Motives for the Acceptance of the Social Sharing of Positive and Negative Emotions and Perceived Motives of the Narrator for Sharing the Emotional Episode

By: RIPS - IRSP Blog on 6:54 AM

       People tend to feel the need to talk about their emotional experiences. This phenomenon is called the Social Sharing of Emotion. A research note recently published in International Review of Social Psychology offers a new perspective on social sharing of emotions by focusing not only on people who shared emotional experiences but also on those who listened, and in particular by trying to understand what may lead someone to accept the social sharing of emotion. In most cases, the narrator perceived the social sharing of his emotions as useful and beneficial (see Rimé, 2007). However, what about the listener? The study recently published in the IRSP originally investigates (1) why people listen and (2) what are their perceptions of the narrator’s motives.

Source: shutterstock

After recovering a recent situation in which participants listened someone’s emotional (positive or negative) episode, they were asked to list reasons (1) why they accepted the social sharing and (2) why they perceived that the narrator needed to speak with them. Results show that the acceptance of social sharing is principally predicted by the need to afford social support and preserve social relationship. However, depending on the valence of the emotional experiences (i.e., sharing of positive or negative emotions), different motives emerged. Indeed, for positive events, the categories bonding, empathy and information (i.e., being informed about what had occurred during the event) were the main reported motives. For negative events, the categories of emotional support and social support were the most frequently reported. The perceived motives for narrator’s sharing are mainly venting and bonding with the listener and did not differ on the whole for positive or negative events.

     Thus, this research provides new information about the operation of social interactions during social sharing of emotion. Indeed, according to the authors, people listen principally to reinforce relationship and to provide support in view of the perceived narrator’s needs to comfort, express emotion and avoid loneliness.

References :

Delelis, G. & Christophe, V., (2016). Motives for the Acceptance of the Social Sharing of Positive and Negative Emotions and Perceived Motives of the Narrator for Sharing the Emotional Episode. International Review of Social Psychology. 29(1), pp.99–104. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.4

Rimé, B. (2007). Interpersonal emotion regulation In: Gross, J. J. ed.  Handbook of emotion regulation. NY: Guilford Press, pp. 466–485.

Download the article of Delelis & Christophe from the link:

                                            http://www.rips-irsp.com/article/10.5334/irsp.4/

About the Charlies in the streets

By: RIPS - IRSP Blog on 5:12 AM

From the special collection of the International Review of Social Psychology on the social and political psychology of terrorism

Many tags as “We are Charlie”, “Never again”, “Freedom of speech”, “All united” could be read during the gathering of 4 million people all over France to mark the horror of January’s terrorist attacks—on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Paris Hyper Casher supermarket—that left 17 people dead. It was the largest French demonstration of national unity since World War II.
Soon, however, some doubts about the ‘real’ motivations of the Charlies in the streets began to emerge. Were they “good citizens" marching again racism, defending tolerance, and republican values? Or, were they rather implicitly demonstrating their rejection of Islam and Muslims, as suggested by the demographer Emmanuel Todd (2015)?

In his book “Who is Charlie? Sociology of a Religious Crisis”, Emmanuel Todd (2015) argued that the rallies were not what they appeared to be. Far from corresponding to the image of people standing together conveyed by the media, Todd thinks that the deeper motivations of the Charlies in the streets were islamophobic—although they publicly displayed antiracist attitudes. His massively contested and controversial book instantly became a bestseller, with more than 60 000 copies sold worldwide.

A special collection on the social and political psychology of terrorism was recently published in the International Review of Social Psychology (IRSP), with two articles focusing on what drove Charlie Hebdo’s marchers.

The Charlie Hebdo marchers explicitly displayed egalitarian values

The article of Nonna Mayer and Vincent Tiberj (“Who were the « Charlie » in the streets? A socio-political approach of the January 11 rallies”) analyzed the socio-cultural, political, and ideological profile of the participants to the Charlie rallies through a large national survey. The research was conducted between March, 3 and 11, 2015, on a representative sample of 1040 French people. The results showed that those who participated in the rallies were mostly young, urban, educated, and leftwing citizens—which does not reflect the MAZ bloc (“Middle class, Aged and Zombies”; i.e., culturally catholic) described by Todd. The most inclined to join the Charlie Hebdo rallies were those with the lowest declared scores of islamophobia and xenophobia. In other words, those who had negative explicit attitudes toward Muslims and Islam participated less than those who had not.

