Thesis (PhD) -- Macquarie University, School of History, Philosophy, and Politics, Centre for Conflict Resolution, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references and appendices.

abstract: Traditional perspectives on sexual prejudice typically focus on the distinction between heterosexual ingroup and homosexual outgroup. In contrast, I focus on an affordance-management paradigm which views prejudices as resulting not from ingroup/outgroup relations, but instead from perceptions of the threats and opportunities posed by members of different groups. Past research has demonstrated that non-heterosexual target groups are perceived to pose a variety of threats, including threats to the socialization of young children, of child molestation, of disease, and to values. My research, however, suggests sexual prejudices arise for college students from beliefs that certain sexual orientation groups pose threats of unwanted sexual interest. For young adults, mating concerns are salient and should define relevant threats and opportunities--including those that might drive prejudices. For individuals with different active motivations, however, different threats and opportunities and threats are salient, and so the threats driving sexual prejudices may also differ. I extend my past research to consider how activating different fundamental goals (e.g., disease avoidance, parenting) alters patterns of sexual prejudice. I posit that activating disease concerns will increase prejudice specifically toward non-heterosexuals associated with disease (gay and bisexual me)--but not other non-heterosexuals (lesbians and bisexual women)--whereas activating offspring care will increase prejudice toward all non-heterosexual target groups, as all are perceived to pose socialization threats. To test this, heterosexual participants were randomly assigned to a parenting or disease-avoidance goal activation, or control condition, and then rated their general negativity towards heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual male and female targets. They also rated their perceptions of the extent to which each target posed unwanted sexual interest, socialization, and disease threats. Contrary to predictions, activating parenting and disease avoidance systems failed to affect sexual prejudices. Furthermore, although the pattern of observed data was largely consistent with previously observed patterns, women's attitudes towards gay men in the control condition were more negative than that found in previous studies, as were men's attitudes towards bisexual and lesbian women. Multiple mechanisms underlie sexual prejudices, and research is needed to better understand the circumstances under which alternative mechanisms are engaged and have their effects. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2012

This study experimentally examines how Americans’ structural perceptions of people from China predict stereotypes and emotions toward them using the theoretical perspective of the Extended SCM. We first ran a pilot study to ensure that our manipulations of the structural perceptions of Chinese power, goal compatibility, and cultural status were effective. We then conducted a between-participants experiment in which 105 students from a small liberal arts college read pseudo-news article excerpts. These articles were used to manipulate the structural perceptions of Chinese power and Chinese cultural status while emphasizing a competitive relationship between the United States and China throughout all experimental conditions. We assessed the causal relationships between outgroup cultural status, the stereotype of morality, and the intergroup emotion of contempt, as well as the causal relationships between outgroup power, the stereotype of competence, and contempt. Through ANOVA and regression analyses, we found no significant effect of cultural status on morality or contempt and no significant effect of power on competence or contempt. We expect that the low mean level and variability of contempt expressed by participants (M = 1.31, SD = .55) limited the results of this experiment. Future studies should make structural perception stimuli more influential on participants by using well-known authority figures to present structural information of outgroups. Also, researchers should measure contempt using less intense emotions, such as disdain and disrespect, which may limit social desirability and positivity biases in self-report surveys.

Intergroup conflicts are rife in public schools and often the bone of contention is promotional posts. These conflicts can affect the quality of teaching and learning if the focus of the teachers moves from the primary purpose of teaching to contesting senior posts. In addition, such contestation often splits the teaching staff into groups or factions. One such split is between the group made up of teachers belonging to the politically-aligned union and the group of teachers from non-politically aligned teacher unions or those not unionised at all. The School Governing Body parent-wing is often caught in conflict between these two groups as it has the legislative power to recommend appointment to the District Director. It is within this context that this study explores the perceptions of stakeholders in selected schools in Diepkloof with regard to intergroup conflict and investigates whether cadre deployment plays a role in this conflict. The findings of this study reveal stakeholders‟ perceptions that politically-aligned unions tend to exert influence to have their members promoted and, in the process, often overlook better qualified educators.

The concept of “race” has been the organising feature of South African society for more than three centuries. More recent social changes in the United States of America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa have lead to more subtle expressions of racism. The present study aimed to explore and describe subtle racism amongst undergraduate psychology learners at a tertiary institution in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in 2004. The Subtle Racism Scale was used to measure anti-Black sentiment among a sample of 286 undergraduate psychology learners, obtained through non–probability, convenience sampling. Multiple regression analysis revealed the independent variables of race, age, and the race-age interaction were significantly associated with subtle racism of the participants. Research results demonstrated that participants’ level of estimated subtle racism varied according to the age and race of the participants, supporting the notion that racism in South Africa did not influence different age and race groups in a uniform manner.

