A house divided? The psychology of red and blue America.

Recently it has become commonplace in America for commentators and the public to use the terms "red" and "blue" to refer to perceived cultural differences in America and American politics. Although a political divide may exist in America today, these particular terms are inaccurate and reductive. This article presents research from social psychology demonstrating that the increased use of these terms is likely to increase the conflict between political groups in America by making political conflict salient in nonpolitical contexts, reducing the ability of Americans to form multifaceted complex identities, pushing Americans to misperceive political in-groups and out-groups, and contributing to a "spiral of silence." An alternative model for discussing cultural differences is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The electoral college exacerbates the red-blue divide and disenfranchises ethnic minorities.

Comments on the article by Seyle and Newman "A house divided? The psychology of red and blue America," (see record 2006-11202-001). Seyle and Newman argued that perceiving the American political landscape in terms of red and blue (to describe conservative and liberal perspectives, respectively) might unnecessarily pigeonhole people's dynamic social identities into one of two oversimplified categories. Their assessment of the negative psychological consequences of the red-versus-blue perspective is excellent, and their suggestion to abandon the terms red and blue in favor of their "purple America" model is laudable; however, they did not go far enough in implicating the winner-take-all policy adopted by most states in allocating their electoral college votes, which may be more directly responsible for perpetuating the red-versusblue dichotomy than the two-tone maps frequently used by the media. Seyle and Newman's suggestion to drop the red-blue metaphor is timely and noble; however, a more surefire way to hasten its demise would be to abandon the winner- take-all aspect of the Electoral College. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological perspectives on political change.

Presents a reply by the authors to comments by Sullivan (see record 2007-14606-016) and Webster (see record 2007-14606-017). Both of these comments help to place our article on the red states versus blue states metaphor (Seyle & Newman, see record 2006-11202-001) into a broader context. In particular, both comments make valuable points about the potential for collaboration between psychology, political science, and political action. Sullivan made two points that address this collaboration directly. First, he pointed out that we failed to acknowledge a book by Morris Fiorina and his colleagues. Second, Sullivan disagreed with our claim that psychologists cannot change the system. Webster argued persuasively that we let the Electoral College off too easy. To support his indictment of the Electoral College, he drew on two compelling sources of evidence. First, because of changes in population distribution, electoral votes appear to play more of a role in the outcome of elections than they have at any time in the past. Second, the weighting system used to determine a state's number of electoral votes has the consequence of underrepresenting minority populations. However, we are less optimistic than Webster that this approach might "eliminate red- blue labeling" (p. 703). Thus, we repeat our original suggestion that the best short-term solution for improving political discourse is to encourage the use of the "purple America" approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identity Maintenance and Loss: Concurrent Processes Among the Fransaskois.

Research has shown that, among minority group members, there is a tendency to adopt outgroup attributes at the loss of ingroup cultural elements. However, studies have also documented the occurrence of cultural revitalization and ethnic maintenance. While current theories of intergroup relations do delineate conditions under which either may occur, none have examined the processes responsible for their co-occurrence. This study is therefore meant to investigate if and by what mechanism the effect of cultural loss and maintenance may occur concomitantly. Two dimensions of acculturation (ethnic identity and adjustment), along with initial aspects of contact mediated by communication and social support processes, were examined as they occur among French Canadians living in a province of Western Canada. High school and junior high students (N = 151) attending French schools participated in the study. As predicted, the importance of contact, social support, and language confidence for shaping identity and adjustment was supported. While there were subtractive trends as a result of learning the second language, the additive benefit of identity maintenance and well-being was also apparent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue: Integrating personality and social psychology.

The purpose of this Special Issue is not to mark one approach as superior to others but rather to present a wide variety of approaches to the problem of integrating personality and social psychology. This introductory essay seeks to underscore some of the integrative aspects of the articles collected here and to help point the direction for future activity along the same lines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Common ingroups and complex identities: Routes to reducing bias in multiple category contexts.

We tested the hypothesis that evaluative bias in common ingroup contexts versus crossed categorization contexts can be associated with two distinct underlying processes. We reasoned that in common ingroup contexts, self-categorization, but not perceived complexity, would be positively related to intergroup bias. In contrast, in crossed categorization contexts, perceived complexity, but not self-categorization, would be negatively related to intergroup bias. In two studies, and in line with predictions, we found that while self-categorization and intergroup bias were related in common ingroup contexts, this was not the case in crossed categorization contexts. Moreover, we found that perceived category complexity, and not self-categorization, predicted bias in crossed categorization contexts. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of social categorization and intergroup bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action.

The present experiments suggest that the desire to benefit the in-group drives dominant-group members' policy preferences, independent of concern for out-groups' outcomes. In Experiment 1, the effect of a manipulation of affirmative action procedures on policy support was mediated by how Whites expected the policy to affect fellow Whites, but not by the expected effect on minorities. In Experiments 2 and 3, when focused on losses for the White in-group, Whites' racial identity was negatively related to support for affirmative action. However, when focused on gains for the Black out-group or when participants were told that Whites were not affected by the policy, racial identity did not predict attitudes toward the policy. In Experiments 2 and 3, perceived fairness mediated these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural trends and the task of psychology.

