Social representation of competition and fraud

Good citizenship includes fair competitive strategies. Dishonest competitive behaviour – such as fraud – can reflect the absence of one main characteristic of good citizenship as mindfulness of laws and social rules. This article investigates the social representation of competition and fraud with two samples of students from business schools in France and in Hungary. Two complementary studies were carried out with P. Vergès’ associative method and C. Flament and M. L. Rouquette’s tools. The purpose of the first study (NFrench=104, NHungarian=107) is to characterize the central core of the respondents’ representation of both competition and fraud. On the basis of different cultural, historical and economic backgrounds, it was expected that the concepts of fraud and competition would overlap more extensively among Hungarian students than among French students. Results from the first study suggest only slight differences regarding the content of the representations; moreover, in both samples the representations of competition and fraud lacked significant overlap. Hungarian representations of competition and fraud are characterized by a lower level of coherence. Furthermore, academic cheating is mentioned more frequently by Hungarian students than by French students. Following the methodological guidelines of social representations, in order to confirm the results of the first study, a second investigation was carried out (NFrench=115, NHungarian=127) with an alternative associative method. These results confirmed the first study in terms of the content of the social representations and differences regarding coherence. Finally, in the case of Hungarian students a higher prevalence of reference to academic cheating, and links between fraud and competition were found. Hungarians’ competitive result orientation, linked social representations of competition and fraud via a higher prevalence of academic cheating which can refer to the weaker inclination of Hungarians in terms of rule keeping behaviours, which is one of the hallmarks of a good citizen

Before and after: national identity versus a european one

The paper studies political socialization via the introduction of the euro in the 12 countries of the European Monetary Union. Teenagers’ (14 to 18-year-old) attitudes towards the euro and their social representations of the euro are compared during two steps of the introduction of this new currency (January 15th - February 15th 2002 when the euro first became the single currency of the European Monetary Union, and one year later, from January 15th to the end of February 2003). It is assumed that the feeling of belonging to Europe, along with the impression of being European, might change with the simultaneous issuance of the common European currency in the twelve countries of the euro-zone. It can be concluded that, via the example of the introduction of a single currency at the same time in the 12 countries belonging to the European Monetary Union, this important economic and political change has produced a specific fundamental modification, producing a much broader feeling of territorial belonging, going from a national identity feeling to a European feeling of belonging. Data concerning the influence of the euro in relation with becoming more European are discussed

Antes y después: identidad nacional o identidad europea

Este artículo estudia la socialización política a raíz de la introducción del euro en los 12 países de la Unión Monetaria Europea. Son comparadas las actitudes de los adolescentes de 14 a 18 años hacia el euro y sus representaciones sociales durante dos momentos: a la introducción de esta nueva moneda (del 15 de enero al 15 de febrero de 2002) y un año más tarde (del 15 de enero al final de febrero de 2003). Se asume que el sentimiento de pertenencia territorial a Europa, junto con la impresión de ser europeo, podría modificarse con la emisión de una moneda europea común en los doce países de la eurozona. El estudio muestra datos que permiten establecer una relación entre la introducción del euro y el sentimiento de mayor pertenencia territorial hacia Europa. Este importante cambio económico y político ha significado una modificación fundamental, produciendo un amplio sentimiento de pertenencia territorial, yendo de un sentimiento de identidad nacional a una Europea

Are competition and extrinsic motivation reliable predictors of academic cheating?

Previous studies suggest that extrinsic motivation and competition are reliable predictors of academic cheating. The aim of the present questionnaire study was to separate the effects of motivation- and competition-related variables on academic cheating by Hungarian high school students (N = 620, M = 264, F = 356). Structural equation modeling showed that intrinsic motivation has a negative effect, and amotivation has a positive indirect effect on self-reported academic cheating. In contrast, extrinsic motivation had no significant effect. Indirect positive influence on cheating, based on some characteristics of hypercompetition, was also found, whereas attitudes toward self-developmental competition had a mediated negative influence. Neither constructive nor destructive competitive classroom climate had a significant impact on academic dishonesty. Acceptance of cheating and guilt has significant and direct effect on self-reported cheating. In comparison with them, the effects of motivational and competition-related variables are relatively small, even negligible. These results suggest that extrinsic motivation and competition are not amongst the most reliable predictors of academic cheating behavior

The effect of the presence of an audience on risk-taking while gambling: the social shield

