Search

We tested the hypothesis that discriminatory behaviors against religious or ethnic minorities are largely governed by culturally specific intergroup norms that are tied to a given social context. In Study 1 (N = 733), we compared participants from five countries and identified "new secularism" as the culture-specific norm predominant in the target country, France. In Study 2 (N = 296) and Study 3 (N = 135) conducted in France between November 2014 and January 2016, we assessed the effects of several distinct normative contexts on discriminatory behavior under high or low time pressure, and examined for the first time, the effect of a deadly terrorist attack on anti-Muslim discrimination. As predicted based on Study 1, the experimentally induced new secularism ("nouvelle laïcité" in French) normative context had a major effect on discrimination on its own, and in interaction with the terrorist attack, whereas no effect was found for the three normative contexts (assimilation, multiculturalism, and colorblindness) that have been the focus of research in social psychology over the last 40 years. These results support the claim that intergroup behaviors are highly sensitive to variations in the social context and that culture-specific intergroup norm play a causal role in the emergence of discrimination. The implications of the findings for the scientific value of exact versus conceptual replications in social psychology are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the emotional reactions and behavioral tendencies of people when they are told that their action deviates from current social norms. Of particular interest is the extent to which these reactions differ depending on the social controller's group membership. First- and second-generation North African immigrants in France (i.e., Maghrebians) were asked to imagine a situation in which they produced a counter-normative act and received disapproval from another Maghrebians immigrant or a member of the host community. They appraised the legitimacy of social control and the perception of being discriminated by this act of social control and rated their emotional and behavioral reaction to social control. First-generation immigrants reported less anger, more moral emotions, and a greater desire to repair their transgression when the social controller was presented as a member of the host society rather than a Maghrebian social controller. The results were reversed for second-generation immigrants. This asymmetry between first- and second-generation immigrants was mainly due to a mediating effect of the perceived legitimacy of social control, whereas perceived discrimination was not a significant mediator. This research demonstrates that the perceived legitimacy of social control based on the ethnic group membership of the social controller has profound effects on emotions and behaviors intended by the deviant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In exploring the “status boundary enforcement hypothesis,” theorized and confirmed that Social Dominance Orientation would be more strongly correlated with a general willingness to aggress against immigrants when respondents are primed with an immigrant who is eager to assimilate into the dominant culture than when they are primed with an immigrant who prefers cultural isolation (separation). However, because assimilation differs from separation on both the home culture component and the host culture component, the actual source of this effect remains unclear. By using an assimilation versus integration contrast that differ only on the home culture component, the present study confirmed and extended Thomsen et al.’s findings. We were able to conclude that this counter intuitive effect, at odds with most research in this area, is primarily driven by people with high SDO having more negative reactions to immigrants’ willing to abandon their original cultures rather than to immigrants wanting to maintain contact with the host culture. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cahiers Internationaux de Psychologie Sociale is the property of Presses Universitaires de Liege and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cahiers Internationaux de Psychologie Sociale is the property of Presses Universitaires de Liege and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cahiers Internationaux de Psychologie Sociale is the property of Presses Universitaires de Liege and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cites a study conducted to provide insights about psychophsiological evaluation of the intensity and valence of responses to ethnic-related stimuli. Components of intergroup attitudes; Respiratory activity during emotional expression; Emotional intensity effect among respiratory activity; Relationship between heart rate, time domains indicators of heart rate variability, skin potential response, and respiratory activity.

Copyright of Cahiers Internationaux de Psychologie Sociale is the property of Presses Universitaires de Liege and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examined the impact of "hierarchy-enhancing vs. attenuating" academic major on stereotyping, social dominance orientation (SDO) and perceived social norm regarding tolerance. The participants were 45 third-year psychology students ("attenuating academic major") and 30 third-year law students ("enhancing academic major") from Blaise Pascal university (France). As predicted, students in psychology show a lower level of "Arab" stereotyping and are less social dominance-oriented than students in law. Second, the social norm is perceived to be more tolerant in psychology than in law. Consistent with an explanation based on processes of normative social influence, the effect of academic major on stereotyping is mediated by the measure of perceived social norm. Unexpectedly, SDO and stereotyping are not related. Finally, the results are contrary to the invariance hypothesis, which predicts a sex difference on SDO regardless of culture. While males are more social dominance-oriented than females in law, no sex difference is obtained in psychology. Implications of these results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]