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The evidence that social relationships are associated with well-being is so strong that it is taken as a 'fact' (Kushlev et al., 2018, Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 124). The bulk of the existing evidence derives from research examining social relationships with close others, such as family, romantic partners, and friends (Dolan et al., 2008, Journal Economic Psychology, 29, 94; Li & Kanazawa, 2016, British Journal of Psychology, 107, 675). However, less is known about how connecting with strangers is associated with well-being, how such connections are represented by people, and what motivates people's desire to connect with strangers. This study aims to examine representations and motivations for social connectedness with strangers in contemporary British cities. To do this, an interview study of 52 city-dwellers living in Britain's two largest cities, London and Birmingham, was conducted. The Grid Elaboration Method (GEM) (Joffe & Elsey, 2014, Review of General Psychology, 18, 173), a free association and interview technique, was applied. Thematic analysis revealed that representations of strangers vacillate between 'good' and 'bad', are built upon the 'self/other' thema, are shaped by the contextual factors place, time, and technology, and are motivated by a desire to 'matter'. This work makes a key contribution to the study of social connectedness in cities and can inform effective urban policy., (© 2020 The British Psychological Society.)

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., (© 2019 The British Psychological Society.)

This study examines how news images of refugees in the context of the war in Ukraine mobilize intergroup relations. A visual rhetorical analysis is used to examine the rhetorical strategies employed in news images of Ukrainian refugees in a mainstream Finnish national newspaper from February 25 to May 31, 2022. The data consisted of 465 images. The study constructed four humanizing visual rhetorical strategies based on the visual expression in news images: maternalizing, fragilizing, agonizing, and activizing. The rhetorical strategies constructed four subject positions for Ukrainian refugees: vulnerable victims, innocent victims, suffering Ukrainians, and persistent/resilient Ukrainians. All rhetorical strategies implicitly communicated the subject position of evil to Russia. The paper contributes to the current knowledge of the humanization of refugees in media discourse and the potential of media images to mobilize intergroup relations. Methodologically, the paper elaborates visual rhetorical analysis as a means of social psychological study of refugee discourse in the context of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine how social identity, moral obligation and the relationship between the two shaped support for the 2016 Academics for Peace petition in Turkey. We examine the pre‐trial statements of nine defendants charged for signing the petition and appearing in court on the same day in December 2018. We first conduct an inductive thematic analysis on one statement, and then, using the themes from this analysis, we conducted a deductive thematic analysis on the remaining eight statements. In line with the existing studies, we find considerable evidence that social identity and moral obligation are invoked as key reasons for signing in this highly repressive context. However, rather than these being separate factors, the two are reciprocally constitutive. That is, social identities define moral obligations and, at the same time, enacting moral obligations defines identity (both the position of the individual in the group and the nature of the group in the world). In discussion, we consider the broader implications of a moralized view of social identities for our understanding of both collective action and social identity processes more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In‐between groups encompass individuals who simultaneously belong to social categories that are often seen as mutually exclusive in addition to maintaining their distinct group identity. The current paper sheds light on how members of in‐between groups manage their relations within intergroup conflicts. Three studies were conducted among the Druze minority in Israel, a group that is ethnically Arab and shares the Arab identity with the Arab–Palestinian minority in Israel and simultaneously identifies as Israeli. In Study 1 (N = 300), we found that identification as Druze was positively associated with the identification as Arab and Israeli. In Study 2, we examined Druze's endorsement of conflict narratives compared to Jewish‐Israeli and Palestinian citizens (N = 271). While the latter participants endorsed their ingroup narrative more than the outgroup narrative, Druze participants endorsed both narratives equally. In Study 3, we tested Druze's solidarity with the Palestinian minority against the 2018 Nation‐State Law. We found that overall, Druze participants (N = 568) endorsed more inclusive amendments that benefited the Druze and Palestinians than exclusive amendments that benefited the Druze only. In all studies, we tested the role of identification with the rival groups. We discuss these findings and suggest possible underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romantic relationships are a cornerstone of human nature. Today, these relationships can potentially be fulfilled by virtual agents. Although previous psychological research has examined how human needs can be met by anthropomorphized agents, it has neglected virtual romantic relationships. This paper introduces the concept of romantic anthropomorphism (i.e. giving a non-human agent human-like characteristics in a romantic context) to help understand virtual romance. In three laboratory studies, we used romantic video games (RVGs) to examine how romantic anthropomorphism predicts relationship authenticity, desire for real-world relationship and mood (Studies 1A, 1B and 2) as well as real-world interpersonal behaviour (Study 2). Study 1A revealed that romantic anthropomorphism of a virtual agent predicted desire for a real-world relationship with the virtual agent and greater positive affect via feeling that the relationship built with the virtual agent was authentic. Study 1B replicated these results using a larger sample and a different RVG. Study 2 replicated these results, but revealed that playing RVGs failed to predict real-world behaviour in a subsequent interaction with a human confederate. This research identifies a unique way that people find connection in the modern world and provides novel insight into the fields of anthropomorphism, virtual interactions and relationship science., (© 2022 British Psychological Society.)

