Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The purpose of this essay was to examine Islamic State’s (IS) self-image and perception of their enemies, and also what kind of propaganda technique that they use in their movies. To do so three questions were formulated: 1. According to Social Identity Theory the ingroup’s social identity is the same as the ingroup’s prototype. How is IS’s prototype portrayed, and thus their social identity, in the movies Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV? 2. According to Social Identity Theory a consequence of group membership is that the ingroup will associate outgroups with stereotypic images. What stereotypic images does IS’s associate outgroups with in the movies Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV? 3. According to Jacques Ellul propaganda can be categorized as either rational or irrational. So, based on his definition of propaganda, what kind of propaganda technique is used in Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV ? In this paper four segments were analyzed from two of IS’s movies: Flames of War and Clanging of the Swords IV. Two theories were used in this essay: Ellul’s theory on rational and irrational propaganda, and also Social Identity Theory. The first theory presents different techniques of argumentation that can be classified as either rational or irrational propaganda. The second theory describes the phenomenon known as prototype and stereotype. The most common propaganda technique used in the movies was that of social evidence, which is a rational strategy of propaganda. This means that the propaganda mainly uses symbols in its arguments, which in this case is the symbol of Allah. IS uses Allah, as well as their leader Al-Baghdadi, to justify their actions. Irrational propaganda is also used quite often. It can be seen in the way IS describes their own group and their enemies. IS always describes themselves with positive attributes and characteristics, while their enemies are described as their complete opposite. The purpose of this is to make the viewer automatically start to associate the ingroup (IS) as good and the outgroups (enemies) as evil. The prototype of IS is that they see themselves as the holy warriors of Allah executing His will on earth. The stereotypic image of IS’s enemies is that they are apostates and enemies of Allah. Their infidelity has provoked Allah, they’re sinners and thus IS considers it to be their duty to punish them.

Introduktion Tidigare forskning kan identifiera en tydlig revisorsstereotyp.Trots att revisorer i viss mån har arbetat för att motarbetastereotypen, kvarstår samma stereotyp idag som för 40 årsedan. Skiljer sig omgivningens stereotyp från hur revisornuppfattar sig själv, föreligger ett förväntningsgap. Brist påforskning kring hur revisorerna upplever stereotypen och hurde bemöter den, motiverar vår studie. Syfte Studien syftar till att utforska hur revisorer uppfattar denstereotypa bilden om revisorer samt hur och varför de arbetarför att påverka omgivningens föreställningar om revisorer. Metod Denna kvalitativa studie har genomförts genom tolvsemistrukturerade intervjuer. Samtliga respondenter ärrevisionsmedarbetare med olika befattningar och arbetar pånågon av de fyra världsledande revisionsbyråerna. Slutsatser Vi kommer fram till att revisorer uppfattar stereotypen omrevisorer som i huvudsak negativ och icke överensstämmandemed revisorns egen bild av sig själv. Vi har identifierat ett nyttförväntningsgap – skillnader i förväntningar om hur en revisorär. Revisorer arbetar aktivt för att motarbeta stereotypeneftersom det medför fördelar för dem i yrkeslivet. Trotsmotarbetandet kvarstår stereotypen och därmedförväntningsgapet. I viss mån sker dessutom ett omedvetetagerande som tyder på att stereotypen förstärks eller ignoreras. / Introduction Previous research identifies an evident auditor stereotype.Although auditors to some extent have attempted to change thestereotype, the stereotype as it appeared 40 years ago stillremains. Differences between the stereotype and the auditors’perceptions of themselves causes an expectation gap. The lackof research regarding how auditors perceive the stereotype aswell as how they treat it, motivates our study. Purpose The purpose is to examine how auditors perceive the stereotypeof auditors as well as how and why they are working to changethe surroundings perceptions of auditors. Method This qualitative study is based on twelve semi-structuredinterviews. All respondents are audit staff with differentpositions that work in one of the Big 4 accounting firms. Conclusions We conclude that auditors mainly perceive the stereotype ofauditors negative and not consistent with their own images ofthemselves. We have identified a new expectation gap –differences in expectations about the auditor’s traits. Auditorsare working actively to counter the stereotype as it entailsbenefits to them in their professional life. To some extent,auditors are also unconsciously acting in a way that suggeststhat the stereotype is reinforced or ignored.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine psychological processes that can contribute to religiously motivated violence from a psychology of religion perspective in relation to the collective meaning-system of the Christian militant anti-abortion movement the Army of God. The study applied a single-case design and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 3 prominent figures within Army of God, as well as through 43 qualitative documents and 4 autobiographical books. The collected data was analyzed through a deductive approach, implementing the concept of sanctification, social identity theory, selective moral disengagement, and the Staircase to Terrorism model. The results show that the collective meaning-system of the Army of God can be understood as a form of religious fundamentalism that acts as a frame that binds the members together, and from which social categorization and group identification can induce acts of violence. The results also demonstrate that abortion is perceived as a grave injustice and destruction of something sacred, and how it leads to a moral outrage and aggression by constituting a threat towards one’s social identity. This threat moves the individuals towards a ‘black-and-white’ and ‘the ends justify the means’ mentality. The act of violence is further prompted by a perceived duty from God and facilitated by a dehumanization of the perceived enemy. The findings of the study address the need of primary empirical data in the psychological research of violent extremism. Furthermore, it brings further knowledge regarding religiously motivated violence and leaderless resistance by taking into account the search for significance and sacred values. In contrast to previous research the current study also demonstrates that a leader or a well-structured group is not necessarily a key factor when explaining religiously motivated violence from a social psychological perspective. This can contribute to the theoretical understanding regarding social identity and a collective meaning-making in relation to violent extremism and lone-wolf terrorism.

