European Journal of Social Psychology

Armitage, Christopher J.; Conner, Mark; Norman, Paul

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<419::AID-EJSP933>3.0.CO;2-Lpmid: N/A

The theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour continue to receive considerable research attention, despite criticisms of their ‘asocial’ conceptualisation and the rational decision‐making approach. Two studies were designed to assess the impact of induced mood on condom use (Study 1) and food choice (Study 2). Both studies provided support for application of the theory of reasoned action to health‐related behaviour, and for differential effects of mood on information processing. Study 1 provided support for problem‐focus theory, with attitudes (but not subjective norm) predicting intention in the negative mood condition. The opposite pattern of findings held for the positive mood condition (i.e. only subjective norm predicted intention). The results of Study 2 provided further support for the problem‐focus approach and for the inclusion of self‐identity in the theory of planned behaviour. The findings are discussed with implications for future work on mood and behavioural decision making. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

DeRidder, Richard; Hendriks, Erwin; Zani, Bruna; Pepitone, Albert; Saffiotti, Luisa

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<435::AID-EJSP934>3.0.CO;2-Gpmid: N/A

Two studies, one conducted in the Netherlands (N=87) and one in Italy with two samples—Catholic Youth (N=41) and Young Communists (N=41)—assessed the cross‐cultural generality of the previously confirmed hypothesis (Pepitone & Saffiotti, 1997) that six universal nonmaterial beliefs—fate, God, luck, chance, just punishment, and just reward—are used selectively to interpret life events. A ‘selective correspondence’ between the six beliefs and the standard life event cases specifically constructed to engage the belief‐specializations was predicted. All three samples showed the predicted correspondence in terms of significant ordinal correlations in a 6 nonmaterial belief ×9 life events classification. In addition, the findings are consistent with the assumption that the degree of selective correspondence depends upon the importance of beliefs in the sample under study. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Schmitt, Manfred; Dörfel, Martin

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<443::AID-EJSP935>3.0.CO;2-Cpmid: N/A

In a field study with 295 factory employees, three hypotheses were tested: (1) Procedural injustice at work is correlated negatively with job satisfaction and psychosomatic well‐being. (2) The perception of procedural injustice depends on the person's chronic justice sensitivity. (3) Justice sensitivity moderates the correlation of procedural injustice with satisfaction and well‐being, the correlation becoming larger with increasing justice sensitivity. Procedural injustice was defined as the discrepancy between desired (ought) and perceived (is) procedures. Justice sensitivity and procedural fairness according to Leventhal's criteria (consistency, nonpartiality, accuracy, correctability, representativeness) and one additional criterion (open information) were measured via questionnaire. Job satisfaction, number of sick days during the last six months and number of days a person felt sick at work during the last six months served as indicators of psychosomatic well‐being. The first and second hypotheses were supported by the data. Partial support was also obtained for the third hypothesis: Justice sensitivity moderated the correlation of procedural unfairness with (a) the number of days the person felt sick at work and (b) the sum of this variable with the number of sick days. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Emler, Nicholas; Stace, Kerry

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<455::AID-EJSP937>3.0.CO;2-1pmid: N/A

The well‐documented relationship between political orientation and moral reasoning has most often been interpreted in terms of the influence of level of moral development (cf. Kohlberg, 1984) upon an individual's political inclinations: those who have reached the conventional level (or stage 4) in Kohlberg's terms will as a result tend to favour the political right, whereas those who progress to the principled level (stage 5) shift their political preferences to the left. An alternative, ‘social communication’ view is that these different forms of moral reasoning are expressions of contrasting political identities, and differ in ideological content rather than developmental level. We compared the inferences that American and British students (n=211) drew about the political, moral and cognitive attributes of a target who, in response to moral dilemmas, used either stage 4A, stage 4B or stage 5 moral arguments as defined by Kohlberg. Perception of the target's political attributes varied consistently and significantly as a function of the target's moral reasoning, but there were no corresponding effects on perception of moral or cognitive attributes. The results are interpreted as supporting a social communication view of moral reasoning and its relation to political orientation, and at the same time questioning the claim that conventional (stage 4) and principled (stage 5) moral reasoning are distinct levels of socio‐cognitive development. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Franco, Francesca M.; Maass, Anne

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<469::AID-EJSP938>3.0.CO;2-Spmid: N/A

We tested the idea that the correlation between implicit and explicit measures of prejudice depends on whether or not groups are normatively protected against discrimination. A pilot study (N=31) showed that 13 categories varied widely in the degree to which it is acceptable to express negative opinions about them. The main study involving 89 Catholic subjects found that explicit (reward allocation, liking ratings) and implicit measures (linguistic intergroup bias) of prejudice were correlated for the outgroup that is not normatively protected against discrimination (Islamic Fundamentalists) but uncorrelated for the outgroup that is protected (Jews). Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simon, Bernd; Hastedt, Claudia

