Suchergebnisse

Economic strategies are largely driven by political and economic considerations. However, we contend that social psychological processes, particularly involving social identity, play an important role and should also be a focus for policy strategies. We review evidence on how changes in the macroeconomy can impact social identities, and vice versa. Drawing on social psychological theories of identity and categorization, and using the current European context as a main example, we consider how large scale events (both positive and negative) affect the economy and how this articulates with people's identities. The review considers how consumerism, consumption patterns, and consumer confidence relate to changes in identity. It also considers the consequences of macroeconomic change for social cohesion. We describe a novel model that sets out the likely opportunities and challenges for individuals, groups, and society, in the context of future macroeconomic scenarios: recession, stagnation, and growth. The review highlights the bidirectional nature of the relationship between the economy and social identity, and calls for policy makers to consider social psychological perspectives when developing economic strategies.

OBJECTIVES: Alcohol consumption is the fifth leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The development and promotion of lower strength alcohol products may help reduce alcohol consumption and associated harms. This study assessed what a sample of UK weekly drinkers perceived to be the target groups and occasions for drinking wines and beers labelled with different verbal and numerical descriptors of lower alcohol strength. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: 3390 adults (1697 wine and 1693 beer drinkers) were sampled from a nationally representative UK panel, and participated in a between-subjects experiment in which participants were randomised to 1 of 18 groups with one of three levels of verbal descriptor (Low vs. Super Low vs. No verbal descriptor) and six levels of V (five levels varying for wine and beer, and no level given). MEASURES: The study gauged participants' perceptions of the type of person that would find the randomised beverage appealing and the type of occasion on which the beverage is likely to be drunk at. RESULTS: A principal component analysis showed that participants perceived pregnant women, sportspeople and those aged 6-13 years old were the target groups for products labelled with 0V or the verbal descriptors Low or Super Low, whereas men, women, and those aged above 18 were perceived as the target groups for products labelled with higher V. Participants also rated the products labelled with 0V or the verbal descriptors Low or Super Low as targeting consumption on weekday lunches, whereas products labelled with higher V were rated as targeting dinner/evening occasions, including parties, holidays and celebrations. CONCLUSIONS: Lower strength products were seen as targeting non-traditional consumers (pregnant women) and occasions (weekday lunchtimes), suggesting these products may be perceived as extensions to regular strength alcoholic drinks rather than as substitutes for them. ; This report is independent research commissioned and funded by the National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme (Policy Research Unit in Behaviour and Health [PR-UN-0409-10109]) and a National Institute for Health Research Response Mode Grant [PR-ST-0615-10012]). The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health and Social Care or its arm's length bodies, and other Government Departments. The final version of the report and ultimate decision to submit for publication was determined by the authors.

Public support for many policies that tackle obesity by changing environments is low. This may reflect commonly held causal beliefs about obesity, namely that it is due to failures of self-control rather than environmental influences. Several studies have sought to increase public support by changing these and similar causal beliefs, with mixed results. The current review is the first systematic synthesis of these studies. Searches of PsycInfo, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Open Grey yielded 20 eligible studies (N = 8977) from 11,776 abstracts. Eligible studies were controlled experiments with an intervention group that communicated information about the environment's role in obesity, and a measure of support for environment-based obesity policies. The protocol was prospectively registered on PROSPERO. Meta-analyses showed no evidence that communicating information about the environment's influence on obesity changed policy support or the belief that the environment influences obesity. A likely explanation for this null effect is the ineffectiveness of interventions that were designed to change the belief that the environment influences obesity. The possibility remains, however, that the association observed between beliefs about the causes of obesity and attitudes towards obesity policies is correlational and not causal.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A previous research study concluded that wine and beer labelled as lower in strength increase consumption compared with the same drinks labelled as regular strength. The label included both a verbal and numerical descriptor of strength. The present study aimed to estimate the effect of each of these label components. DESIGN: Adaptive, parallel group randomised controlled trial, comprising an internal pilot sample (n1 = 90) and a confirmatory sample (n2 = 57). SETTING: University bar laboratory in London, United Kingdom (UK). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 147 weekly wine drinkers were sampled from a nationally representative English panel. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomised to one of three groups to taste test wine in a bar-laboratory, varying only in the label displayed: (i) verbal descriptor only (Super Low); (ii) numerical descriptor only (4% alcohol by volume (ABV)); and (iii) verbal descriptor and numerical descriptor combined (Super Low 4V) (each group n = 49). MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was total volume (ml) of wine consumed. FINDINGS: Participants randomised to the numerical descriptor label group (4V: M = 155.12 ml, B = 20.30; 95% CI = 3.92, 36.69; P value = 0.016) and combined verbal and numerical descriptor label group (Super Low 4V: M = 154.59 ml, B = 20.68; 95% CI = 4.32, 37.04; P value = 0.014) drank significantly greater amounts than those randomised to the verbal descriptor label group (Super Low: M = 125.65 ml). CONCLUSIONS: This bar laboratory study estimated that a greater quantity of 'lower' strength wine was consumed when the label included a numerical strength descriptor compared with a verbal only strength descriptor. ; The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme (Policy Research Unit in Behaviour and Health [PR-UN-0409-10109]). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders, the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health and Social Care or its arm's length bodies, and other Government Departments.

