Grolar bears, social class, and policy relevance: Extraordinary agendas for the emerging 21st century

Abstract

This Agenda article first considers whether social psychology is in the best or worst of times and suggests that we are instead in extraordinary times, given exciting agendas and potential policy relevance, if we are careful. The article illustrates with two current research agendas—the hybrid vigor of multiple categories and the psychology of social class—that could inform policy. The essay then reflects on how we know when our work is indeed ready for the public arena. Regarding hybrids: World immigration, social media, and global businesses are increasing. How will this complicate people’s stereotypes of each other? One agenda could build on the existing social and behavioral science of people as social hybrids, emerging with a framework to synthesize existing work and guide future research that better reflects our changing world. Policy implications already emerge from our current knowledge of hybrids. Regarding the social psychology of social class: We do not know enough yet to give advice, except to suggest questioning some common stereotypes, e.g., about the economic behavior of lower-income people. Before the budding social psychology of class can be ready for policy export, the research results need replication, validation, and generality. Overall, principles of exportable policy insights include peer-reviewed standards, honest brokering, nonpartisan advice, and respectful, trustworthy communication. Social psychology can take advantage of its extraordinary times to be innovative and useful.

Promoting beliefs in the inalienability of human rights by attributing uniquely human emotions through multiple categorization

“…In this vein, the evidence of these studies is absolutely in line with Fiske's (2015) agenda stressing multiple categorization as one of the crucial social cognitive means through which social psychology can help addressing the issues raised by hybrid and poly-cultural societies in our changing world. This might not be necessarily only related to Black people, but to other minority or ethnic groups towards whom people hold dehumanizing prejudice (e.g., Roma; Muslims).…”

“…While previous studies have shown that people tend to consider outgroup members as endowed with lesser humanity (Vaes et al, 2012), findings of this contribution consistently highlight that by processing multiple categorical information (Albarello & Rubini, 2015;Crisp & Hewstone, 2007;Fiske, 2015;Kang & Bodenhausen, 2014) the perception of outgroupers' humanity is enhanced at the implicit level of attribution of uniquely human emotions and, in turn, at the explicit level of attribution of human rights.…”

The Social Psychology of the Great Recession and Social Class Divides

“…We know relatively little about the social psychology of social class (Bullock, Lott, & Truong, ; Fiske, ; Williams, ) and much less about how the Great Recession affects the relations between groups and individuals. Some pioneering attempts had previously gathered work on the psychology of social class, some in the Journal of Social Issues (JSI) .…”

Testing the subtractive pattern of cultural identification

“…The millions of people around the globe who are in contact with foreign cultures through television and the Internet while still interacting with their own culture are a prime example of such change. The phenomena of globalization and immigration have the potential to increase contact among people from different cultures (Moghaddam, 2012) and aid in the creation of new hybrid forms of social identities (Fiske, 2015), possibly triggering the reorganization of their self-concept and the integration of new social and cultural identities (e.g., Amiot, de la Sablonnière, Terry, & Smith, 2007;Breakwell, 1986Breakwell, , 1988Jensen, Arnett, & McKenzie, 2011).…”