The Official Newsletter of the Society for E and DIALOGU Social

Volume 25, No. 1 Spring, 2010 Spring 2010 Co-Editors: Hart Blanton & Diane Quinn

Inside the Current A River Runs Through It: Issue: SPSP Heads to San Antonio in 2011

Committee Reports: The next SPSP be held in beautiful San Antonio,

Diversity & Climate 6-7 Texas on January 27-29th, 2011. The meeting will be held at the San Antonio Convention Center and the hotels are the Grand Training 7 Hyatt and the Hyatt Regency. These hotels are located on the San Publication 10 Antonio River Walk, a lovely area with restaurants, bars, and APA 14-15 shops built along the river. Malcom Gladwell, best-selling author Graduate Student 20-21 of Blink and The Tipping Point, will give a keynote address. Executive 1, 16-17

President’s Column State of SPSP: Jennifer Crocker 4-5 News from the Executive Committee Meeting Choosing Conven- tion Locations 2 The SPSP Executive Committee transition to new Executive Offi- held its bi-annual meeting on cer, Jack Dovidio, and new Dep- Summer Institute st st on Health 3 January 31 and February 1 fol- uty Executive Officer, Linda lowing the SPSP convention in Dovidio, will take place. Publishing Myths Las Vegas, Nevada. The execu- Christie Marvin will continue as 8-9 tive committee first expressed a Executive Assistant, and David Jack Dovidio great deal of gratitude to David will take on a few tasks as Associ- SPSP Travel Dunning for his excellent work as ate Executive Officer. Awards 12 the executive officer of SPSP for The reports from each committee the last 5 years. In addition to were then given and discussed. Travel Section: keeping SPSP in tip-top shape, he Liberal Because reports from several of 18-19 has taken on many of the behind Setting the committees appear in this is- the scenes tasks. As executive sue of Dialogue , we give just the 10 Ques- officer, David not only handles highlights of each report here: tions in the Tor- the finances and membership – ture Debate big jobs! – but also implements Bradley Oleson 22-23 new policies and initiatives. In Membership and Budget . Mem- Call For Proposals short, he makes SPSP run. As bership in SPSP has now broken for SPSP 2011 24 SPSP has grown, so has the work the 6000 barrier. Attendance at of the executive officer. In fact, it the convention was up by approxi- Dear Me! 26-27 will take two people to fill David’s mately 800 shoes. Over the summer, the people this Cont. on page 16 Stages Humor 15 2 GUE DIALO More Coffee and Fewer Nude Pirate Revues, Please: Notes on the Process of Site Selection for SPSP Conventions

