Hopelessly Mortal: The Role of Mortality Salience, Immortality and Trait Self-esteem in Personal Hope

Do people lose hope when thinking about death? Based on Terror Management Theory, we predicted that thoughts of death (i.e., mortality salience) would reduce personal hope for people low, but not high, in self-esteem, and that this reduction in hope would be ameliorated by promises of immortality. In Studies 1 and 2, mortality salience reduced personal hope for people low in self-esteem, but not for people high in self-esteem. In Study 3, mortality salience reduced hope for people low in self-esteem when they read an argument that there is no afterlife, but not when they read “evidence” supporting life after death. In Study 4, this effect was replicated with an essay affirming scientific medical advances that promise immortality. Together, these findings uniquely demonstrate that thoughts of mortality interact with trait self-esteem to cause changes in personal hope, and that literal immortality beliefs can aid psychological adjustment when thinking about death. Implications for understanding personal hope, trait self-esteem, afterlife beliefs and terror management are discussed

When sex doesn’t sell to men: Mortality salience, disgust and the appeal of products and advertisements featuring sexualized women

Although men typically hold favorable views of advertisements featuring female sexuality, from a Terror Management Theory perspective, this should be less the case when thoughts of human mortality are salient. Two experiments conducted in South Korea supported this hypothesis across a variety of products (e.g., perfume and vodka). Men became more negative towards advertisements featuring female sexuality, and had reduced purchase intentions for those products, after thinking about their own mortality. Study 2 found that these effects were mediated by heightened disgust. Mortality thoughts did not impact women in either study. These findings uniquely demonstrate that thoughts of death interact with female sex-appeal to influence men’s consumer choices, and that disgust mediates these processes. Implications for the role of emotion, and cultural differences, in terror management, for attitudes toward female sexuality, and for marketing strategies are discussed

Internalizing objectification:Objectified individuals see themselves as less warm, competent, moral, and human

People objectify others by viewing them as less warm, competent, moral, and human (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009, J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 45, 598; Vaes, Paladino, & Puvia, 2011, Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 41, 774). In two studies, we examined whether the objectified share this view of themselves, internalizing their objectification. In Study 1 (N = 114), we examined sexual objectification, and in Study 2 (N = 62), we examined workplace objectification. Consistent across both studies, we found that objectification resulted in participants seeing themselves as less warm, competent, moral (Study 2 only), and lacking in human nature and human uniqueness. These effects were robust to perceiver gender and familiarity (Study 1), and whether another person or a situation caused the objectification (Study 2). In short, the objectified see themselves the manner they are seen by their objectifiers: as lacking warmth, competence, morality, and humanity

The Great Escape: The Role of Self-esteem and Self-related Cognition in Terror Management

Integrating terror management theory and objective self-awareness theory, we propose the existential escape hypothesis, which states that people with low self-esteem should be especially prone to escaping self-awareness as a distal response to thoughts of death. This is because they lack the means to bolster the self as a defense, and the propensity to bolster the self reduces the motivation to escape from self-awareness. Five studies supported this hypothesis. Individuals low, but not high, in self-esteem scored lower on a measure of private self-awareness (Study 1), showed less implicit self-activation (Studies 2 & 3), were more likely to choose to write about others than themselves (Study 4), and consumed more alcohol in a field study at a nightclub (Study 5) in response to mortality reminders. Implications for terror management theory (highlighting an additional route to defend against mortality awareness), self-regulation, physical health and well-being are discussed

The Object of My Aggression: Sexual Objectification Increases Physical Aggression Towards Women

Objectification involves reducing someone to a sexual object, rather than seeing themas a full person. Despite numerous theoretical claims that people are more aggressivetoward the objectified, and empirical evidence that objectification is linked to highwillingness to aggress, rape proclivity, and aggressive attitudes, no research hasexamined a causal link between objectification and physical aggression, particularly inthe context of provocation. In two experiments, we examined this predicted link. InExperiment 1, using a 2 (objectification: no/yes) × 2 (provocation: no/yes) factorialbetween-subjects design, we investigated the effects of objectification, induced viabody focus during a face-to-face interaction, and provocation on physical aggressiontoward a female confederate. Our results revealed a significant main effect ofprovocation, a marginal main effect of objectification, and a significant interactionbetween these variables. In the absence of a provocation, focusing on a woman’s bodyincreased aggression toward her. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 using a videoof a target woman instead of a face-to-face interaction. Again, our results showed asignificant two-way interaction between objectification and provocation, whereinobjectification increased aggression in the absence of provocation. Overall, thisresearch indicates that objectification can lead to heightened physical aggressiontoward objectified women

Selfie-Objectification:Self-Objectification and Positive Feedback (“Likes”) are Associated with Frequency of Posting Sexually Objectifying Self-Images on Social Media

The present study is the first to examine the extent to which young adult women post objectifying self-images on social media, and whether the frequency of posting such content can be predicted by self-objectification and positive feedback (likes). Eighty-six young adult women from the UK (Age M = 19.88; SD = 1.34, Range = 18-24) completed self-report measures of self-objectification and social media use. The 20 most recent images they had posted on their personal Instagram accounts were downloaded (Image N = 1720) and content analysed for self-objectifying content. The analysis found that 29.77% of participants’ Instagram images were objectified, though there were individual differences. Higher frequency of posting objectified self-images was associated with trait self-objectification and receiving more likes on this type of self-image, relative to non-objectified self-images. The implications of the novel findings for objectification theory are discussed within

“It Was Only Harmless Banter!” The development and preliminary validation of the moral disengagement in sexual harassment scale.

