<p>The breakdown of self-tolerance is the main driving force behind susceptibility to SLE. When this occurs, T and B cells are activated in an uncontrolled manner and produce autoantibodies against self fragmented DNA, RNA and sometimes other parts of the cell such as cardiolipin, phosphatidylserine, etc.</p><p>The mechanism behind the breakdown of self-tolerance may be genetic factors that are triggered by environmental factors. SLE is not caused by a single gene, but by many genes, and is thus a polygenic disease. So far only a few genes have been found to be associated with SLE including PDCD1, FcγRs, and PTPN22. The main aim of my thesis is to find susceptibility genes responsible for SLE.</p><p>Recently, a gene called IRF5 was found to be associated with SLE. In paper one, we performed a thorough study and confirmed its association to SLE. In addition, we found a few other SNPs in the gene that were associated to the disease. Among them, SNP rs2004640 is very strongly associated and was found to affect the splicing of the gene. Another SNP, rs2280714, correlated with overexpression of the gene, although SNP rs10954213 was much more highly correlated with expression adding to this, in paper two we found a few other SNPs that were associated to SLE and played crucial roles in gene function. An indel in exon 6, though not associated by itself, regulated which isoforms were expressed. Individuals with 2 repeats expressed isoforms V1 and V4, while individuals with 4 repeats expressed isoforms V5 and V6. SNP rs2070197 was also very strongly associated, but did not have a functional role. In paper three, the same polymorphisms were studied in a Mexican population, which showed an even stronger association when compared to a European population.</p><p>It is known that autoimmune diseases share susceptibility genes, therefore we wanted to see if the IRF5 gene is associated with any other autoimmune diseases. In papers four and five, we tested its association to RA (using three sets of patients and controls from Sweden, Argentina and Spain) and psoriasis (using a set of patients and controls from Sweden). Association was not found in either of the diseases. Therefore, we believe that this association may be SLE-specific.</p>

The breakdown of self-tolerance is the main driving force behind susceptibility to SLE. When this occurs, T and B cells are activated in an uncontrolled manner and produce autoantibodies against self fragmented DNA, RNA and sometimes other parts of the cell such as cardiolipin, phosphatidylserine, etc. The mechanism behind the breakdown of self-tolerance may be genetic factors that are triggered by environmental factors. SLE is not caused by a single gene, but by many genes, and is thus a polygenic disease. So far only a few genes have been found to be associated with SLE including PDCD1, FcγRs, and PTPN22. The main aim of my thesis is to find susceptibility genes responsible for SLE. Recently, a gene called IRF5 was found to be associated with SLE. In paper one, we performed a thorough study and confirmed its association to SLE. In addition, we found a few other SNPs in the gene that were associated to the disease. Among them, SNP rs2004640 is very strongly associated and was found to affect the splicing of the gene. Another SNP, rs2280714, correlated with overexpression of the gene, although SNP rs10954213 was much more highly correlated with expression adding to this, in paper two we found a few other SNPs that were associated to SLE and played crucial roles in gene function. An indel in exon 6, though not associated by itself, regulated which isoforms were expressed. Individuals with 2 repeats expressed isoforms V1 and V4, while individuals with 4 repeats expressed isoforms V5 and V6. SNP rs2070197 was also very strongly associated, but did not have a functional role. In paper three, the same polymorphisms were studied in a Mexican population, which showed an even stronger association when compared to a European population. It is known that autoimmune diseases share susceptibility genes, therefore we wanted to see if the IRF5 gene is associated with any other autoimmune diseases. In papers four and five, we tested its association to RA (using three sets of patients and controls from Sweden, Argentina and Spain) and psoriasis (using a set of patients and controls from Sweden). Association was not found in either of the diseases. Therefore, we believe that this association may be SLE-specific.

Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om mental trötthet leder till ökad diskriminering av överviktiga. Genom att använda en dual process-modell, inleddes undersökningen med en bedömningsuppgift som deltagarna fick utföra i labbmiljö. Vid ett senare tillfälle fick var och en ombesörja att de genomförde ett implicit associationstest (IAT), följt av en explicit graderingsfråga, där deltagarna uppskattade en eventuell skillnad i normal- kontra överviktigas mentala prestation. Syftet med dessa tester var att ta reda på om diskriminering mot överviktiga existerade inom gruppen i sin helhet på såväl implicit som explicit nivå. Hälften av gruppen hade genomgått en kraftig mental trötthetsbelastning före bedömningsuppgiften, med avsikt att se om bias mot överviktiga ökade vid mental trötthet. Resultatet för alla testningar var för sig visade på diskriminering mot överviktiga, men inte att det förekom någon högre diskriminering vid mental trötthet. Möjliga förbättringar i undersökningsdesignen diskuteras, liksom praktiska implikationer. / This study examined whether mental fatigue leads to increased discrimination against the obese. Using a dual process model, participants took part in an assessment task in a controlled laboratory setting, and thereafter completed an implicit association test (IAT), followed by an explicit question, where participants were asked to grade variances in the mental capacity between normal- versus overweight individuals. The intention was to explore possible obesity discrimination. Half of the group previously completed a strenuous memory task, with the purpose of achieving severe fatigue, in order to explore whether the bias increases with mental fatigue. Although the results revealed discrimination in all tests, there was no evidence of increased discrimination in mental fatigue. Possible improvement in the research design is discussed, as well as practical implications.

Die Dissertation besteht aus einem Einleitungsteil sowie drei empirischen Zeitschriftenartikeln. Die Einleitung liefert den theoretischen Hintergrund, integriert die drei Zeitschriftenartikel und geht auf anknüpfende Forschungsfragen ein. Der erste Artikel befasst sich mit unterschiedlichen indirekten Messverfahren zur Erfassung impliziter Selbstwertschätzung und untersucht deren Reliabilität sowie konvergente und diskriminante Validität. Der zweite Artikel untersucht, wie Diskrepanzen zwischen impliziter und expliziter Selbstwertschätzung mit defensiven Reaktionen auf soziales Feedback zusammenhängen. Der dritte Artikel untersucht schließlich Zusammenhänge zwischen Selbstwertdiskrepanzen und Indikatoren psychischer und physischer Gesundheit. / The dissertation consists of an introduction and three empirical journal articles. The introduction gives the theoretical background, integrates the three journal articles, and elaborates on future research questions. The first article investigates the reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of implicit self-esteem measures. The second article examines, how discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-esteem are connected to defensive reactions to social feedback. The third article investigates the relationship of self-esteem discrepancies to indicators of mental and physical health.

O objetivo geral desta tese, composta por um artigo teórico e três empíricos, foi investigar o desenvolvimento de atitudes raciais em crianças. O primeiro estudo foi uma revisão sistemática de estudos da Psicologia brasileira sobre preconceito racial. O segundo envolveu a criação e validação de um banco de estímulos para utilização em pesquisas científicas, o BICMulticor. O terceiro utilizou medidas implícitas (Priming Avaliativo e Teste de Associação Implícita) e explícitas de atitude para avaliar o desenvolvimento de atitudes raciais em crianças brancas, pardas e pretas de Porto Alegre e Salvador. Participaram 542 crianças, de seis a 14 anos de idade. Foram encontradas diferenças nas atitudes implícitas entre os grupos raciais e também entre as duas cidades avaliadas. O quarto foi um estudo sobre as diferenças de categorização racial entre baianos, gaúchos e norte-americanos. A categorização racial sofreu forte influência contextual e foi semelhante na Bahia e nos Estados Unidos. / This dissertation, composed by one theoretical and three empirical papers, aimed to investigate the development of race attitudes in children. The first study was a systematic review of Brazilian psychological studies on racial prejudice. The second one involved the development and validation of a set of children’s portraits to be used as stimuli on scientific research, the BIC-Multicor. The third one used implicit (Evaluative Priming and the Implicit Association Test) and explicit measures of attitude to investigate the development of race attitudes in White, Pardo and Black children (N = 542), aged six to 14, from Porto Alegre and Salvador. Implicit attitudes were different between cities and also between racial groups. The forth study assessed differences in racial categorization in Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul and the United States. Racial categorization was influenced by context and similar results were found between participants from Bahia and the US.

