No description available.

This study introduces narcissistic entitlement as a correlate of homonegative attitudes and behaviors and examines the relative strength of relations along with established correlates of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), conformity with masculine norms, and intrinsic religious orientation. It also tests the role of negative attitudes towards lesbian women and gay men (ATLG) in mediating the relationship between the predictor variables and gay- and lesbian-rejecting and affirming behaviors. Implications for what these findings may offer psychologists are discussed, as are ways findings may inform the political process. Earlier studies support the link between entitlement and homonegativity (Exline, et al., 2004). Narcissism was positively related to dominance, neuroticism, social anxiety, and more aggressive/sadistic and rebellious/distrustful interpersonal styles (Emmons, 1984). Entitled narcissists are quick to take offense (McCullough, et al., 2003), externalize blame (Campbell, et al., 2000), and derogate or attack those who provide ego-threatening feedback or social rejection (Bushman, et al., 2003; Konrath, et al., 2006). Entitlement increases the risk of the narcissist becoming prone to hostile and reactive aggression and extreme violence, even without an ego-threat (Bushman, et al., 2003; Reidy, et al., 2008). Participants were recruited through the Department of Educational Psychology subject pool and data was collected by online survey. Given the focus on heterosexual men's attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men, participants were excluded from analysis if they identified as female, bisexual, or homosexual. Results indicated that entitlement, RWA, and intrinsic religiosity, but not conformity to masculine norms or SDO, were related uniquely to ATLG. ATLG was also related uniquely with measures of behavior, positively to gay- and lesbian-rejecting behaviors, and negatively with gay- and lesbian-affirming behaviors. ATLG was found to significantly mediate the links of entitlement and RWA with lesbian- and gay-rejecting behaviors. Results also indicated that the indirect link of intrinsic religious orientation with lesbian- and gay-rejecting behaviors was significant. Additionally, ATLG significantly mediated the links of entitlement with lesbian- and gay-affirming behaviors. Such an examination advances research and practice by identifying unique correlates of homonegative attitudes and the mechanisms through which they are related to lesbian- and gay-rejecting and -affirming behaviors. / text

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Donald A. Saucier / Research has demonstrated that negative perceptions of rape victims may vary based on characteristics such as the victims’ race (e.g., Estrich, 1987; Wyatt, 1992). This study examined rape from feminist (e.g., Collins, 1991; hooks, 2003) and Social Dominance Theory (SDT; e.g., Pratto, 1996; Sidanius, 1993) perspectives to assess the relationship between individuals’ social dominance orientation (SDO) and differences in their attitudes toward rape victims of differing races. After reading newspaper-style vignettes describing the rape of either a White or Black victim, participants (N = 83) completed measures assessing their levels of rape myth acceptance (RMA), gender role beliefs, SDO, racism, and social desirability. Results indicated that participants’ SDO scores significantly predicted their perceptions of the triviality of the rape. Specifically, when participants’ SDO scores were higher, they perceived the rape as less trivial for White victims. However, participants higher in SDO did not perceive the rape of Black victims as being either more or less trivial. Consistent with previous research, this study also found that negative attitudes toward women significantly predicted overall negative perceptions of both the Black and White rape victims (e.g., Hockett, Saucier, Hoffman, Smith, & Craig, in press) and that individuals perceived the Black rape victims as less credible than the White rape victims (Wyatt, 1992). These results contribute to our understanding of the relationships among individuals’ attitudes about power, race, and rape by offering support for feminist theories about the relationship between rape and power, as well as for SDT and feminist theories regarding the structure of dominance.

