no / In three experiments we investigated the dynamics of impression formation when perceivers encounter unsurprising (e.g. male mechanic) versus surprising (e.g. female mechanic) social category conjunctions. In Experiment 1, participants took longer to form an impression of targets described using a surprising versus an unsurprising conjunction of categorizations. In Experiment 2, we investigated the stages during which impressions of category conjunctions are formed. While unsurprising category combinations were characterized with reference to ‘constituent’ stereotypic traits, surprising combinations were characterized initially by stereotypic traits but later by ‘emergent’ impressions. In Experiment 3, we investigated motivational states that drive the dynamics of category conjunction. We found that higher Personal Need for Structure (PNS) predicted the use of more emergent and fewer constituent attributes in the impressions formed of surprising combinations. Across all three experiments, more ‘causal attributes’ were used in descriptions of the surprising combination. We discuss the implications of these findings for developing a model of the dynamics and composition of social category conjunctions.

The present study attempted to merge classes of Islamic and Christian stimuli. Using a match-to-sample procedure, participants were trained on a series of conditional discriminations that resulted in the formation of one equivalence class containing Islamic stimuli and one class containing Christian stimuli. These classes shared two common members. After demonstrating equivalence, participants were tested for a merger of the two classes. If the classes fail to merge, participants viewed a video outlining the parallels between Islam and Christianity and were subsequently tested for a merger of classes again. For participants still failing to merge the classes, direct training was provided before a final test for a merger of classes was conducted. Accuracy and response latencies on tests for a merger of classes were examined to determine if a nodal distance effect is observed. Six participants merged the classes following conditional discrimination training. An additional five participants were exposed to video training and direct training after which four participants still failed to merge the classes.

L’orientation essentielle de notre thèse concerne spécifiquement les relations intergroupes et les constructions identitaires en situation de pluralité culturelle, dans des contextes de changements sociaux importants et de ruptures idéologiques profondes. Nous nous intéressons au domaine particulier des sociétés post-soviétiques. Les changements politiques qui ont accompagné, au Kazakhstan, la chute du système en vigueur durant l’ex-URSS ont été à l’origine de nouvelles catégorisations sociales et ethniques : ethnie titulaire (Kazakhs) et non-titulaires (autres ethnies). Cette nouvelle classification a induit des changements importants au niveau des représentations de l’identité nationale et des rapports entre groupes ethniques. En effet, l’objectif idéologique du Kazakhstan est devenu celui de former une nouvelle nation sur la base de l'identité kazakhe mais celle-ci se heurte à l'opposition des groupes ethniques minoritaires et suscite l’élaboration des nouvelles stratégies identitaires destinée à réagir à la tendance d’unification de ce modèle Etat-Nation. Nous avons choisi pour notre étude la région centrale du Kazakhstan, où les contacts interculturels sont particulièrement soutenus du fait de la présence de plusieurs ethnies. Notre but est, en premier lieu, d’analyser les liens entre l’appartenance à un groupe ethnique donné et la construction de l’identité nationale ; et, en second lieu, l’effet de la construction identitaire sur les relations entre les différents groupes. Compte tenu de nos objectifs de recherche et des réalités du contexte sur lequel porte notre étude, nous avons retenu l’idée d’une méthodologie à la fois quantitative et qualitative : le questionnaire spécifiquement adapté à notre terrain et l’entretien semi-directif explicitant les variabilités interethniques. L’échantillon que nous avons retenu est composé de 371 jeunes âgés de 15 à 31 ans et représentatif des différents groupes ethniques en présence (Kazakhs, Russes et autres ethnies minoritaires). / Our thesis is mainly orientated on relations between groups and the construction of identity in a situation of cultural plurality. These mechanisms are studied in a context of important social changes and deep ideological fractures. We will focus more specifically on the post Soviet societies. The fall of the political system of the former USSR led to political changes in Kazakhstan. From these changes originated a new social and ethnic organization : appointed ethnic groups (Kazakhs) and non appointed ethnic groups (others ethnic groups). This new classification led to some considerable changes in the representation of the national identity and the relations between ethnic groups. The new ideological objective of Kazakhstan was indeed to build a new nation based on the Kazakh identity. However it encountered the opposition of minority ethnic groups which encouraged the development of new identity strategies so as to react to the unification tendency of this State - Nation's model. For our study, we have chosen the centre region of Kazakhstan where cross cultural contacts are particularly important due to the presence of several ethnies. Firstly, our goal is to analyse the links between the belonging to an ethnic group and the construction of the national identity. Secondly, we will interest ourselves to the effects of identity construction on the relationships between the different ethnic groups. Considering our research objectives and the reality of the context on which was based our study, we applied a both qualitative and quantitative methodology: the questionnaire is specifically adapted to our field and the semi – directive interview explains the interethnic variabilities. Our sample is composed of 371 young people aged from 15 to 31 years old, who represent the different ethnic groups in presence (Kazakhs, Russian and others minorities ethnic groups).