The objectives of this research were to create explicit and implicit measures of prejudice against homeless, and to identify factors associated with negative attitudes toward this population. To meet these objectives several studies collected in four articles were made. In the first article the literature on prejudice against homeless was reviewed. In this study was found that both, in Latin America and in the countries of industrialized West, have been reported stereotypes towards this population related to mental illness and drug addiction, as well as acts of discrimination related to limitations in the use of public space. Article two corresponded to a study of cross-cultural creation and validation of a scale of prejudice against homeless, created with basics of Item Response Theory and the Allport's scale of prejudice. The created scale presented evidence of construct validity, convergent validity and good internal consistency. It was also verified, in part, the Allport's theory of the scale of prejudice. The third article aimed at identifying factors associated with prejudice against homeless, and to build and test a hierarchical model to explain variations in the levels of this prejudice. The proposed model had four levels of prejudice mediations, good fit indices, and included the variables social dominance orientation, basic values, egocentrism, perception of insecurity and quality of contact with homeless people. In the fourth article was described the process of creating an implicit association test about attitudes toward homeless, and was tested scores correlation levels acquired with this test and those acquired with the scale established in article two. The results indicated that there are strong associations between concepts representing the homeless people and negative stereotypes towards this population. No correlation between the scores on the two measures was found, in line with other studies on implicit and explicit measures of stereotypes. / Los objetivos de esta tesis fueron la creación de medidas explícitas e implícitas del prejuicio contra habitantes de calle, y la identificación de algunos factores asociados con actitudes negativas hacia esta población. Para responder a estos objetivos se realizaron varios estudios reunidos en cuatro artículos y presentados en este documento como capítulos. En el primer capítulo, se realizó un estudio de revisión de la literatura sobre el prejuicio contra habitantes de calle. En este estudio se encontró que tanto en Latinoamérica como en los países de occidente industrializado, se han reportado estereotipos hacia esta población relacionados con la enfermedad mental y la adicción a las drogas; así como actos de discriminación relacionados con limitaciones en el uso del espacio público. El capítulo dos corresponde a un estudio de creación y validación transcultural de una escala de prejuicio contra habitantes de calle, fundamentada en la teoría de la respuesta al ítem y en la teoría de la escalada comportamental del prejuicio de Allport. La escala creada presentó evidencias de validez de constructo, validez convergente y buenos índices de consistencia interna. También se comprobó parcialmente la hipótesis de la escala del prejuicio de Allport. En el tercer capítulo se buscó identificar los factores asociados al prejuicio contra habitantes de calle, así como construir y probar un modelo jerárquico para explicar variaciones en los niveles de este prejuicio. El modelo propuesto tuvo cuatro niveles de mediación del prejuicio, buenos índices de ajuste, e incluyó las variables dominancia social, valores básicos, egocentrismo, percepción de inseguridad y calidad del contacto con habitantes de calle. En el cuarto capítulo se describió el proceso de creación de un Test de Asociaciones Implícitas sobre actitudes hacia habitantes de calle, y se probó los niveles de correlación entre los puntajes adquiridos con este test y los adquiridos con la escala creada en el artículo dos. Los resultados indicaron que hubo fuertes asociaciones entre los conceptos que representan a los habitantes de calle y los estereotipos negativos hacia esta población. No se encontró una correlación entre los puntajes en las dos pruebas, acorde con los resultados de otros estudios sobre medidas implícitas y explícitas de estereotipos.

