José Luis Álvaro

Un modelo psicosociológico para el estudio de la salud mental

Resumen En este artículo presentamos un modelo explicativo de la salud mental. Para ello se ha adoptado un enfoque psicosociológico en el que se han tenido en cuenta las variables asociadas al deterioro psicológico que han mostrado su relevancia en investigaciones anteriores. A través de un análisis de ecuaciones estructurales se analiza el peso que factores como los sucesos vitales estresantes, la alienación, la autoestima, el apoyo social percibido y las estrategias de afrontamiento tienen en la explicación del deterioro en la salud mental. Dichos factores tienen un papel mediador entre la posición social y el deterioro psicológico. Como conclusión se da cuenta de los resultados obtenidos en una muestra de 401 sujetos y su interpretación desde un enfoque centrado en un modelo de causación social.

Estereótipos e essencialização de brancos e negros: um estudo comparativo

Nowadays, one of the main problems of our societies is to fight against the negative effects of stereotypes, prejudices and social exclusion. One of the greatest challenges faced by anyone doing research on this topic is related to the role played by the categorical essentialist thinking. The main objective of this paper is to present the results of the essentialization of race as a social category. 101 Brazilians and 138 Spaniards took part in this study. The results obtained showed a clear effect of the country and the hegemony of the category on the level of essentialization. The analysis of the explanations used by the participants allows us to conclude that within common sense theories, internal causes were the ones most frequently pointed out, causal history was predominantly adopted to explain changes in behavior and, finally, situational pressures were presented to explain, preferably, stability in behavior.

Jealousy and infidelity: The role of gender identity and culture of honour

Abstract This research is aimed at examining whether gender and the culture of honour were associated with the type of infidelity (sexual or emotional) that is perceived as most disturbing. A total of 748 Spanish university students (336 men and 412 women), answered to six dilemmas which raised the type of infidelity that had greater impact on them (sexual or emotional), a scale of gender identity and a scale of culture of honour. The results showed that both men and women were more affected by emotional infidelity. In addition it was found that the effect of sex on the type of infidelity that stresses the participants more was moderated by sociocultural variables such as the culture of honour, masculinity and femininity.

Relación entre rasgos de personalidad y valores personales en pacientes dependientes de la cocaína

Objetivo: Describir la relacion que guardan los valores personales y los rasgos de personalidad en pacientes consumidores de cocaina y conocer su especificidad en la explicacion de diferentes constructos. Metodo: Se realizo un estudio en el que se exploro la relacion entre estas variables en un grupo de 230 participantes que se encontraban en tratamiento por dependencia a la cocaina, utilizando el Portrait Values Questionnaire para medir los valores personales y el Big-Five Factors Questionnaire para medir los rasgos de personalidad. Ademas, se examino la relacion de rasgos y valores con las variables �grado de satisfaccion con la vida� (satisfaccion vital) y �pertenencia a alguna asociacion religiosa� (religiosidad). Resultados: Se encontro una asociacion significativa entre valores personales y rasgos de personalidad, a la vez que se distinguieron sus diferencias conceptuales y empiricas, al hallar que los valores personales explican mejor la pertenencia a alguna asociacion religiosa, mientras que los rasgos de personalidad explican mejor el grado de satisfaccion con la vida. Por tanto, se comprueba que los valores personales explican mejor los comportamientos que dependen de mayor control cognitivo, mientras que los rasgos de personalidad afectarian mas a tendencias y conductas sujetas a un reducido control cognitivo. Conclusiones: Tomando en consideracion la relacion entre ambos constructos y dado que el consumo de cocaina se asocia tanto con alto como con bajo control cognitivo, resultara apropiado tener en cuenta para la comprension del consumo de cocaina, la aportacion explicativa de los valores personales y de los rasgos de personalidad de forma complementaria.

Brazilian Social Psychology in the international setting

The objective of this work was to discuss the Social Psychology that has been developing in Brazil, placing it in the international theoretical-methodological setting. To achieve this goal, we initially present a brief historical account of the founding of the Brazilian Association of Social Psychology and the Latin American Association of Social Psychology, providing insight into the political struggle that surrounded the emergence of these two organizations and that, to a certain degree, is still present today. We then present the results of research conducted with 150 Brazilian social psychologists concerning the definition of social psychology, the academic training perspective, and the theories used in the conduct of research. The results point to the existence of several contradictions, since, among other matters, they highlight the fact that while most participants advocate research practices tied to a more sociological perspective, the definitions given indicate a more psychological view of social psychology.