This thesis presents a method for identifying resonant cultural phenomena and uses it to identify themes in the representations of millers, tailors, and weavers in early modern English proverbs, jests, and ballads. It then examines whether these stereotypes appear in the records of defamation and abusive language from four different contemporary courts. It argues that all three trades were associated with habitual occupational dishonesty, that millers had a reputation for super-sexuality, and that tailors were considered to be poor and inferior to other men. However, it also argues that these stereotypes were conditioned by generic characteristics of proverbs, jests, and ballads and therefore that stereotypes should be assessed within and across different media. Finally, it argues that the dishonesty, super-sexuality, and inferiority associated with millers, tailors, and weavers suggest that perceived moral character played a more important role in the creation of stereotypes than perceived economic or social position, political or religious allegiance, or ethnic or regional background.

Social identity theory (SIT) is a robust theory that explains in-group versus out-group behaviors. Two qualities of one's social identity include emotional connection and social connection with others, which someone who is experiencing loneliness tends to lack in their current situation. This dissertation explored whether when one's social identity becomes salient it results in a lower evaluation of one's current state of loneliness. An experiment was conducted in which college student participants, who were 18 years of age or older and currently enrolled in college courses, were randomly assigned to a social identity saliency group (college student) or 1 of 3 control conditions (personal identity group, cognitive control condition, and no prime condition). The sample consisted of 207 participants of which 189 were analyzed for social loneliness and 190 were analyzed for emotional loneliness, after excluding participants who did not meet scoring criteria. To analyze the data a planned contrast procedure was conducted in which the social identity group's mean was compared to the combined means of the 3 control conditions. Results indicated that when social identity is made salient, participants report a lower level of emotional and social loneliness when compared to the other 3 conditions. Loneliness, which is being considered a major public health crisis, is becoming more common in modern society, making finding mechanisms to reduce loneliness important. This research supports the notion that social identification can reduce one's evaluation of loneliness. As an example, from the findings in this research, to reduce loneliness among college students, college programs should focus on the positive attributions of being a college student.

The present study proposes a significant role for host country nationals (HCNs) in the expatriate adjustment process. Based on self-categorizaton theory, newcomer socialization research, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) research, and models of expatriate adjustment, I present a model proposing how social categorization processes influence HCNs' willingness to engage in adjustment-facilitating organizational citizenship behaviors (AOCBs). I further propose that these behaviors have a significant impact on expatriates' adjustment and in turn, other important job-related outcomes of the expatriate. Hypotheses were tested on 115 expatriates and 53 HCNs. Expatriates were contacted directly or via an organizational contact. HCNs were either contacted directly or nominated by their expatriate counterpart to participate in the study. Results reveal support for the main tenets of the model. The willingness to engage in AOCBs was related to outgroup categorization, collectivism, and perceptions of justice. Social support provided by HCNs was found to significantly relate to HCNs' perceptions of their expatriate co-worker's adjustment. Expatriates, however, indicated that spousal adjustment and language ability were more important for their own adjustment. Adjustment was related to other key expatriate outcomes. The research and managerial implications of these results are discussed.

Organizations use work teams to solve complex problems in innovative ways. As such, an abundance of diverse ideas, suggestions, and information should help organizations generate quality products and remain competitive. Yet, there is research which shows that women do not participate as much as men in face-to-face team interactions. Women often get fewer speaking turns than men, they speak for shorter lengths of time, and they are interrupted more often than men. As a result, women?s ideas may often be overlooked in work settings. This is problematic, because women make up 46 percent of the United States workforce, and not being active participants in meetings could results in underutilization of roughly half of the firm?s human capital. This study investigated whether the order of face-to-face and virtual communication used by virtual teams could be used as one means of increasing inclusion and participation of women in male-dominated teams. Results from 82 teams confirmed that women felt more included in the team when they communicated virtually first and then face-to-face as opposed to face-to-face first and then virtually. Findings supported a four-stage model where the medium of communication influences feelings of inclusion which influences participation (both self-reported and objective). Participation, in turn, influences perceptions of interpersonal justice, satisfaction with the team, and ratings received from team members. An objective measure of participation and team performance ratings from five independent raters also show that the more equally team members participate and the higher the team?s total communication volume, in both total speaking turns and words spoken, the higher the team?s ratings and the more creative the team?s output was judged to be.

