Taming Conflicting Identities: Searching for New Youth Values in the Western Balkans

In the post-conflict societies of the Western Balkans (Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia) ethnic and religious identities continue to constitute a major source of tension. Knowing that the youth tend to be the bearer of the future societal values, we aimed to explore if young people in this region are able to construct their identities in a more inclusive way and overcome these divisive group identifications. We conducted a survey among 767 people aged 20 to 30, from Belgrade, Novi Pazar, Prishtina, North Mitrovica, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Skopje and Tetovo. In each country, we selected one town with a dominant ethnic majority and one with a dominant ethnic minority. The survey was followed up with a qualitative study — eight focus groups and eight case studies. Higher inclusiveness and complexity in the construal of multiple ingroup social identities was reliably related to more favorable out-group attitudes. Those who experienced more diversity, e.g. members of groups that are an ethnic minority at local levels (in towns they live in) generally showed more liberal out-group and political attitudes. Likewise, the quantity and quality of intergroup contact effectively reduced unfavorable out-group attitudes in all the groups. Although the youth are still averse to the idea of political participation, their recognition of how the politics shape their identities and negative perceptions of others could be articulated as political attitudes. Despite the hardships, bridging social divides in the Western Balkans seems a viable goal, dependent upon empowering the youth, offering them more opportunities to communicate with each other and encouraging them in building more inclusive identities

Disgust sensitivity relates to attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women across 31 nations

Previous work has reported a relation between pathogen-avoidance motivations and prejudice toward various social groups, including gay men and lesbian women. It is currently unknown whether this association is present across cultures, or specific to North America. Analyses of survey data from adult heterosexuals (N = 11,200) from 31 countries showed a small relation between pathogen disgust sensitivity (an individual-difference measure of pathogen-avoidance motivations) and measures of antigay attitudes. Analyses also showed that pathogen disgust sensitivity relates not only to antipathy toward gay men and lesbians, but also to negativity toward other groups, in particular those associated with violations of traditional sexual norms (e.g., prostitutes). These results suggest that the association between pathogen-avoidance motivations and antigay attitudes is relatively stable across cultures and is a manifestation of a more general relation between pathogen-avoidance motivations and prejudice towards groups associated with sexual norm violations

Dual elaboration models in attitude change processes

Ovaj članak daje pregled razvoja psihološke misli na temu procesa promene stavova u proteklih 50 godina. Fokusira se na period od 80-ih godina prošlog veka do danas, predstavljajući model kognitivnog odgovora kao dominantni teorijski pristup u ovoj oblasti. U okviru ovog teorijskog pristupa detaljno se prikazuju postulati Modela verovatnoće obrade, koji su i najviše empirijski testirani. Glavni istraživački nalazi sistematizovani su u četiri grupe efekata: izvor poruke, sadržaj poruke, primalac poruke i kontekst. Izlažu se, zatim, glavne kritike ovog modela upućene metodologiji i načinu operacionalizacije s jedne strane, i pretpostavci dualnog procesiranja s druge. Na kraju se diskutuje o mogućnostima praktične primene i perspektivi budućih istraživanja u oblasti persuazije.This article examines empirical and theoretical developments in research on attitude change in the past 50 years. It focuses the period from 1980 till present as well as cognitive response theories as the dominant theoretical approach in the field. The postulates of Elaboration Likelihood Model, as most-researched representative of dual process theories are studied, based on review of accumulated research evidence. Main research findings are grouped in four basic factors: message source, message content, message recipient and its context. Most influential criticisms of the theory are then presented regarding its empirical base and dual process assumption. Some possible applications and further research perspectives are discussed at the end

Negativity in online news coverage of vaccination rates in Serbia: A content analysis

Objective: This content analysis study explored how online news media communicates and frames vaccination rates and herd immunity (the effect where enough people are immune, the virus is contained). Methods: We analyzed 160 vaccination-related news stories by nine highest-trafficked news websites in Serbia, published July–December 2017, around the start of the measles outbreak. We coded both the news story as a whole and every vaccination-rate mention (N = 339). Results: News stories framed current vaccination rates and changes in them in a predominantly negative way (175/241 and 67/98 mentions, respectively) (e.g., “only 50% vaccinated”, “fewer parents vaccinating their children”), especially when referring to the measles vaccine (202/262 mentions). A total of 23/86 of news stories mentioning vaccination rates did not provide any numerical values. Reference groups for vaccination rates were rarely specified. Out of the 32 news stories mentioning herd immunity, 11 explained the effect. Conclusions: Even routine communication of vaccination rates can be biased through negative frames and imprecise descriptions. Lamenting low immunization rates could activate a negative descriptive social norm (“many people are not getting vaccinated”), which may be especially ill-advised in the absence of an explanation of the social benefit of achieving herd immunity through vaccination