The Social Psychology of the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election

The 2004 U.S. presidential election was determined not by simple demographics and the power of incumbency, but by emotions such as fear and shame, aspects of the self-concept such as moralism and religiosity, and other psychological phenomena ranging from the self-deception of voters to the linguistic styles of the candidates. In introducing the papers in this special issue of ASAP on the social psychology of the election, I examine the effect sizes for psychological constructs such as religiosity, moralism, and terror. I suggest that pride and shame are likely determinants of the widely reported exit poll discrepancies, and argue that outgroup homogeneity was critical in determining the outcome of the election.     

Education and Social Desirability Bias: The Case of a Black Presidential Candidate*

Objective. Survey research consistently reports a positive association between educational attainment and socially tolerant attitudes, but critics hold that respondents with high levels of education may simply purport to hold attitudes seen as socially desirable. In this article, we seek to adjudicate between the claim that the association between education and social tolerance is simply an artifact of sophisticated social desirability reporting on the part of well‐educated respondents and the competing theory that education has a real impact on increasing forms of social tolerance. Methods. Using support for a black presidential candidate as our measure of social tolerance, we utilize an innovative online list experiment to test whether high levels of support are inflated because of social desirability reporting among the educational elite. Results. We find no evidence of systematic overreporting of support for a black presidential candidate among respondents with high levels of education, and note that social desirability bias declines as educational attainment increases. Conclusions. This research bolsters arguments about the liberalizing effect of education on socially tolerant attitudes, and challenges evidence that attributes this relationship to high levels of social desirability bias.     

The Festival of Progress: The Globalizing World-System and the Transformation of the Caracas Carnival

While the carnival in Latin America functions as a form of popular entertainment, it can also be viewed as having other roles. Robert Lavenda examines the Caracas carnival as an event which is atonce symptomatic of the social reality that surrounds it and able to bring about change within Venezuelan society. As popular culture, the carnival has been an important mediator in directing this society toward the modern capitalist worJd-system. Lavenda traces how, under the leadership o f Antonio Guzman Blanco, Venezuela took a major step in the second half of the nineteenth certury towards becoming a modern country. Under Guzman's and other modernizers' influence the old carnival, which had been characterized as a wild and rowdy small-group activity, was transformed to bring it into line with contemporary European models, that is, a highly organized and closely monitored mass celebration. The author discusses how the new power relationships that had developed in the city were reflected by the composition of the carnival's governing board. By setting up a series of oppositions between the South American and European versions of the carnival, Caracas' ruling elite hoped to orient the masses away from the former values and towards the latter.     

The Generality of Theory and the Specificity of Social Behavior: Contrasting Experimental and Hermeneutic Social Science

Since its inception, experimental social psychology has arguably been of two minds about the nature and role of theory. Contemporary social psychology's experimental approach has been strongly informed by the “nomological‐deductive” approach of Carl Hempel in tandem with the “hypothetico‐deducive” approach of Karl Popper. Social psychology's commitment to this hybrid model of science has produced at least two serious obstacles to more fruitful theorizing about human experience: (1) the problem of situational specificity, and (2) the manifest impossibility of formulating meaningful general laws of human social behavior. It is argued that a social psychology based on the search for this kind of lawfulness, under the auspices of either a strict or loose interpretation of the largely Hempelian model, is ultimately unworkable. An alternative approach to social psychology that is attentive both to the need for understanding individual situations and behaviors and to the need for generalized understanding of actual human behaviors is offered. This approach is grounded in the hermeneutic tradition.     

The Policy Roundtable Model: Encouraging Scholar–Practitioner Collaborations to Address Poverty-related Social Problems

Robust exchange between those who make and carry out social policy and those who study social conditions can improve both policy and research. This article presents a programing model, Policy Roundtables, which promotes interchange and creates greater capacity for collaboration between two disparate communities, academic researchers and local policy practitioners. Data come from a formative evaluation of the host center’s programing. We asked academic scholars and community-based practitioners about what they learned from participating in the Roundtables and how they used that knowledge. Analysis of interviews with nine respondents and surveys of 35 informants suggest that the Policy Roundtables inform participants, spread learning back to organizations, and create social capital that can be deployed in the form of collaborations between research and practice communities.     

The International Social Security Association after 60 Years

The International Social Security Association is marking this year its 60th Anniversary, and this is an appropriate time to consider and evaluate the organization's work. Does the apparatus of Committees, reports and a triennial Assembly justify the cost of participation by members, ultimately borne by contributors or taxpayers? The paper gives a brief history of ISSA and its forerunners, describes the working methods, gives an account of the 22nd Assembly held in 1986 in Montreal, and concludes with an assessment of its efficacy.     

当代西方国家社会保障制度的演变

当代西方国家的社会保障制度类型不同 ,但是有着大致相同的发展进程 :从不断扩大到相对收缩态势 ;由单纯扶贫转向开发扶贫 ;兼顾丰裕社会进程中不同弱势集团的贫困 ;协调社会保障安全网的完善和过度保障带来的新问题     

近十年社科院系统获国家社科基金项目统计分析

以2001--2010年社科院系统国家社科基金项目立项情况为研究对象,分析项目类别、年度分布、单位分布、学科分布,并与前期进行比较。结果表明,社科院系统仍是国家社科基金项目的次要承担者,但所占比重逐年下降;项目立项存在地区分布、学科发展失衡,中国社科院一枝独大的现象。建议继续加强地方社科院研究经费投入力度等措施。