Research on common‐ingroup identity has mainly focused on consequences and potential benefits of inclusive social categorizations. However, very little is yet known about processes and conditions that could facilitate such inclusive social categorizations. In this paper, with four studies (N = 582) set in a post‐conflict context of Bosnia and Herzegovina and with members of two ethnic groups (Bosniaks and Serbs), we have demonstrated how perceptions of intergroup moral similarity can act as an important precursor of common‐ingroup identity at the national level. We report both cross‐sectional as well as experimental evidence demonstrating how perceptions of intergroup moral similarity boost common‐ingroup identifications in socially relevant context using members of real adversary social groups. Moreover, we show that learning about outgroups' morally admirable behaviours can facilitate inclusive social categorizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a unique perspective for understanding cultural differences: representation similarity—a computational technique that uses pairwise comparisons of units to reveal their representation in higher‐order space. By combining individual‐level measures of trust across domains and well‐being from 13,823 participants across 15 nations with a measure of society‐level tightness–looseness, we found that any two countries with more similar tightness–looseness tendencies exhibit higher degrees of representation similarity in national interpersonal trust profiles. Although each individual's trust profile is generally similar to their nation's trust profile, the greater similarity between an individual's and their society's trust profile predicted a higher level of individual life satisfaction only in loose cultures but not in tight cultures. Using the framework of representation similarity to explore cross‐cultural differences from a multidimensional, multi‐national perspective provide a comprehensive picture of how culture is related to the human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores psychological processes that underpin the success of community change in the context of urban regeneration schemes. We adopt a social identity approach to develop an understanding of the ways in which social identity dynamics may impact upon peoples' experiences of regeneration, and what influence these identity processes have on the creation of new communities. Qualitative interviews, using thematic analysis as an analytic technique, were conducted with community members (n = 14) in a recently (2001–2011) regenerated area in the South‐West of England. Three overarching themes were identified: Patterns of identification, willingness to engage, and the notion of regeneration as an event. The research overall highlights the central role of group‐based identity in understanding the processes of regeneration and how this is experienced by different community members. Findings are discussed in relation to the impact regeneration schemes have on community members' sense of collective self, unity, and engagement. The research highlights the pivotal role of social identity processes in delivering successful and sustainable strategies of urban regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narratives of homophobia and the repathologization of gay men now emerge and coalesce in often unconsidered ways. Within this paper, we present a deconstructive analysis of a recent paper published within the British Journal of Social Psychology (Crossley, 2004) and highlight how a narrative of repathology emerges through the selective appropriation of particular textual sources. By employing pathological constructions of sexual conduct between men; focusing upon singular homogenized constructions of gay men and simplistic constructions of health promotion and through a process of reconstructing HIV as a gay plague and it is possible to embroider a moral tale which constitutes a further deviant ‘othering’ of gay men. We contend that by employing (functional) discourses of ‘unconscious motivation’, together with a constellation of disclaimers, caveats and tokenistic pluralization, it becomes possible for psychologists to engage in homophobic knowledge production whilst maintaining an identity as a (dis)interested professional. Our analysis raises issues pertinent to all social psychologists engaged in ‘suspicious’ research on ‘the other’. To this end, we expand our critique by employing ideas from Ricoeur's hermeneutic phenomenology to provide more general discussion of ethical and constructive ways of engaging in textual analyses of persons outside one's own tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of social representations (TSR) and discursive psychology (DP) originated as different social psychological approaches and have at times been presented as incompatible. However, along the years convergence has also been acknowledged, and, lately, most of all, practised. With this paper, we discuss how versions of TSR focusing on self–other relations for examining cultural meaning systems in/through communication, and versions of DP focusing on discourse at cultural, ideological, and interactional levels, can come together. The goal is to help forge a stronger social–psychological exploration of how meaning is constructed and transformed in and through language, discourse, and communication, thus extending current understanding of social change. After presenting a theoretical proposal for integrating those versions of TSR and DP, we offer also an integrated analytical strategy. We suggest that together these proposals can, on one hand, help TSR systematize analyses of social change that are both more critical and better grounded in theorizations of language use, and, on the other, provide DP with analytical tools able to better examine both the relational contexts where the construction and transformation of meaning are performed and their effects on discourse. Finally, we give some illustrations of the use of this analytical strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From mundane acts like lending a hand to high‐stakes incidents like calling an ambulance, help is a ubiquitous part of the human experience. Social relations shape who we help and how. This paper presents a discursive psychology study of an understudied form of help – seeking help for others. Drawing on a corpus of recorded calls to a victim support helpline, I analysed how social relations were demonstrably relevant when callers sought help for others. I used membership categorization analysis and sequential conversation analysis to document how participants used categories to build and interpret requests for help on behalf of others. Categorical relationships between help‐seekers, help‐recipients, and potential help‐providers were consequential in determining whether callers' requests were justified and if help could be provided. The findings show that different categorical relationships configured seeking help for others as a matter of entitlement, obligation, or opportunity. Analysing the categories participants use in naturally occurring social interaction provides an emic perspective on seeking help for others. This kind of help‐seeking offers a fruitful area for discursive psychology to develop new conceptualizations of help and social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Self-deprecation' (SD) is widely understood within social psychology and popular culture as a form of self-talk that reflects a cognitive state, such as low self-esteem or negative self-regard. However, most research on SD suffers theoretical and methodological problems that fail to account for how its cognitive and linguistic aspects can be reconciled. We know little about SD as it occurs in interactional settings. Utilizing a conversation analytic (CA) perspective that brackets cognitive explanations for linguistic phenomena, this paper draws on more than 100 hours of transcribed recordings of interactions from diverse settings to systematically examine the form and function of a common class of SD: critical comments by a speaker on their current talk or actions (self-deprecatory meta-comments; SDMCs). Analyses demonstrate that SDMCs are used in environments of possible or actual interactional trouble, and manage this trouble in different sequential positions. The paper shows that SDs can be treated as a communication practice. Rigorous analysis of SDMCs can enrich understanding of the construction of 'identities' in talk. It advances a CA understanding of the ascription of social actions, and the preference for self-criticism over criticism by others. Findings suggest that widespread advice to self-deprecate less may be invalid., (© 2019 The Author. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Psychologists have typically defined obedience as a form of social influence elicited in response to direct orders from an authority figure. In the most influential set of studies of obedience, conducted by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s, the orders at the disposal of the authority figure were a series of verbal prods. However, recent research has suggested that Milgram's experiments do not show people following orders. It has therefore been suggested that the experiments are not demonstrations of obedience. However, in the present paper, it is argued that rather than abandoning the idea that Milgram's work is a demonstration of obedience, it is in fact our conceptualization of obedience that is wrong. Obedience should not be understood as requiring direct orders from an authority figure. This argument is developed with reference to an extended case example from one of Milgram's experimental conditions in which a participant completed the experiment in the absence of direct orders. It is argued that such participants can still be understood as obedient if we consider the implicit demands of the system in which participants find themselves. The study concludes by presenting a new definition of obedience that omits the need for direct orders., (© 2018 The British Psychological Society.)