Shyness as a behavioral characteristic has been in focus of research in psychology for a number of decades. Adolescent shyness has, however, been relatively overlooked compared with studies conducted on children and adults. This dissertation concentrated on adolescent shyness, aiming to attain a better comprehension about how shyness during this developmental phase might affect, and be affected by social relationships. The first aim of this dissertation was to study in which way shyness influences and is influenced by significant people in adolescents’ lives: peers, friends, and parents. Study III showed that shy youths socialized each other over time into becoming even more shy. Study VI demonstrated that youths’ shyness affected parenting behaviors, more so than parent’s behaviors affected youth shyness. The second aim of this dissertation was to investigate what shyness means for adolescents’ choices of relationships with friends, whereas the third aim focused on whether adolescents’ ways of dealing with peers would have consequences for their internal and external adjustment. As Study I showed, youths might take on off-putting, startling appearances in order to cope with their shyness. This strategy seemed, nonetheless, not particularly successful for the shy youths in terms of emotional adjustment. Study III showed that adolescents who were shy tended to choose others similar to themselves in shyness as friends. Study II showed that shyness might indeed have some positive implications for adolescent development, as it was found to serve a protective role in the link between advanced maturity and various types of problem behaviors. Overall, the findings point to some gender differences regarding all of the abovementioned processes. In sum then, the studies in this dissertation show that even though youths’ shy, socially fearful characteristics affect their emotional adjustment and those around them, shy youths are part of a larger social arena where they are active agents in shaping their own development. Although adolescent shyness might be linked with several negative outcomes, however, it might be other people’s reactions to socially fearful behaviors that help create and/or maintain these outcomes over time.

I denna uppsats unders undersöks de sociala bandens betydelse för självkänslan och identiteten hos fem f.d. brottslingar och fem brottsoffer som har intervjuats.. Jag ville ta reda på hur deras självförtroende och relationer har påverkats av att de är brottsoffer respektive f.d. kriminella. Det jag kom fram till var att deras relationer till sina familjer har stärkts efter att misshandeln mot respektive brottsoffer skett samt efter att de f.d. kriminella slutat med missbruk och kriminalitet. De f.d. brottslingarna har genom organisationen KRIS fått nya sociala band som har stärkt deras självkänsla. När det gäller brottsoffrena så har självförtroendet stärkts genom de relationer som utmärks av nära sociala band som var etablerade innan brottet, mendans i relation till främlingar så har självförtroendet sjunkit. Detta har i sin tur lett till hur informanterna ser på sig själva; f.d. kriminella har hittat en social identitet som de kan relatera till och är nöjda med, medan brottsoffrena påstår att deras identitet inte har förändrats men erkänner att de blivit mer tillbakadragna efter att blivit utsatta för brott. / In this essay the importance of social bonds when it comes to self-esteem and identity for five ex-offenders and five victims of crime has been examined. Further I wanted to understand how their self-esteem and relations have been affected by being a victim and ex-offender. The results showed that the bond to their families had been strengthened after each assault (victims of crime) or becoming sober and ending career as a criminal (ex-offenders). Exoffenders have, through the organization KRIS, received new friendships that have led to a strengthened self-esteem in each one of them. When it comes to the crime victims; selfesteem in relation to their strong social bonds has been lifted, whilst in relation to strangers it has decreased. This in turn has led to how they view themselves; ex-offenders have found a social identity that they can relate to and are pleased to have, whilst victims of crime do not feel as if their identity has changed but do admit to being more reserved than before the assault.

