Alain Clémence

Representation of human rights across different national contexts : the role of democratic and non-democratic populations and governments

This research studied judgements and inferences on human rights across democratic and non-democratic national contexts. It is argued that when judging diAerent countries, lay perceivers make use of representations of the country’s inhabitants. Stereotypically democratic and non-democratic characteristics of national populations are employed as a basis of political judgements, especially in democratic contexts. In three studies the bases of representations of human rights’ respect and violations are investigated. In the first study 76 subjects drew inferences on the human rights situation from formal descriptions of countries. These are either described with a type of government (democratic or authoritarian) or with national characteristics associated to the population (orderly and discussing or disorderly and clashing). In Study 2 (117 subjects), political and population information are crossed. In Study 3, 126 subjects evaluated the responsibility of the government and of the inhabitants in explaining the general situation in two positively and two negatively described national contexts. The results show the pervasive impact of population information on political judgements. Moreover members of non-democratic countries are viewed as accepting more human rights violations than members of democratic countries. This attitude inference is used by people to account for violations of human rights. Results are discussed in terms of common sense transformation of classical political theories which are grounded on universalism and essentialism. It is suggested that philosophical knowledge, much like

Lay perceptions of collectives at the outbreak of the H1N1 epidemic: heroes, villains and victims

Lay perceptions of collectives (e.g., groups, organizations, countries) implicated in the 2009 H1N1 outbreak were studied. Collectives serve symbolic functions to help laypersons make sense of the uncertainty involved in a disease outbreak. We argue that lay representations are dramatized, featuring characters like heroes, villains and victims. In interviews conducted soon after the outbreak, 47 Swiss respondents discussed the risk posed by H1N1, its origins and effects, and protective measures. Countries were the most frequent collectives mentioned. Poor, underdeveloped countries were depicted as victims, albeit ambivalently, as they were viewed as partly responsible for their own plight. Experts (physicians, researchers) and political and health authorities were depicted as heroes. Two villains emerged: the media (viewed as fear mongering or as a puppet serving powerful interests) and private corporations (e.g., the pharmaceutical industry). Laypersons’ framing of disease threat diverges substantially from official perspectives.

Discovery of the faithfulness gene: A model of transmission and transformation of scientific information

The purpose of this paper is to study the diffusion and transformation of scientific information in everyday discussions. Based on rumour models and social representations theory, the impact of interpersonal communication and pre-existing beliefs on transmission of the content of a scientific discovery was analysed. In three experiments, a communication chain was simulated to investigate how laypeople make sense of a genetic discovery first published in a scientific outlet, then reported in a mainstream newspaper and finally discussed in groups. Study 1 (N=40) demonstrated a transformation of information when the scientific discovery moved along the communication chain. During successive narratives, scientific expert terminology disappeared while scientific information associated with lay terminology persisted. Moreover, the idea of a discovery of a faithfulness gene emerged. Study 2 (N=70) revealed that transmission of the scientific message varied as a function of attitudes towards genetic explanations of behaviour (pro-genetics vs. anti-genetics). Pro-genetics employed more scientific terminology than anti-genetics. Study 3 (N=75) showed that endorsement of genetic explanations was related to descriptive accounts of the scientific information, whereas rejection of genetic explanations was related to evaluative accounts of the information.

Social representations of human rights violations: Further evidence

Social representations of human rights violations were investigated in a questionnaire study conducted in five countries (Costa Rica, France, Italy, Romania, and Switzerland) (N = 1239 young people). We were able to show that respondents organize their understanding of human rights violations in similar ways across nations. At the same time, systematic variations characterized opinions about human rights violations, and the structure of these variations was similar across national contexts. Differences in definitions of human rights violations were identified by a cluster analysis. A broader definition was related to critical attitudes toward governmental and institutional abuses of power, whereas a more restricted definition was rooted in a fatalistic conception of social reality, approval of social regulations, and greater tolerance for institutional infringements of privacy. An atypical definition was anchored either in a strong rejection of social regulations or in a strong condemnation of immoral ind...

Collective symbolic coping with disease threat and othering: a case study of avian influenza.

Much research studies how individuals cope with disease threat by blaming out-groups and protecting the in-group. The model of collective symbolic coping (CSC) describes four stages by which representations of a threatening event are elaborated in the mass media: awareness, divergence, convergence, and normalization. We used the CSC model to predict when symbolic in-group protection (othering) would occur in the case of the avian influenza (AI) outbreak. Two studies documented CSC stages and showed that othering occurred during the divergence stage, characterized by an uncertain symbolic environment. Study 1 analysed media coverage of AI over time, documenting CSC stages of awareness and divergence. In Study 2, a two-wave repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted just after the divergence stage and a year later. Othering was measured by the number of foreign countries erroneously ticked by participants as having human victims. Individual differences in germ aversion and social dominance orientation interacted to predict othering during the divergence stage but not a year later. Implications for research on CSC and symbolic in-group protection strategies resulting from disease threat are discussed.

