The Role of Witnesses in Humiliation: Why Does the Presence of an Audience Facilitate Humiliation Among Victims of Devaluation?

We examined the role that witnesses play in triggering humiliation. We hypothesized that witnesses trigger humiliation because they intensify the two core appraisals underlying humiliation: unfairness and internalization of a devaluation of the self. However, we further propose that witnesses are not a defining characteristic of humiliating situations. Results of a preliminary study using an event-recall method confirmed that witnesses were as characteristic of humiliating episodes as of those that elicited shame or anger. In Experiments 1 and 2, we manipulated the presence (vs. absence) of witnesses when a professor devalued participants and the hostile tone of this devaluation. As hypothesized, in both experiments, witnesses indirectly increased humiliation via the appraisal of unfairness. Results of Experiment 2 revealed that the presence of witnesses also interacted with hostility, enhancing humiliation. As expected, this moderating effect occurred via the other key appraisal of humiliation (i.e., internalization).

Influence of Group Identification on Malicious and Benign Envy: A Cross-Sectional Developmental Study.

Envy is the result of a social comparison that shows us a negative image of ourselves. The present study addresses the effect of the context of group comparison and group identification on children's expression of this emotion. Through different stories, participants aged between 6 and 11 years were exposed to four contexts of upward social comparison in which they had to adopt the role of the disadvantaged character. From their emotional responses and their decisions in a resource allocation task, three response profiles were created: malicious envy, benign envy, and non-envy. Although we found important differences between verbal and behavioral responses, the results showed greater envy, both malicious and benign, when the envied was an out-group. On the other hand, when the envied belonged to the in-group and competed with a member of the out-group, malicious but not benign envy practically disappeared. With age, envious responses decreased, and non-envious responses increased. The role of social identity in the promotion and inhibition of envy is discussed, as well as the acquisition of emotional display rules in the benign envy and non-envy profiles.

Individualism: one or many? / Individualismo: uno o muchos

It is contended that Individualism is something more than one of the poles of the I-C dimension. Furthermore: a) its meaning cannot be reduced to that of a mere self-ingroup conflict, and b) its function cannot be reduced to establishing cross cultural comparisons since it is also present at the subcultural level. 20 groups of about 10-12 subjects from eight different Autonomous Communities (regions) of Spain participated in the first phase of the research. They discussed freely on several I-C issues proposed by an interviewer (a member of the research team) in a semi-directed interview during an hour and a half. Eventually, a list of different statements was compiled from them and two equivalent pilot scales of about 164 items each were generated (forms A and B). 997 subjects (724 fe m a l e, 273 male) participated in a second phase. Most of them were University students (age mean of 22,6 years) and came from 8 different spanish regions. In group’s discussions appeared many issues different f rom those implied by the I-C dimension. The answers to the scales, in spite of the high homogeneity of the sample, reflected differences due to sex, age, geographical origin, intensity of religious fe e l i n g and position along the ideological continuum, among others. Several cluster analyses uncovered different combinations of answers to the Individualism facets, suggesting that Individualism is best conceived as a «multifaceted» phenomenon. In the light of these results, implications for further research are discussed (AU)

Se plantea que el individualismo es uno más de los polos de la dimensión I-C. Aun más, su sentido no se puede reducir al de un mero conflicto entre el individuo y el grupo y su función tampoco puede reducirse a las comparaciones transculturales, ya que las diferencias en individualismo están presentes a nivel subcultural. 20 grupos de alrededor 10-12 sujetos de 8 Comunidades Autónomas de España participaron en la primera fase de esta investigación. Discutieron libremente varias problemáticas del individualismo- colectivismo propuestas por un entrevistador del grupo de investigación en una entrevista semiestructurada durante una hora y media. Una lista de las diferentes afirmaciones formulada por los grupos se utilizo para conformar dos escalas piloto de alrededor 164 ítems cada una, formas A y B. 997 personas (724 mujeres, 273 hombres) participaron en una segunda fase. La mayoría de ellos eran estudiantes universitarios (media de edad 22,6 años) y provenían de 8 regiones españolas diferentes. En las discusiones de grupo emergieron diferentes problemáticas muy distintas de las implicadas por la dimensión Individualismo- Colectivismo. Las respuestas a las escalas, a pesar de la alta homogeneidad de la muestra reflejaron diferencias asociadas al sexo, la edad, el origen geográfico, la intensidad del sentimiento religioso y las posiciones ideológicas entre otras. Varios análisis de conglomerados descubrieron diferentes combinaciones de respuesta a las facetas del individualismo, lo que sugiere que el individualismo se puede concebir mejor como un fenómeno de «múltiples facetas». En base a estos resultados se analizan las implicaciones para posteriores estudios (AU)