Estuda a influência da memória social na preservação da identidade indígena. Também observa se a cultura e a tradição indígena estão sendo repassadas pelos índios idosos urbanos para seus descendentes; analisa como os índios idosos percebem que seus descendentes as recebem; observa se tem ocorrido a descaracterização cultural na população urbana e de que modo isso se expressa na percepção dos sujeitos; identifica se há (e como) formas de resistência cultural; avalia a barbárie no confronto desigual de culturas e os silêncios para a construção de uma sociedade realmente democrática. Os sujeitos são oito índios idosos residentes em um bairro localizado no perímetro urbano de Campo Grande-MS. A pesquisa se caracteriza como qualitativa e as técnicas de coleta de dados são: observações e entrevistas gravadas, ambas subordinadas a roteiros. A observação proporciona a análise dos hábitos, do local de residência, das roupas e de como estas práticas confirmam (ou não) os discursos nas entrevistas. Os dados obtidos na pesquisa concluem: a memória social influencia na preservação da identidade indígena; a cultura e a tradição indígena estão sendo transmitidas pelos idosos, já residentes nas cidades. Sugere ainda, que há formas de resistência cultural e os exemplos disso são: a fé nos xamãs; o uso do idioma nativo; a permanência das festas e da arte; e também algumas manifestações no cotidiano. Com relação à descaracterização cultural e como ela se expressa na percepção dos sujeitos, observa que nestas situações o processo de aculturação deixou a sua marca. / It studies the influence of the social memory in the preservation of the indigenous identity. Also it observes if the culture and the indigenous tradition are being repassed for the urban aged indians for theirs descendants; it analyzes as the aged indians perceive that its descendants receive them; it observes if it has occurred the loss of cultural characteristic in the urban population and of that way this express in the perception of the subjects; it identifies if it has (and how) forms of cultural resistance; it evaluates the barbarism in the different confrontation of cultures and it evaluates the silence for the construction of a democratic society. The subjects are eight aged indians that reside in a quarter located in the urban perimeter of Campo Grande-MS. The research is characterized as qualitative and the techniques of collection of data are: observations and recorded interviews, both subordinate to the scripts. The observation provides the analysis of the habits, of the place of residence, of the clothes and how these practical confirm (or not) the speeches in the interviews. The data gotten in the research conclude: the social memory influences in the preservation of the indigenous identity; the culture and the indigenous tradition are being transmitted for aged indians. It still suggests, that it has forms of cultural resistance and the examples of this are: the faith in shamans; the use of the native language; the permanence of the parties and the art; and also some manifestations in the daily. In spite of the loss of cultural characteristic and how it is expressed in the perception of the subjects, it observes that in these situations the acculturation process left its mark.

A presente tese tem como objetivo analisar territorialização dos descendentes pomeranos na região de Pancas/ES e o processo de recriação/resignficação de sua identidade étnica e social e de seu modo de vida. Entende-se o território como um espaço constituído a partir de relações sociais desenvolvidas ao longo do tempo e, portanto, repleto das relações contraditórias do modo de produção capitalista, como o campesinato, que tende tanto à sua destruição como também necessita de relações não capitalistas em sua lógica, possibilitanto assim, sua recriação. A comunidade de camponeses pomeranos se territorializou na área onde se localizam os Pontões Capixabas a partir de 1918, mas, desde o ano de 2002 passou a viver uma situação de conflito fundiário, pois suas terras (colônias) estavam sob ameaça de desapropriação, colocandoos em uma disputa territorial na tentativa de barrar a possível expropriação das terras e consequentemente do seu modo de vida tradicional frente à implantação de uma Unidade de Conservação Ambiental de Proteção Integral. Neste contexto de conflito, a consciência de classe se faz presente com mais força, levando ao fazer-se dessa classe social, que entendia já ter conquistado a terra de trabalho. O território é fator fundante para a recuperação e afirmação da identidade étnica e social dos imigrantes pomeranos, identidade esta perdida não só com o fim da Pomerânia enquanto nação, mas por todo o processo de expropriação e dominação que sofreram ao longo do tempo, e, recuperada com a territorialização, pois, o acesso à terra de trabalho possibilitou a continuidade de seu modo de vida, mas principalmente a manutenção da língua tradicional e a recriação enquanto camponês e pomerano. / This thesis aims to analyze the territorialization of Pomeranians descendents in the region of Pancas/ES and the process of recreation/ resignification of their ethnic and social identity and their way of life. Territory is perceived as an area or space formed from social relations developed over time and, therefore, full of contradictory relations of the capitalist mode of production, e.g., the peasantry, which tends to their destruction but also needs non-capitalist relations in its logic, making possible its recreation. The community of Pomeranians peasants territorialized itself in the area where are located the Capixabas Pontoons staring from 1918, but, since 2002, they started to live a land conflict situation, because their lands (colonies) were under risk of being expropriated, putting them in a territorial dispute as an attempt to stop the possible expropriation of their land and, consequently, their traditional way of life, facing the implementation of an Environmental Conservation Unit of Integral Protection. In this conflicting context, the Class-Consciousness is present harder, leading to the shaping of this class, wich believed already to have conquered the land of work. The territory was a key factor for recovering and reinforcement of ethnic and social identity of Pomeranians immigrants, whose identity was lost not, only because of the end of Pomerania as a nation, but also because of the whole process of expropriation and domination that they have suffered over time, and recovered with the reterritorialization, since the access to the land of work enabled the continuation of their way of life, but, especially, the maintenance of traditional language and recreation while peasants and Pomeranians.