Moral disengagement in the legitimation and realization of aggressive behavior in soccer and ice hockey.

The aim of the present study was to verify that the level of tolerance for aggression is higher in a collective context than in an individual context (polarization effect), and to test the association between moral disengagement, team and self-attitudes toward aggression, and tolerance and realization of aggressive acts in Swiss male soccer and ice hockey. In individual or collective answering conditions, 104 soccer and 98 ice hockey players viewed videotaped aggressive acts and completed a questionnaire, including measures of the perceived legitimacy of videotaped aggression, of the teammates, coach, and self attitudes toward transgressions (modified TNQ), of the moral disengagement in sport (modified MDSS-S), and of self-reported aggressive behavior. A multilevel analysis confirmed a strong polarization effect on the perception of instrumental aggression, the videotaped aggressive acts appearing more tolerated in the collective than in the individual answering condition. Using a structural equation modeling, we found that the moral disengagement, which mediates the effects of perceived coach and ego attitudes toward transgressions, correlates positively with the tolerance of hostile aggression within teams, and with the level of aggressive acts reported by the participants. Aggr. Behav. Aggr. Behav. 42:123-133, 2015.

I want to quit education: a longitudinal study of stress and optimism as predictors of school dropout intention.

Prior research on school dropout has often focused on stable person- and institution-level variables. In this research, we investigate longitudinally perceived stress and optimism as predictors of dropout intentions over a period of four years, and distinguish between stable and temporary predictors of dropout intentions. Findings based on a nationally representative sample of 16-20 year-olds in Switzerland (N = 4312) show that both average levels of stress and optimism as well as annually varying levels of stress and optimism affect dropout intentions. Additionally, results show that optimism buffers the negative impact of annually varying stress (i.e., years with more stress than usual), but not of stable levels of stress (i.e., stress over four years). The implications of the results are discussed according to a dynamic and preventive approach of school dropout.

Disturbing life events and wellbeing after 80 years of age: a longitudinal comparison of survivors and the deceased over five years

This paper assesses the impact of disturbing life events over five years on the wellbeing of 340 people aged 80–84 years at baseline, by analysing data from a longitudinal survey in Switzerland. The guiding proposition was that the negative effect of life events is moderated by the event domain, i.e. health, deaths and changes in family setting and relationships, and by cognitive adaptation to ones own health state (adopting a more or less optimistic view). Multi-level regression that controlled for the effect of socio-demographic and health factors was used. Corroborating the first hypothesis, a model that differentiated the event categories, instead of their additive inclusion, gave the best fit. In support of the second hypothesis, it was shown that the positive impact of self-rated health reduced the negative effect of life events on wellbeing for survivors, but not for those who died within five years. This suggests that the former made more optimistic appraisals of their mental and physical health, while the latter adjusted their subjective health rating to their functional abilities. Survivors had better psychological resources for coping with disturbing life events, while the deceased lacked these resources, which buffered the impact of negative events. The psychological meaning of stressful events at the end of life is discussed. By encouraging optimistic self-evaluations of health, and raising awareness of the range of normal functioning of older people, health- and social-care practitioners can promote the maintenance of meaningful lives in old age.

Dynamic social representations of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic: Shifting patterns of sense-making and blame:

We investigate dynamics of public perceptions of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic to understand changing patterns of sense-making and blame regarding the outbreak of emerging infectious diseases. We draw on social representation theory combined with a dramaturgical perspective to identify changes in how various collectives are depicted over the course of the pandemic, according to three roles: heroes, villains and victims. Quantitative results based on content analysis of three cross-sectional waves of interviews show a shift from mentions of distant collectives (e.g., far-flung countries) at Wave 1 to local collectives (e.g., risk groups) as the pandemic became of more immediate concern (Wave 2) and declined (Wave 3). Semi-automated content analysis of media coverage shows similar results. Thematic analyses of the discourse associated with collectives revealed that many were consistently perceived as heroes, villains and victims.

Man-made black holes and Big Bangs: Diffusion and integration of scientific information into everyday thinking

Drawing on Social Representations Theory, this study investigates focalisation and anchoring during the diffusion of information concerning the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the particle accelerator at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). We hypothesised that people focus on striking elements of the message, abandoning others, that the nature of the initial information affects diffusion of information, and that information is anchored in prior attitudes toward CERN and science. A serial reproduction experiment with two generations and four chains of reproduction diffusing controversial versus descriptive information about the LHC shows a reduction of information through generations, the persistence of terminology regarding the controversy and a decrease of other elements for participants exposed to polemical information. Concerning anchoring, positive attitudes toward CERN and science increase the use of expert terminology unrelated to the controversy. This research highlights the relevance of a social representational approach in the public understanding of science.