Being in a social context influences risk-taking behavior. This study aims to identify the effect of an audience’s presence on risk-taking while gambling. One hundred and thirty-two university students played a computer roulette game. They were randomly allocated to one of our three conditions: (i) either they played alone; or (ii) in the presence of the experimenter; or (iii) in the presence of the experimenter, while being videotaped. Results revealed a significant effect on risk-taking in the participants with the presence of an audience, with more risk-averse behaviors in the two types of audience conditions than in the alone condition. No differences were found between the two audience conditions. Thus, an audience may prevent risk-taking and provide a social shield

Financial Threat during the Economic Crisis: Connections with the Social Representation of the Economic Crisis and the Willingness to Act

The 2008 economic crisis led numerous countries into economic hardship. Therefore, today, people feel financially threatened by this economic downturn. This threat can influence people’s willingness to act in order to cope with the economic situation. In this paper, the social representation theory helps to understand social knowledge associated with the economic crisis. The study is organized around two main objectives: (1) to compare the social representation of the economic crisis according to people’s level of financial threat, and (2) to study the mediating role of financial threat between people’s economic situations and their willingness to undertake economic actions (i.e., saving, consumption) and citizen’s activities (i.e., protests). French adults (N = 278) answered a free-association task based on the ‘economic crisis’ as the inductor, completed by financial threat, willingness to act, and a series of economic measures. First, results support the hypothesis of the existence of different social representations of the economic crisis according to the level of financial threat. Second, financial threat is also found to fully mediate the relationship between economic situation’s measures and the willingness to protest

Political leaders' identity leadership and civic citizenship behavior:The mediating role of trust in fellow citizens and the moderating role of economic inequality

Identity leadership captures leaders efforts to create and promote a sense of shared group membership (i.e., a sense of “we” and of “us”) among followers. The present research report tests this claim by drawing on data from 26 countries that are part of the Global Identity Leadership Development (GILD) project to examine the relationship between political leaders' identity leadership and civic citizenship behavior (N = 6787). It also examines the contributions of trust and economic inequality to this relationship. Political leaders' identity leadership (PLIL) was positively associated with respondents' people-oriented civic citizenship behaviors (CCB-P) in 20 of 26 countries and civic citizenship behaviors aimed at one's country (CCB-C) in 23 of 26 countries. Mediational analyses also confirmed the indirect effects of PLIL via trust in fellow citizens on both CCB-P (in 25 out of 26 countries) and CCB-C (in all 26 countries). Economic inequality moderated these effects such that the main and indirect effects of trust in one's fellow citizens on CCB-C were stronger in countries with higher economic inequality. This interaction effect was not observed for CCB-P. The study highlights the importance of identity leadership and trust in fellow citizens in promoting civic citizenship behavior, especially in the context of economic inequality.</p

Political leaders' identity leadership and civic citizenship behavior:The mediating role of trust in fellow citizens and the moderating role of economic inequality

Identity leadership captures leaders efforts to create and promote a sense of shared group membership (i.e., a sense of “we” and of “us”) among followers. The present research report tests this claim by drawing on data from 26 countries that are part of the Global Identity Leadership Development (GILD) project to examine the relationship between political leaders' identity leadership and civic citizenship behavior (N = 6787). It also examines the contributions of trust and economic inequality to this relationship. Political leaders' identity leadership (PLIL) was positively associated with respondents' people-oriented civic citizenship behaviors (CCB-P) in 20 of 26 countries and civic citizenship behaviors aimed at one's country (CCB-C) in 23 of 26 countries. Mediational analyses also confirmed the indirect effects of PLIL via trust in fellow citizens on both CCB-P (in 25 out of 26 countries) and CCB-C (in all 26 countries). Economic inequality moderated these effects such that the main and indirect effects of trust in one's fellow citizens on CCB-C were stronger in countries with higher economic inequality. This interaction effect was not observed for CCB-P. The study highlights the importance of identity leadership and trust in fellow citizens in promoting civic citizenship behavior, especially in the context of economic inequality.</p

How is the economic crisis socially assessed?

Based on the Social Representation Theory, the purpose of this article is to explore how lay-people consider both the economic crisis and risk, and to link these social representations to behavior. The article offers an original approach with the articulation of two studies about the social construction of risk and crises. It also contributes to the development of research methods for studying the connections between representations and practical implications. Based on this, the impact of the social representation of the crisis on the perceived ability to act is approached. The first study focuses on free-association tasks, with two distinct target terms: ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’. The structural approach, with a prototypical analysis, allowed the identification of two different representations: (1) for risk, ‘danger’ is the central element; (2) for crisis, ‘economy’ and ‘money’ constitute the main components of the representation. The second study investigates the links between the two previously detected structures and their relations with the perceived ability to act in a financial crisis context. Some aspects of social knowledge were found to have an impact on perceived ability to act

Représentations sociales de la maladie : comparaison entre savoirs « experts » et savoirs « profanes »

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