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Social Judgment (social + judgment)
Selected AbstractsThe role of valence in the perception of agency and communionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Caterina Suitner Social judgments necessarily carry evaluative connotations that may mask other dimensions of interest. With reference to bi-dimensional models of stereotype content, we analyzed the role of valence in the study of agency and communion. Because agency and communion are both positively evaluated dimensions, we hypothesize that valence may function as a "third variable" that obscures their obverse relation. In Study 1, investigating people's lay understanding of agency and communion, ratings of 130 adjectives revealed a positive correlation between the two dimensions, unless valence was controlled for, in which case the correlation became negative. In Study 2, exemplifying the role of valence in the case of gender stereotyping, a word frequency analysis of Italian language revealed that more agentic traits were more likely to occur in masculine and more communal traits in feminine form, but again this link emerged only after controlling for valence. This research highlights the importance of controlling for valence when studying the distinct roles of agency and communion in social perception. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Towards an operationalization of the fundamental dimensions of agency and communion: Trait content ratings in five countries considering valence and frequency of word occurrenceEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Andrea E. Abele Despite many convergences in theorizing and research on the two fundamental dimensions of social judgment the operationalizations differ considerably across studies and possible confounds (valence, frequency of word occurrence) are not always controlled. The present study was meant as a first step towards a more standardized operationalization by providing trait words which are clearly distinct in content (agency and communion) but comparable in valence and frequency of word occurrence in written language across different countries. We created a pool of 304 trait adjectives and reduced this pool in several pretests to a list of 69 trait words. These were clearly different in content and covered a large range of valence. In the main study N,=,548 participants from five countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland and USA) rated the 69 trait words on agency, communion and valence. The results were quite consistent across countries. The trait adjectives' agency ratings and communion ratings were negatively correlated; valence was correlated with communal content, but not with agentic content; word frequency was barely related to the content ratings. Cluster analyses suggest four clusters of trait words. Based on these findings we propose sets of agentic and communal trait words which do not differ in valence and word frequency. These item-sets can serve as a first step towards a standardized operationalization of the two fundamental content dimensions across languages. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] 'Everything is relative': Comparison processes in social judgment The 2002 Jaspars LectureEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2003Thomas Mussweiler Any judgment involves a comparison of the evaluated target to a pertinent norm or standard, so that comparison processes lie at the core of human judgment. Despite this prominent role, however, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that underlie comparisons and produce their variable consequences. To understand these consequences, one has to examine what target knowledge is sought and activated during the comparison process. Two alternative comparison mechanisms are distinguished. Similarity testing involves a selective search for evidence indicating that the target is similar to the standard and leads to assimilation. Dissimilarity testing involves a selective search for evidence indicating that the target is dissimilar from the standard and leads to contrast. Distinguishing between these alternative mechanisms provides an integrative perspective on comparison consequences in the realm of social comparison and beyond. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The neural origins of superficial and individuated judgments about ingroup and outgroup membersHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2010Jonathan B. Freeman Abstract We often form impressions of others based on superficial information, such as a mere glimpse of their face. Given the opportunity to get to know someone, however, our judgments are allowed to become more individuated. The neural origins of these two types of social judgment remain unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to dissociate the neural mechanisms underlying superficial and individuated judgments. Given behavioral evidence demonstrating impairments in individuating others outside one's racial group, we additionally examined whether these neural mechanisms are race-selective. Superficial judgments recruited the amygdala. Individuated judgments engaged a cortical network implicated in mentalizing and theory of mind. One component of this mentalizing network showed selectivity to individuated judgments, but exclusively for targets of one's own race. The findings reveal the distinct,and race-selective,neural bases of our everyday superficial and individuated judgments of others. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Trance and Shamanic Cure on the South American Continent: Psychopharmacological and Neurobiological InterpretationsANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 1 2010FRANCOIS BLANC ABSTRACT This article examines the neurobiological basis of the healing power attributed to shamanic practices in the Andes and Brazil in light of the pharmacology of neurotransmitters and the new technological explorations of brain functioning. The psychotropic plants used in shamanic psychiatric cures interfere selectively with the intrinsic neuromediators of the brain. Mainly they may alter: (1) the neuroendocrine functioning through the adrenergic system by controlling stressful conditions, (2) the dopaminergic system in incentive learning and emotions incorporation, (3) the serotoninergic system in modulating behaviors, and mood, and (4) basic functions implied in anxiety or depression. PET scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of hypnotic trance and altered states of consciousness may provide a useful model for the neurophysiological phenomena of shamanic drum-and-dance trance. The reorganization of cortical areas and the direct interconnections between the prefrontal cortex and the dopaminergic reward centers in the limbic system are of particular significance for human social judgment and symbolic processing. Those centers,including the hypothalamus and the amygdala (associated with psychosomatic equilibrium, memory, and emotion) are enhanced. This arousal may be amplified in order to induce a cathartic crisis,the shamanic trance. It is suggested that through this holistic approach the shaman empirically interferes in neurobiological dysfunctions. [source] Mechanisms of change in mentalization-based treatment of BPDJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Peter Fonagy There are very few less contentious issues than the role of attachment in psychotherapy. Concepts such as the therapeutic alliance speak directly to the importance of activating the attachment system, normally in relation to the therapist in individual therapy and in relation to other family members in family-based intervention, if therapeutic progress is to be made. In group therapy the attachment process may be activated by group membership. The past decade of neuroscientific research has helped us to understand some key processes that attachment entails at brain level. The article outlines this progress and links it to recent findings on the relationship between the neural systems underpinning attachment and other processes such as making of social judgments, theory of mind, and access to long-term memory. These findings allow intriguing speculations, which are currently undergoing empirical tests on the neural basis of individual differences in attachment as well as the nature of psychological disturbances associated with profound disturbances of the attachment system. In this article, we explore the crucial paradoxical brain state created by psychotherapy with powerful clinical implications for the maximization of therapeutic benefit from the talking cure. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 411,430, 2006. [source] Managing intergroup attitudes among Hong Kong adolescents: Effects of social category inclusiveness and time pressureASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Shui-fong Lam Previous research has shown a widespread bias among Hong Kong adolescents against Chinese Mainlanders. Based on social identity and social cognitive theories, we examined the effects of identity frame switching (situational induction of social category inclusiveness) and time pressure (environmental constraints on social information processing) on Hong Kong adolescents' attitudes toward Chinese Mainlanders. Results indicated that Hong Kong adolescents had acquired a habitual tendency to make social comparisons within an exclusive regional framework of reference. This habitual tendency might lead to negative judgment biases toward Chinese Mainlanders, particularly when the adolescents made social judgments under time pressure. In addition, switching to an inclusive national frame of reference for social comparison attenuated negative intergroup attitudes. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. [source] | ||||||||||