A new social-cognitive developmental perspective on prejudice: The interplay between morality and group identity.

We argue that prejudice should be investigated in the context of social-cognitive development and the interplay between morality and group identity. Our new perspective examines how children consider group identity (and group norms) along with their developing moral beliefs about fairness and justice. This is achieved by developing an integrated framework drawing on developmental and social psychological theories of prejudice. This synthesis results in a perspective which provides a more contextualized analysis of prejudice development than previously offered by developmental theories. We describe research which supports our view that social norms, intergroup contact and perceived out-group threat affect the relative weight children place on moral and group-based criteria during the development of prejudice

Unemployment, self-esteem, and depression: A social-comparison theory approach

A social comparison theory approach to the relation between unemployment, self-esteem, and depression was tested using a cross-sectional questionnaire design (N = 88). Personal attributes were used as the domain of comparison, and four types of comparisons - intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup - were operationalized. Employment status affected the salience of intrapersonal comparisons. Comparisons with the past self were highly predictive of psychological distress among unemployed respondents, whereas comparisons with the ideal self predicted distress among the employed. Individual-level and group-level social comparisons had different associations with the dependent measures for unemployed respondents. Intrapersonal and interpersonal comparisons were significantly related to depression and self-esteem scores, whereas intragroup and intergroup comparisons were related only to self-esteem. Social comparisons with unemployed people were related to reduced depression levels among employed respondents. Results also showed that unemployed people had more negative social comparison scores relative to their employed counterparts. Results are discussed in terms of recent developments in social comparison theory. Suggestions for future research are outlined

Threat or boost: Social comparison affects older people’s performance differently depending on task domain

Objectives. In this research, we investigate whether social comparison with younger people can result in either a stereotype-based threat or boost in older people’s performance. Methods. Study 1 used nationally representative data to establish domains of performance in which older people are either stereotypically disadvantaged or advantaged relative to younger people. Study 2 was an experiment to test how a potentially threatening versus control versus enhancing comparison with younger people would affect performance in negatively and positively stereotyped task domains. Results. As predicted, compared with the control condition, stereotype threat caused performance decrements in both task domains. This effect was partially mediated by anxiety. Moreover, the enhancing social comparison boosted performance, but only on a crossword task, a task on which older people’s abilities are favorably stereotyped. Discussion. The research demonstrates that a threatening comparison can result in underperformance by older people both in negatively and positively self-stereotyped task domains. It also demonstrates that social comparison with younger people can enhance older people’s performance in a positively stereotyped task domain. The implications for creating circumstances likely to enable older people to achieve their full potential are discussed

A Review and Meta-Analysis of Age-Based Stereotype Threat: Negative Stereotypes, Not Facts, Do the Damage.

Stereotype threat effects arise when an individual feels at risk of confirming a negative stereotype about their group and consequently underperforms on stereotype relevant tasks (Steele, 2010). Among older people, underperformance across cognitive and physical tasks is hypothesized to result from age-based stereotype threat (ABST) because of negative age-stereotypes regarding older adults’ competence. The present review and meta-analyses examine 22 published and 10 unpublished articles, including 82 effect sizes (N = 3882) investigating ABST on older people’s (Mage = 69.5) performance. The analysis revealed a significant small-to-medium effect of ABST (d = .28) and important moderators of the effect size. Specifically, older adults are more vulnerable to ABST when (a) stereotype-based rather than fact-based manipulations are used (d = .52); (b) when performance is tested using cognitive measures (d = .36); and (c) occurs reliably when the dependent variable is measured proximally to the manipulation. The review raises important theoretical and methodological issues, and areas for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved

The Social Cohesion Investment: Supplementary technical document

This document complements the Social Cohesion Investment report and reports additional technical details on methods and statistics used to produce the findings of the report

That is how we do it around here: Levels of identification, masculine honor, and social activism against organized crime in the south of Italy

Masculine honor is an important cultural code in the south of Italy. Italian criminal organizations (COs) manipulate and exploit this code to maintain legitimacy among local populations and exert social control in the territory where they operate. This research tested the hypothesis that different levels of identification—the region and the nation—would have opposite associations with male honor-related values and, indirectly, with intentions to oppose COs collectively. Results from a sample of young southern Italians (N?=?170) showed that regional identification positively predicted endorsement of male honor-related values, which in turn were associated with lowered intentions to oppose COs. In contrast, national identification negatively predicted male honor-related values, associated in turn with stronger intentions to oppose COs. These results also held when perceived risk and social dominance orientation were taken into account. Directions for future research are discussed

Look past the divide: Social dominance, authoritarianism, future thinking, and superordinate identity underlie the environmental political divide

Research in social and political science has documented a political divide on environmental issues, describing greater environmental concern as well as more proenvironmental attitudes and behaviours amongst left-wing (or liberal) than right-wing (or conservative) citizens. However, the specific psychological components that underlie this divide remain underexplored. In the present study, we explore the role of several socio-cognitive components known to be associated with political orientation and assess how well each can account for the relationship between political orientation and proenvironmental views. Evidence from a large-scale survey in the UK ( N = 1,147) reveals that higher right-wing authoritarianism, higher social dominance orientation, lower future thinking and lower superordinate (European) identity, together accounted for half the effect of political orientation. In contrast, belief in a just world, system justification, and ingroup (British) identity, were not significantly related to proenvironmental views. The present work advances past research by informing which psychological routes may be useful for interventions and persuasion to bridge the political divide on environmental issues

"If you could do one thing..." Key Lessons

Britain, like most other highly developed societies, has become increasingly diverse over the last half century, and will become even more so in future. From around 3 per cent in 1950, the proportion of the British population with a migration background rose to nearly 20 per cent in the 2011 census, and among young people the proportion was considerably higher. The origins of these young people have also become increasingly diverse. Migrants coming to Britain today include refugees from a wider range of countries. Increasing diversity brings both opportunities and challenges. A long series of government reports and legislation has sought to tackle some of these challenges – but there has never been an integration policy as such. While there exists a good body of evidence on social integration in the UK, little has been done previously to draw together the evidence from different sources and provide local government, charities and other organisations with practical tools to help them to tackle issues that affect their communities. The British Academy aimed to change that. Through the production of two companion reports 10 Local actions to promote social integration and The integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, we present a range of practical, evidence-based interventions which could be implemented at a local level to promote integration, both of long-settled minority communities, as well as newly-arrived migrants including refugees, asylum seekers and children. This document provides a brief summary of the project and presents the key lessons, drawn from both reports