Le cerveau des primates, et plus encore celui de l’homme, a évolué en s’adaptant à un environnement socialement complexe. Le nombre élevé d’individus qui composent le groupe, la sophistication des modes d’interaction et le risque de manipulation constituent autant de pressions de sélection exercées sur le cerveau. Cette perspective évolutionnaire a alimenté tout un courant de recherche en psychologie développementale tourné vers la cognition dite sociale. Ces recherches se sont portées sur la lecture des intentions, la distinction soi/autrui, l’altruisme, l’empathie, la morale, la compétition et la coopération. Toutes ces capacités constituent les premières briques de ce que l’on pourrait appeler une sociologie naïve. Mais certaines de ces capacités sont restées au second plan, et l’objectif général de ce projet sera d’aborder l’une des plus ignorées mais pas des moins centrales : l’aptitude à traiter les hiérarchies. Les relations dominance, ou d’ascendance, constituent une dimension essentielle de la vie des espèces sociales. Sur le plan évolutionniste, un rang social élevé confère des avantages adaptatifs décisifs car il garantit un accès privilégié aux ressources nutritives et reproductives. Le rôle crucial du rang social va dès lors exercer un certain nombre de contraintes cognitives. Les individus doivent, par exemple, être capables d’identifier l’organisation hiérarchique de leurs groupes et représenter les avantages offerts par le statut. On peut donc penser que chez bon nombre d’espèces sociales, des mécanismes cognitifs dédiés aux hiérarchies sociales aient évolué selon un processus sélectif. Néanmoins, les hiérarchies sociales chez l’homme se distinguent de celles des autres espèces par deux aspects importants. Premièrement, les attributs qui définissent la dominance sont beaucoup plus diversifiés et dépassent le simple cadre des relations agonistiques. Deuxièmement, à la différence des primates, les cultures humaines présentent des variations fortes dans le degré de structuration hiérarchique des sociétés. Il est donc possible d’imaginer que les mécanismes cognitifs impliqués dans le traitement des hiérarchies soient modulés par l’environnement culturel. La méthode interculturelle suivie ici permettra d’identifier des mécanismes potentiellement universels et d’autres sujets à une variation culturelle. Au cours des années 70 et 80, l’étude des hiérarchies chez l’enfant a connu une période féconde. Les travaux produits, largement inspirés par l’éthologie, ont permis de montrer que les relations de dominance étaient fréquentes, même chez des enfants très jeunes (1 à 2 ans), et qu’elles s’organisaient selon des structures linéaires. Néanmoins ces études, de part les méthodologies employées, ont largement négligé la perspective cognitive et n’ont pas donc permis d’établir des mécanismes précis impliqués dans le traitement des hiérarchies. Cette thèse vise à réintroduire l’étude de la dominance sociale au sein de la psychologie cognitive du développement. Elle s’articule autour de deux axes principaux : 1) Identifier la dominance : la capacité à identifier le statut hiérarchique et ses différents attributs et inférer les avantages que confère un statut élevé. 2) Agir face à la dominance : la distribution de ressources en fonction du statut et la préférence sociale en fonction du statut. Huit expériences sont rapportées dont une incluant une comparaison inter-culturelle entre la France, le Liban et le japon. Ces expériences ont montré la capacité des enfants dès 3 ans à identifier les relations de dominance et à inférer un certain nombre de caractéristiques à partir de ces relations. Les inférences de la dominance aux caractéristiques des individus incluent l'asymétrie de ressources, de compétences ainsi que le genre ; les enfants de trois cultures différentes ont associé le genre masculin au personnage dominant........ / According to the social brain hypothesis, the computational demands of living in large and complex societies favored the selection of unusually large brains and complex cognitive capacities (Dunbar & Shulz, 2007). Social cognition, that is, the cognitive processes devoted to monitor, control, and predict the behaviors of others, is vital to navigate the social world. It is especially essential for humans, who live in societies characterized by a dense convolution of social relationships. Given the importance of asymmetrical relationships within and across social groups (Sidanius & Pratto, 2001; Bente, Leuschner, Al Issa & Blascovich, 2010), the perceptual and inferential strategies necessary for processing dominance are certainly central to social cognition. Dominance is indeed pervasive in the human species (Fiske, 1992), it affects reproductive success (Ellis, 1995; Fieder, Huber, Bookstein, Iber, Schäfer, Winckler & Wallner, 2005; Kanazawa, 2003) and plays a central role in the formation of short and long-term alliances (Watts, 2010). Work in the human ethological tradition has described preschoolers' spontaneous social dominance structures: they are linear and stable (Strayer and Strayer, 1976; Lafrénière & Charlesworth, 1983); based on verbal and physical strategies (Hawley, 1999; Pellegrini, 2008) and are associated to social competence and affiliative structures (Vaugh & Waters, 1981; Hold, 1976). However, the observational approach adopted in these studies and the methodological shortcomings of some parallel experimental attempts (Omark & Edelman, 1975; Sluckin & Smith, 1977) preclude conclusions about the specific cognitive mechanisms responsible for coping with dominance relations.In line with the naïve sociology framework proposed by Jackendoff (1992) and Hirschfeld (1995), the present thesis takes an experimental developmental psychology approach to highlight the cognitive strategies that allow children to identify dominance relations, to form relevant expectations and to take action on the light of these expectations. A series of eight experiments investigated preschoolers’ abilities to make sense of social dominance situations, following two axes:Dominance Identification: the capacity to identify hierarchical status using several cues and to infer advantageous consequences of high status. Taking action in dominance contexts: allocation of resources and social choices in dominance contexts. The first set of experiments showed that preschoolers are able, from 3-years-old, to infer dominance not only from physical supremacy but also from decision power, age and resources. The second set of experiments showed that preschoolers have some expectations regarding how a dominant and subordinate individual are likely to differ. In particular, they expect that an individual who imposes his choice on another will exhibit higher competence in games and will have more resources. Another, intercultural experiment showed that children from 3 countries differing in gender equality norms associated masculine gender to dominant behavior since their 4th year. The three final experiments belonged to the second axis and showed a systematic age effect that suggests that choices that reinforce the status-quo are more salient before 5-years-old.