Defensive responses to transgressions can have a negative impact on decision‐making within government and organizations, on relationships, and even an individual's well‐being. Transgressors who are defensive are less likely to acknowledge or appreciate the extent of harm caused, and their responsibility in having contributed to it or in helping to repair it. It is therefore important to understand what situational factors increase or reduce defensiveness and, thus, offer solutions for those trying to foster responsibility‐taking by individuals in relationships, organizations, and society. This paper presents two studies exploring what underpins defensive responses in the context of transgressions. In Study 1 (N = 202), participants recalled an interpersonal transgression, and in Study 2 (N = 143), omnivorous participants watched a guilt‐eliciting documentary about meat production practices. Both studies demonstrate that defensiveness increases in response to social/moral threat. Further, Study 2 demonstrates that this defensiveness can be reduced by addressing the underlying threat to social/moral identity via value affirmation, encouraging moral engagement, and repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since first being proposed 25 years ago, system justification theory has become a paradigm‐shifting framework for understanding intergroup relations and political psychology. Based on the thesis that people are motivated to defend and bolster the societal status quo, system justification theory helps to explain varied phenomena, including resistance to change, outgroup favouritism, and other instances of false consciousness. This paper summarizes four tenets of the theory including the following: (1) antecedents to system justification, (2) palliative effects of system justification, (3) status‐based asymmetries in conflict between justification motives, and (4) societal consequences of system justification. Throughout our review, we highlight how system justification theory helps to explain why disadvantaged groups might sometimes support the status quo, emphasizing research conducted outside the United States when possible. We conclude by calling on future research to (1) further utilize nationally representative and multi‐level data, (2) investigate the relational motives behind system justification, (3) address social change from a system justification perspective, and (4) extend system justification theory's focus beyond WEIRD societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stereotypes about many groups fall along two dimensions, one relating to agency/competence and the other morality/warmth. This paper integrates research and theory on stereotype contents and mind perception to explore how stereotypes of competence and warmth are linked to perceptions of moral agency and patiency. Competence identifies the moral agent, and warmth both identifies the moral patient and describes the moral valence of the interaction. In two experimental tests, a simple animated film showing circles and squares interacting in various ways elicited predicted competence and warmth stereotypes that tracked perceived moral valence. Integrating stereotype contents and mind perception literatures offers new ways to think about the origins, functions, and dynamics between dimensions of stereotype content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how perceived pervasiveness of prejudice differentially affects high and low status group members' support for a low status group member who confronts. In Experiment 1 (N = 228), men and women read a text describing sexism as rare or as pervasive and subsequently indicated their support for a woman who confronted or did not confront a sexist remark. Experiment 2 (N = 324) specified the underlying process using a self-affirmation manipulation. Results show that men were more supportive of confrontation when sexism was perceived to be rare than when it was pervasive. By contrast, women tended to prefer confrontation when sexism was pervasive relative to when it was rare. Personal self-affirmation decreased men's and increased women's support for confrontation when prejudice was rare, suggesting that men's and women's support for confrontation when prejudice is rare is driven by personal impression management considerations. Implications for understanding how members of low and high status groups respond to prejudice are discussed., (© 2015 The British Psychological Society.)