There was no dissociation between implicit and explicit

In the same vein, Oulmann Zerhouni, Marine Rougier, and Dominique Muller (“"Who (really) is Charlie?" French cities with lower implicit prejudice toward Arabs demonstrated larger participation rates in Charlie Hebdo rallies ») questioned Todd’s assumption about the deeper motivations of the Charlie Hebdo’s marchers. Indeed, Todd’s hypothesis leads one to think that even if those marchers would publicly display antiracist attitudes, they were ultimately driven by islamophobic implicit attitudes (i.e., that were not part of their conscious experience), deriving from the Catholic background of the cities involved. Through the use of data on the French/Arab Implicit Association Test (IAT)—able to reveal subtle or implicit level of prejudice toward an outgroup—they tested whether implicit prejudice, measured at a city-level, could predict the participation rate observed in these same French cities. Their results showed that cities implicitly biased against Arabs (as compared with French) participated less, and not more, to the rallies. Importantly, highly culturally catholic cities did not provide higher IAT scores compared to cities with less or small Catholic background, which means that the larger participation observed in these cities cannot be attributed to anti-Arab prejudice.

In sum, in contrast to Todd’s claim, these two studies showed that those who participated to the rallies publicly displayed egalitarian values on the one hand, and that the cities who participated the most to the rallies showed less implicit xenophobic attitudes, not more, on the other hand. Thus, it seems that Todd’s argument about the “unconscious” drive deriving from historical and religious traditions of the people who joined the rallies is, one more time, being challenged.

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References 

Mayer, N., & Tiberj, V. (2016). Who were the «Charlie» in the Streets? A Socio-Political Approach of the January 11 Rallies [Qui étaient Les “Charlie” dans la rue? Approche Socio-Politique des Rassemblements du 11 Janvier]. International Review of Social Psychology, 29(1).

Todd, E. (2015). Who is Charlie? Sociology of a Religious Crisis [Qui est Charlie?: Sociologie d’une crise religieuse]. Paris: Seuil.

Zerhouni, O., Rougier, M., & Muller, D. (2016). “Who (Really) is Charlie?” French Cities with Lower Implicit Prejudice toward Arabs Demonstrated Larger Participation Rates in Charlie Hebdo Rallies [“Qui est (Vraiment) Charlie?” Les Villes Françaises à plus Faible niveau de Préjugés Implicites envers les Maghrébins ont davantage Participé aux rassemblements de Charlie Hebdo]. International Review of Social Psychology, 29(1).

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Read the summery of the special collection and download these (open-access) articles here: http://psysoc-bullhorn.blogspot.fr/2016/09/international-review-of-social.html#.V-puTjLpN1M

Learn more about the IRSP on the IRSP's website (http://www.rips-irsp.com) and blog (http://psysoc-bullhorn.blogspot.fr).

You can also receive the latest news of the journal by subscribing to the IRSP’s Facebook Page or Twitter account.

International Review of Social Psychology (IRSP): Special collection “ Je suis Charlie”: New findings on the social and political psychology of terrorism

By: RIPS - IRSP Blog on 7:13 AM

International Review of Social Psychology (IRSP): Special collection

“ Je suis Charlie”: New findings on the social and political psychology of terrorism

We are happy to announce a forthcoming special collection on the social and political psychology of terrorism in the International Review of Social Psychology (IRSP).

This special collection, edited by Armelle Nugier and Serge Guimond (Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive, CNRS-UMR 6024, Université Clermont Auvergne, France), takes an in-depth look at the psychological reactions to terrorism –with a special emphasis on the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Casher in Paris, France.

Summary of the special collection

IRSP is an open-access journal, and all articles are available via the website of the RIPS (http://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/). You can get more information by following the review on social media, or by visiting the blog of the journal (contacts below).