By Committee members are not conven- tion center tion specialists, so they work with • Safe local environment Tara Miller Events to obtain proposals This year’s conference was a great from cities and hotels, and to develop • Sufficient public transportation (e.g., success measured against many impor- and vet contracts. Any given year, a cabs, buses, light rail) tant metrics –submissions and atten- desirable city may not proffer a rea- dance were at all-time highs and the sonable proposal—hotels may not be conference program contained a vast available for particular dates, hotel A next of high priorities include and exciting array of research presen- locations may be undesirable or too the following: tations. As with past years, however, expensive, or sites may not be large • Warm weather location the venue chosen appealed to some enough to house our meeting. The size • Reasonable cost of airfares and members and not to others. Placement issue has been a particularly difficult good number of direct or easy- of this year’s convention at an older one of late, as SPSP convention atten- connection flights hotel at the center of Sin City’s enter- dance continues to increase each year. tainment strip was a particular concern Cities that once housed us—such as • Reasonable hotel costs and range for some members. In response, some Savannah—are now too small for our of price options (especially for in the convention committee felt it needs, as are many other options (e.g., graduate students) would be useful to explain the process Charleston, Santa Barbara). All of this • Reasonable overall convention by which conference venues are cho- means that in any given year, only 4-5 site costs (to keep registration sen and the competing concerns that reasonable “bids” come in, and of rates low) need to be balanced. those only one or two ultimately come • “Greenness” of the city, conven- close to meeting enough of our needs. Once these bids are identified, repre- tion center, and/or hotels Each year, the SPSP Convention Com- sentatives from Tara Miller Events mittee is charged with finding loca- (and often a member of the convention tions for upcoming SPSP conventions committee) visit the sites for a final Additional priorities include: and offering proposals for final con- check and walk through, at which • Good number and diversity of sideration by the Executive Commit- point a recommendation is passed on good restaurants within walking tee. This is never an easy task, as a to the Executive Committee. The con- distance viable site must meet a number of de- vention committee is currently work- • Some semblance of an East- sired criteria, be pleasing to a majority ing on a “2 years+ in advance” sched- of our constituencies AND come in at Midwest-West rotation (to balance ule – so Las Vegas was selected by the out costs for SPSP members) a reasonable price. Perhaps the most 2008 convention committee, San An- limiting criterion is the desire for tonio (the site for 2011) by the 2009 warm, sunny weather in late January/ committee, and San Diego (2012) by This myriad of criteria means that a early February. If this seems like a the 2009/2010 committee. number of cities are often out of minor concern to you, then there is a SPSP’s reach. For example, Miami good chance you live in a warm cli- and San Francisco tend to have pro- mate. Past experience exploring ven- In 2008, the Executive Committee of hibitively high expenses (both in terms ues has revealed a strong desire for SPSP charged the convention commit- of room rates and expenses for “food SPSP to provide a “winter break” to tee with developing criteria for site and beverage”—always a required part members who live in colder environ- selections. Based partly on comments of a hotel or convention center con- ments. This means that the committee following the Albuquerque meeting in tract). Airfare to Honolulu would be can only consider cities in the southern 2008, the following were set as the unaffordable for many graduate stu- half of the country. (Some think the highest priorities for convention sites, dents. Some of Atlanta’s likely hotel/ Pacific Northwest would also suffice, and were specifically considered be- convention center accommodations but that winter grayness is prohibitive ginning with the San Antonio selec- would not be near a walkable restau- to many members, and the weather tion: rant district. With each convention patterns in this part of the country are experience, more criteria are sug- hard to predict during the winter gested—recent nominees include “no • Ensuring all hotels are within months). pirates,” “no nude revues in the hotel,” walking distance of the conven- and “hotel rooms must have coffee 3 GUE DIALO makers.” Finding the ideal convention mittee is beginning its work in select- you have city suggestions or any com- site becomes more and more compli- ing a city for 2013. The goal is to head ments about convention issues, please cated each year. In addition, the re- east (at least east of Texas), and cities contact the current Convention Com- quirement to sign a contract early under consideration include New Or- mittee (Wendi Gardner, chair, Toni means that unexpected problems can leans, Nashville, Jacksonville, Or- Schmader, and Cindy Pickett), or con- creep up by the time the conference lando, Charlotte, and Miami (maybe sider writing to Dialogue . No city and takes place. In the case of Las Vegas, a we’ll get lucky on price!). The site will please everyone, but the con- planned $50 million renovation at the is that SPSP may reach a point at vention committee always hopes to Riviera was scuttled because economic which rotating among a select group of find locales that match the quality of recession hit the city after the confer- “known” cities will work best for the SPSP programming. ence contract was signed. organization. At this time, Tampa,  With these constraints and experiences Palm Springs, Austin, and San Anto- in , the current convention com- nio seem like possible candidates. If Summer Institute on Social/ and Health

By Wendy Nelson of Minnesota), Angela Bryan Angeles), Michael Robinson (North Da- (University of New Mexico), James kota State University), Traci Mann