This paper is the first extensive conversation-analytic study of resistance to directives in one of the most controversial series of experiments in social psychology, Stanley Milgram's 1961-1962 study of 'obedience to authority'. As such, it builds bridges between interactionist and experimental areas of social psychology that do not often communicate with one another. Using as data detailed transcripts of 117 of the original sessions representing five experimental conditions, I show how research participants' resistance to experimental progressivity takes shape against a background of directive/response and complaint/remedy conversational sequences--sequence types that project opposing and competing courses of action. In local contexts of competing sequential relevancies, participants mobilize six forms of resistance to the confederate experimenter's directives to continue. These range along a continuum of explicitness, from relatively subtle resistance that momentarily postpones continuation to techniques for explicitly trying to stop the experiment. Although both 'obedient'- and 'defiant'-outcome participants use all six of the forms, evidence is provided suggesting precisely how members of the two groups differ in manner and frequency of resistance., (© 2015 The British Psychological Society.)

Interviews are used as a research tool in numerous studies of identity. They have also been studied as social interactions in themselves. From this perspective, analysts have looked at the ways interviews generate identities, and how both parties work to fulfill the associated roles and expectations (e.g., the interviewer's neutrality). Interviewers thus become a more 'visible' participant, and several studies examine the influence of their multiple category memberships on the interaction. This paper aims to extend these insights to the insider/outsider dilemma in interviews, by looking at how participants make relevant and use interviewer identities as a resource. The data comes from a corpus of interviews with Syrian people on identity conducted by a British interviewer. The analysis shows how the interviewer's identity as a sojourner and stranger was used to warrant positive assessments of national character; her national identity was invoked to normalize national feelings; her identity as Christian used to characterize religious identity as inherent; and her identity as Westerner was used to legitimate complaints. I discuss implications for interviews on identity and identity within interviews, and argue that this approach is a thoroughly empirical way to address the shifting, practical ascription of insider-outsider status to the interviewer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discursive Psychology has the great merit of having introduced discourse analysis (DA) to social psychology and to have contributed to DA itself by its study of the expression of 'psychological' notions in text and talk. Within this perspective, this paper presents some elements of a proposal to study the expression of knowledge in discourse. Beginning with a brief summary of our multidisciplinary approach to knowledge, followed by a summary of discourse structures that express knowledge, the main argument of the paper is that we not only need to take discourse seriously in the study of knowledge, but cannot ignore their cognitive underlying structures if we want to describe and explain many properties of discourse, such as all implicit or presupposed knowledge, as well as the interactional and contextual management of old and new knowledge in text and talk., (©2011 The British Psychological Society.)

This paper describes two experiments investigating the impact of group relations on personal space. In Study 1, participants (N=39) in minimal groups were told that they would be interacting with another person. In line with expectations, personal space (as measured by the distance between chairs) was significantly less in the intragroup context than in the intergroup and interpersonal contexts. This finding was replicated in Study 2 (N=80) using an improved experimental design. These results are discussed in terms of developing a self-categorization account of personal space and crowding.

This paper is a critical exploration of the discursive and socio-historical practice of 'dyadic-containment' as a principle index for how we know, experience, and authenticate romantic relationships. Making intelligible an 'authentic' relationship as something which is fixed, enclosed and exclusive, the pervasive principle of dyadic-containment has considerable implications for what it means to live out 'authentic' but ostensibly liberated relationships. Using post-structuralist discourse analysis to explore ways in which people can account for their consensual non-monogamous relationships (same and cross-sex, dyadic and non-dyadic), we critique the liberal-humanist framework from which such relationships can be played out. In that dyadic-containment as an aspect of an ontology of interiorized and contained 'realness' can be viewed as serving to characterize and authorize monogamous relationships (as we illustrate), practices of consensual non-monogamy that reproduce dyadic-containment as an organizing and authenticating principle are problematized. Limits to understandings and practices of some 'alternative' romantic relationships are therefore expounded and consideration is given to how relational difference might be otherwise premised.

The purpose of this paper is to study the diffusion and transformation of scientific information in everyday discussions. Based on rumour models and social representations theory, the impact of interpersonal communication and pre-existing beliefs on transmission of the content of a scientific discovery was analysed. In three experiments, a communication chain was simulated to investigate how laypeople make sense of a genetic discovery first published in a scientific outlet, then reported in a mainstream newspaper and finally discussed in groups. Study 1 (N=40) demonstrated a transformation of information when the scientific discovery moved along the communication chain. During successive narratives, scientific expert terminology disappeared while scientific information associated with lay terminology persisted. Moreover, the idea of a discovery of a faithfulness gene emerged. Study 2 (N=70) revealed that transmission of the scientific message varied as a function of attitudes towards genetic explanations of behaviour (pro-genetics vs. anti-genetics). Pro-genetics employed more scientific terminology than anti-genetics. Study 3 (N=75) showed that endorsement of genetic explanations was related to descriptive accounts of the scientific information, whereas rejection of genetic explanations was related to evaluative accounts of the information.

This paper deals with the sequential structure of communication via short message service (SMS) among adults and young adults, aged 25-35 and 50-65, respectively. A collection of 173 SMS exchanges for personal communication, spontaneously composed by participants, was gathered. Each exchange was photographed from the display of the participant's mobile phone and then analysed with the approach of conversation analysis. A questionnaire was also administered during the collection procedure. The analysis of the practices organizing the action sequence reveals that exchanges frequently lack openings and closures, show an effort towards reciprocation and use implicit or anticipated actions. Social presence seems then characterized by a sense of constant availability, symmetric commitment and shared understanding. It is concluded that the sequential structure of mediated communication may give insightful details on the nature of the social presence thereby constituted and may provide a criterion to compare different communication modes.

