Beth Dietz-Uhler

Aversive Racism and Resistance to Affirmative Action: Perception of Justice Are Not Necessarily Color Blind

This study utilized a factorial survey design to assess attitudes toward affirmative action as a function of targeted group (Black, handicapped, or elderly persons), framing of the policy (with or without social justification), and institutional context (business, college, or social organization). Resistance to affirmative action was aroused more by policies specifying Blacks as the targeted group and by policies presented without justification. Supportive of the aversive racism framework, the level of resistance to the policies presented without justification for Blacks as the target group was higher than for all other targeted groups with or without justification. Implications for these findings for strategies to reduce negative attitudes toward affirmative action are discussed.

The escalation of commitment in political decision-making groups : a social identity approach

Escalation situations are those in which some project or course of action has led to losses, but there is a possibility of achieving better outcomes by investing further time, money, or effort. Although this phenomenon has been studied in individuals, there has been little research which has examined it in groups. It was hypothesized that individuals stronger in social identity would be more likely to escalate their commitment to a failing project. Groups of subjects (half whose members strongly identified and half who weakly identified with their groups) were asked to play the role of a town council whose current objective was to invest money in construction of a playground that was met with many problems. The results showed that groups that were stronger in social identity escalated their commitment to the playground. The implications of the results are discussed, along with future directions for research.

Formation of and Adherence to a Self-Disclosure Norm in an Online Chat

To understand how a norm of self-disclosure forms and is adhered to in a synchronous computer-mediated discussion, participants discussed the stigma of mental illness. The transcripts of the discussion were coded for the number of self-disclosures, the number of statements supportive of self-disclosure, and the number of statements supportive of non-self-disclosure. The results showed that the number of self-disclosing statements increased over time, although not in a linear fashion, as did the number of statements supportive of self-disclosure. However, the number of statements supportive of non-self-disclosures decreased over time. These results suggest that once a norm of self-disclosure forms, it is reinforced by statements supportive of self-disclosures but not of non-self-disclosures. The results are discussed in the context of self-disclosure reciprocity and the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE).

Storming and forming a normative response to a deception revealed online

Reactions to an admitted charade of bogus self-presentation within an online community were examined over time for themes of support, condemnation, and interactivity. Evidence for the subjective group dynamics account of intragroup reactions to perceived deviance was observed in that support was modeled by a cubic function over time, whereas condemnation remained prominent. The community eventually expelled the deceptive member, supporting the black sheep effect. Natural groups, including those situated in cyberspace, may rely on inductive categorization when faced with ambiguous threats to group uniformity. The expected role of referent informational influence in determining normatively negative group reactions was challenged by evidence that support for the deception was initially more likely to be expressed by high-status members. In addition, low-status members expressed their condemnation with greater conviction, overall. Members may have been referring to different group prototypes in seeking validation for their feelings aboutambiguously deviant members.

Defensive Reactions to Group-Relevant Information

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that possession of a strong social identity would motivate people to arrive at a conclusion which supported their previous beliefs when responding to information that threatened their group. In a pre-measure, participants were classified as either weak or strong in social identity. After reading a threatening or non-threatening (fictitious) report about their group, participants were asked to evaluate the report. The results showed that participants with a strong social identity evaluated the threatening information more negatively than those with a weak social identity. Participants who had a strong social identity evaluated the non-threatening information more positively than those with a weak social identity. These results are discussed in the context of motivated reasoning and social identity theory.

Evaluations of Affirmative Action Applicants: Perceived Fairness, Human Capital, or Social Identity?

This study examined three explanations forevaluations of an affirmative action universityapplicant: type of policy, the human capital model, andsocial identity. Seventy-nine (84% white, 11% black, 3% Asian, and 2% other) participants read auniversitys admissions policy that varied the type ofpolicy (quota or standard), qualifications of theapplicant (weak, strong), and group affiliation(ingroup, outgroup). Then they rated the applicant,policy, and university. Results indicated support forthe social identity perspective. The ingroup applicantwas evaluated more favorably when the affirmative action policy was perceived to be fair. But theingroup member was derogated when the affirmative actionpolicy was perceived as unfair. The perceived fairnessof the affirmative action policy seemed to have little effect on evaluations of the outgroup member.The implications of these findings arediscussed.