Shepperd (University of Florida), Jenni- (University of Minnesota), Rosanna In July 2009, the National Can- fer Hay (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Can- Guadagno (University of Alabama), cer Institute’s (NCI) Basic and Biobe- cer Center), and Paula Pietromonaco Michelle “Mikki” Hebl (Rice Univer- havioral Research Branch (BBRB) spon- (University of Massachusetts at Am- sity), James Larson (University of Illi- sored the Summer Institute on Social/ herst). Topics included cancer screening nois at Chicago), David Amodio (New Personality Psychology and Health , a 3- and of health ; cancer York University), Michael Stefanek day, workshop designed to introduce prevention and ; chal- (American Cancer Society), and Vish promising social/personality psycholo- lenges of conducting transdisciplinary Viswanath (Harvard University). The gists to health research. Although fo- team research; energetics; com- meetings focused on how theories and cused on cancer prevention and control municating uncertainty; and medical models of , -regulation, per- as a platform to test classic and novel decision making. In addition, partici- sonality, , / theoretical perspectives from social and pants learned about funding opportuni- , group processes, and personality psychology, the workshop ties at NCI, preparing a NIH grant, and social could en- was also intended to give participants an the NIH grant review process. Through- hance behavioral research in cancer con- appreciation of what is involved in con- out the three days, participants were trol. ducting health research at the National encouraged to discuss their research NCI also hosted the 2009 and Institutes of Health (NIH). The over- ideas with extramural and NCI faculty. 2010 SPSP pre-conferences on health arching objective of the Summer Insti- Summer Institute presentations and sug- research in social/personality psychol- tute was to enhance cross-disciplinary gested readings are available online at ogy, and sponsored a grants workshop collaborations between social/ http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/bbrb/spsi.html . on the Sunday morning following the personality and cancer The Summer Institute was part 2009 SPSP meeting. Related events control researchers toward the end of of NCI’s efforts to encourage social/ include an upcoming special issue of promoting novel approaches to cancer personality psychologists to connect Self and Identity on self-regulation and prevention and control research ques- their knowledge and research skills to health (co-edited by James Shepperd, tions. critical issues in cancer prevention and Alex Rothman, and Bill Klein), and the Twenty-four junior faculty and control. In September 2007 and June development of a new social/personality graduate students from 21 colleges and 2008, NCI hosted two “think tank” and health interest group. Social/ universities in the U.S. and Canada were meetings – titled Incorporating Innova- personality psychologists who are inter- selected to participate in the workshop tive Social Psychological in ested in conducting research in cancer following a competitive application Cancer Control Research – to gain a prevention and control should contact: process. Institute faculty included eight better understanding of new theories in extramural social/personality and clini- that might inform and cal cancer researchers and be informed by behavioral research in Wendy Nelson, PhD 13 NCI . The invited extramu- cancer control. Chaired by Bill Klein BBRB/BRP/DCCPS/NCI ral faculty included Jamie Arndt, and James Shepperd, the meetings fea- 6130 Executive Blvd., EPN 4064 (University of Missouri), Marc tured Barbara Fredrickson (University of Bethesda, MD 20892 Kiviniemi (University of Buffalo), Bill North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Irene 301-435-4590 Klein (University of Pittsburgh), Mi- Blair (University of Colorado), Jeff [email protected] chael Diefenbach (Mount Sinai School Stone (University of Arizona), Benjamin of Medicine), Alex Rothman (University Karney (University of California at Los 4 GUE DIALO President’s Column: The Blurry Line between Social and Personality

