Research presentations from the annual meeting of the 2008 Western Psychological Association held in Irvine, California, April 10-13.

Group norms, group member prototypicality and drinking behavior
Rachel Hersh, Jena Jehle, Katherine O’Neil, Shannon Mache, Ashley Mokma, and Heather Smith

The purpose of this project is to determine when group norms will influence group members’ drinking attitudes and intentions. One hundred and thirty-five campus sorority members completed two surveys administered two weeks apart. In the second survey, participants read a manipulated summary of sorority members’ answers to a first survey question about how many drinks a female college student should have if she knew she must drive home (the injunctive norm manipulation) and a manipulated summary of how often sorority members missed class because they drank alcohol the night before (the descriptive norm manipulation) Finally, participants read whether they were very similar or somewhat similar to five personality traits that other sorority members most valued (the member prototypicality manipulation). Participants who learned they were more prototypical group members reported less interest in future drinking if they read that most sorority members did not approve of drinking. However, participants who learned that they were less prototypical group members reported less interest in future drinking if they learned that most sorority members approved of drinking and driving.

An experimental investigation of when older patients follow doctors’ recommendations
Ashley Stenger, Ashley Cook, Jamie Luiz, Regina Withers and Heather Smith

This project is an experimental test of three factors that might shape older patients’ evaluations of doctor visits. First, many patients report less willingness to comply with healthcare providers who use jargon, speak baby talk, or do not listen. Second, many patients are interested in whether the doctor answers all their questions; regardless of how the doctor treats them. Third, perceived age differences between patients and doctors may shape patients’ compliance. Ninety-six participants (average age=77) read and evaluated a short description of a first visit to a doctor in which the 1) degree of interpersonal respect, 2) amount of information given and 3) perceived age of the doctor was manipulated. Results suggest that older doctors who treat their elderly patients respectfully may reap greater benefits from their efforts in comparison to younger doctors, but if patients view them as disrespectful, it may lead to even greater difficulties.

Shared Group Membership, Value Affirmation, and Reactions to Injustice
Zach Cohen, Katrina Clovis and Heather Smith

Social justice models propose that observers ignore potential injustices because the recognition of injustice is threatening. However, if people have an opportunity to affirm their image of themselves as moral, competent and good in another domain, they might be more likely to acknowledge the unfair behavior of an ingroup member. They also might be less likely to confront the injustice. As part of an experiment, 63 participants witnessed the unfair treatment of a fellow participant. After the participant and confederate completed several tasks, the experimenter dismissed a confederate from the study without extra credit points or a promised gift card. Participants then wrote a paragraph about a value that was most or least important (affirmation opportunity manipulation) to themselves as unique personalities or university students (social categorization manipulation). Participants who wrote about an important individual value rated their situation as more fair and the experimenter more positively in comparison to participants who wrote about an important group value. The results indicate that the affirmation of an individual value enabled participants to distance themselves from the mistreatment of a fellow group member. In contrast, the affirmation of a group value appears to remind participants of the group’s value and strength and encouraged them to challenge the injustice.