SPSP November 2012 Tipsheet: The Benefits of Gratitude and More

Story leads and experts on the benefits of gratitude, the link between group victimhood and trust, how weight stigma affects health, and more, available online...

For Thanksgiving and Holidays: Expert on gratitude
Journals: Benefits of social help vary across cultures
Journals: Group victimhood helps predict trust in others
Journals: Reminding women of weight affects health, performance
Journals: Taking another look at monogamy
Recent media advisory: Announcing press briefings for SPSP 2013

For Thanksgiving and Holidays: Experts on gratitude

A growing body of research highlights the importance of gratitude for both social and personal well-being. Ahead of Thanksgiving and the holidays, talk to an expert on gratitude research:

Sara Algoe of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who has investigated how gratitude benefits close relationships, including how expressing gratitude leads to long-term social outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer and the evolutionary role for gratitude. She will be presenting some of this work at the SPSP annual meeting in New Orleans (Jan. 17-19, 2013), and she is a recipient of grant funding through the Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude project. Contact: algoe@unc.edu, 919-962-2538

Join us for a press conference on "Giving, Getting, and Gratitude” on Jan. 19, 2013, at 8:45 a.m., in advance of the symposium on "Beyond 'Thanks': Diverse Perspectives on the Antecedents, Behaviors, and Consequences of Gratitude” on Jan. 19, 2013 at 9:45 a.m., at the annual SPSP meeting in New Orleans.

In the journals-
Benefits of social help vary across cultures

Where you come from may change how you respond to a helping hand, according to new research. In two experiments, Asian Americans experienced more benefits from unsolicited, rather than solicited, help from a peer. For example, the self esteem for Asian American participants was higher and the stress lower when offered unsolicited help on a math problem rather than asking for help. For European Americans, the type of help did not make a difference. "Interpreting a Helping Hand: Cultural Variation in the Effectiveness of Solicited and Unsolicited Social Support,” Taraneh Mojaverian (mojaverian@psych.ucsb.edu) and Heejung S. Kim, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, online Nov. 6, 2012 – in print, January 2013.

Group victimhood helps predict trust in others

Members of a group tend to more easily gain the trust of others in the same group, and new research suggests this is in part a function of whether the group has a shared history of victimization. In a set of four experiments, Jewish or politically conservative participants played an economic trust game. In one such experiment, Jewish participants were more likely to invest in their partner at the risk of losing money if that partner was also Jewish, rather than Christian or of an unspecified background. Controlling for other factors, including group identification, the researchers found that perceived group victimhood was a key factor in shaping this behavior. "Blinding Trust: The Effect of Perceived Group Victimhood on Intergroup Trust,” Katie N. Rotella (katierotella2013@u.northwestern.edu) et al., Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, online November 6, 2012 – in print, January 2013.

Reminding women of weight affects health, performance

Merely telling an overweight woman that she is being videotaped can affect her health as she delivers a speech on a topic germane to appearance, according to a new study. When researchers told women with varying body mass indexes (BMIs) that they were being videotaped while giving a speech about why they would make a good dating partner, those women with higher BMIs had increased blood pressure and worse performance on later tasks than women who thought they were being audiotaped only and than those with average BMIs. The researchers therefore found that simply activating weight stigma can be detrimental to both physical and psychological health. "The Psychological Weight of Weight Stigma,” Brenda Major (major@psych.ucsb.edu) et al. Social Psychological and Personality Science, published November 2012.

Taking another look at monogamy

Monogamy may not always be the best policy, according to a new review paper on the topic. Researchers explored the many long-believed benefits of monogamy, including sexual health and satisfaction, children's well-being, and relational adjustment and found no evidence to date to suggest the superiority of monogamy in those areas. They did, however, see a benefit for mongamy for avoiding stigma. Overall, they found that while monogamy may be an ideal choice for many individuals, consensual non-monogamy may be a viable alternative for those who choose it. ”A Critical Examination of Popular Assumptions About the Benefits and Outcomes of Monogamous Relationships," Terri D. Conley et al. Personality and Social Psychology Review, scheduled to appear online in late-November 2012.

Recent Media Advisory-
Announcing Press Briefings for SPSP 2013 

SPSP invites members of the press to attend its annual meeting January 17-19, 2013, in New Orleans. Come see the latest scientific research in a diverse array of topics – secrets and privacy online, stereotypes and prejudice, morality, status and power, happiness, openness in data, free will, relationships, and more. Registered members of the press will have access to a press room with Wi-Fi and the following exclusive press briefings: How Stereotypes Shape Women's Identities and Careers; Giving, Getting, and Gratitude; and Bullying, Relationships, and Personality: How the Social Media World Maps to Social Reality. More details available online.

Title: "Good Partner, Good Parent: Responsiveness Mediates the Link between Romantic Attachment and Parenting Style” (MS # PSPB-12-156.R2)

Authors: Abigail Millings (abimillings@gmail.com), Judi Walsh, Erica Hepper,and Margaret O’Brien

Abstract

This cross-sectional, dyadic questionnaire study examined the contribution of romantic attachment and responsive caregiving to parenting style, investigating both gender and partner effects. One hundred and twenty-five couples with children aged 7-8 years completed measures of attachment styles, responsive caregiving towards partner, and parenting styles. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the intra- and interpersonal associations between romantic attachment, caregiving responsiveness, and parenting styles. Attachment avoidance and anxiety were both negatively associated with responsive caregiving to partner, which in turn was positively associated with authoritative (optimal) parenting styles and negatively associated with authoritarian and permissive (non-optimal) parenting styles. Responsive caregiving mediated all links between attachment and parenting, with an additional direct association between attachment anxiety and non-optimal parenting styles that was not explained by caregiving responsiveness. Findings are discussed with reference to attachment theory.

Women will find a scientific field less interesting if they expect that they will have to exert more effort in that field than men, according to a set of new studies.

Title: "When Trying Hard Isn’t Natural: Women’s Belonging with and Motivation for Male-Dominated STEM Fields as a Function of Effort Expenditure Concerns” (MS # PSPB-11-560.R4)
Authors: Jessi Smith (jsismith@montana.edu), Karyn L. Lewis, Lauren Hawthorne, and Sara D. Hodges

Abstract

Feeling like one exerts more effort than others may predict women’s feelings of belonging with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and impede their motivation. In Study 1, women STEM graduate students perceived they exerted more effort than peers to succeed. For women, but not men, this effort expenditure perception predicted a decreased sense of belonging, which in turn decreased motivation. Study 2 tested whether the male-dominated status of a field triggers such effort expectations. We created a fictional "Eco-Psychology” graduate program, which when depicted as male-dominated resulted in women expecting to exert relatively more effort and decreased their interest in pursuing the field. Study 3 found that emphasizing effort was expected (and normal) to achieve success elevated women’s feelings of belonging and future motivation. Results suggest effort expenditure perceptions are an indicator women use to assess their fit in STEM. Implications for enhancing women’s participation in STEM are discussed.