It is essential to "review some of the nonhardware implications of cultural change, particularly with reference to our profession of psychology. 3 aspects merit a particularly close look: the population explosion, the impact of automation, and man's violence toward man." An answer to the 1st aspect resides in world population control; many obstacles to that goal are attitudinal in nature. The impact of automation in our culture is only beginning to be felt. What is new is the number and variety of jobs being taken over by automatic operations and its result on the structure of society. "We are shaping a new robotized culture in which many people will be surplus amidst an economy of abundance." We seem to be heading toward a 2 class society—the essential and the surplus citizens. Hitler incinerated 6,000,000 Jews, Stalin starved 3,000,000 Kulaks; a significant task or goal is "that of proscribing violence in all forms of man toward man." It seems "likely that another world war will intervene before the 1st steps can be taken toward achieving a golden age for mankind. Emotionally, however, I do not feel pessimistic." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology and desegregation research.

"The role of social science, particularly sociology and psychology, in the desegregation process has been much publicized and criticized by southern segregationists." Reasons are considered for the failure of foundations to support desegregation research. The concept of latent liberal is introduced. The "definitive inter-disciplinary case study of desegregation has yet to be started. Properly buttressed by the necessary foundation aid, such a study should involve comparisons before, during, and after desegregation of a wide variety of communities." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GA05P. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tension and opportunity in post-World War II American psychology.

The rapid growth of post-World War II psychology in the United States led to intradisciplinary tensions and opportunities. In this article, I examine these tensions and opportunities in the context of social change from the 1950s through the present, attending specifically to the broad impact of federal funding on psychology. I argue that as psychology became a resource-rich field, it was forced to move from a narrow, parochial stance to a position as a national-level professional player that had to deal with the challenges of mixing science and practice, as well as meeting the demands of non-White psychologists at the national level. The impetus to create a more inclusive psychology has grown in the last three decades of the 20th century and has helped create possibilities for greater richness in American psychology and movement toward a truly international role vis-à-vis emergent psychologies around the world (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variations of emotional display rules within and across cultures: A comparison between Canada, USA, and Japan.

This study investigates emotional display rules for seven basic emotions. The main goal was to compare emotional display rules of Canadians, US Americans, and Japanese across as well as within cultures regarding the specific emotion, the type of interaction partner, and gender. A total of 835 university students participated in the study. The results indicate that Japanese display rules permit the expression of powerful (anger, contempt, and disgust) significantly less than those of the two North American samples. Japanese also think that they should express positive emotions (happiness, surprise) significantly less than the Canadian sample. Furthermore, Japanese varied the display rules for different interaction partners more than the two North American samples did only for powerful emotions. Gender differences were similar across all three cultural groups. Men expressed powerful emotions more than women and women expressed powerless emotions (sadness, fear) and happiness more than men. Depending on the type of emotion and interaction partner some shared display rules occurred across culture and gender. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to cultural dimensions and other cultural characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian psychology: Some social and applied emphases.

Recent concern with national identity has motivated an examination of possible relationships between features of Canadian society and the nature of applied and social Psychology. Experience with the production of a bibliography and book of readings in this area provided the background, necessary for a detailed discussion of the issues. A matrix of research questions was elaborated by crossing some special features of social and cultural life in Canada with the sub-disciplines of Social, Clinical, Educational and Work Psychology. It was concluded that there could be "a Canadian Psychology" in these social and applied areas, but that considerable effort is required before it is attained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asian American psychology meets the twenty-first century.

Reviews the book, Asian American psychology: Current perspectives edited by Nita Tewari and Alvin Alvarez (2007). Drs. Nita Tewari and Alvin Alvarez have compiled and edited a well-organized, comprehensive, user-friendly textbook on Asian American psychology. The 58 contributing authors represent the breadth and diversity of this growing field of study. The reader who is looking for simple answers about Asian America will be frustrated by the book, as the complex texture and nuance within “Asian America” is well represented. The 650-page volume is divided into six sections: Foundations and Roots, Balancing Multiple Worlds, Gender and Intimate Relationships, Next Generation, Social and Life Issues, and Health and Well-Being. The book is oriented toward the subfields of personality, counseling, and clinical psychology. Readers will have to look beyond this text to learn about the contributions of our colleagues in social psychology. This text is suitable for undergraduates and beginning graduate students. It contains a goldmine of information that faculty can use very flexibly. Faculty and instructors teaching classes such as Asian American Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, or Asian American Families will be able to use this book as a primary text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freudian theory and new information in modern psychology.