The paper compares Bales' Interaction Process Analysis (IPA) with Sacks' Conversation Analysis (CA), arguing that CA has answered several questions that originally motivated the development of IPA, and while doing so, it has re-specified the phenomena of interaction research. These two research traditions are in many ways diametrically opposed: the former is quantitative, theory-oriented and aims at global characterizations of interactional situations, while the latter is qualitative, inductive and aims at characterizing specific layers of organization (such as turn taking or sequence organization) that give structure to interactional situations. Their primary objects of study are different. For the Balesian tradition, it is the functioning and the structure of a small group, whereas in the Sacksian tradition, it is the structures and practices of human social interaction per se. It is argued, however, that CA has radically expanded understanding of the questions IPA was originally developed to address. These questions include allocation of resources, control and solidarity. Bales' research deals with them in terms of the differentiation of participants of a group, whereas CA has re-specified them as emergent aspects of the very rules and structures that constitute and regulate interaction sequences. The uniqueness of the CA perspective on social interaction is demonstrated by exploring the display of emotion as an interactional phenomenon. It is argued that the display of emotion is intrinsically embedded in the sequential organization of action. Sensitive 'coding and counting' approaches can detect emotion displays, but the contribution of CA is to show the specific ways in which they are part of the business of interaction.

Does money buy happiness? Or is happiness derived from looking outwards towards our social networks? Many researchers have answered these questions by exploring whether the best predictor of well-being is either economic or social (or some fixed combination of the two). This paper argues for a dynamic perspective on the capacity for economic and social factors to predict well-being. In two studies, we show that both money (individual income) and community (social capital) can be the basis for individual happiness. However, the relative influence of each factor depends on the context within which happiness is considered, and how this shapes the way people define the self. Study 1 primes either money or community in the laboratory and demonstrates that such priming shifts individual values (so that they are economic vs. communal) and determines the extent to which income is more (vs. less) predictive of life satisfaction than social relations. Study 2 looks at these same priming processes in the external world (with people travelling to vs. from work). Both studies show that while money can become the basis of happiness when the self is defined in economic terms, the role of community relations in predicting happiness is more stable across contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with thinking through the cultural construction of personal identities whilst avoiding the classical social-individual division. Our starting point is the notion that there is no such thing as 'the individual', standing outside the social; however, there is an arena of personal subjectivity, even though this does not exist other than as already inscribed in the sociocultural domain. Our argument is that there are psychoanalytic concepts which can be helpful in exploring this 'inscription' and thus in explaining the trajectory of individual subjects; that is, their specific positioning in discourse. The argument is illustrated by data from a qualitative study of young masculinities, exploring the ways in which some individual boys take up positions in various degrees of opposition to the dominant ideology of 'hegemonic' masculinity.

This paper is concerned with how people make meaning of the risks they face. It explores certain assumptions of the risk perception approaches, which dominate the area. It argues that despite changes currently taking place in the field, such models still focus on static, intrapersonal processes, with many viewing human thinking as analogous to erroneous information processing. In the place of an individual 'deficit' focus, the paper proposes a more intersubjective theory of the response to risk. Social representations theory is evaluated and its validity assessed by highlighting empirical work on representations of biotechnological and health risks. The review reveals that the response to risk is a highly social, emotive and symbolic entity. Therefore a theory and methods appropriate to such qualities are proposed, to produce a valid psychology of risk.

Contrast occurs as an important theme across a range of post-structural, conversation and discourse analytic and 'traditional' social psychological work. Some approaches link contrasts to identity issues--thus self-categorization theory argues that identity arises in part through self assignment to particular categories--which is done on the basis of one's perception of similarities and differences with others. This paper explores contrast in identity talk from a different vantage point: one which has the strengths and shortcomings of an emphasis upon talk in interaction rather than on cognition in isolation. In so doing it draws upon a corpus of extracts largely derived from unstructured interviews with television news audiences but supplemented with some published data of relevance to the deployment of contrast with others. The paper illustrates some of the different ways in which contrasts with others can be constructed and deployed, which may challenge a category assignment, construct a generic category of others against whom self is favourably positioned, or act as an interactionally astute self-deprecation. In each case the contrast is understood as tuned in to the interactional issues at hand. In this way contrast is conceptualized as a live talk-in-interaction activity which can be fruitfully explored from the perspective of the participants themselves.

