Vol. 31 No. 3 March, 2016

Title

Individual differences in paradoxical effects of stereotype suppression: Cognitive complexity in person perception

Author

Mana Yamamoto (Graduate School of Literature and Social Sciences, Nihon University)
Takashi Oka (College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University)

Summary

Stereotype suppression leads to paradoxical effects (i.e., stereotype suppression facilitates the use of that stereotype). However, studies on paradoxical effects in stereotype suppression have not sufficiently addressed the relationship between paradoxical effects and individual differences in cognitive tendencies. The present study examined the relationship between cognitive complexity in person perception and the paradoxical effects of stereotype suppression. First, the participants answered a Rep test (role construct repertory test) that served as a measure of cognitive complexity. Second, they were given a sentence-stem completion task that served as a manipulation of stereotype suppression. Third, they were given a lexical decision task and the response latencies of the stereotypic vs. non-stereotypic words were recorded. The results indicated that the participants who were low in cognitive complexity showed paradoxical effects, while those who were high in cognitive complexity did not show paradoxical effects. A relationship between cognitive complexity and paradoxical effects was indicated.

Key words

stereotype suppression, paradoxical effects, cognitive complexity, replacement thoughts

Title

The long-term effects of intrinsic motivation on household energy-saving behavior: With actual energy use and self-reported behavior

Author

Yasuhiro Mori (Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University)
Tsubasa Kobayashi (Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University)
Yoshihisa Anpo (Hokkaido Environment Foundation)
Susumu Ohnuma (Graduate School of Letters/Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences, Hokkaido University)

Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate extrinsic and intrinsic motivation factors relating to long-term household energy-saving behaviors. Sixty-nine households from Asahikawa City, Japan, participated in a one-year energy-saving project, reporting monthly actual energy use of electricity, gas, and paraffin oil. Participating households also completed a questionnaire at the beginning, the half-way point, and upon completion of the one-year project. Results showed that intrinsic motivation such as enjoyment and interest impacted both self-reported and actual energy use. Moreover, intrinsic motivation at 6 months had an effect on behavior at one year. Meanwhile, extrinsic motivation, provided in the form of points, failed to impact behaviors, although extrinsic motivation at 6 months affected intrinsic motivation at one year. The role of extrinsic motivation as initial participation encouragement, and the effect of intrinsic motivations on long-term behavior are discussed.

Key words

intrinsic motivation, household energy-saving behavior, actual energy use, Asahikawa Ene-Eco project, long-term intervention

Title

The pitfalls of “free” media: Another form of selective exposure caused by voters’ preferences

Author

Kazunori Inamasu (School of Sociology/Research Center for Social Psychology, Kwansei Gakuin University)
Asako Miura (School of Humanities/Research Center for Social Psychology, Kwansei Gakuin University)

Summary

Although the spread of the “high-choice” Internet brings a great deal of attention to research in partisan-selective exposure, there are not many people choosing media based on their partisanship in reality. On the other hand, preference-based selective exposure, widening gaps in knowledge about political or international news between news seekers and entertainment fans as a result of reducing opportunities for incidental or by-product exposure to news in a high-choice media environment, may become a serious problem in a society made up of less partisan voters. This research focused on this selective exposure and, using an online survey, examined whether online services would widen or narrow voters’ gaps in political knowledge. The results indicate that while exposure to portal sites, newspaper sites, and summary of 2-channel sites decrease in the gap, exposure to news curation applications and Twitter increase in the gap. The implications for possible change in the media environment are discussed.

Key words

Internet, selective exposure, media environment, entertainment preference, political knowledge

Title

The effects of the central in contrast to the peripheral cognitive process on valuing accountability or politeness as a procedural justice factor: Communication experiments simulating advocacy during trials

Author

Kei-ichiro Imazai (Hokkaido University of Education)

Summary

According to a recent study (e.g., Ambrose & Schminke, 2001), politeness and accountability may be the major interpersonal factors in procedural justice. In this study, two experiments were conducted by using honorific language as a politeness factor and the amount of information that was the reason for the decision-maker’s judgment as an accountability factor. The effect of politeness was not rejected, but the effect of accountability was not observed in Experiment 1. A task that strengthens the participant’s attention to the explanation was added in Experiment 2; only the effect of the accountability factor was confirmed. As a result, it is suggested that the participants whose cognitive peripheral routes were activated perceived procedural fairness through politeness, and the participants whose cognitive central routes were activated perceived procedural fairness via accountability. In actual trials, the cognitive central route was activated when the disputant recognized personal interest, played a social role, or wanted to reveal convincing facts. Therefore, he or she probes ideal and logical objects such as the reasons for the judgments more than a judge’s polite behavior.

Key words

procedural justice, interpersonal factor, accountability, politeness

Title

Ingroup cooperation and majority/minority-syncing strategy in intergroup conflict: A thought experiment using evolutionary simulation

Author

Daisuke Nakanishi (Hiroshima Shudo University)
Kunihiro Yokota (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)

Summary

Using evolutionary simulation, Yokota and Nakanishi (2012) have shown that majority syncing (generalized tit-for-tat strategy) is an adaptive strategy in intergroup conflict situations. When intergroup conflict is mild, agents who cooperate with ingroup members and ensure their behavior conforms to other members’ cooperation rates facilitate cooperation in their own group. This finding is supported by multi-group selection theory and by cultural group selection theory. However, this model addresses only majority-syncing as a social influence strategy. The current study introduced a minority-syncing strategy to Yokota and Nakanishi’s (2012) model. There were four conditions: Majority-syncing (agents conformed to the majority, but not to the minority), no conformity (agents did not conform), minority-syncing (agents conformed to the minority, but not to the majority), and mixed (both majority- and minority-syncing strategies were used). Computer simulation revealed that the cooperation rate decreased when minority-syncing was introduced. The cooperation rate of the no-conformity condition was higher than of both the minority and the mixed conditions. We discuss the implications of minority-syncing.

Key words

intergroup conflict, ingroup cooperation, majority/minority-synching, multi-level selection, cultural group selection

Title

Factors that collate with speed and accuracy in police calls for service: Experimental examination in the simulated scene

Author

Junko Toyosawa (National Mental Support Center for School Crisis, Osaka Kyoiku University)
Hiroki Takehashi (School of Motivation and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Future University)

Summary

This study examined the relationship between speed and accuracy in police calls for service, verbal behavior (listener, communicator), and communication structure (adjacency pairs, turn-taking). Forty participants were randomly assigned to either the role of reporter or police officer, and asked to communicate based on a scenario of snatching by using the mobile phone. The results showed that verbal behavior were positively correlated with accuracy and negatively correlated with speed. Communication structure were positively correlated with accuracy and not correlated with speed. However, adjacency pairs were positively related with speed accuracy. The way of intervention to facilitate forming adjacency pairs was discussed.

Key words

police calls for service, two-way communication, crisis communication, speed, accuracy