Strategic uses of social technology : an interactive perspective of social psychology

1. Introduction: a social psychological analysis of computer-supported social interaction Zachary Birchmeier, Beth Dietz-Uhler and Garold Stasser 2. A SIDE look at computer-mediated interaction: power and the gender divide Russell Spears, Martin Lea, Tom Postmes and Anka Wolbert 3. Trust, deception, and identity on the internet Melanie C. Green and Jordan M. Carpenter 4. An interactional approach to social influence in computer-mediated communication Kai Sassenberg 5. Social interaction in cyberspace: social construction with few constraints Susanne Abele 6. Dynamics of leader emergence in online groups Andrea B. Hollingshead 7. Ostracism in cyberspace: being ignored and excluded in electronic-based interactions Eric D. Wesselmann and Kipling D. Williams 8. Opinion-based groups: (racist) talk and (collective) action on the internet Craig McGarty, Girish Lala and Karen M. Douglas 9. A juxtaposition of social influences: Web 2.0 and the interaction of mass, interpersonal, and peer sources online Joseph B. Walther, Stephanie Tom Tong, David C. DeAndrea, Caleb T. Carr and Brandon Van Der Heide 10. The virtual social world: the continually changing landscape of social interaction Garold Stasser, Beth Dietz-Uhler and Zachary Birchmeier.

The Psychology of Computer-Mediated Communication: Four Classroom Activities

The purpose of this paper is to describe four classroom activities constructed to demonstrate various psychological issues associated with computer-mediated communication (CMC). The first exercise (on-line friendships) demonstrates a positive consequence of deindividuation. Being in a deindividuated state increases self-disclosure, which in turn strengthens friendships. The second exercise (Internet vs face-to-face conversation) explores a negative consequence of deindividuation – disinhibited behaviour. Another characteristic of computer-mediated communication that can exert powerful effects on behaviour is anonymity. The third exercise (altruism on the Internet) demonstrates how anonymity in a discussion board environment promotes requests for help. The fourth exercise (group performance in Cyberspace) demonstrates how anonymity can lead to social loafing and diffusion of responsibility in groups. Student comments and instructor observation indicate that these exercises were a highly effective means to demonstrate and experience various CMC issues.

Perceptions of Group-Led Online Discussions: The Benefits of Cooperative Learning

To assess the effectiveness of a cooperative learning activity, students were randomly assigned to small groups and asked to lead an online discussion. Responses to a survey administered at the completion of the course suggest that the activity was effective in meeting its goals of promoting student interaction and increasing perceived student learning. More interesting are results showing that student satisfaction with elements of cooperative learning was positively related to their satisfaction with the activity, perceptions of the success of the activity in meeting its goals, perceived amount of learning, past group experiences, and grade on the activity. These results are discussed in the context of the benefits of constructing group activities with the elements of cooperative learning in mind.

Strategic Uses of Social Technology: Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: a social psychological analysis of computer-supported social interaction Zachary Birchmeier, Beth Dietz-Uhler and Garold Stasser 2. A SIDE look at computer-mediated interaction: power and the gender divide Russell Spears, Martin Lea, Tom Postmes and Anka Wolbert 3. Trust, deception, and identity on the internet Melanie C. Green and Jordan M. Carpenter 4. An interactional approach to social influence in computer-mediated communication Kai Sassenberg 5. Social interaction in cyberspace: social construction with few constraints Susanne Abele 6. Dynamics of leader emergence in online groups Andrea B. Hollingshead 7. Ostracism in cyberspace: being ignored and excluded in electronic-based interactions Eric D. Wesselmann and Kipling D. Williams 8. Opinion-based groups: (racist) talk and (collective) action on the internet Craig McGarty, Girish Lala and Karen M. Douglas 9. A juxtaposition of social influences: Web 2.0 and the interaction of mass, interpersonal, and peer sources online Joseph B. Walther, Stephanie Tom Tong, David C. DeAndrea, Caleb T. Carr and Brandon Van Der Heide 10. The virtual social world: the continually changing landscape of social interaction Garold Stasser, Beth Dietz-Uhler and Zachary Birchmeier.