By Jennifer Crocker I knew—considered Mischel’s critique Laboratory seem inade- to be a fatal blow to the field of person- quate to test these dynamic and recipro- As a social psychologist, I grew up be- ality. In our view, the interesting ques- cal effects. lieving in the inherent superiority of tion was, “why do people believe so social over personality psychology. strongly in personality traits that clearly Conforming to social psychological the- either do not exist, or account for little Behind these doubts lies a deeper dissat- ory, my originated in catego- variance in behavior?” Our reaction isfaction. It seems to me that the tradi- rization processes, ingroup favoritism, revealed our shared views on tional view of social psychology, that and socialization. Once acquired, they judgment, as social psychologists were the power is in the situation, with people affirmed my sense of self. Through bi- particularly interested in the attributional merely reacting to the situations in ased processing of , and re- processes—and --that lead to erro- which they find themselves, encourages sistance to contrary evidence, they per- neous inferences about personality as a people to view themselves as being at sisted for years. Recently, however, cause of behavior. the mercy of situational constraints, un- personal experience (in the form of my able to change their experience or be- own data) has forced me to reconsider havior unless the situation changes. not only the superiority of social over Along with the in the inherent This view denies evidence that people at personality psychology, but the very superiority of focusing on the power of least to some degree create their situa- distinction between them. situations to influence behavior, social tions; people are sometimes the source, psychologists like me also believed in rather than at the mercy, of what they the superiority of our research methods. experience. When we teach about the When I was a graduate student more Because laboratory experiments permit- power of the situation, we do not teach years ago than seems possible, social ted the manipulation of situations, the people to identify the power they have to and personality psychology were sepa- of social psychology pro- create what they do want. Furthermore, rated by a bright line into distinct cate- vided stronger grounds for causal infer- the situations people create for them- gories. Personality psychologists stud- ence, the gold standard of social psycho- shape who they are. Ultimately, ied traits, which were supposed to pre- logical research. Correlational studies, rigid adherence to the mantra that the dict behavior in a way that was invariant typically used in personality research, power is in the situation undermines our across time and situations, whereas so- could not test inferences about cause and ability to truly understand social behav- cial psychologists studied the power of effect. Of course, I was instructed in ior, and does a disservice to the field and the situation to shape behavior. Along the limitations of laboratory experi- the consumers of our work. with this distinction in intellectual ap- ments—lack of mundane realism, the proach went a distinction in the methods possibility that findings with college used; personality psychologists used students might not generalize, and so To provide just one example, people correlational methods, examining asso- on—but the of testing causal hy- often feel at the mercy of their relation- ciations between measured traits and potheses far outweighed these limita- ship partners (e.g., “My relationship is actual , whereas social psy- tions, in my view. To my uncertain and bad because the other person is unre- chologists conducted laboratory experi- insecure graduate student self, it felt sponsive to my needs. If the other per- ments, manipulating situational variables great to be a member of the high-status son would change, I could be more sup- and observing their effects on behavior. group, with the superior intellectual portive and compassionate.”). Yet, Amy It seemed natural for social and person- framework and the superior research Canevello and I (Canevello & Crocker, ality psychology to be organized into methodology. in press) showed that on days people separate Ph.D. programs. have compassionate goals for their