<p>This thesis focuses on the evolutionary interactions between birds and a parasite, the mosquito-borne Sindbis virus (Togaviridae, <i>Alphavirus</i>). In conclusion, the results show that the Sindbis virus is widespread among birds, and that the fitness of infected hosts may be reduced by the virus. Furthermore, viruclearance ability was revealed by male plumage traits, and viraemia was related to hormonal- and social status.</p><p>The distribution of Sindbis virus infections among passerine birds was examined in five areas in Sweden. Almost all species tested were infected, and three species of thrushes weridentified as the main hosts. In a series of experimental infections, greenfinches (<i>Carduelis chloris</i>) kept in aviaries were used ahosts. First, the behavioural consequences of an infection were investigated. During the infection, birds tended to reduce thespontaneous locomotion activity, and when escaping from a simulated predator attack, infected birds had reduced take-off spee Furthermore, when comparing virus clearance rate between male greenfinches, I found that males with large yellow tail ornaments hafaster virus clearance rates as compared to those with smaller ornaments. Thus, male virus clearance ability was honestly revealed by the size of an ornament. Moreover, males with experimentally elevated testosterone levels experienced a delayed, but not increased viraemia as compared to controls. When the relationship between male social ranand viraemia was examined, I found no evidence that high-ranked males suffered reduced rank during the infection. Nevertheless, viraemipatterns of males were related to their social rank, so that low-ranked birds had a delayed viraemia as compared to high-ranked birds. </p>

This thesis focuses on the evolutionary interactions between birds and a parasite, the mosquito-borne Sindbis virus (Togaviridae, Alphavirus). In conclusion, the results show that the Sindbis virus is widespread among birds, and that the fitness of infected hosts may be reduced by the virus. Furthermore, viruclearance ability was revealed by male plumage traits, and viraemia was related to hormonal- and social status. The distribution of Sindbis virus infections among passerine birds was examined in five areas in Sweden. Almost all species tested were infected, and three species of thrushes weridentified as the main hosts. In a series of experimental infections, greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) kept in aviaries were used ahosts. First, the behavioural consequences of an infection were investigated. During the infection, birds tended to reduce thespontaneous locomotion activity, and when escaping from a simulated predator attack, infected birds had reduced take-off spee Furthermore, when comparing virus clearance rate between male greenfinches, I found that males with large yellow tail ornaments hafaster virus clearance rates as compared to those with smaller ornaments. Thus, male virus clearance ability was honestly revealed by the size of an ornament. Moreover, males with experimentally elevated testosterone levels experienced a delayed, but not increased viraemia as compared to controls. When the relationship between male social ranand viraemia was examined, I found no evidence that high-ranked males suffered reduced rank during the infection. Nevertheless, viraemipatterns of males were related to their social rank, so that low-ranked birds had a delayed viraemia as compared to high-ranked birds.

Benzodiazepines are widely abused by anxious individuals. Consequently, this thesis modeled anxiety in a mouse model in order to investigate benzodiazepine motivation within this sub-population. Using the Tube test of Social Dominance and the Resident/Intruder Paradigm I investigated whether animals identified as dominant or submissive/defeated would differentially display a preference for 0.25 mg/kg midazolam in a conditioned place preference paradigm. Consistent with my hypotheses, benzodiazepine preference was mediated by negative reinforcement as submissive but not dominant mice displayed a preference for midazolam. Furthermore, different neural systems mediated benzodiazepine preference dependent on the stress status of the animal (acute vs. chronic stress) such that, acutely stressed animals experienced benzodiazepine preference through a dopamine-independent pathway whereas chronically stressed animals experienced benzodiazepine preference through a dopamine-dependent pathway. Within chronically stressed mice, blockade of either D1 or D2 receptors attenuated benzodiazepine preference.