Sexual harassment represents aggressive behavior that is often enacted instrumentally, in response to a threatened sense of masculinity and male identity. To date, however, theoretical attention to the social cognitive processes that regulate workplace harassment is scant. This article presents the development and preliminary validation of the Moral Disengagement in Sexual Harassment Scale (MDiSH); a self-report measure of moral disengagement in the context of hostile work environment harassment. Three studies (total N = 797) document the excellent psychometric properties of this new scale. Male U.K. university students (Study 1: N = 322) and U.S. working males (Studies 2 and 3: N = 475) completed the MDiSH and an array of measures for construct validation. The MDiSH exhibited positive correlations with sexual harassment myth acceptance, male gender identification, and hostile sexism. In Study 3, participants were exposed to a fictitious case of hostile work environment harassment. The MDiSH attenuated moral judgment, negative emotions (guilt, shame, and anger), sympathy, and endorsement of prosocial behavioral intentions (support for restitution) associated with the harassment case. Conversely, the MDiSH increased positive affect (happiness) about the harassment and attribution of blame to the female complainant. Implications for practice and future research avenues are discussed

Rethinking Human-Animal Relations: The Critical Role of Social Psychology

People deeply value their social bonds with companion animals, yet routinely devalue other animals, considering them mere commodities to satisfy human interests and desires. Despite the inherently social and intergroup nature of these complexities, social psychology is long overdue in integrating human-animal relations in its theoretical frameworks. The present body of work brings together social psychological research advancing our understanding of: 1) the factors shaping our perceptions and thinking about animals as social groups, 2) the complexities involved in valuing (caring) and devaluing (exploiting) animals, and 3) the implications and importance of human-animal relations for human intergroup relations. In this article, we survey the diversity of research paradigms and theoretical frameworks developed within the intergroup relations literature that are relevant, perchance critical, to the study of human-animal relations. Furthermore, we highlight how understanding and rethinking human-animal relations will eventually lead to a more comprehensive understanding of many human intergroup phenomena

Dehumanization: a threat and solution to terror management.

This chapter explores how different types of dehumanization are influenced by the awareness of human mortality

Heuristinen arviointi ohjelmistolokalisoinnissa : analyysi käyttäjien ilmoittamista kieliongelmista

Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa käsitellään lokalisoidun tuotteen laadunarviointia käytettävyyden näkökulmasta. Laadunarviointiin sovelletaan käyttäjäkeskeisen kääntämisen (UCT) heuristista arviointia, jota on täydennetty lokalisoidun tuotteen arviointimalleilla. Tutkittavana materiaalina on tietokoneohjelmien ja mobiilisovellusten ranskaksi ja suomeksi lokalisoituja tekstejä, joista on ilmoitettu kielellisiä ongelmia. Näitä kielellisiä ongelmia tarkastellaan ja analysoidaan edellä mainittujen arviointimallien avulla. Tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten käyttäjäkeskeisen kääntämisen heuristiikat soveltuvat lokalisointiin. Teoriaosuudessa eritellään käännösalan laadunarviointia sekä erilaisia laadunmäärittämisen kriteerejä, kuten ekvivalenssia ja skoposta. Siinä tarkastellaan myös käytettävyyttä ja käyttäjäkeskeistä kääntämistä sekä esitellään aineiston analyysissä käytettävä heuristinen arviointi. Lisäksi käsitellään lokalisointia ja lokalisoinnin laadunarviointia sekä vertaillaan lokalisoinnin laadunarviointia heuristiseen arviointiin. Tutkimuksen aineistoa, ilmoitettuja ongelmakohtia, analysoidaan teoriaosuudessa esitetyn luokittelumallin mukaan. Ranskaksi lokalisoitujen tuotteiden suurin ongelmaluokka oli kohdekielen virheet ja suomeksi lokalisoitujen tuotteiden käännösvirheet. Käännösvirheistä moni johtui vähäisestä kontekstista, ja esimerkiksi moni englanninkielinen sana oli käännetty väärään sanaluokkaan kuuluvalla sanalla. Kieliongelmat eivät kuitenkaan aina johtuneet käännöksestä, vaan useassa tapauksessa ymmärrettävyysongelman taustalla oli alkuperäinen englanti, joka oli kirjoitettu epäselvällä tai moniselitteisellä tavalla. Lisäksi selvisi, että ohjelmakoodilla oli vaikutusta joidenkin kielellisten ongelmien syntyyn. Ohjelma saattoi lukea jotkin välimerkit osaksi koodia, jolloin ne eivät näkyneet tekstissä. Samoin vaihtuvat ohjelmakoodin osat, kuten ohjelmien nimet ja hyperlinkit, vaikuttivat joidenkin kielioppivirheiden syntyyn. Lisäksi molemmissa kielissä ilmeni paljon katkaisusta johtuvia ongelmia, jotka vaikuttivat tekstin ulkoasuun ja sitä kautta käytettävyyteen. Aineiston analyysin havaintojen pohjalta esitellään ehdotus lokalisointiin soveltuvista käytettävyysheuristiikoista. Ehdotuksessa heuristiseen arviointiin on lisätty kategoriat kohdekielen virheille sekä ulkoasuun liittyville ongelmille. Lisäksi arvioinnista on poistettu spesifikaatio-luokka, ja se on lisätty selittäväksi tekijäksi muihin luokkiin. Samoin interferenssi on lisätty selittäväksi tekijäksi useampaan luokkaan