Categorías de género: consecuencias cognitivas sobre la identidad

Resumen

En este artículo se presentan algunas reflexiones en torno a los aspectos cognitivos de la identidad de género, ilustrándolas con datos procedentes de investigaciones realizadas en nuestro país. En primer lugar se aborda la cuestión de la importancia que la pertenencia a las categorías de género tiene para hombres y mujeres, así como la conciencia de esta pertenencia. Posteriormente se consideran las auto-percepciones que hombres y mujeres desarrollan como consecuencia de sus pertenencias categoriales de género, particularmente a la luz de los índices de masculinidad, feminidad y androginia encontrados en muestras españolas. Por último, se revisan algunos factores que influyen en la autopercepción en términos de las categorías de género: grado de identificación con el endogrupo de género, status de la categoría, características de la situación y tono evaluativo de los atributos estereotípicos.     

Representaciones cognitivas implícitas sobre el poder en la pareja y su relación con variables de personalidad

Resumen

El propósito de nuestra investigación era analizar el nivel representacional del poder en las relaciones de pareja, definido mediante las teorías implícitas que explican y prescriben estas relaciones. Al mismo tiempo ver su relación con determinadas variables de personalidad, también de carácter cognitivo, como el locus de control y la esquematización del rol sexual.

Cuatro teorías implícitas cubrían este nivel representacional: dos considerando al hombre como dominante, una por su supremacía y otra por la tradición; una tercera considerando más dominante a la mujer, por sus recursos y habilidades sutiles, y una cuarta que reconocía y prescribía la igualdad entre los sexos.

Tras analizar los. resultados sobre 546 personas comprobamos que el locus de control cuando era interno se relacionaba con una creencia en la igualdad, y cuando era externo, en la diferencia entre los sexos. La esquematización sexual mostró relaciones menos definidas.     

Academic potential beliefs and feelings and life satisfaction: the mediator role of social self-efficacy / Creencias y sentimientos sobre el potencial académico y satisfacción vital: el rol mediador de la autoeficacia social

The aim of the present study is to examine the mediating role of social self-efficacy on the relationship between academic potential beliefs and feelings and life satisfaction. Participants were 332 university students who completed a questionnaire package that included the Academic Potential Beliefs and Feelings Scale, Cognitive and Behavioural Social Self-efficacy Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. To determine the relationships among academic potential beliefs and feelings, social self-efficacy and life satisfaction, the Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analyses were used. In order to test whether social self-efficacy mediated the link between academic potential beliefs and feelings and life satisfaction with regression analyses, Preacher and Hayes macros for SPSS were used. According to the results, social self-efficacy and life satisfaction were predicted positively by academic potential beliefs and feelings. On the other hand, life satisfaction was predicted positively by social self-efficacy. In addition, the association between academic potential beliefs and feelings and life satisfaction was fully mediated by social self-efficacy. Together, the findings illuminate the social processes underlying the association of academic potential beliefs and feelings with life satisfaction.     

Una evaluación de las dinámicas psicosociales relacionadas con la organización terrorista ETA y la política antiterrorista del gobierno español entre 2004 y 2008

Resumen

Este artículo analiza las principales iniciativas adoptadas en relación con la negociación con la organización terrorista ETA por parte del gobierno español entre 2004 y 2008 demostrando la relevancia que destacados mecanismos psicosociales tuvieron para la defensa de la política antiterrorista aplicada en ese periodo. El examen de las medidas políticas adoptadas expone una profusa utilización, por parte del gobierno y de otros actores democráticos, de técnicas orientadas a la conformación de opiniones mediante la distorsión de la realidad del terrorismo de ETA. La manipulación de la realidad, ejercicio similar al acometido regularmente por ETA y por otras organizaciones terroristas, llevó al gobierno y a diversos medios de comunicación a tergiversar los argumentos fundamentales sobre los que se diseñó la política antiterrorista del periodo objeto de análisis con el fin de obtener el respaldo de la opinión pública. Por tanto se estudiarán las variables psicosociales utilizadas para construir discursos con los que se argumentó a favor de la política gubernamental, analizándose también las racionalizaciones con las que se justificó a pesar de unos costes constantemente negados.     

The relation of sensitivity to provocation and frustration to direct aggression: the mediating role of beliefs about aggression / La relación entre la sensibilidad a la provocación y a la frustración y la agresión directa: el papel mediador de las creencias sobre la agresión

Previous research has suggested that sensitivity to provocation and frustration differently predict aggressive behaviour. In the study reported in this paper, two potential mediators of the relationships among both sensitivities and self-reported aggression were examined, namely instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression. A sample of 318 participants (52% men) took part in the study. Structural Equation Modeling demonstrated that sensitivity to provocation was related to both types of beliefs about aggression, whereas sensitivity to frustration was associated with expressive beliefs. However, only instrumental beliefs mediated the relationship between sensitivity to provocation and both physical and verbal aggression. Analysed variables predicted 46% of the variance in physical aggression and 11% of the variance in verbal aggression. Additionally, men reported higher physical aggression and endorsed more instrumental beliefs than women. Implications for understanding emotional and cognitive mechanisms involved in regulation of aggression are discussed.     

