Beyond Us versus Them : Explaining Intergroup Bias in Multiple Categorization

The psychological and sociological explorations of intergroup relations have traditionally focused on understanding prejudice and discrimination along a single dimension of social categorization: We study racism and sexism, anti-immigrant attitudes and homophobia, ageism and Islamophobia. What these studies fail to consider is that in real life, each of us belongs to multiple groups. Sociology experiences a boom of research on intersectionality, whereas psychological accounts of consequences of belonging to multiple social groups are still underdeveloped. This dissertation aims to address this gap by investigating attitude formation in situations in which multiple group memberships of a target person are salient, i.e. in multiple categorization settings. Building on social cognition and intergroup relations literatures, I develop a theoretical framework that (1) differentiates between two routes through which group memberships can affect attitudes: ingroup bias and preference for higher status; (2) places perception of similarity as the main cognitive mechanism linking the information about group memberships of others to attitudes towards them; (3) incorporates individual- and societal-level moderators of the effects of group memberships on attitudes. In a series of studies, I demonstrate the difference between the two types of social categories that operate via the two distinct routes. The groups that provide a sense of community and shared norms, such as ethnicity and religion, operate via the preference for ingroup members. The groups that provide information about status of the person, such as education or occupation, affect attitudes directly via preference for higher status, irrespective of own group membership. I show that perceived similarity mediates the link between group memberships and attitudes for both types of groups. Finally, I demonstrate that both individual and contextual factors moderate the relationships between group memberships and attitudes. On the individual level, importance of group memberships to the perceivera s self-concept and perceived threat from the outgroup are associated with stronger ingroup bias. On the societal level, lower country-level acceptance of cultural diversity is associated with stronger preference for ingroup members on cultural dimensions, and lower income and educational inequality is associated with stronger preference for higher-status others on socioeconomic dimensions. This dissertation brings attention to and opens up new avenues for the study of psychological consequences of the complexity of the social worlds we live in

Crossed categorization outside the lab : Findings from a factorial survey experiment

Crossed categorization studies investigate intergroup attitudes in situations when two categorization dimensions are simultaneously salient, often looking at artificial groups in laboratory settings. The current study tests (a) patterns of evaluation in crossed categorization scenarios when more than two real-life categorization dimensions are crossed, and (b) the moderating role of identity importance. We conduct a factorial survey experiment with a diverse sample (N = 524), crossing eight categorization dimensions. The results provide strong support for the additive pattern of crossed categorization, challenging the view that with an increased number of categories category-based information processing will not be used. Identity importance predicts the strength of intergroup bias only on the dimension of religion, which was the dominant dimension in this sample. The study contributes to multiple and crossed categorization literature by testing some of its key assumptions using a design that increases the ecological validity of the findings

Contamination of raisin by filamentous fungi – potential producers of ochratoxin A

The forty-one samples of Armenian made and eleven samples of imported raisins collected in several markets in Yerevan were studied. The sample collections were carried out during of years 2004 to 2008. Thirty two species of filamentous fungi from Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria Trichoderma and Syncephalastrum genera were isolated and identified. Among species isolated from studied samples species belonging to Aspergillus genera have a very high frequency of occurrence, 65.2% of all investigated filamentous fungi. Species from Nigri section show the highest occurrence: 66.7% of all isolated fungi belonging to Aspergillus genera. Species A. carbonarius and A. niger were dominated among isolated fungi from section Nigri. Both Armenian and imported samples of raisin had a high contamination level by these fungi which are potential producers of ochratoxin A. In Armenian samples were detected two more ochratoxigenic species belonging to Aspergillus section Nigri: A. sclerotioniger and A. lacticoffeatus. But their frequency of occurred was low. Thirty seven strains of A. flavus were isolated, 92% of them were isolated from Armenian samples. Influence of рН and aw on contamination level of raisin by fungi was studied.  It was revealed that highest contamination level by filamentous fungi occurred in raisins with relatively high aw value. Contamination level of raisin doesn't depend on pH

Social Construction of the Value–Behavior Relation

Personal values are reliable cross-situational predictors of attitudes and behavior. Since the resurgence in research on values following the introduction of Schwartz’s theory of basic values, efforts were focused on identifying universal patterns in value–attitude relations. While some evidence for such universal patterns exists more recent studies point out, there is still considerable variation in value–attitude and value–behavior links across cultures and contexts. Extending the existing literature on potential moderators in this paper, we introduce the concept of value-instantiating beliefs. This study looks at subjective construal of the value relevance of specific behaviors as a proximal moderator of value–attitude and value–behavior relations. We argue that a belief that construes a behavior as a valid instantiation of a value is a prerequisite for the relationship between said value and the behavior. We also argue that such value-instantiating beliefs play a central role in determining the direction of the relationship. In a web-based survey experiment (N = 1724) consisting of three trials, we presented participants with vignettes describing behavioral choices. In order to manipulate the value-instantiating beliefs, the behaviors were described either neutrally, as reinforcing the value, or as inhibiting the value. We then measured the value-instantiating beliefs, the attitude toward the behavior, and the intention to perform it. Instantiating beliefs strongly moderated the relationship between the personal values and the dependent variables in all three trials. Moreover, the direction of the relationship was determined by the instantiating beliefs. The results emphasize the plasticity of the value–behavior relation and the role of social construction in directing the motivational power of values toward concrete instantiating behaviors

Immigrantenfeindliche Einstellungen und nationale Identität in Russland: Entwicklungen und Wechselwirkungen