Nugier & Guimond
« Je suis Charlie »: new findings on the social and political psychology of terrorism (Introduction to the special issue): http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.60

Cohu, Maisonneuve, & Testé
The “Charlie-Hebdo” effect: repercussions of the January 2015 terrorist attacks in France on prejudice toward immigrants and North-Africans, social dominance orientation, and attachment to the principle of laïcité: http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.59

Mayer & Tiberj
Who were the « Charlie » in the streets? A socio-political approach of the January 11 rallies: http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.63

Zerhouni, Rougier & Muller
"Who (really) is Charlie?" French cities with lower implicit prejudice toward Arabs demonstrated larger participation rates in Charlie Hebdo rallies: http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.50

Nugier, Roebroeck, Anier, Kleinlogel, Chatard, & Guimond
The psychological effects of terrorism are moderated by cultural worldviews: http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.61

Pelletier & Drozda-senkowska
The Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris: Follow-up of french citizens' terrorist threat perception and its aftermath: http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.51

About the journal

Founded in 1988, the IRSP has since published about a hundred issues. The IRSP publishes literature reviews, theoretical notes and empirical research in all areas of social psychology. The journal is fully peer-reviewed and is indexed by the following services: PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, CrossRef, JISC KB+, SHERPA RoMEO, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Google Scholar. In addition, all journals are available for harvesting via OAI-PMH.

The journal was previously published by the Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, with the journal transferring to the open access platform from Ubiquity Press in 2016. All content from this date can be accessed completely free of charge. Back content for this journal from 2015 and earlier can be found at https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-psychologie-sociale.htm

Contacts

Learn more about the IRSP on the IRSP's website (http://www.rips-irsp.com) and blog (http://psysoc-bullhorn.blogspot.fr).

You can also receive the latest news of the journal by subscribing to the IRSP’s Facebook Page or Twitter account.


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Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale (RIPS): Numéro spécial
« Je suis Charlie » : Nouvelles Avancées en Psychologie Sociale et Politique du Terrorisme

Nous sommes heureux d'annoncer un numéro spécial à paraître sur la psychologie sociale et politique du terrorisme à la Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale (RIPS).

Ce numéro spécial est édité par Armelle Nugier et Serge Guimond (Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive, CNRS-UMR 6024, Université Clermont Auvergne, France) et s’intéresse aux réactions psychologiques provoquées par le terrorisme – en se centrant plus particulièrement sur l'attaque de Janvier 2015 à Charlie Hebdo et à l’Hyper Casher à Paris, France.

Sommaire du numéro spécial

La RIPS est un journal 100% open-access, tous les articles sont accessibles via le site Web de la revue (http://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/). Vous pouvez obtenir plus d’informations en suivant la revue sur les réseaux sociaux ou en consultant le blog de la revue (contacts ci-dessous).

Nugier & Guimond
« Je suis Charlie » : Nouvelles Avancées en Psychologie Sociale et Politique du Terrorisme (Introduction du numéro spécial) : http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.60 

Cohu, Maisonneuve, & Testé
L’effet « Charlie » : répercussions des attentats de Janvier 2015 en France sur les préjugés, l’orientation à la dominance sociale et le degré d’attachement au principe de laïcité : http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.59

Mayer & Tiberj
Qui étaient les « Charlie » dans la rue ? Approche socio-politique des rassemblements du 11 Janvier : http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.63

Zerhouni, Rougier & Muller
« Qui est (vraiment) Charlie ? » Les villes françaises à plus faible niveau de préjugés implicites envers les maghrébins ont davantage participé aux rassemblements de Charlie Hebdo : http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.50

Nugier, Roebroeck, Anier, Kleinlogel, Chatard, & Guimond
Les effets psychologiques du terrorisme sont modérés par les normes culturelles : http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.61

Pelletier & Drozda-senkowska
L’attaque terroriste de Charlie Hebdo à Paris : Évolution temporelle de la perception de la menace terroriste et de ses conséquences auprès des citoyens français : http://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.51

A propos de la revue

Créée en 1988, la RIPS a publié près d’une centaine de numéros. La RIPS publie des synthèses critiques, des notes théoriques et des recherches empiriques dans tous les champs de la psychologie sociale. Les expertises des textes proposés sont réalisées par un comité de lecture international. La revue est indexée dans les bases suivantes : PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, CrossRef, JISC KB+, SHERPA RoMEO, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), et Google Scholar. Par ailleurs, toutes les revues rentrent dans le cadre de l'Initiative des Archives Ouvertes (OAI-PMH).

Avant Janvier 2016, la RIPS était publiée par les Presses Universitaires de Grenoble. Tous les articles publiés avant cette date peuvent être retrouvés à l’adresse : https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-psychologie-sociale.htm
La revue a été transférée sur la plate-forme Ubiquity Press en Janvier 2016. Tous les articles publiés à partir de cette date sont entièrement accessibles gratuitement.