Complementary gender stereotypes and system justification: the moderating role of essentialist lay theories for group differences / Estereotipos de género complementarios y justificación del sistema: el papel moderador de las teorías populares esencialistas sobre las diferencias grupales

Past research has established that complementary stereotypes of men and women serve to justify the gendered division of labour as well as the division of labour in society at large. This paper is concerned with the essentialist lay theories for the origin of group differences (i.e. belief in genetic determinism vs. belief in social determinism) which may moderate the justificatory effect of complementary gender stereotypes. We present data from an experimental study conducted in Greece, in which genetic vs. social deterministic lay theories for group differences and complementary vs. non-complementary accounts of gender differences were crossed. In these data, complementary accounts of gender increased participants’ justificatory responses only when a genetic deterministic context was made salient; on the contrary, the social deterministic context appeared to buffer the justificatory function of complementary accounts of gender. The results extend the literatures on the justificatory effects of complementary stereotypes as well as on essentialism, and point to the importance of the historical context in which particular ideas and lay theories for intergroup differences are embedded.     

From interpersonal to extended fusion: relationships between fusion with siblings and fusion with the country / Desde la fusión interpersonal a la fusión extendida: Relaciones entre la fusión con los hermanos y la fusión con el país

Abstract

Identity fusion is a visceral feeling of oneness with a group. Although research on identity fusion focuses on the alignment of individuals with groups, we propose that fusion can develop between two individuals. In particular, we explore for the first time identity fusion between siblings and its relation with endorsement of extreme behaviour to protect the sibling. In a study conducted with 761 couples of siblings we found that fusion with the sibling is positively associated with willingness to fight and die for the sibling. Additionally, we address the relation between interpersonal and extended fusion. Specifically, a positive association between fusion with the sibling and fusion with the country emerged. The hypothesis that extended fusion might require the projection of interpersonal ties to a large category is discussed.     

Social perception of intimate partner violence according to the motivations and sex of the aggressor and the ideology and sex of the observers / Percepción social de la violencia de pareja en función de las motivaciones y sexo del/a agresor/a y de la ideología y sexo de los/as observadores/as

We studied how the sex of the aggressor and their motivations for attacking influence the social perception of intimate partner violence, as well as the sex of the observer and their sexist ideology. University students read a scenario in which both members of a heterosexual couple harmed each other owing to controlling or reactive motivations. After that, they were asked to identify the motivations of each partner and estimate the seriousness of what occurred, the number of aggressions described and the frequency of this kind of episode in real life. The results showed that the men and women properly identified the motivations underlying the aggressive behaviours, considered control violence more serious than reactive violence, and perceived more of the first kind of aggression. However, the men estimated a lower frequency of these episodes in real life, especially episodes of control violence. The ambivalent sexism of the men is related to these assessments. These results are particularly important with regard to the debate on gender symmetry/asymmetry in intimate partner violence.     

Effect of the content of a news item on Spaniards’ attitudes towards Palestinians and Israelis / Efecto del contenido de una noticia sobre la actitud de los españoles hacia palestinos e israelíes

Based on the effects of framing on audience opinion, the attitudes towards Palestinians and Israelis are evaluated when a news item reports on a violent event between the two sides. To do so, a short inter-group experiment was conducted. A 3 (manipulation of the news item) x 2 (group evaluated) design was applied. Three news formats were presented: (1) about a Palestinian attack on Israel; (2) about an Israeli attack on Palestine; (3) no news item. Half of the participants evaluated the Israelis while the other half evaluated the Palestinians. The results of the study, which was performed with a Spanish sample (N = 319), showed that there were no differences in the evaluation of the group according to the group evaluated, although there were differences according to the manipulation of the news item: in both conditions in which one group attacked another, the group evaluated was rated more negatively than the control group. The results also showed that both emotions and stereotypes mediated the effects of framing on prejudice. These results suggest that the participants’ attitude seems to depend more on the violent framing of the news items than on the role assigned to each group and that emotional processes and stereotypes are what regulate these attitudes.     

Authentic leadership and its influence on group cohesion and organizational identification: the role of organizational justice as a mediating variable / El liderazgo auténtico y su influencia sobre la cohesión grupal y la identificación organizacional: el papel de la justicia organizacional como variable mediadora

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between authentic leadership, group cohesion, organizational identification and the potential effect of organizational justice as a mediating variable. Partial Least Squares (PLS) modelling was used to analyse the data from 210 employees at several Spanish companies. The results showed that organizational justice as a mediator in the proposed model and positive relationships among the variables studied. These findings are discussed taking into account the importance of the authentic leadership model in the study of group processes in organizations and the development of policies and behaviours that promote ethics, transparency and justice in companies.     

‘Believing is adapting’: Belief in a just world and emigrants’ identification and satisfaction with the host country / ‘Creer es adaptarse’: Creer en un mundo justo y la identificación y satisfacción de los emigrantes con el país de acogida

In an era in which Europe is experiencing a new wave of emigration as a result of the economic crisis, it seems socially relevant to study the processes that underlie emigrants’ adjustment to their new place of living. Research has thoroughly supported the assumption that believing in a just world is an adaptive mechanism that helps people to deal with uncertainty and harsh realities in life. We propose that the endorsement of such beliefs might also contribute to a positive identification with the host country. Using a sample of Portuguese emigrants (N = 144), we demonstrate in a cross-sectional design that belief in a just world predicts a positive identification with the host country. In addition, positive levels of identification with the host country predicted higher levels of satisfaction with emigrant life. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.