Ähnlich wie westeuropäische Länder ist auch Russland auf Immigranten angewiesen, um seine Wirtschaft voranzutreiben, die Lücken auf dem Arbeitsmarkt zu kompensieren und die demografische Lage zu verbessern. Während viele europäische Länder jedoch erst in den letzten Jahren einen neuen Anstieg einwandererfeindlicher Einstellungen verzeichnen, ist in Russland die Haltung gegenüber Immigranten während der vergangenen zwei Jahrzehnte konstant extrem negativ gewesen und verschlechtert sich weiter. Starke nationalistische Stimmungen, die in der Gesellschaft wie auch in der Regierung weit verbreitet sind, lassen die Frage aufkommen, ob der russische Ansatz in Bezug auf Migration nachhaltig ist. Der Beitrag liefert eine Analyse, die aus den Daten des International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) schöpft (Jahrgänge 1995, 2003 und 2013) und die Entwicklung der nationalen Identität sowie die Einstellungen gegenüber Immigranten in Russland untersucht. Wir konnten feststellen, dass die nationale Identität stärker wird. Genauer gesagt, nimmt die nationalistische Identifizierung mit dem Staat sowie der Stolz auf die politischen Leistungen Russlands zu. Gleichzeitig bleibt der Stolz auf kulturelle und historische Errungenschaften weiterhin hoch. Die sehr negativen Einstellungen gegenüber Immigranten nehmen im Vergleich zu den anderen Ländern sogar zu

Gender Categorization and Stereotypes Beyond the Binary

Gender categorization and stereotyping can lead to discrimination. Researchers have mostly studied cisgender, gender-conforming individuals as the targets when examining these processes. In two factorial survey experiments, we investigated gender categorization and stereotyping of gender-ambiguous targets based on facial features and behavioral information. We manipulated femininity/masculinity/ambiguity of face, expression, and occupation. Participants completed a gender categorization task, and stereotype and attitude measures. The findings indicated that face was most influential for categorization: When face was unambiguously masculine or feminine, participants mostly categorized targets as male or female, respectively. In these cases, expression and occupation had little influence on categorization. When face was ambiguous, this additional information significantly influenced categorization. Nonbinary categorization was more likely for ambiguous faces, and most likely for ambiguous faces combined with ambiguous expression and ambiguous or feminine occupation. Our findings suggest that categorizing gender-ambiguous targets is more complex compared to clearly gendered targets. Primarily relying on face when it appears clearly gendered likely causes categorization errors when encountering TGNC individuals

Motivations for violent extremism : Evidence from lone offenders’ manifestos

This study explores the motivational drivers of violent extremism by examining references to motivational goals—values—in texts written by lone offenders. We present a new database of manifestos written by lone offenders (N = 103), the Extremist Manifesto Database (EMD). We apply a dictionary approach to examine references to values in this corpus. For comparison, we use texts from a matched quota sample of US American adults (N = 194). Compared to the general population, extremists referred more often to values of security, conformity, tradition, universalism, and power, and less often to values of benevolence, stimulation, and achievement. In extremist manifestos, ingroup descriptions referred more to security and universalism values, whereas power values dominated outgroup descriptions. Non-extremists referred to the same values in conjunction with “us” and “them” (benevolence and self-direction). The values that extremists referenced suggest interpersonal detachment and a clear delineation of value narratives around “us” and “them”

Why Is Right-Wing Media Consumption Associated with Lower Compliance with COVID-19 Measures?

Exposure to right-wing media has been shown to be related to lower perceived threat from COVID-19, lower compliance with prophylactic measures against it, and higher incidence of infection and death. What features of right-wing media messages may account for these effects? In a preregistered cross-sectional study (N = 554), we tested a model that differentiates perceived consequences of two CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendations - washing hands and staying home - for basic human values. People who consumed more right-wing media perceived these behaviors as less beneficial for their personal security, for the well-being of close ones, and the well-being of society at large. Perceived consequences of following the CDC recommendations mediated the relationship between media consumption and compliance with recommendations. Implications for public health messaging are discussed

Introduction to the special issue : nuances of social class and socioeconomic status (Introducción a este monográfico: los matices del concepto de clase social y del nivel socioeconómico)

The social psychological study of social class and socioeconomic status (SES) has burgeoned in the last 15 years and much progress has been made. Yet, researchers rarely explain their theoretical standpoint, clearly define social class and/or SES or justify their choice of how to measure it. This, we argue, is holding back progress. We suggest that social class should be considered a social category into which we are socialized that affords differing amounts of economic, social and cultural resources, while SES only captures one’s current access to various forms of capital. We briefly review literature that suggests that the meanings, understandings and thus operationalizations of social class and SES vary across groups and contexts. We then give an overview of the special issue, which documents the advances that can be gained from taking a more nuanced and theoretically informed approach to studying social class and SES

Beyond the headlines: Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in times of conflict

The wars of the 21st century are not the first media wars, and many tropes and schema have long histories, particularly propaganda and the othering of a purported enemy. What is new today is that although mass media remains a central and hegemonic source of insight and perspective, citizen journalism, social media, spreadable media, and surveillant, data-driven media have grown in significance at an exponential level, adding a layer of complexity. In this article, we focus on disparity in media coverage and make the point that media and information literacy provide a valuable set of lenses from which to view a cluster of news and social media accounts taken from the government, mainstream media, alternative media, and the DIY mediasphere of the social media. It centers on two conflicts that receive little media exposure -the Nagorno-Karabash conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the internal Anglo-Francophone conflict in Cameroon. It also offers examples of classroom activities that could be adapted and modified to most educational settings