Freud's work is reviewed in light of five new areas of information that were not available to him. The five areas are: (a) anthropology's finding of the cultural nature of humanity; (b) empirical studies of the mother-infant affectional interaction and of the competence of infants; (c) the discovery of rapid eye movements (REM); (d) the role of emotions in social communication as well as individual arousal; and (e) the burgeoning of the psychology of sex differences, especially in cognitive style. The tension between Freud's clinical observations and his metapsychology is interpreted as a function, in part, of gaps in then existing knowledge. The review suggests that the concept of the cultural nature of humanity, with the attachment emotions of shame and guilt as part of human equipment, was implied in Freud's clinical observations and could have eased Freud's theoretical difficulties. As an example of the usefulness of this concept, the views of psychoanalysis and behavior theory about phobias are examined, showing that both approaches can profit from attention to the attachment emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology and the search for identity.

Students "are not given an integrated model with which to identify but are confronted instead by 2 apparently conflicting models—the scientific-research model and the clinical-practitioner model." To resolve the dissonance "most students tend to identify with either the research or the practitioner model, and to blot out or defend… against the other." There are severe identity problems for the clinical psychologist. "… the most pressing need in clinical psychology pertains to a reorganization of training, practice, and research in our approved university settings" to help provide a sound identity for clinical psychology and for eventually allowing a worthwhile contribution to be made to problems of personality maladjustment and change. Psychology requires its own clinical facility where research and practice are intimately related and tied together. "The psychological center would not only emphasize both research and practice, but would demonstrate the mutual interaction and reciprocal relationship of the 2." (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social psychology of perceived prejudice and discrimination.

Most research on prejudice has followed a unidirectional orientation of investigating why or when majority- or dominant-group members become prejudiced toward members of minority or subordinate groups without considering the effects of prejudice and discrimination upon its victims. By contrast, my research program over the past quarter century deals with the "phenomenology" of prejudice and discrimination from the perspective of the victim and has sought to answer questions such as the following: What is it like to be discriminated against on the basis of an arbitrary characteristic such as ethnicity, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc.? What are the social-psychological and affective correlates and consequences to individuals who confront prejudice and discrimination by virtue of membership in a minority or subordinate group? This paper presents a sampling of my research on the "phenomenology" of prejudice and discrimination, along with several theoretical perspectives that I have used and developed to help to understand this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Self and identity in modern psychology and Indian thought.

Reviews the book, Self and identity in modern psychology and Indian thought by Anand C. Paranjpe (see record 1998-08117-000). This book is an exemplary philosophical-psychological achievement, the result of extensive, sophisticated, and enlightened research. Paranjpe analyzes and compares, based on knowledge of the epistemological, ontological, and ethical foundations of psychology in both the West and India, the problem of person, self, and identity. This is a significant book, not only for the field of the history and theory of psychology but also for psychology in general. Paranjpe, who provides a wealth of knowledge unknown to most Western psychologists, demonstrates that the presumption that Western and Indian psychologies are basically incommensurable is wrong. Psychologists who are genuinely concerned with a science that goes beyond the connection of variables, who believe that incorporating a multicultural perspective into psychology will strengthen the discipline, and who talk about globalization but are interested in the generic meaning of this concept, cannot ignore this masterpiece. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in social preferences among Taiwanese and mainland Chinese: The role of perceived time.

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that as people recognize the inevitable constraint of time imposed by mortality, their social goals change, motivating them to limit social contacts to those with whom they are emotionally close. This theory was tested among Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese. As predicted, results showed that older adults (aged 60–90 years) in both cultures were more likely than younger adults (aged 18–30 years) to prefer familiar social partners who were most likely to provide emotionally close social interactions. Mainland Chinese, who as a group have shorter actuarial life expectancy, were more likely to prefer familiar social partners than were Taiwanese. These age and cultural differences were eliminated when differences in perceived time were statistically controlled for. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repulsion or attraction?: Group membership and assumed attitude similarity.

Three studies investigated group membership effects on similarity-attraction and dissimilarity-repulsion. Membership in an in-group versus out-group was expected to create initially different levels of assumed attitude similarity. In 3 studies, ratings made after participants learned about the target's attitudes were compared with initial attraction based only on knowing target's group membership. Group membership was based on political affiliation in Study I and on sexual orientation in Study 2. Study 3 crossed political affiliation with target's obnoxiousness. Attitude dissimilarity produced stronger repulsion effects for in-group than for out-group members in all studies. Attitude similarity produced greater increments in attraction for political out-group members but not for targets with a stigmatic sexual orientation or personality characteristic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychology and war: An oxymoron.

The author was deeply disturbed by the January 2011 issue of the American Psychologist, which engendered a series of emotions in the author: first dismay, then anger, and finally a sense of shame about the current state of the profession. This was ostensibly an exposition of “positive psychology” principles and how they are to be applied in a colossal experiment designed to support our military in their fight against the ideology of jihadist Islam. The author found it hard to see what was positive in the presentation. Not one of the authors in this special issue discussed applying positive psychology principles to the reduction of conflict between nations, to the prevention of war, or to the promotion of peace. How about a positive psychology that questions the wisdom of leaders who tell us that the use of force is unavoidable, and seeks instead to help them find alternative, peaceful solutions? A true positive psychology should be primarily addressed to eradicating the disease of war, not to supporting those who fight it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)