The objectives of this research were to create explicit and implicit measures of prejudice against homeless, and to identify factors associated with negative attitudes toward this population. To meet these objectives several studies collected in four articles were made. In the first article the literature on prejudice against homeless was reviewed. In this study was found that both, in Latin America and in the countries of industrialized West, have been reported stereotypes towards this population related to mental illness and drug addiction, as well as acts of discrimination related to limitations in the use of public space. Article two corresponded to a study of cross-cultural creation and validation of a scale of prejudice against homeless, created with basics of Item Response Theory and the Allport's scale of prejudice. The created scale presented evidence of construct validity, convergent validity and good internal consistency. It was also verified, in part, the Allport's theory of the scale of prejudice. The third article aimed at identifying factors associated with prejudice against homeless, and to build and test a hierarchical model to explain variations in the levels of this prejudice. The proposed model had four levels of prejudice mediations, good fit indices, and included the variables social dominance orientation, basic values, egocentrism, perception of insecurity and quality of contact with homeless people. In the fourth article was described the process of creating an implicit association test about attitudes toward homeless, and was tested scores correlation levels acquired with this test and those acquired with the scale established in article two. The results indicated that there are strong associations between concepts representing the homeless people and negative stereotypes towards this population. No correlation between the scores on the two measures was found, in line with other studies on implicit and explicit measures of stereotypes. / Los objetivos de esta tesis fueron la creación de medidas explícitas e implícitas del prejuicio contra habitantes de calle, y la identificación de algunos factores asociados con actitudes negativas hacia esta población. Para responder a estos objetivos se realizaron varios estudios reunidos en cuatro artículos y presentados en este documento como capítulos. En el primer capítulo, se realizó un estudio de revisión de la literatura sobre el prejuicio contra habitantes de calle. En este estudio se encontró que tanto en Latinoamérica como en los países de occidente industrializado, se han reportado estereotipos hacia esta población relacionados con la enfermedad mental y la adicción a las drogas; así como actos de discriminación relacionados con limitaciones en el uso del espacio público. El capítulo dos corresponde a un estudio de creación y validación transcultural de una escala de prejuicio contra habitantes de calle, fundamentada en la teoría de la respuesta al ítem y en la teoría de la escalada comportamental del prejuicio de Allport. La escala creada presentó evidencias de validez de constructo, validez convergente y buenos índices de consistencia interna. También se comprobó parcialmente la hipótesis de la escala del prejuicio de Allport. En el tercer capítulo se buscó identificar los factores asociados al prejuicio contra habitantes de calle, así como construir y probar un modelo jerárquico para explicar variaciones en los niveles de este prejuicio. El modelo propuesto tuvo cuatro niveles de mediación del prejuicio, buenos índices de ajuste, e incluyó las variables dominancia social, valores básicos, egocentrismo, percepción de inseguridad y calidad del contacto con habitantes de calle. En el cuarto capítulo se describió el proceso de creación de un Test de Asociaciones Implícitas sobre actitudes hacia habitantes de calle, y se probó los niveles de correlación entre los puntajes adquiridos con este test y los adquiridos con la escala creada en el artículo dos. Los resultados indicaron que hubo fuertes asociaciones entre los conceptos que representan a los habitantes de calle y los estereotipos negativos hacia esta población. No se encontró una correlación entre los puntajes en las dos pruebas, acorde con los resultados de otros estudios sobre medidas implícitas y explícitas de estereotipos.

O objetivo geral desta tese, composta por um artigo teórico e três empíricos, foi investigar o desenvolvimento de atitudes raciais em crianças. O primeiro estudo foi uma revisão sistemática de estudos da Psicologia brasileira sobre preconceito racial. O segundo envolveu a criação e validação de um banco de estímulos para utilização em pesquisas científicas, o BICMulticor. O terceiro utilizou medidas implícitas (Priming Avaliativo e Teste de Associação Implícita) e explícitas de atitude para avaliar o desenvolvimento de atitudes raciais em crianças brancas, pardas e pretas de Porto Alegre e Salvador. Participaram 542 crianças, de seis a 14 anos de idade. Foram encontradas diferenças nas atitudes implícitas entre os grupos raciais e também entre as duas cidades avaliadas. O quarto foi um estudo sobre as diferenças de categorização racial entre baianos, gaúchos e norte-americanos. A categorização racial sofreu forte influência contextual e foi semelhante na Bahia e nos Estados Unidos. / This dissertation, composed by one theoretical and three empirical papers, aimed to investigate the development of race attitudes in children. The first study was a systematic review of Brazilian psychological studies on racial prejudice. The second one involved the development and validation of a set of children’s portraits to be used as stimuli on scientific research, the BIC-Multicor. The third one used implicit (Evaluative Priming and the Implicit Association Test) and explicit measures of attitude to investigate the development of race attitudes in White, Pardo and Black children (N = 542), aged six to 14, from Porto Alegre and Salvador. Implicit attitudes were different between cities and also between racial groups. The forth study assessed differences in racial categorization in Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul and the United States. Racial categorization was influenced by context and similar results were found between participants from Bahia and the US.