This research paper presents findings from an experimental investigation of the attitudes that people hold towards animals when they are reminded of the fact that humans and animals are creatures alike. We tested the hypothesis that mortality salience (MS) would lead participants reminded of human creatureliness to evaluate animals more negatively, especially when they reported lower self-esteem. Student participants were randomly assigned to conditions in which MS was made salient and thoughts about human creatureliness were manipulated. Participants then reported their attitudes towards animals. Lending support to the hypothesis of this study, MS led participants with lower self-esteem to rate animals more negatively, when they were reminded of human—animal similarity. The implications of these results for understanding people's attitudes towards animals were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a widely recognized tendency for people to positively differentiate Self from Other. The present paper asks: What counter dynamic constrains this othering tendency? A phenomenon, termed identification through differentiation is presented in which the positive differentiation of Self from Other collapses in a moment of identification. This phenomenon is demonstrated and explored using quasi-naturalistic group discussions with tourists in India. Three excerpts are analysed. The first demonstrates a tourist's attempt to positively differentiate him from other tourists. The second demonstrates how such an effort can collapse in a moment of identification with the previously derogated ‘other’ tourists. The third is used to explore how issues of self-presentation complicate identification through differentiation. The discussion uses concepts from Mead (1934) and Ichheiser (1949) in order to theorize about the preconditions, interactional mechanisms and wider applicability of the phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ordinarily, when stressors are encountered, a cascade of cognitive and behavioural responses is evoked that serves to protect the individual from compromised well-being. When coping resources or skills are limited or ineffective, then psychological disturbances, such as depression, may ensue (Paykel, 2001). Although any number of factors could account for variations of stress resilience, this paper argues that early life experiences and relationships, and particularly those with parents or primary caregivers, may contribute to the development of appropriate styles of coping, which, in turn, influence affective responses in the face of stressors encountered in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Open Science Movement aims to enhance the soundness, transparency, and accessibility of scientific research, and at the same time increase public trust in science. Currently, Open Science practices are mainly presented as solutions to the 'reproducibility crisis' in hypothetico‐deductive quantitative research. Increasing interest has been shown towards exploring how these practices can be adopted by qualitative researchers. In reviewing this emerging body of work, we conclude that the issue of diversity within qualitative research has not been adequately addressed. Furthermore, we find that many of these endeavours start with existing solutions for which they are trying to find matching problems to be solved. We contrast this approach with a natural incorporation of Open Science practices within interaction analysis and its constituent research traditions: conversation analysis, discursive psychology, ethnomethodology, and membership categorisation analysis. Zooming in on the development of conversation analysis starting in the 1960s, we highlight how practices for opening up and sharing data and analytic thinking have been embedded into its methodology. On the basis of this presentation, we propose a series of lessons learned for adopting Open Science practices in qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the mindlessness hypothesis and its associated compliance-gaining paradigm from the perspective of politeness theory. The main prediction of politeness theory, which is not taken into account in the mindlessness literature, is that the perceived magnitude of an imposition is a function not only of the size of favour asked but also of the framing of the request itself. A confederate asked students studying in the library for either one or 10 sheets of paper using appropriate variations of Langer et al.'s three request types: no reason, placebic reason and real reason. Students then completed a questionnaire to determine: (a) how large the imposition on them had been; (b) their verbatim memories for the requests; and (c) self-reported compliance with the requests. In order to examine the effect of reflective thought on subjects' judgements and recall, this questionnaire was completed either immediately following compliance/non-compliance or three minutes later. The analyses established that the perceived imposition is influenced jointly by the actual imposition, the type of request and the time of judgement. Further, contrary to some previous research, the recall memory data provide support for a strong version of the mindlessness hypothesis, as well as new evidence for the reconstructive character of conversation memory. It is concluded that politeness theory describes a powerful heuristic that people use when processing requests.

