Because judges experience a myriad of occupational stressors, they are at risk of experiencing secondary trauma, burnout, negative mental/physical health, poor job performance and low job satisfaction. These experiences might not be uniform, however, as gender and social support might mitigate such stress-related outcomes. Judges from two states in the United States completed a variety of stress and subjective performance measures. Social support was related to less perceived stress, less burnout, and more job satisfaction, but only for males. This suggests that males and females might receive qualitatively different types of social support. Different types of social support could differ in their ability to buffer judges from these stress-related outcomes. Further, among judges with high social support, females scored higher than males on subjective job performance; the opposite pattern occurred for judges with low social support. Thus, a lack of social support appears to have a negative effect on performance self-appraisals but only for females. Results have implications for the psychological study of stress and for programs designed to reduce judges' stress.

Jurors' decision-making processes are often influenced by extra-legal factors, including judgments of defendants and plaintiffs. Two studies comparing the decisions of university students with those of community jurors sought to determine if extra-legal factors such as individual differences (including identity as a student or juror participant), the reason for surgery (medically necessary vs. elective), the type of surgery (e.g., gastric bypass, nasal reconstruction) or weight of the patient influenced jurors' decisions and perceptions in medical malpractice suits, such that participants would hold negative perceptions of overweight patients or patients who undergo elective surgeries. Results indicate that students and jurors differ in perceptions of the patient's injury and perceptions of risk, which explains some of the variance in liability verdicts. Students were more likely to find doctors liable, but also were more likely to assign responsibility to patients than were jurors. Patients who had undergone elective surgery were seen as more responsible for their situation - and their doctors were assigned less responsibility - than those who had undergone a medically necessary surgery. Tests of weight bias showed that jurors found overweight patients less responsible for their situation than patients of normal weight, but students showed the opposite pattern. Theoretical explanations are explored and implications discussed.

Comparisons with other people play a significant role in social life, as they provide meaning and self‐relevant knowledge. How people view their own circumstances, abilities, and behaviors varies according to the types of social comparisons they make. Although in his seminal work Festinger (1954) did not offer a precise definition of social comparison, it is generally conceptualized as the process of thinking about the self in relation to other people. Individuals frequently make social comparisons because no objective comparison information is available. However, even when both social and objective information is available, people are often more influenced by social information, as it is frequently more diagnostic. Further, comparisons can be with real or imagined others, and do not require personal contact or conscious thought. Comparisons can also be made between one's own social group and another social group. Although comparison information can be encountered naturally in one's environment, people often intentionally seek out comparisons.

The Satanism scare was a significant moral panic in America in the 1980s and early 1990s. Scholars analyzed it from a social constructionist perspective, citing a number of factors and developments whose confluence contributed to this high-visibility moral panic. The authors examine those factors that were deemed of importance in the rise of the Satanism scare, to ascertain why the scare seems to have waned in recent years. Particular attention is given to developments within the justice system, the professions of psychology and psychiatry, and the waning of the Anti-Cult Movement to explain why the panic lost momentum. Other contributing factors are also discussed, including the weakening of Christian Fundamentalism as a force in society and the shift of attention of the mass media and the general public to other topics. Attention also is given to various behaviors among youth that have redefined and contributed to the maintenance of Satanism as a social phenomenon of note.La peur du satanisme a créé une véritable panique morale dans l'Amérique des années 80 et du début des années 90. Les scientifiques l'ont analysée à partir d'une perspective de constructionnisme social, citant un nombre de facteurs et de développements dont l'influence mutuelle a contribué à cette large visibilité de la panique morale. Les auteurs examinent ces facteurs jugés importants dans la montée de la peur du satanisme, de manière à déterminer les raisons expliquant pourquoi la peur semble s'être atténuée récemment. Une attention particulière est accordée aux développements observés au sein du système judiciaire, aux professions touchant à la psychologie et à la psychiatrie et au déclin du mouvement Anti-culte (Anti-Cult Movement) de façon à éclairer les raisons de l'essoufflement de la panique. Sont aussi évoqués d'autres facteurs explicatifs, tels que l'affaiblissement du fondamentalisme chrétien comme force dans la société ou le glissement d'attention des médias et de l'opinion publique vers d'autres questions. L'attention est aussi portée sur différents comportements au sein de la jeunesse qui ont redéfini et contribué à maintenir le satanisme comme phénomène social majeur.Mots-clés: black metal · constructionnisme social · culture populaire · mouvement Anti-culte · panique morale · peur du satanisme · satanisme

To combat rising rates of childhood obesity in the U.S. requires helping parents recognize when their child is overweight or obese. However, parents’ accuracy might be affected by social comparisons, in which parents compare their child to other overweight children, and rationalize that their child is ‘normal’ weight, and therefore, healthy. The aim of the study was to assess whether a photograph of a fictional child impacts a parent’s judgment of their own child’s weight. A nationwide sample of parents (n=517) of children ages 2-12 provided their child’s height and weight, viewed a photograph of an underweight (upward comparison), normal weight (control) or overweight (downward comparison) child, and judged the health of both. Parents inaccurately judged the downward comparison compared to the control and upward comparisons. Further, parents were less accurate in judging their child’s weight when given an upward comparison compared to a control. Intentions to control their children’s weight were unaffected.