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Identification with all humanity (IWAH), defined as a bond with and concern for people all over the world, predicts concern for global problems, commitment to human rights, and prosocial activities. However, it is still unknown how such a broad social identification develops and if early experiences play any role. Two studies explored the role of diverse childhood and adolescence intergroup experiences in predicting IWAH in adulthood. We focused on experiences such as being raised in diversity and having intergroup friends, helping or being helped by various others, and having experiences leading to re- or de-categorization, and introduced a new Childhood/Adolescent Intergroup Experiences (CAIE) scale. Study 1 (N = 313 U.S. students, Mage = 21) and Study 2 (N = 1,000, a representative Polish sample, Mage = 47) found that this kind of intergroup experiences during childhood and adolescence predicted IWAH beyond the effects of its other known predictors, such as empathy, openness to experience, universalism, right- wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation or ethnocentrism. These results, obtained on various samples and in countries with different ethno- cultural contexts, point to potential ways of enlarging IWAH during childhood and adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00668.x Byline: Sam McFarland (1) Abstract: ABSTRACT All individual differences that predict support for international human rights are first reviewed: support for human rights is linked most positively to 'globalism' (other international and environmental concerns), 'identification with all humanity,' principled moral reasoning, benevolence, and dispositional empathy. It is related most negatively to ethnocentrism and its root dispositions, the social dominance orientation, and authoritarianism. Other correlates are also noted. Secondly, a structural model of the effects of authoritarianism, social dominance, ethnocentrism and identification with all humanity upon commitment to human rights is presented and tested. Across 2 studies (Study 1, N=218 nonstudent adults; Study 2, N=102 university students), ethnocentrism and identification with all humanity directly predicted human rights commitment. The effects of authoritarianism upon this commitment were fully mediated through enhanced ethnocentrism and reduced identification with all humanity. The effects of social dominance were similar, but its direct effect upon human rights commitment remained significant and was not, in the second study, mediated by reduced dispositional empathy. Author Affiliation: (1)Western Kentucky University Article note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sam McFarland, Department of Psychology, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101. Email: sam.mcfarland@wku.edu.

This reply addresses three issues raised by C. Haney and P. G. Zimbardo (2009) in their critique of T. Carnahan and S. McFarland (2007). First, it clarifies Carnahan and McFarland's appreciation of the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) but suggests that as a model for the power of situations, the SPE does not adequately consider self-selection and selection by others, both based in part in personal dispositions. Second, it comments briefly on Haney and Zimbardo's critique of Carnahan and McFarland's study and of its applicability to the SPE. Finally, it illustrates the importance of selection and self-selection for situations of torture and suggests their importance for many situations. Keywords: Stanford Prison Experiment; dispositionalism; person-situation interactionism; authoritarianism; Abu Ghraib

The authors investigated whether students who selectively volunteer for a study of prison life possess dispositions associated with behaving abusively. Students were recruited for a psychological study of prison life using a virtually identical newspaper ad as used in the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE; Haney, Banks & Zimbardo, 1973) or for a psychological study, an identical ad minus the words of prison life. Volunteers for the prison study scored significantly higher on measures of the abuse-related dispositions of aggressiveness, authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and social dominance and lower on empathy and altruism, two qualities inversely related to aggressive abuse. Although implications for the SPE remain a matter of conjecture, an interpretation in terms of person-situation interactionism rather than a strict situationist account is indicated by these findings. Implications for interpreting the abusiveness of American military guards at Abu Ghraib Prison also are discussed. Keywords: prison; aggression; Machiavellianism; authoritarianism; narcissism

In the week before the 2003 American attack on Iraq, the effects of authoritarianism and the social dominance orientation on support for the attack were examined. Based on prior research on the nature of these constructs, a structural model was developed and tested. As predicted, authoritarianism strengthened support for the attack by intensifying the perception that Iraq threatened America. Social dominance increased support by reducing concern for the likely human costs of the war. Both also increased blind patriotism, which in turn reduced concern for the war's human costs and was reciprocally related to the belief that Iraq threatened America. Keywords: authoritarianism; social dominance; patriotism; war; threat

A 1993 survey of Moscow adults explored the ongoing relevance of the authoritarian personality in Russia following the collapse of communism. Authoritarianism correlated positively with pro-communist beliefs and negatively with support for capitalist and democratic reforms, but these relationships were weaker than in 1989 and 1991. Among those low in communist beliefs only, authoritarianism predicted increased religious faith. Russian, like American, authoritarianism predicted negative attitudes toward people with AIDS and environmentalists. However, Russian authoritarianism, opposite to American authoritarianism, provokes blaming society rather than the individual for homelessness and poverty. These results appear compatible with both authoritarianism theory and differing American-Russian conventional norms.

Two studies examined the relevance of the authoritarian personality in the Soviet Union. In a 1991 Moscow quota sample, authoritarianism strongly predicted support for reactionary leaders and military actions and opposition to democratic and non-Russian leaders and to democratic activities. The positive correlation between authoritarianism and support for Marxist-Leninist ideology was significant but lower than in 1989. Consistent with the theory that conventionalism is a central attribute of authoritarianism, Russian authoritarianism predicted support for equalitarianism and opposition to laissez-faire individualism, whereas in a comparison American sample these relationships were reversed. The lower Russian consistencies on scales measuring norms of justice are interpreted as differences in how Soviets and Americans relate abstract thought and values to particular policies and activities.