Repertórios discursivos de estudantes universitários sobre cotas raciais nas universidades públicas brasileiras

This study investigates university students` discursive repertoires on affirmative actions. Participants (N=105) answered a written questionnaire about the implementation of racial quotas in public universities. Analyses using Alceste software found four discursive classes, sharing a strong opposition to racial quotas and which differ among them just in the type of arguments included in each one The first class emphasizes the lack of intellectual differences between black and white people; the second class emphasizes the idea that social inequalities between black and white Brazilians are the result of the prejudice against poor people, thus, the quotas should be social. The last classes show the concerned about the quality of education, arguing that this quota system could lower the intellectual level at the universities and what should be done is to improve the quality of primary and secondary education.Este estudo investiga os repertorios discursivos de estudantes universitarios sobre as acoes afirmativas. Os participantes (N= 105) responderam por escrito a uma pergunta sobre a implantacao de cotas raciais nas universidades publicas. As analises feitas a partir do software Alceste evidenciaram quatro classes discursivas, que compartilham uma forte oposicao as cotas raciais, diferenciando-se apenas em relacao ao argumento utilizado. A primeira classe enfatiza a inexistencia de diferencas intelectuais entre negros e brancos e, na segunda classe, vem a ideia de que as desigualdades sociais entre negros e brancos seriam produto do preconceito contra pobres, assim as cotas deveriam ser sociais. As duas ultimas classes compartilham a preocupacao com a qualidade do ensino, defendendo que o sistema de cotas poderia baixar o nivel intelectual das universidades e que o correto seria investir na melhoria do ensino fundamental e medio.

Explaining social discrimination: racism in Brazil and xenophobia in Spain

The present study investigates the arguments used by university students in order to explain social differences between social minorities and majorities. In Brazil, the issues investigated refer to White and Black people. In Spain, the reference is to native Spaniards and Moroccan immigrants. The participants were 144 Brazilians and 93 Spaniards, who answered a questionnaire composed of socio-demographic variables and one open question about the causes of social inequalities between Black and White people in Brazil and between autochthonous Spaniards and Moroccan Immigrants. A model is proposed to integrate the four discursive classes found using ALCESTE software. In Brazil, the strongest argument is based on the historical roots of the exploitation of Black people. In Spain, cultural differences are the main explanation for social inequalities.

Social Psychology: research methods and techniques

The objective of this paper is to identify the research methods adopted by researchers in the field of Social Psychology, differentiating them by considerations derived from the four epistemic dimensions. Our starting point was a study conducted to identify the theoretical references and research methods used by educators and researchers in the field of social psychology. The results presented here refer to data, obtained in the years 2011 and 2012, relating to 545 social psychologists and professors of social psychology, of which 157 responded in Portuguese and 388 in Spanish. The average age of participants was 41.5 years (standard deviation = 11.4; minimum = 21 years; maximum = 78), being 54% female and 43% male. The participants originated from 19 countries, with Spain (158), Brazil (149), Mexico (64), and Argentina (45) the most frequent. Based on the results, we sought to classify and subsequently to estimate the frequency of use of the methods, considering them based on the distribution of the researchers from two geographic regions, Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Since geographical distribution did not provide a consistent criterion for differentiating between methods, we tried to understand the differences by considering ultimately the theoretical approach embraced by the researcher.

The Ego-Defensive Role of Legitimacy: How Threat-Based Justifications Protect the Self-Esteem of Discriminators

This article analyzes the ego-defensive role played by legitimation, by examining the hypothesis that threat-based justifications attenuate the negative effect on an individual’s self-esteem caused by his or her becoming aware of his or her own discriminatory behavior. Across three studies (including a pilot experiment), participants who were led to believe that they had acted in a discriminatory way experienced a decrease in their self-esteem. In Study 1 (N = 116), this effect was nullified when discrimination was justified by either symbolic or realistic threat perceptions. Study 2 (N = 250) replicated this pattern of results and went further by showing that discrimination affects self-esteem only in more egalitarian individuals, whereas for those less egalitarian, it affects their social image. According to the ego-defensive role of legitimation, a meta-analytical integration of the results confirmed that the influence of discrimination in depressing self-esteem is moderated by threat-based justifications.

Jealousy, Gender, and Culture of Honor: A Study in Portugal and Brazil

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine whether gender and culture of honor were associated with the type of infidelity (sexual or emotional) that affected our subjects more. Samples of 192 Portuguese university students (119 women and 73 men) and 415 Brazilian university students (214 men and 201 women) participated in this research. Participants responded to six dilemmas reflecting a type of infidelity (sexual or emotional), a gender scale, and a culture of honor scale. The results of both samples are compatible with the cultural theses about jealousy. Both men and women were more affected by emotional infidelity. In addition, it was found that the relationship between the sex of the participants and the type of infidelity that induced stress in them was affected by sociocultural variables, such as culture of honor, masculinity, and femininity. Some differences in the response patterns in the case of an infidelity, in both samples (Portuguese and Brazilian), are shown and discussed.