Honor concerns are considered an important part of one's self-image, and strongly associated to cultural values. However, there is a lack of research studies that explore these concerns in more than two cultural communities. Across eight countries (Brazil, Israel, Japan, Macedonia, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States), participants (total N = 1098) answered the Honor Scale and the Community, Autonomy, and Divinity Scale. Individualistic cultures, such as the USA, were predominantly concerned with integrity honor, while Israel, Macedonia, and Japan (i.e., honor cultures) rated family honor closer to integrity in importance. Subscales measuring masculine and feminine honor showed gender differences, but not in all cultures; "masculine" honor items were often endorsed by both men and women alike. Regarding honor associations to moral codes, family concerns were closely related to community, integrity concerns were related to autonomy, and feminine concerns were related to divinity.

Major terrorist events, such as the recent attacks in Ankara, Sinai, and Paris, can have profound effects on a nation's values, attitudes, and prejudices. Yet psychological evidence testing the impact of such events via data collected immediately before and after an attack is understandably rare. In the present research, we tested the independent and joint effects of threat (the July 7, 2005, London bombings) and political ideology on endorsement of moral foundations and prejudices among two nationally representative samples (combined N = 2,031) about 6 weeks before and 1 month after the London bombings. After the bombings, there was greater endorsement of the in-group foundation, lower endorsement of the fairness-reciprocity foundation, and stronger prejudices toward Muslims and immigrants. The differences in both the endorsement of the foundations and the prejudices were larger among people with a liberal orientation than among those with a conservative orientation. Furthermore, the changes in endorsement of moral foundations among liberals explained their increases in prejudice. The results highlight the value of psychological theory and research for understanding societal changes in attitudes and prejudices after major terrorist events. ; We are grateful to Age UK, the United Kingdom Equality and Human Rights Commission, NatCen Social Research, Amy Cuddy, Susan Fiske, and colleagues at the Centre for the Study of Group Processes for contributions to discussions and consultation in the preparation for the research. ; This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from SAGE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797615615584.

Major terrorist events, such as the recent attacks in Ankara, Sinai, and Paris, can have profound effects on a nation's values, attitudes, and prejudices. Yet psychological evidence testing the impact of such events via data collected immediately before and after an attack is understandably rare. In the present research, we tested the independent and joint effects of threat (the July 7, 2005, London bombings) and political ideology on endorsement of moral foundations and prejudices among two nationally representative samples (combined N = 2,031) about 6 weeks before and 1 month after the London bombings. After the bombings, there was greater endorsement of the in-group foundation, lower endorsement of the fairness-reciprocity foundation, and stronger prejudices toward Muslims and immigrants. The differences in both the endorsement of the foundations and the prejudices were larger among people with a liberal orientation than among those with a conservative orientation. Furthermore, the changes in endorsement of moral foundations among liberals explained their increases in prejudice. The results highlight the value of psychological theory and research for understanding societal changes in attitudes and prejudices after major terrorist events.