Identification with all humanity measured as an individual characteristic is an important factor related to social and international relations, such as concern for global issues and human rights, prosocial attitudes, intergroup forgiveness, attitudes toward immigrants, solving global problems, reactions to hate crimes and dehumanisation. We examine the factorial structure, psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Identification with All Humanity (IWAH) scale in student samples from five countries (the United States, Poland, France, Mexico and Chile; N = 1930). Separate confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) for each country showed a second‐order model of one superordinate factor with two subfactors. The cross‐country validation of the scale, based on multigroup CFA, confirmed configural and metric invariance between countries for raw scores, and full metric invariance for "pure" scores. This study showed that the IWAH scale can be successfully used for cross‐country research and the results from different countries can be compared and integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the term "ethnic group" (EG) is often used in social studies, its definition differs among researchers. Moreover, little is known about ordinary people's subjective understanding of this term, even though it is often used in social discourse. We examined this issue in a cross-sectional study of 273 American, British, Mexican, and Polish students using an open-ended questions approach. Results revealed cultural differences in patterns of "ethnic group" definitions across the four countries. U.S. respondents predominantly connected EG to "race"; British participants frequently related it to "race," but more often to "common culture" and "customs/traditions." Both latter categories were overwhelmingly dominant in Mexico and Poland. However, "nation," "shared history," "religion," "language," and "territory" were also very popular as EG understandings in Poland. Although most participants used the newer definition of EG (referring to all groups in a society, including minority and majority groups), a few in each country used the term only to refer to minorities and people different from themselves (an older, "minus one" definition). Unexpected definitions of EG also appeared (e.g., people having similar hobbies, having similar work goals, or living in the same city). The results also indicate that for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Mexico, "ethnic group" was more a subgroup within a nation, whereas in Poland, they represented the same level of categorization. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

McFarland and Crouch (2002) reported substantial positive correlations between the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and response speed; and between IATs assessing racism or self-esteem and ostensibly unrelated control IATs. Using an IAT measure in millisecond-difference score format, they concluded that IAT was confounded with general cognitive ability.

A study was conducted on two Implicit Association Tests (IAT) on irrelevant dimensions that were substantially correlated with IATs assessing prejudice and self-esteem. The study found that those who lack the general skill are biased toward higher prejudice and lower self-esteem IAT scores.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, had five key architects: American Eleanor Roosevelt, Lebanon’s Charles Malik, China’s Peng-chun Chang, Canada’s John Humphrey, and France’s René Cassin. They represented diverse cultures and religions, and often disagreed sharply. This article offers a short history of their work and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In two studies, we examined the interrelationships and relative utility of several recent measures of global human identification. In Study 1, McFarland, Webb, and Brown's () Identification With All Humanity (IWAH) and Malsch and Omoto's () Psychological Sense of Global Community (PSGC) scales overlapped substantially, but each contributed in regression analyses to predicting humanitarian concerns. Each measure consists of multiple factors, and most factors contributed to predicting these concerns. For Study 2, a measure of World Citizenship was added, derived from similar measures by Reese, Proch, and Cohrs () and Reysen and Katzarska-Miller (). Study 2 largely replicated the Study 1 results while extending them to an added humanitarian concern for global poverty. Overall, the Global Self-Investment subscale of the IWAH most consistently predicted humanitarian concerns. The measure of World Citizenship correlated with all humanitarian concerns but did not contribute in predicting them beyond the IWAH and PSGC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural and individual differences in support for universal human rights are reviewed. Cross-cultural studies suggest a common international understanding of human rights, and international surveys indicate strong global endorsement of human rights. However, country-specific events can affect support within a country, and a country's historical culture affects whether civil and political rights, or economic, social, and cultural rights receive stronger support. Individual differences in support for human rights are strongly predicted positively by a sense of identification with all humanity and by concern for other global issues, and negatively by generalized prejudice, authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and right-wing political ideology. Many other individual differences more weakly predict human rights support. Little is known about how concern for human rights develops, and this issue merits sustained research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National polls indicate strong American support for international human rights. However, that support consistently ranks below national self-interests, appears to be strongly influenced by current events, and wanes as the cost of supporting human rights increases. Although most Americans express agreement with the ideals of human rights, a willingness to commit American resources to promote and defend human rights is much weaker. Americans who are committed to human rights are likely to be “globalists” whose other concerns are international rather than nationalistic, high in principled moral reasoning, empathetic, and optimistic about creating a better world. They are low in ethnocentrism and its root dispositions of social dominance and authoritarianism. Greater education strengthens endorsement of human rights principles but does not appear to increase a willingness to commit US resources and troops to promote and defend human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Examines the arguments regarding the designation of communism as religion. Framework for total devotion; Belief system; Function in the psychological and sociological context of religion.

Pays tribute to psychologist, Donald Laverne Thistlethwaite who died in 1997. His educational background; Career background; Organizational membership.

The report of the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Human Rights proposes a definition of human rights in relation to psychology; reviews the relationship between human rights and the concepts that have historically guided APA (e.g., human welfare, public interest, and social justice); proposes an analytical Five Connections framework that defines the connections between psychology and human rights and uses that framework to review APA’s recent and ongoing human rights activities; and makes recommendations for organizational mechanisms that can ensure APA’s ongoing and visible commitment to human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]