The Alleged Crisis and the Illusion of Exact Replication

There has been increasing criticism of the way psychologists conduct and analyze studies. These critiques as well as failures to replicate several high-profile studies have been used as justification to proclaim a "replication crisis" in psychology. Psychologists are encouraged to conduct more "exact" replications of published studies to assess the reproducibility of psychological research. This article argues that the alleged "crisis of replicability" is primarily due to an epistemological misunderstanding that emphasizes the phenomenon instead of its underlying mechanisms. As a consequence, a replicated phenomenon may not serve as a rigorous test of a theoretical hypothesis because identical operationalizations of variables in studies conducted at different times and with different subject populations might test different theoretical constructs. Therefore, we propose that for meaningful replications, attempts at reinstating the original circumstances are not sufficient. Instead, replicators must ascertain that conditions are realized that reflect the theoretical variable(s) manipulated (and/or measured) in the original study

Cutting Gordian Knots: Reducing Prejudice Through Attachment Security

The positive role of secure attachment in reducing intergroup biases has been suggested in prior studies. We extend this work by testing the effects of secure attachment primes on negative emotions and aggressive behaviors toward outgroup members across four experiments. Results from Studies 1A and 1B reveal that secure attachment prime, relative to neutral, can reduce negative outgroup emotions. In addition, Studies 1B and 3 results rule out positive mood increase as an alternative explanation for the observed effects. Results from Studies 2 and 3 reveal that secure attachment primes can reduce aggressive behavior toward an outgroup member. The effect of secure attachment primes on outgroup harm was found to be fully mediated by negative emotions in Studies 2 and 3. An interaction between secure attachment primes and ingroup identification in Study 2 indicated that the positive effects of secure attachment in reducing outgroup harm may be especially beneficial for highly identified ingroup members

The social identity approach: appraising the Tajfellian legacy

Since its original formulation, Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory (SIT) has broadened considerably from its original focus on intergroup relations and is now applied to a wide range of phenomena. Indeed, the ‘social identity approach’ has become one of the most widely used perspectives in contemporary social psychology. In this article, I examine the popularity of Tajfel’s writings on social identity and intergroup relations, especially over the last thirty years when they started to become more generally used. I offer a critical appraisal of the original SIT, both as a theory of intergroup relations and as a theory of identity, concluding that its real value lies in its success in offering an over‐arching perspective on the importance of groups in social life and its ability to stimulate new areas of research. I then widen the discussion to consider how the social identity perspective has been used in a number of other fields of enquiry

Aggressive behavior of soccer players as social interaction

Mummendey A, Mummendey HD. Aggressive behavior of soccer players as social interaction. In: Goldstein JH, ed. Sports violence. Springer series in social psychology. New York [u.a.]: Springer; 1983: 111-128

Selbstdarstellung

Mummendey HD. Selbstdarstellung. In: Bierhoff HW, Frey D, eds. Handbuch der Sozialpsychologie und Kommunikationspsychologie. Handbuch der Psychologie. Vol 3. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 2006: 49-56

Beeinflussung, Dogmatismus, Einstellungsänderung, Fernsehen, Film, Konformität, Massenkommunikationsmittel, Meinungsänderung, Nationalismus, Prestige-Suggestibilität, Rundfunk, Tabu, Urteilsänderung, Graphentheorie, Heterostereotyp/Autostereotyp, Jasagetendenz, Kontentanalyse, Latitude of acceptance, Selbstverständlichkeiten, Skalogrammanalyse

Mummendey HD. Beeinflussung, Dogmatismus, Einstellungsänderung, Fernsehen, Film, Konformität, Massenkommunikationsmittel, Meinungsänderung, Nationalismus, Prestige-Suggestibilität, Rundfunk, Tabu, Urteilsänderung, Graphentheorie, Heterostereotyp/Autostereotyp, Jasagetendenz, Kontentanalyse, Latitude of acceptance, Selbstverständlichkeiten, Skalogrammanalyse. In: Arnold W, Eysenck HJ, Meili R, eds. Lexikon der Psychologie. Freiburg: Herder; 1972

Social desirability, environmental attitudes and general ecological behaviour in children

Socially desirable responses have been widely discussed as potentially biasing self-reported measures of environmental attitude and behaviour assessment. The direct and moderating effect of social desirability on children has not been analysed before. By applying a Lie scale together with a two-factor environmental attitude set measure and a scale of self-reported General Ecological Behaviour (GEB) to 198 pupils, we found a moderate impact of Lie scores on only one of both attitude measures and a small impact on GEB. In a multiple regression analysis general behaviour was predicted by attitude, social desirability, and the interaction of both. Social desirability had no moderating effect on the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviour. Implications of these outcomes for research on environmental issues with children are discussed