Contacts

Pour en savoir plus sur la RIPS, vous pouvez visiter le site internet (http://www.rips-irsp.com) et le blog de la revue (http://psysoc-bullhorn.blogspot.fr).

Vous pouvez aussi souscrire à la Page Facebook ou au compte Twitter de la revue.

How does acculturation to the liberal ideology influence us?

By: RIPS - IRSP Blog on 5:53 AM

Liberalism promotes uniqueness, initiative, critical thinking and personal achievements. The American dream – being a ‘self-made (wo)man’ – is an incarnation of such values, that encourages the belief that people can succeed through hard work and self-determination.

Obviously, television shows and movies perpetuate liberal values. The Apple advertising campaign from two decades ago, “Think Different”, is a good window into the liberal culture. Even the logo of the brand, a bitten apple, symbolizes that going against rules and standards generates imagination and creativity. French advertisements are also an important vector for the spread of liberal values, such as the Citroën DS3 add (2013, “step out of line”), or the Lancôme add (2012, “In a world full of diktats and convention, couldthere be another way?”).

Source: shutterstock

How acculturation to the liberal ideology influences us? To examine this question, Codou, Priolo, Camus, Schadron, Morchain, and Denis-Remis designed an experiment, published in the IRSP in 2012, to test the effect of liberal priming on the tendency to attribute behavior to internal causes (e.g., personal factors: traits, abilities, or personality) rather than external causes (e.g., situational factors, luck).

Acculturation to liberal ideology and internality

Participants were asked to examine and evaluate various advertising messages. They received a booklet containing either 15 advertisements that used liberal values as sales argument (e.g., “Think different” Apple, “Your perfume, your rules of the game” Hugo Boss etc.), either 15 advertisements using sales arguments that did not refer directly to liberal values (e.g., “Buffalo hide at an exceptional price”). Then, participants were asked to participate in a supposed different study by answering a questionnaire, which was actually the individualistic-pattern questionnaire or QEPI (Questionnaire d’Etude du Pattern Individualiste) proposed by Dubois and Beauvois in 2005. This questionnaire was developed to measure individuals’ attitude toward individualism, and more specifically internality (vs. externality), self-sufficiency (vs. hetero-sufficiency) and individual (vs. categorical) anchoring. 

Source: shutterstock

Each item described a hypothetical event followed by two possible explanations of the event, between which the participants had to choose. Some items attributed a behavior to an internal cause (e.g., “often, people who have bad things happen to them get what they deserve”), or to an external cause (e.g., “are not responsible for their misfortune”), accentuated one’s ability to find ways within oneself to satisfy personal needs or desires (e.g., “to get ahead in life, you have to know that the only person you can count on is yourself”) or accentuated others’ ability to do so (e.g., “you have to know how to knock on the right doors”), and proposed to define oneself in terms of one’s own tastes, attitudes, and behaviors (e.g., “one can like the same art productions at all age”) or in category memberships (e.g., “often, the art productions we like change with age”).

Compared to neutral priming, liberal priming is more likely to facilitate the adoption of individualistic responses. Indeed, when the authors used advertising messages to prime liberal values such as independence, uniqueness, interindividual differences and freedom, participants chose more often sentences with a focus on internality and individual anchoring than the participants primed using a “neutral” material. Thus, this research highlights the relationship between liberal values and individualistic orientations.

Media, culture and society

Media and advertising reflects cultural orientations of our societies (and particularly, the individualistic vs. collectivist dimension ; Hofstede, 1980), and appear to play a strong role in promoting such values at the same time. In a collectivist culture, advertising is more inclined to emphasize the social context, success and harmony in social relations (e.g., Chinese advertising for the Audi Q3, 2013). In such context, an advertisement focusing on the product’s ability to differentiate the individual or the affirmation of individuality may turn out counterproductive: instead of being rejected, similarity is celebrated for the links it created, reinforces or reveals between individuals (e.g., Chinese advertising for an insurance brand).

References 

Codou, O., Priolo, D., Camus, O., Schadron, G., Morchain, P., & Denis-Remis, C. (2012). Ideological priming and normative dimensions of individualism. International Review of Social Psychology / Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale, 25(2), 59-71.

Dubois, N., & Beauvois, J. L. (2005). Normativeness and individualism. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35(1), 123-146.

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.


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