A correlational study on group-based guilt and shame of white South Africans in post-Apartheid South Africa investigates the role of the perception of social change and how it impacts on the group-based emotions guilt and shame as well as reparation intentions when controlled for ingroup identification. The study also aimed to control for the antecedents of group-based guilt and collective shame. Results revealed that guilt is predicted by perceived responsibility and is influenced by shame, while shame is predicted by image threat and guilt. The results further propose that the perceptions of status change for the ingroup and the outgroup predict the feelings of shame for high ingroup identifiers while status change (or lack thereof) for the ingroup predicts the willingness for symbolic reparation for low ingroup identifiers. The results are presented and discussed.

abstract: Prosocial behavior refers to voluntary acts done to benefit another. To date, there is little work examining children’s prosocial behavior toward outgroup members. Across several multi-method multi-informant data sets, I used various statistical methods (e.g., latent change score analysis, mediation and moderation analyses) to examine the predictors, correlates, and development of children’s prosocial behavior toward various outgroup members (e.g., gender, race). In Study 1, I examined the relation between preschoolers’ other-gender friendships and their prosocial behavior toward other-gender peers. Findings showed support for the hypothesis that cross-gender friendships are positively associated with children’s prosocial behavior toward other-gender peers over time. Further, children’s prosocial behavior toward other-gender peers positively predicted children’s later gender attitudes suggesting that fostering intergroup prosocial behavior could be a potentially effective solution to reduce intergroup prejudice. To capture the multifaceted nature of social identities, in Study 2, I examined children’s prosocial behavior toward various ingroup and outgroup members with the intention of exploring the degree of ingroup-ness and testing the transfer effect of intergroup contact. Findings showed that cross-gender friendships were positively predictive of school-age children’s prosocial behavior toward diverse others. Further, cross-race friendships are related to children’s diverse prosocial behavior indirectly through children’s race-based sympathy. Study 3 extended the previous two studies by testing both Intergroup Contact Theory and Social Identity Theory and taking into consideration the social identity of oneself (versus the targets of prosocial behavior). Specifically, I examined the central component of gender identity: children’s perceived same-gender similarity and other-gender similarity, as well as children’s same- and other-gender friendships. Results showed that only intergroup friendships, but not children’s gender identity, were related to children’s prosocial behavior toward same- and other-gender peers. In sum, this basic research has potential to shed light on ways to promote equity and inclusion across various social groups early in development. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2020

Illegal or undocumented immigration is a political hot-button issue in the United States and around the world. This study investigated social psychological factors that influence reactions toward illegal immigrants. Drawing on America’s identity as a nation of immigrants and on research showing positive effects of perspective–taking on intergroup relations, this research asks how reminders of one’s ingroup history in the U.S. and perspective-taking impact Americans emotional responses to illegal immigrants and their support for pro- and anti-immigration policies. Additionally, this research investigates whether the effects of reminders of one’s ingroup history and perspective-taking depend on people’s political orientation. Results show that the combination of thinking about one’s ingroup history and taking the perspective of illegal immigrants actually leads to more negative reactions toward illegal immigrants. Furthermore, this effect appears to be driven by conservatives as opposed to liberals. These findings raise questions about which public discourses about illegal immigration would create a consensus based on humanitarian ideals, and which discourses would increase polarization. These findings also add to the growing literature on the limitations of perspective-taking as an intervention to reduce prejudice.

Neoliberalism’s free market ideology has not only achieved hegemonic status as the dominant organizing principle of markets and economies the world over, its values and doctrines have also come to shape many other areas of contemporary life. The consequences of this takeover include rising inequality, a social policy shift away from welfare and toward personal responsibility, and the triumph of the economic rationale of profitability in the public sector as well as the private sphere. A growing body of research has studied the ramifications of individual facets of the neoliberal order, especially the expanding gap between the rich and poor, but to date, a more comprehensive understanding of how the underlying ideology molds societies is largely absent from the social psychological literature. This doctoral thesis seeks to take a first step toward closing this gap by identifying and investigating three key areas of interest in the context of neoliberalism’s influence on individual and collective life. Based on previous research and theorizing, it puts forward the idea that the neoliberal reorganization of societies along the principles of individualism, competition, materialism, and privatization has a profound impact on intergroup relations, social connection, and individual well-being. The studies presented here provide evidence that neoliberal ideology and policies erode social cohesion (Manuscript 2) and make people feel lonely and isolated (Manuscript 3). Confirming the importance of social factors in determining health outcomes, these developments are then shown to increase feelings of threat, hopelessness, and unhappiness (Manuscript 2) as well as reduce mental and physical well-being (Manuscript 3). Beyond the individual level, intergroup attitudes, especially with regard to socio-economic status groups, are of particular interest to this research. Its findings demonstrate that despite neoliberalism’s propagation of wealth and success as ultimate aspirations, the perceived breakdown of the social fabric and resulting discontent with neoliberal societies lead to negative perceptions of the elite who are seen as corrupt and immoral (Manuscript 2). They also provide support for the assumption that the belief in merit-based inequality, which is central to the neoliberal doctrine, is reflected in representations of individuals with lower socio-economic status who are assigned personal responsibility for their disadvantaged position and, unlike other underprivileged groups, are seen as lacking in moral deservingness by both conservatives and progressives (Manuscript 1). As a whole, the studies that constitute this thesis project bring together several different lines of research and make headway in developing an integrated perspective on the influence of neoliberal ideology on societies and the experiences and attitudes of the individuals within them.

No description available.