Punishment is expected to have an educative, behaviour‐controlling effect on the transgressor. Yet, this effect often remains unattained. Here, we test the hypothesis that transgressors' inferences about punisher motives crucially shape transgressors' post‐punishment attitudes and behaviour. As such, we give primacy to the social and relational dimensions of punishment in explicating how sanctions affect outcomes. Across four studies using different methodologies (N = 1189), our findings suggest that (a) communicating punishment respectfully increases transgressor perceptions that the punisher is trying to repair the relationship between the transgressor and their group (relationship‐oriented motive) and reduces perceptions of harm‐oriented and self‐serving motives, and that (b) attributing punishment to relationship‐oriented (vs. harm/self‐oriented, or even victim‐oriented) motives increases prosocial attitudes and behaviour. This research consolidates and extends various theoretical perspectives on interactions in justice settings, providing suggestions for how best to deliver sanctions to transgressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The typical emotional responses to certain types of situations differ across cultures. Being reprimanded by your teacher in front of the class may be cause for anger and indignation among pupils in one cultural context, but for anger, shame, and possibly respect for the teacher among pupils in another cultural context. The consequence for immigrant‐origin minorities is that they may not fit the emotions of the majority culture. Previous research has found that minorities who have majority contact have higher emotional fit with the majority culture. In the current study, we suggest that friendships with majority peers are particularly important to minorities' emotional fit. Students (945 minority and 1256 majority) from a representative sample of Belgian middle schools completed a sociometric questionnaire on their classroom friendships and rated their emotional experiences in two situations. Multilevel models yielded higher levels of emotional fit for minority youth with many (vs. few) majority friends as well as for minorities whose majority friends are connected (vs. less connected) to each other, or who are well‐connected in the majority peer network. Having majority friends predicted emotional fit over and above majority contact in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive apologies are effective strategies to solve interpersonal conflict and promote reconciliation. However, transgressors tend to avoid providing comprehensive apologies because it is more threatening to do so. As a result, transgressors usually offer perfunctory apologies and hinder their own chances of being forgiven. Given the importance of promoting high‐quality apologies, we investigate the role of moral identity in increasing apology comprehensiveness. Across three studies using a combination of experimental and correlational designs with autobiographical recall paradigm, we demonstrate that transgressors high in moral identity feel guiltier after committing a transgression. As a result, they offer more comprehensive apologies. Moreover, the effects of guilt on transgressors' apologizing are conditional on the perceived apology effectiveness. Guilt is particularly important to boost apology quality when perceived apology effectiveness is low. In such cases, guilt leads transgressors to make more reparative efforts towards reconciliation despite the low possibility of apology's acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has focused on how social identification influences people's adherence to group norms, but has rarely considered how norm adherence might in turn influence how strongly people identify with the group. We proposed a reciprocal relationship between social identification and norm adherence that is shaped by the salience of the social identity in question. Drawing on data from a longitudinal field study of young people attending a mass gathering (N = 661, 1239 unique observations), we used cross‐lagged panel modelling across five timepoints to test the reciprocal relationship between social identification with friends and anticipated adherence to perceived drinking norms among friends before (T0), during (T1–T3), and after (T4) the event. Greater social identification at T1 significantly predicted greater norm adherence at T2 which, in turn, predicted greater social identification at T3. These bidirectional effects were only significant during the mass gathering event, when the referent social identity was salient and thus relevant and meaningful in the social context. Findings indicate a complex interplay between social identity and norm adherence that is context dependent and evolves over time. Not only does social identity promote norm adherence but also adherence to those same norms can reinforce a sense of connection to the group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and social phobia (SP) have difficulties in social interactions. It is unknown, however, whether such difficulties prevent them from helping others, thereby depriving them of the natural benefits of helping, such as receiving gratitude. Using event sampling methodology (ESM), individuals (MDD, n = 118; SP, n = 47; and control group, n = 119) responded to questions about the frequency of helping, in total at 5333 time points, and their well‐being. Contrary to our hypothesis, individuals in the MDD, SP and control group did not differ in their helping frequency. Results did show an association between helping and well‐being, such that helping is related to well‐being and well‐being to helping. Understanding the complex relation of helping others and well‐being and how this might be used during therapy and prevention programmes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gossip, sharing information about an absent person, is an important way of spreading reputational information, crucial in fostering human cooperation. However, why should information possessors engage in gossip, and why should they be honest? We addressed this question based on a reputational account. In study 1, we found that when observed by potential investors, people were willing to pay more to share reputational information with those in need. Moreover, engaging in gossip did confer reputational benefits for gossipers by receiving more trust from investors, and gossipers' willingness to gossip predicted their subsequent trustworthiness. Study 2 further verified that observability promoted only honest information sharing and deterred dishonest gossiping. Consistently, only honest gossipers were trusted more, while dishonest gossipers were perceived to be even less trustworthy than non‐gossipers, and only the motivation for honest gossiping could reflect gossipers' trustworthiness. These findings suggest that reputation can provide a solution to encourage gossiping and secure honesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the benefits of contact for positive intergroup relations are widely acknowledged, less is known about how group members construct the agency and responsibility of contact participants in intergroup encounters. Using critical discursive psychology, we analysed the interpretative repertoires that Finnish majority mothers (N = 13) and mothers with an immigrant background (N = 10) used when talking about a hypothetical intergroup encounter among Finnish and immigrant mothers in a 'family café' (a group for mothers and children). Our analysis identified five interpretative repertoires that differed in terms of the levels of categorization used (individual, group, motherhood) and how agency and responsibility for initiating contact were discursively attributed to the parties in the intergroup encounter. Overall, constructing someone as agentic did not automatically result in their being portrayed as more responsible for making contact. Respondents described contact to occur with only two repertoires, in which both agency and responsibility for initiating contact were discursively attributed to the same party. This highlights the need to consider both agency and sense of responsibility as possible factors preceding intergroup contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social psychological research on collective victimhood has often focused on comparisons between the ingroup's and outgroups' collective victimization (i.e. comparative victim beliefs such as competitive victimhood or inclusive victim beliefs). This qualitative study examines how people in different contexts of collective victimization and its aftermath make sense of items commonly used to assess comparative victim beliefs, and how they extend or challenge these constructs and their underlying assumptions. We used thematic analysis to analyse eight focus group discussions among four minority groups in the United