Benzodiazepines are widely abused by anxious individuals. Consequently, this thesis modeled anxiety in a mouse model in order to investigate benzodiazepine motivation within this sub-population. Using the Tube test of Social Dominance and the Resident/Intruder Paradigm I investigated whether animals identified as dominant or submissive/defeated would differentially display a preference for 0.25 mg/kg midazolam in a conditioned place preference paradigm. Consistent with my hypotheses, benzodiazepine preference was mediated by negative reinforcement as submissive but not dominant mice displayed a preference for midazolam. Furthermore, different neural systems mediated benzodiazepine preference dependent on the stress status of the animal (acute vs. chronic stress) such that, acutely stressed animals experienced benzodiazepine preference through a dopamine-independent pathway whereas chronically stressed animals experienced benzodiazepine preference through a dopamine-dependent pathway. Within chronically stressed mice, blockade of either D1 or D2 receptors attenuated benzodiazepine preference.

This study aims to analyse how sex and sexuality are presented in the Buddhism and Hinduism chapters of religious studies textbooks for upper secondary school. The chosen textbooks are all linked to the new curriculum Lgr 11 which was implemented in the Swedish school system in the spring of 2012. The textbooks were analysed by using two methods; content analysis and discourse analysis. Content analysis was used to examine with which frequency sexes and sexualities appear in the textbooks, while discourse analysis was used to find what discourses surround the two concepts. The discourse analysis used two theories in order to contextualize the several discourses about sex and sexuality. The two theories were social dominance theory and norm critical theory.   The study shows that men are more frequently mentioned in the textbooks than women, with two exceptions. In the chapter describing Buddhism in one of the textbooks, women are more frequently portrayed in pictures. Women are also more frequently mentioned in the chapter describing Hinduism in another textbook.   In the chapters about Buddhism, men are often described as leaders and are mentioned in connection to education. When women are mentioned, it is often in the role of nuns, who are always described as subordinate to monks. In the chapters about Hinduism, men are often mentioned in connection to education, and are often described as in power and as practitioners of the religion. Women are described as dependent on men and are mentioned in connection to marriage and their husbands. Sexuality is a subject which only one textbook brings up. It defines homosexuality as unacceptable in the Hindu society, but does however point out that it is not illegal. Other than that, the textbooks display a lack of interest in discussing sexualities in patriarchal religions in which heterosexuality is considered a norm. Every example and description the textbooks give about religious life and the different stages humans go through are based on a heteronormativity. The authors always base their examples on heterosexual relationships and heterosexual people. The findings of this study are troubling, particularly as the Nation Agency for Education (Skolverket) has stated that the Swedish upper secondary school must study religion from different perspectives, for example sex and sexuality.

Knowledge of scale-dependent factors that affect the distribution of ungulate herds, such as cattle, is essential for the development of more accurate predictive models of animal movement and the management of sustainable agriculture. Our objectives were to evaluate the seasonal and diurnal patterns of herd spread, explore grouping dynamics, and the influence of dominance ranks, seasonal changes in forage biomass, use of shade, water and supplemental feed areas on cattle distribution. Positional and activity information of eleven free-ranging Bonsmara, Bos taurus, cows were obtained at five minute intervals using Global Positioning System collars. We conducted a total of 12 trials each of three weeks from August 2007 to August 2009 in a 457ha shrub-dominated savanna in South Texas. Spread was obtained by calculating the average Euclidean distance of individuals to the center of the herd. The association software package, ASSOC1, was used to analyze spatio-temporal interactions. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, an indicator of available forage biomass, was calculated using satellite imagery. Number of GPS fixes was used as an indicator of animal use of shade patches and water and supplemental feeding areas. In this semi-arid environment, herd spread was greatest and subgroup division occurred during summer when forage biomass was high. Herd spread was the least and shade patches were used more during winter when forage biomass was low. Throughout the year spread was smallest and use of shade patches highest during the midday period compared to other periods of the day. Location of individuals in the center of the herd was not associated with their dominance ranking. There was no significant overall pattern of seasonal changes in cattle use of water and supplemental feeding areas. Seasonal forage availability and shade patches seem to have a greater influence on herd dispersion patterns and grouping dynamics than any effect of social dominance. Herd distribution is likely related to changes in forage biomass and temperature fluctuations which drive compensatory night-time feeding and thermoregulatory actions. Accurate ethological studies of herds depend on our ability to understand herd dynamics at multiple scales that affect and are relevant to animal's response to the landscape.