Stigmatized obese individuals tend to internalize the pervasive weight stigma which might lead to self-discrimination and increased psychopathology. While explicit and implicit weight stigma can be measured using self-report questionnaires and Implicit Association Tests (IAT), respectively, the assessment of self-discrimination relied solely on self-report. The present study sought to develop an IAT measuring implicit self-discrimination (SD-IAT) in samples of obese individuals with and without binge-eating disorder (BED). Seventy-eight individuals were recruited from the community and individually matched in three groups. Obese participants with BED, obese participants without BED (OB), and a normal weight control group without eating disorder psychopathology (HC) were assessed with the SD-IAT and other measures relevant for convergent and discriminant validation. Results revealed significantly higher implicit self-discrimination in the BED group when compared to both OB and HC. Furthermore, significant correlations were found between the SD-IAT with body mass index, experiences of weight stigma, depressive symptoms, and implicit self-esteem. Finally, implicit self-discrimination predicted eating disorder psychopathology over and above group membership, and experiences of weight stigma. This study provides first evidence of the validity of the SD-IAT. Assessing implicit self-discrimination might further increase understanding of weight stigma and its significance for psychosocial functioning among vulnerable obese individuals.

Unverfälschbarkeit stellt ein wichtiges Gütekriterium psychologischer Testverfahren dar. Dieses Kriterium gilt dann als erfüllt, wenn das Testverfahren auf Grund seiner Konstruktion keine Steuerung oder Verzerrung der Ausprägung von Testwerten seitens der Versuchspersonen ermöglicht (vgl. Moosbrugger & Kelava, 2012). Im Gegensatz zu direkten Verfahren (z.B. Fragebogen und Interviews), bei welchen die Ausprägung hinsichtlich eines Merkmales durch Selbstbeschreibung der Versuchspersonen erfragt wird und eine Verfälschung (z.B. durch sozial erwünschtes Antwortverhalten) nicht ausgeschlossen werden kann, wurde indirekten Verfahren (z.B. dem Impliziten Assoziationstest; IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) lange Zeit Immunität gegen Fälschungsversuche unterstellt. Diese begründet sich unter anderem durch die Annahme, dass mittels indirekter Verfahren implizite Merkmale gemessen werden. Implizite Merkmale unterscheiden sich von den „eher klassischen“ expliziten Merkmalen, welche vorwiegend mittels direkter Verfahren gemessen werden. Ein wesentlicher Unterschied besteht darin, dass Versuchspersonen nicht notwendigerweise um die Ausprägung hinsichtlich ihrer impliziten Merkmale wissen und dass sie diese Ausprägung auch nicht kontrollieren können (vgl. De Houwer, 2006; De Houwer & Moors, 2007, in press). Die theoretischen Annahmen bezüglich der Eigenschaften impliziter Merkmale bzw. Messergebnisse legen zwei Implikationen nahe. Erstens: Wir können implizite Merkmale ausschließlich über indirekte Zugänge erfassen, da diese nicht notwendigerweise bewusst sind und so eine Selbstauskunft nicht möglich erscheint. Zweitens: Personen können ihre impliziten Messergebnisse nicht kontrollieren und folglich auch nicht verfälschen. Vermutlich gab es auch aus diesem Grund vor wenigen Jahren einen regelrechten Boom, der zu der Entwicklung einer Vielzahl indirekter Verfahren zur Erfassung impliziter Merkmale geführt hat. Ob jedoch die Messergebnisse dieser Verfahren tatsächlich implizit und damit nicht verfälschbar sind, darf nicht nur theoretisch unterstellt, sondern muss empirisch überprüft werden (vgl. De Houwer, 2006). Der IAT gilt als das bekannteste, reliabelste und valideste indirekte Verfahren (Bosson, Swan, & Pennebaker, 2000; Rudolph, Schröder-Abé, Schütz, Gregg, & Sedikides, 2008). In meiner Dissertation