States with historical or more recent experiences of collective victimization (Armenian Americans, Burundian refugees, Jewish Americans and Nepali‐speaking Bhutanese refugees). Findings extend commonly assessed comparative victim beliefs and reveal participants' critical perspectives on these constructs. The findings also highlight the dialectical structure of collective victim beliefs: Participants not only endorsed but also rejected comparative victim beliefs, and relatedly described both ingroup power and outgroup power in the context of their group's victimization. These findings extend existing social psychological literature on comparative victim beliefs and intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of societal change, like changes in gender roles, one may compliment men deciding to spend more time on childcare, or women pursuing a job higher up, to support their pioneering behaviour. However, we predict that while compliments may communicate appreciation of someone's behaviour, they simultaneously communicate that a norm has been breached, and thus that the behaviour is not considered 'normal'. In four studies (total N = 821), we show that men receive more compliments for reducing work hours for childcare than women (Study 1). Moreover, compliments (compared to neutral responses) signal more descriptive norm deviance, and this has downstream consequences for perceptions of the target's gender belonging and decision doubt and for perceived societal norms (Studies 2–4). Together, these findings contribute to our understanding of normative communication patterns as well as potential paradoxical reinforcement of gender norms through compliments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the possession of instrumentality (i.e., partner B being useful to partner A's goal pursuit) can facilitate relationship satisfaction, taking an instrumental approach (i.e., A focusing on B's usefulness and seeing B as a tool to facilitate personal goal attainment) is (often) considered as a callous and depersonalized approach to forming relationships. The current research examined whether adopting an exchange orientation amplifies the tendency for people to take an instrumental approach via the motive to maximize self‐gain. Four studies (N = 1446) utilizing samples across different countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and China, supported this hypothesis. Specifically, during relationship initiation, an exchange (vs. non‐exchange) orientation made participants place higher importance on instrumentality rather than traits facilitating intimacy and bonding (Study 1). For established relationships, participants who chronically adopted an exchange orientation (Study 2) and who were temporarily induced to do so (vs. control; Study 3) were more likely to view their significant other as a tool. The final quasi‐experiment (Study 4) showed that requiring or being required to offer a bride price – an embodiment of exchange orientation – predicted instrumentality in marriage and subsequently impaired relationship satisfaction. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the conformity and obedience studies of Asch and Milgram, legitimate authority is defined as a form of power to which subjects submit irrationally. This view assumes a causative process which the subjects' behaviour is said to manifest. Furthermore, this view assumes that there is illegitimate (or malevolent) authority. Carl J. Friedrich's theory of authority as reasoned elaboration offers an alternative perspective, which reveals conceptual differences between authority and such related constructs as power and legitimacy. When these concepts are properly distinguished, a re‐interpretation of the classical studies of conformity and obedience is called forth. Such an exercise produces insights into some of the discipline's most controversial, if not disturbing, results. Specifically, it leads to an understanding of laboratory conformity and obedience in rational terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identity fusion is a visceral feeling of oneness that predicts extreme behaviour on behalf of the target of fusion. We propose that strongly fused individuals are characterized by feelings of visceral responsibility towards such target – unconditional, instinctive, and impulsive drive to care, protect and promote its well‐being and interests – that motivates them to self‐sacrifice. Two studies offered initial support when the target of fusion is an individual or a group (Studies 1a‐1b). A final study added causal evidence that strongly fused learning that most ingroup members did not feel visceral responsibility towards the group expressed less willingness to self‐sacrifice than those learning that ingroup members display high levels of visceral responsibility (Study 2). These findings offer novel evidence for the mechanisms underlying the effects of fusion on extreme behaviour on behalf of the target of fusion and the attenuation of its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facemasks have become integral to everyday life. We propose that exposure to facemasks with a solidarity‐related cultural symbol can activate cultural values such as mutual trust and increase corresponding interpersonal perceptions, thereby enhancing collective resilience in the Covid‐19 pandemic. In three (two of which preregistered) studies, we examined whether exposure to facemasks with a solidarity‐related cultural symbol predicts positive interpersonal perceptions, and whether this depends on death awareness. Across studies, exposure to facemasks with a cultural symbol (either pride flag or National Health Service) increased positive interpersonal perceptions, an index of solidarity, in people for whom this symbol represents a meaningful social identity. This was found whether participants were reminded of death, a neutral experience, or a negative experience. Importantly, in Study 3, exposure to facemasks with a solidarity‐related cultural symbol (vs. surgical) led to greater increases in positive interpersonal perceptions when death awareness was high. Together, our findings suggest that wearing facemasks with a cultural symbol that relates to solidarity can be a vehicle for shaping people's personality impressions of others. Applied directions for the activation of people's social identities via facemask selection to promote collective resilience in the Covid‐19 pandemic are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People exhibit a strong need for belief validation, which they meet by sharing reality with others. Here, we examine the hypothesis that existential isolation – feeling alone in one's experiences – interferes with people's ability to share reality and thus achieve validation for their beliefs. In Studies 1 and 2, participants read a scenario that presented a choice, rated the percent of their peers whom they thought would select each of the two options, and then reported their own choice and their certainty of it. Existential isolation was a significant negative predictor of expected agreement and certainty in both studies. Interpersonal isolation (i.e., loneliness) did not relate to either of these variables. Moreover, mediational analyses from Study 2 show that expected agreement mediated the relationship between existential isolation and certainty in the hypothesized manner: existential isolation predicted high levels of uncertainty because people high in existential isolation tended not to believe that others would make the same choice. In Study 3, existential isolation correlated negatively with expected agreement even after controlling for interpersonal isolation, self‐esteem, and depression. The findings attest to the epistemic implications of existential isolation and provide insight for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that in modern Western culture there is a positive relationship between the equality of resources and the formation of trust and cooperation, two psychological components of social capital. Two studies elucidate the psychological processes underlying that relationship. Study 1 experimentally tested the influence of resource distributions on the formation of trust and intentions to cooperate; individuals receiving a deficit of resources and a surplus of resources evidenced lower levels of social capital (i.e., trust and cooperation) than did individuals receiving equal amounts. Analyses revealed the process was affective for deficit participants and cognitive for surplus participants. Study 2 provided suggestive support for the affective-model of equality and social capital using proxy variables in the 1996 General Social Survey data set. Results suggest support for a causal path of unequal resource distributions generating affective experiences and cognitive concerns of justice, which mediate disengagement and distrust of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]