The present study proposes a significant role for host country nationals (HCNs) in the expatriate adjustment process. Based on self-categorizaton theory, newcomer socialization research, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) research, and models of expatriate adjustment, I present a model proposing how social categorization processes influence HCNs' willingness to engage in adjustment-facilitating organizational citizenship behaviors (AOCBs). I further propose that these behaviors have a significant impact on expatriates' adjustment and in turn, other important job-related outcomes of the expatriate. Hypotheses were tested on 115 expatriates and 53 HCNs. Expatriates were contacted directly or via an organizational contact. HCNs were either contacted directly or nominated by their expatriate counterpart to participate in the study. Results reveal support for the main tenets of the model. The willingness to engage in AOCBs was related to outgroup categorization, collectivism, and perceptions of justice. Social support provided by HCNs was found to significantly relate to HCNs' perceptions of their expatriate co-worker's adjustment. Expatriates, however, indicated that spousal adjustment and language ability were more important for their own adjustment. Adjustment was related to other key expatriate outcomes. The research and managerial implications of these results are discussed.

Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons tenté de répondre à la question suivante : Comment un observateur extérieur –ou témoin– détecte-t-il une situation observée comme discriminatoire ? Notre objectif était donc d'élaborer un modèle général de détection de la discrimination de la part de l'observateur extérieur. En nous basant sur les conceptions scientifiques, légales et profanes de la discrimination, ainsi que sur la littérature traitant de cet objet, nous avons formulé la thèse suivante. La discrimination étant conceptualisée comme un comportement intergroupe contre-normatif, la détection de la discrimination serait déterminée par a) la différenciation des catégories sociales du discriminateur et de la victime et le caractère de leur échange, et b) l'évaluation de la légitimité du comportement du discriminateur. La première partie de ce travail de thèse traite du premier point cité. Nous avons défendu l'hypothèse que la détection de la discrimination était fonction de la perception de l'échange entre le discriminateur et la victime comme intergroupe plutôt qu'interpersonnel. Afin de tester cette hypothèse, nous avons manipulé la distinctivité catégorielle des groupes sociaux du discriminateur et de la victime, ainsi que le rapport entretenu entre le discriminateur et la victime. Les cinq études de la première partie permettent de soutenir l'hypothèse que la catégorisation sociale des acteurs et la perception de leur échange détermine la détection de la discrimination. La seconde partie de ce travail de thèse traite du second point cité. Nous avons défendu l'hypothèse que la légitimité perçue du comportement du discriminateur modère l'effet de la distinctivité catégorielle sur la détection de la discrimination. Les deux études de la seconde partie fournissent des arguments empiriques qui soutiennent cette hypothèse. Globalement, l'ensemble de ce travail permet d'appréhender le processus de détection de la discrimination comme relevant de l'interaction entre un processus perceptif –la catégorisation sociale des acteurs–, et un second processus, davantage délibératif, qui implique l'évaluation normative du comportement du discriminateur et/ou de ses motivations. / In this research, we attempt to answer the following question: How a distant observer – or witness – will detect an observed situation as discriminatory? Our aim is to elaborate a general model of discrimination detection by the distant observer. Based on scientific, legal, and lay definition of discrimination, we propose the following argument: As discrimination is defined as a counter-normative intergroup behavior, discrimination detection will depend on a) the distinctiveness of both perpetrator and victim social categories, and by the nature of these actors exchange, and b) the perceived legitimacy of the perpetrator's behavior. The first part of this research deals with the first point quoted above. We made the hypothesis that discrimination detection will depend on the nature of the perceived exchange between the perpetrator and the victim as intergroup rather than interpersonal. In order to test this hypothesis, we manipulated the distinctiveness of the respective social categories of perpetrator and victim. The five studies of this research first part support the hypothesis that the social categorization of perpetrator and victim and the following perception of their exchange impact discrimination detection. The second part of this research deals with the second point quoted above. We defended the hypothesis that the perceived legitimacy of the perpetrator's behavior moderates the effect of social categories distinctiveness on discrimination detection. The two studies of the second part of this work support this hypothesis. Broadly speaking, this work allows to understand the discrimination detection process as the interaction between a perceptive process –the social categorization of the actors–, and a deliberative process, which imply the normative evaluation of perpetrator's behavior and/or motivations.

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