In this paper we address the problem how control deprivation affects stereotyping and prejudice - two major dimensions of intergroup relations. Our research suggests that experience of control loss may interfere with the use of stereotypes as cues in information encoding in memory, information search, and attention allocation. However, this research also reveals that both a generalized expectation of no control (in a survey study) and induced experimentally control-loss experience, may foster negative intergroup reactions. We found that, following control deprivation, negative traits of out-groupers were seen as more typical and positive traits as less typical; also, memory data showed that this experience increased the tendency to 'guess' negative traits and better memorize them among prejudiced subjects (suggesting heightened accessibility of negative attitudes). Thus, paradoxically, as implied by our findings, control deprivation may at the same time inhibit stereotyping and promote negative intergroup perceptions and judgment.
The article aims at exploring the significance of political negotiations for regulating group relations. The authoress wonders to what extent sociology can be useful for the understanding of what is actually occurring during negotiations. She attempts to present a multi-level analysis, taking into account both interactive characteristics as well as the influence of structural factors on negotiation processes. It is organized along the subsequent lines: initially elementary situations were discussed, in which only individuals participate. Next, the authoress presents negotiations of individuals in social networks, negotiations of group representatives, intergroup relations, and finally, the place of negotiation processes in democratic systems. The complex nature of a negotiation situation is noted by the participants, and it causes some decision-making dilemmas which, in turn, shape the situation in question. The analytical approach to this problem can assist in explaining the behavior of actors and the end results of the negotiation process.
Until recently, research on action control and on the content of social information processing formed quite distant, separate domains of psychological inquiry. The work of Wojciszke and Baryla provides a highly promising attempt of bridging these two fields of investigation. In particular, they hypothesize (and present compelling evidence in support of the idea) that being in a position of the agent of a goal-directed activity strongly promotes access to ability categories, whereas being in a position of a recipient of another person's intended action strongly promotes access to communal (e.g. interpersonal) categories. In my comment I address three questions. First, I propose to "go beyond the dichotomy" to consider the importance of the position of a neutral (uninvolved) observer. In contrast to agent and recipient, the neutral observer may be able to engage in more complex and less biased processing of social information. Second, I suggest that not only position in an interaction, but also the content of the goal matters: It seems reasonable to assume that an agent with a pro-social goal will have at least partial access to communal categories. Finally, I suggest that the communal perspective - considered by the Authors as a unified entity - may actually be comprised of two distinct qualities: interpersonal content and intergroup content. So far, the research of Wojciszke and Baryla has been focused on the interpersonal, not intergroup perspective.
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