habe ich mich aus diesem Grund der empirischen Überprüfung auf Verfälschbarkeit des IATs gewidmet. Die vorliegende Dissertation besteht aus insgesamt fünf Kapiteln. Das 1. Kapitel bildet eine theoretische Einführung zu den Themen Fälschung im diagnostischen Kontext und zum IAT. Grundlegende Befunde und Fragen zur Verfälschbarkeit des IATs werden dargestellt. Kapitel 2 bis 4 bilden empirische Beiträge meiner Forschung, die sich jeweils schwerpunktmäßig mit unterschiedlichen Aspekten der Verfälschbarkeit des IATs beschäftigen. In Kapitel 2 wird der Frage nachgegangen, unter welchen Bedingungen der IAT verfälschbar ist. Bis dato haben die wenigen existierenden Studien ein sehr widersprüchliches Bild bezüglich der Verfälschbarkeit des IATs aufgezeigt. Ein Grund hierfür könnte sein, dass potentiell relevante Faktoren, welche die Verfälschbarkeit des Verfahrens beeinflussen können, noch nie gemeinsam in einer Studie untersucht wurden. Die vorliegende Studie wurde genau mit diesem Ziel konstruiert und durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse verweisen auf ein komplexes Zusammenspiel verschiedener Faktoren und zeigen auf, unter welchen Bedingungen der IAT verfälschbar ist. Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse werden kritisch diskutiert. In Kapitel 3 werden die Fragen beantwortet, wie Personen den IAT verfälschen und ob Fälschung im IAT detektierbar ist. Die Forschung hat sich bislang nur bedingt damit beschäftigt, was fälschende Personen tun, um ihre Messergebnisse wie gewünscht zu beeinflussen. Es wurde auch noch nicht untersucht, ob Versuchspersonen unter verschiedenen Bedingungen (z.B. Fälschungsziel: hohe vs. niedrige Testwerte) unterschiedliche Strategien anwenden. Dennoch wurden Indices vorgeschlagen, welche in der Lage sein sollen, Fälschung im IAT zu detektieren (Agosta, Ghirardi, Zogmaister, Castiello, & Sartori, 2011; Cvencek, Greenwald, Brown, Gray, & Snowden, 2010). In der vorgestellten Studie habe ich einerseits untersucht, welche Strategien fälschende Personen anwenden und ob sie, je nach Bedingung, zu unterschiedlichen Strategien greifen. Andererseits habe ich untersucht, welche dieser Strategien tatsächlich mit erfolgreicher Fälschung des IATs einhergehen. Schließlich habe ich untersucht, ob die in der Vergangenheit vorgeschlagenen Indices tatsächlich in der Lage sind, erfolgreiche FälscherInnen zu detektieren. Meine Ergebnisse zeigen, dass fälschende Personen unterschiedliche Strategien anwenden, um ihr Ziel zu erreichen. Damit verbunden zeigte sich auch, dass es schwerer ist als bislang angenommen, erfolgreiche FälscherInnen im IAT zu detektieren. Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse werden kritisch diskutiert. Kapitel 4 beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, ob kognitive Fähigkeiten ein erfolgreiches Fälschen im IAT erleichtern. Bisher wurden diese Fähigkeiten nur mit Fälschungserfolg in direkten Verfahren in Verbindung gebracht (vgl. Hartshorne & May, 1928; Nguyen, Biderman, & McDaniel, 2005; Ones, Viswesvaran, & Reiss, 1996; Pauls & Crost, 2005; Snell, Sydell, & Lueke, 1999; Tett, Freund, Christiansen, Fox, & Coaster, 2012; Weiner & Gibson, 2000). In der vorgestellten Studie habe ich untersucht, ob sie auch beim Fälschen des IATs eine Rolle spielen. Besonders habe ich mich dabei für die Rolle des g Faktors der Intelligenz, der Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit und der Konzentrationsfähigkeit interessiert. Die Ergebnisse meiner Studie zeigen auf, dass einige dieser Prädiktoren tatsächlich einen Einfluss auf den Fälschungserfolg im IAT haben. Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse werden kritisch diskutiert. Das 5. Kapitel bildet eine Zusammenführung und Integration der Befunde meiner Forschung in die bestehende Theorie. Zudem werden ein Ausblick für die weitere Forschung sowie Empfehlungen für die Praxis gegeben.