differences in status striving and socioeconomic status were measured. While the primary hypotheses were not supported, partial support was found such that those higher in dispositional status seeking demonstrated greater accuracy discriminating between trustworthy and untrustworthy faces. Additionally, those higher in socioeconomic status demonstrated reduced accuracy when identifying genuine or false smiles. These patterns suggest that a number of individual differences may predict differential accuracy in face perception. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed

Social mobility, marriage and kinship among some gentry and yeoman families of Wantage Hundred, c. 1520 - c. 1670

The core of this thesis is the study of 12 gentry and yeoman families resident in Wantage Hundred between 1522 and 1670. Particular attention will be paid to the 4 main strategies of land acquisition, marriage, office-holding and education that could be adopted by each family group for advancement. In conjunction with this the pattern of social mobility within the families will be examined to determine what if any influence such strategies had on social status. The desire for any social elevation will be analysed to examine the notion that all yeoman were actively striving towards a gentry status, and that the gentry themselves were looking towards an aristocratic title. The actual title of `gentleman' and `yeoman' will be examined and their usage in this area analysed, and in particular the way the titles became accepted for merchants and tradesmen. The terms `open' and `closed' originally used to define nineteenth century parishes have been applied to Tudor and Stuart England. This hypothesis has been used to suggest that a resident gentry family could regulate the inflow of new families and could effectively `close' the parish to outside influences and stifle any upward social movement by the local yeoman families. In a parish without a resident gentry family it has been suggested that the opposite is true. New families could freely enter the community, and, more importantly, a yeoman family could control the parish, and, through recognition of local influence gain in social status. This hypothesis and its applicability to Wantage Hundred, will be examined and an assessment made as to whether it had any discernible effect on patterns of social mobility in the area. It can be deduced that throughout the period acquisition and ownership of land through purchase or marriage remained the paramount means of social advancement. Even so all the families used all the suggested strategies of advancement at some time during the period. However, it is apparent that not all families were actively striving for social advancement, particularly as differentiation between yeoman, merchant and gentleman became more blurred in the seventeenth century. In general it appears that yeoman families had greater opportunities for advancement and office-holding in open parishes

Investigating the Role of Social Environmental Stress and Implicit Motives in Predicting Salivary Alpha-Amylase Reactivity to the Social Competence Interview

Salivary alpha-amylase is emerging as a promising proxy for assessing sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis activity. However, it is not known whether a brief semi-structured behavioral assessment, such as the social competence interview (SCI), also elicits alpha-amylase changes. I hypothesized that (1) the SCI would elicit alpha amylase reactivity, (2) social environmental stress (i.e, high levels of exposure to violence during childhood and low perceived community social status) would predict the alpha-amylase response to the interview and (3) that agonistic striving would mediate the relationship between social environmental stress and amylase reactivity. The study sample was comprised of healthy young adults aged 18-24 recruited from a university research pool. Results showed that the social competence interview induced a significant alpha-amylase response (F (60, 3) =15.3 p\u3c0.001) which did not vary by sex (p\u3e.05). Furthermore, exposure to violence during childhood was positively associated with rise in alpha-amylase, r(60)=.28, p=.03. However, agonistic striving did not mediate the relationship between exposure to violence and amylase reactivity. These findings provide further evidence for the utility of the social competence interview as a behavioral assessment eliciting sympathetic arousal and salivary alpha amylase as a sensitive index of stress reactivity. Moreover, the data bolster support for the hypothesis that greater exposure to social environmental stress during childhood may lead to potential negative health consequences in later life, for example, a more highly reactive SAM system

Climbing the Social Ladder: Social Status and Status-Related Aspirations on College Students’ Goal Engagement and Causal Beliefs About Mobility

In recent years, social status has been re-conceptualized as a unique and dynamic social identity that shapes motivational processes, guiding pursuits of status-related goals. Therefore, social status is not a static social positioning, but instead a developing construct that informs cognitions and behaviors, particularly during status transitions. This dissertation, drawing from the Status-Based Identity Framework, was anchored within the context of young adults striving to achieve social mobility by attending college. Young adulthood is a distinguished developmental phase marked by heightened capacities for goal striving, representing a period where individuals are tasked with finding their own place on the social ladder. Status-related identities including a student’s past, current, and aspired future social statuses can inform this pursuit. Thus, the following dissertation attempted to unravel the associations among status identities and status-related goals. The first study examined how past and current social statuses, as well as connections to status-based social groups, were associated with educational goal pursuits and commitment toward their education. The second study sought to understand how social status informed young adults’ beliefs about what causes social status attainment, particularly regarding the endorsement of meritocratic belief systems and how they are associated with personal aspirations for attaining an elevated social status. The final study examined how status aspirations were associated with changes in educational goal strivings, and whether more realistic compared to overambitious aspirations helped students remain properly engaged with their educational goals. Moreover, Study 3 examined whether stronger connections to peers at college helped students from lower social statuses remainengaged with their educational goals. Together, these three studies provide a better understanding of how young people’s social mobility aspirations develop and inform status-related goal pursuits during critical life-course transitions

SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE

During the past decade, China has been striving for a more prominent status in the international community. In doing so, China undertook several measures that indicate its willingness to become a supportive collaborator in the international politics, including taking a part in the Six Party Talks regarding to the North Korean nuclear issue as well as striving for the Market Economy Status (MES). However, the recent development of the South China Sea dispute seems to show a contrasting circumstance. As one of the claimant states, China showed a fairly aggressive gesture in expanding and exploiting the disputed territory. Recently, China even declared a refusal against the verdict from the international law which stated that China had no legal base in claiming the territory. This situation sparked a puzzle as the non-compliance against the international law seemed to be violating China’s on- going efforts to win the broader acceptance in the international community. Thus, using two different perspectives, namely structural realism and social constructivism, this study analyses puzzle  and finds  the contextual  relevance behind China’s  non- compliance policy. The overall findings show that the rational interest of pursuing the hegemony in the disputed region becomes the primary goal that China is pursuing beyond the interest of adhering to the international law

Age, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status Differences in Explicit and Implicit Beliefs About Effortlessly Perfect Self-Presentation

Feeling pressure to project an image of effortless perfection -- always appearing to perform with self-confidence and ease --- has been portrayed in the media as an increasingly common mental health vulnerability with potentially serious implications for college women. Despite this, almost no empirical research exists on effortlessly perfect self–presentation (EPSP) or demographic differences in it. • Some recent research suggests that perfectionism is on the rise among young people (Curran & Hill, 2017), and that it is more associated with mental health problems among students with high rather than low socioeconomic status (Lyman & Luthar, 2014). However, these studies did not focus specifically on EPSP, which differs from more typical perfectionism in that it prohibits apparent effort or anxiety while striving for perfection. Of the two published studies on EPSP, one did not examine demographic differences (Flett et al., 2016) and the other found higher endorsement of EPSP among men than among women (Travers et al., 2016). • Anonymous interviews we conducted about EPSP in 40 college students (Glazer et al., in prep) yielded very complex, self-contradictory responses suggesting that beliefs about EPSP may be characterized by stigma and ambivalence. For this reason we decided to focus the current study on indirect and implicit measures of EPSP. • In this study, participants completed three new scales about EPSP, along with the two existing measures of this phenomenon, several mental health measures, and demographics questions. They also rated the perceived social status and self-esteem of two target individuals in a within-person experimental design

I aspire to walk : Egyptian working women defining threats on Cairo\u27s public space

Since the 1970s economic activities have become characterized by a combination of spatial dispersion and global integration, which as Sassen (1991) emphasized has created a new strategic role for major cities. Due to these changes, the â Global Cityâ , a term coined by Sassen, has emerged with certain political, economic and cultural characteristics that render it vital for the world economy. Cairo, a city with a long reputable history and acclaimed regional and continental status has been striving to acquire the â globalâ status. While there is controversy on whether Cairo has acquired this title or not, El Khishin (2003) clearly identifies the contemporary changes that have taken place in the city, with clear impacts of globalization on its various economic, political and social structures. Hence, Cairo could be identified as a city in transition to â global

The Desk as a Barrier and Carrier in Social Work

This chapter explores the desk as a material object as well as its sym- bolic representations in social work from a professional perspective. As we will demonstrate, different and sometimes incompatible meanings and functions associated with the desk reflect current tensions and profession- al dilemmas: On the one hand, ever since the emergence of the social work profession, the desk has symbolized a distanced and uncommitted social worker, even representing asymmetric power relations.2 On the other hand, recent endeavors at professionalization, evidence-based practices, and ac- countable welfare work have resulted, to some degree unintentionally, in an administrative turn and a strengthening of the bureaucratic understand- ing of the mission.3 Social workers, often described as semi-professionals striving for higher status, face trade-offs between traditional ideals of being committed and working close to the community, and administrative work in the office

Inclusive Public Housing: Services for the Hard to House

Evaluates the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration, a model for comprehensive services targeting families with multiple complex problems that are ineligible for mixed-income housing or unable to negotiate the private market. Outlines implications