Episodes of aggression and violence continue to beset our public spaces. This thesis explores how well we understand the transition to violence—and how aggression and violence in public spaces can be managed or controlled. We begin by arguing that established social psychological approaches to aggression and violence are inadequate for the task. Existing models explain violence through the failure of individuals to inhibit their own impulses or control their own emotions sufficiently. At best the models allow for the importance of dyadic interactions as individuals provoke each other as part of an escalation cycle. We argue that public space aggression and violence involves multiple parties and more complex sets of social dynamics. We suggest that, at the very least, the roles of third-parties and social categories need to be at the heart of theorising about violence in public spaces. To support our arguments, we examined violence directly through detailed behavioural microanalyses of real-life aggressive incidents captured on CCTV footage. We also built agent-based models (ABM) to explore different theoretical approaches to the impact of groups and third-parties on aggression and violence. The thesis contains seven studies. We begin with a CCTV behavioural microanalysis (Study 1) that showed collective group self-regulation of aggressive and violent behaviour in both within- and between-group conflicts. This study demonstrated an ‘intergroup hostility bias’, showing a greater likelihood of aggressive, escalatory acts towards outgroup members in intergroup conflicts than towards ingroup members in intragroup conflicts. Furthermore, this study demonstrated an ‘intragroup de-escalatory bias’, showing a greater likelihood of peace-making, de-escalatory behaviours towards ingroup members in intragroup conflicts than towards outgroup members in intergroup conflicts. Overall, we found that the majority of coded actions were acts of de-escalation performed by third-parties. With evidence stressing the importance of social dynamics, we compared dyadic models of aggression against an alternative social model (which allowed normative influence of others) in a dynamic agent-based modelling environment. We modelled the dynamics of metacontrast group formation (Studies 2 and 3), and found that group processes can produce both escalation of violence and inhibition of violence (Study 4). We found greater polarisation of violent positions in intergroup interactions than in intragroup interactions (Studies 5a and 5b). However, an emergent intergroup hostility bias did not emerge from this polarisation process. In Study 6, we re-examined the intergroup hostility bias present in our CCTV footage. We found an intergroup hostility bias for non-physical escalatory acts but not for physical escalatory acts. We examined the standardised number of actions contributed by third-parties and assessed the relationship between specific third-party conflict management strategies (policers and pacifiers) and conflict violence severity (Study 7). Overall, our results showed that third-parties and groups are integral features of the dynamics of violence. Third-parties largely attempt to de-escalate conflict, and the conflict management strategy they employ has a direct relationship to the violent outcome. Groups have a tendency to de-escalate their own members, and self-policing and collective inhibition take place. These findings have importance for current models of aggression and violence and also for evidence-based violence reduction initiatives.