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<479::AID-EJSP939>3.0.CO;2-Mpmid: N/A

Building on a self‐aspect model (SAM) of the individual self and the collective self, the authors hypothesized that personally important and positive aspects of the self would facilitate the construal of a collective self. Following a self‐description task, research participants selected either two positive or two negative self‐aspects. One aspect in each pair had to be of high personal importance and one of low personal importance. Then, measures of self‐categorization, perceived ingroup and outgroup homogeneity and intergroup differentiation were administered. Our hypothesis received convergent support from all measures. It is concluded that personally important and positive self‐aspects are very likely to function as meaningful social categories. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Stahlberg, Dagmar; Petersen, Lars‐Eric; Dauenheimer, Dirk

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<489::AID-EJSP940>3.0.CO;2-8pmid: N/A

Previous findings have shown that some reactions (e.g. satisfaction with feedback) are guided by self‐enhancement theory, whereas other reactions (e.g. perceived feedback accuracy) have been shown to follow predictions of self‐consistency theory. The Integrative Self‐Schema Model (ISSM) assumes that these effects should be moderated by the elaboration of the self‐schema involved: This assumption was tested in an experimental study: 72 participants received fictitious feedback on different personality dimensions allegedly based on an adjective checklist. This feedback was either consistent with self‐perceptions, more positive than expected, or more negative than expected, and addressed highly elaborated (schematic) or less elaborated (aschematic) personality dimensions. Satisfaction, feedback accuracy and interest in further information were analysed as dependent variables. The experimental results clearly confirmed the hypotheses derived from the ISSM for satisfaction and perceived feedback accuracy. A self‐consistency effect regarding perceived feedback accuracy was found only for feedback on schematic dimensions but was attenuated on aschematic dimensions. A self‐enhancement effect regarding satisfaction was found only on aschematic dimensions. This finding was reversed on schematic dimensions. Finally, interest in further information did not follow the predictions made by the ISSM. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Greenland, Katy; Brown, Rupert

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<503::AID-EJSP941>3.0.CO;2-Ypmid: N/A

Two studies examined the relationship between categorization, intergroup anxiety and intergroup attitudes (intergroup bias and negative affect). Study 1 consisted of a survey of 236 British and Japanese nationals. Study 2 was a longitudinal study of 54 Japanese students studying in the UK. Of the three categorization variables (interpersonal, superordinate and intergroup), only intergroup categorization was shown to have a relationship to generalized intergroup attitudes. In addition, intergroup anxiety and quality of contact were associated with ingroup bias and negative affect to the outgroup. Study 2 revealed an interaction between intergroup categorization and quality of contact in predicting negative affect. Intergroup anxiety was also associated with increased intergroup categorization. It is concluded that the effects of categorization during contact are still poorly understood, and that intergroup anxiety is a far more powerful variable in contact than the current literature acknowledges. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Biernat, Monica; Vescio, Theresa K.; Billings, Laura S.

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<523::AID-EJSP944>3.0.CO;2-Jpmid: N/A

A study of race‐based ingroup and outgroup judgment demonstrates the links between two models of social judgment—the ‘black sheep’ effect (Marques, Yzerbyt & Leyens, 1988) and expectancy‐violation theory (Jussim, Coleman & Lerch, 1987). White participants had a live interaction with a Black or White partner who contributed to a team success or failure at a game. Partner judgments, perceived expectancy violation, and mood changes indicated a pattern of ingroup polarization, though the race differential was reliable only when targets performed poorly. Consistent with other research, this pattern was most striking among Whites who were highly identified with their racial group. We suggest that racial identification activates favorable within‐group judgment standards which, when violated, produce mood decrements and negative evaluations. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hornsey, Matthew J.; Hogg, Michael A.

doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199906)29:4<543::AID-EJSP945>3.0.CO;2-Apmid: N/A

Optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT; Brewer, 1991, 1993a,b) argues that people can respond to membership of an overly inclusive group by engaging in a drive for subgroup distinctiveness. To test this, 280 subgroup members (humanities and maths‐science students) rated the extent to which they perceived their superordinate group (University of Queensland) to be inclusive. After performing a task designed to activate their superordinate category membership, participants completed a questionnaire assessing inter‐subgroup attitudes. Consistent with ODT, ratings of superordinate inclusiveness explained a moderate amount of variance in subgroup bias (5–8 per cent), such that the more inclusive the superordinate category was seen to be, the more bias was demonstrated. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance for ODT and their implications for promoting subgroup harmony. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.