Cette thèse porte sur trois déterminants sociaux des décisions économiques : l'identité sociale, l'image sociale et les préférences sociales. Le premier chapitre rend compte d'une expérience visant à tester l'effet de la mobilité sociale ascendante sur la confiance interpersonnelle. Les individus se sont caractérisés à la fois par une identité de groupe naturelle et par un statut attribué au moyen de leur performance relative dans une tâche dans laquelle les identités naturelles prédisent fortement la performance. La mobilité ascendante se caractérise par l'accès au statut élevé des individus appartenant au groupe naturel associé à une performance attendue inférieure. Nous constatons que les personnes socialement mobiles font moins confiance que celles qui ne sont pas socialement mobiles, à la fois lorsque le l'autre individu appartient au même groupe naturel ou à un autre groupe naturel. En revanche, la mobilité ascendante n'affecte pas la fiabilité. Nous ne trouvons rien qui indique que l'interaction avec une personne mobile a une incidence sur la confiance ou la fiabilité. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous testons si les individus intériorisent les effets de leur comportement sur l'image sociale de leur groupe. Dans notre expérience, nous recrutons des paires d'amis et étudions si le nombre de fausses déclarations diminue quand cela peut avoir des retombées négatives sur l'image de l'ami. Nous constatons que les participants nuisent à l'image sociale de leurs amis en faisant de fausses déclarations : les observateurs externes mettent à jour leurs croyances et s'attendent à juste titre à ce qu'un participant dont l'ami a fait de fausses déclarations soit susceptible de faire de même. Cependant, les participants font autant de fausses déclarations quand leur comportement peut nuire à l'image de leur ami que quand il ne le peut pas, même si le fait de nuire à l'image de leurs amis réduit leurs propres gains monétaires. Notre interprétation est qu'ils sous-estiment l'impact de leur comportement sur les croyances des observateurs externes concernant leurs amis. Nos résultats montrent que, même dans notre cas où l'appartenance à un groupe est évidente, les groupes peuvent avoir de la difficulté à se bâtir une bonne image. La bonne nouvelle, c'est que les observateurs externes peuvent utiliser les retombées d'images pour mettre à jour leurs croyances et interagir plus efficacement avec les membres des groupes. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous examinons expérimentalement si la sailliance des gains contre-factuels a une incidence sur la générosité. Les participants exécutent d'abord une tâche d'effort réel pour un salaire fixe, puis jouent au jeu du dictateur. Entre les conditions, nous faisons varier le niveau et le moment de la révélation du salaire. Dans certaines conditions, les participants connaissent le salaire avant la tâche de l'effort réel et ne sont pas informés des autres niveaux potentiels. Dans d'autres conditions, ils sont informés de la répartition des salaires avant la tâche d'effort réel, mais le salaire réel n'est révélé qu'ensuite. Notre hypothèse est que les participants à ces dernières conditions évaluent leur salaire réel par rapport aux autres niveaux potentiels, ce qui, à son tour, influe sur leurs transferts dans le jeu dictateur qui suit. Les résultats corroborent cette hypothèse : les participants qui obtiennent un salaire élevé ont tendance à transférer davantage lorsqu'ils sont informés des autres niveaux potentiels que lorsqu'ils ne le sont pas. Symétriquement, les participants qui reçoivent le plus bas salaire ont tendance à transférer moins quand ils sont informés des autres niveaux potentiels que quand ils ne le sont pas. / The present dissertation studies three social determinants of economic decisions: Social Identity, Social Image, and Social preferences. The first chapter reports on an experiment testing the effect of upward social mobility on interpersonal trust. Individuals are characterized both by a natural group identity and by a status awarded by means of relative performance in a task in which natural identities strongly predict performance. Upward mobility is characterized by the access to the high status of individuals belonging to the natural group associated with a lower expected performance. We find that socially mobile individuals trust less than those who are not socially mobile, both when the trustee belongs to the same natural group or to the other natural group. In contrast, upward mobility does not affect trustworthiness. We find no evidence that interacting with an upwardly mobile individual impacts trust or trustworthiness. In the second chapter, we test whether individuals internalize the effects of their behavior on the social image of their group. In our experiment, we recruit pairs of real-life friends and study whether misreporting decreases when it may have negative spillovers on the image of the friend. We find that participants hurt their friends' social image by misreporting: external observers update their beliefs and rightfully expect that a participant whose friend misreported is likely to misreport himself. However, participants misreport as often when their behavior can hurt the friend's image as when it cannot, even though hurting their friends' image reduces their own monetary gains. Our interpretation is that they underestimate the impact of their behavior on external observers' beliefs about their friends. Our results show that, even in our case where group membership is salient, groups might have difficulties building a good image. The good news is that external observers may use image spillovers to update their beliefs and interact with members of groups more efficiently. In the third chapter, we experimentally test whether the salience of counter-factual payoffs impacts generosity. Participants first perform a real-effort task for a fixed wage, and then play a dictator game. Between conditions, we vary the level and the timing of the revelation of the wage. In some conditions, participants know the wage before the real effort task, and are not informed of the other potential levels. In some other conditions, they are informed of the distribution of the wages before the real effort task, but the actual wage is only revealed afterward. Our hypothesis is that participants in the latter conditions evaluate their actual wage relative to the other potential levels, which in turns impact their transfers in the subsequent dictator game. The results support this hypothesis: participants who get a the high wage tend to transfer more when they are informed of the other potential levels than when they are not. Symmetrically, participants who get the low wage tend to transfer less when they are informed of the other potential levels than when they are not.