roommate relationships, their respon- Time has not been kind to my sense of siveness to their roommates is higher the My views at that time were shaped by superiority. Although I still think of following day, their roommates perceive Mischel’s monograph (1968), Personal- myself as a social psychologist, the fun- their increased responsiveness and recip- ity and Assessment , which had recently damental assumptions of social psychol- rocate it, and the relationship quality of challenged the traditional view that per- ogy—that persons and situations are both roommates increases over two sonality traits consistently predict behav- independent of one another, and behav- days. Furthermore, two days later these ior across a wide range of situations. ior is caused by situations—increasingly processes predict increases in the com- Mischel himself did not give up on per- seem wrong, or at least oversimplified. passionate goals of both roommates to- sonality, and went on to search for con- My own data repeatedly confront me ward their relationships, creating a con- sistency in the “if-then” contingencies with the , dynamic, and recipro- structive cycle. These data suggest that that characterize a person’s behavior. cal effects of persons and situations— people in relationships have a choice: But social psychologists—at least those particularly interpersonal situations. they can feel at the mercy of their rela- 5 GUE DIALO tionship partners, waiting for others to of persons and relationship situations, sophistication and breadth. The sense of have compassionate goals and be re- given the tools available at that time. At superiority of social psychologists over sponsive to them, or they can decide to the time Endler and Magnusson argued personality psychologists is unfounded, be the source of responsiveness in their for the mutual influence of persons and and based on a false dichotomy between relationship, adopt the goal to be com- situations, the field lacked the research persons and situations. Understanding passionate, and act responsively. The methods to capture these dynamics and process and the importance of our find- latter strategy seems more helpful, be- the statistical tools to analyze them. ings requires studying them in vivo, be- cause it is more likely to create the re- ing open to the possibility of reciprocal sponsive relationships people desire. effects, and to a wide range of methods. Fortunately, the nonexperimental meth- ods of today are not the correlational My research has taught me that in lives studies disdained by my graduate school My point is not to criticize experimental outside the laboratory, persons and their self; data collection and data analysis research. I still love doing experiments, situations are not independent variables. methods have made huge leaps since reading about other people’s experi- As Harry Reis pointed out, relationships then. Today we have the tools to study ments, and teaching about the results of are situations, and situations involve dyadic, dynamic, reciprocal processes experiments. But I’m not monogamous relationships (Reis, 2009). People shape over time. We now have available sta- about methodology—I also love the their relationship situations, and their tistical techniques such as multilevel richness of studying people’s lives over relationship situations shape them in modeling and the Actor-Partner Interde- time, in their relationships, and how return. In our data, people create re- pendence Model that adjust for the inter- they, their relationship partners, and sponsive relationship partners by being dependence of reports over time and of their relationships evolve. My point is responsive to them, which shapes their relationship partners’ reports with each simply that it is time for social psycholo- goals. These processes unfold over other (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006). gists to let go of their biases against per- time, involve more than one person, and Longitudinal studies in which people sonality psychology and nonexperimen- are reciprocal. Ultimately, these unfold- repeatedly report on their experiences tal methods, and embrace the full range ing, dynamic, reciprocal processes hold permit testing of within-person effects of ideas, theories, and methods that can the potential for significant change in and change over time, establishing the help us better understand people and both social situations and personality plausibility or implausibility of causal their behavior in social contexts. The characteristics over surprisingly brief hypotheses. With repeated measure- bright line separating personality and time intervals. For example, we found ments of behavior in vivo, we can exam- social psychology is more in our that one person’s compassionate goals ine the possibility of reciprocal causal than in our missions. The vitality of predict increases in their responsiveness, effects. social psychology, personality psychol- which in turn predicts increases in trait ogy, and SPSP is strengthened by blur- self-esteem and secure attachment styles ring that line. over 12 weeks (Crocker, in press). We In fact, I would argue that we must study could not observe these processes in people over time in their “real life” con- laboratory experiments, which typically texts if we want to fully understand the References treat the person and the situation as inde- nature and importance of social phenom- Canevello, A., & Crocker, J. (in press). Creating pendent variables, remove people from ena. Reciprocal causal effects between good relationships: Responsiveness, people and their situations can transform relationship quality, and interpersonal their usual relational contexts, study goals. Journal of Personality and So- people for an hour or less, and test only initially small effects of people on their cial Psychology . situations and situations on people into one direction of causal effects. Crocker, J. (in press). Paradoxical effects of inter- large effects with important conse- personal goals: Relationships, distress, quences over time. Furthermore, when and the self. Psychological Studies . Of course, others have made these points situations involve other people, effects Endler, N. S., & Magnusson, D. (1976). Toward an before. In 1976, shortly after I began can become contagious and reverberate interactional psychology of personality. graduate school, Endler and Magnusson through social networks. Phenomena Psychological Bulletin, 83 , 956-974. argued for a dynamic model in which that appear quite constrained in the labo- Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Cook, W. L. people and their situations influence ratory may be much more powerful (2006). Dyadic data analysis . New each other (Endler & Magnusson, 1976). when studied in vivo. And the opposite York, NY: Guilford Press. Personality psychologists have also stud- may also be true; phenomena that seem Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and assessment . ied the ways people influence their situa- powerful in the laboratory may be much Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. tions for some time (Snyder & Ickes, less so when people are studied in the Reis, H. T. (2009). Relationships are situations, 1985). But social psychologists firmly wild, where countervailing forces may and situations involve relationships. Journal of Research in Personality, 43 , convinced of the power of the situation constrain them. 266-266. and the superiority of laboratory experi- Snyder, M., & Ickes, W. (1985). Personality and ments have not, on the whole, embraced social behavior. In G. Lindzey & E. this view. Their reluctance, I think, In my view, the contribution of social Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of social stems from the inherent difficulty of and personality psychology does not psychology (3 ed., Vol. 2, pp. 883-947). studying dynamic reciprocal influences depend on method, but on our theories New York: Random House. and our methodological and analytic 6 GUE DIALO Diversity and Climate Committee Report

By Denise Sekaquaptewa ogy majors who are currently en- graduate student(s) who nominated rolled in college, regardless of re- them. Many of us who are now fac- gion. We received 71 applications ulty can remember a time when, as The SPSP Diversity and Cli- for the Undergraduate Registration students, we waited on the sidelines mate Committee (DCC) organizes Award from students across the looking for an opportunity to join a activities and programs within the country, and we were able to grant with an admired, yet society with the goal of increasing 30 awards (42% acceptance rate). seemingly intimidating, senior re- the diversity of the SPSP member- Graduate student awardees re- searcher. Alternatively, from the ship (in terms of race/ethnicity, sex- other perspective, we have noticed ual orientation, social class, disabil- ceived a $500 cash award to assist with conference-related expenses, the faces of hovering students trying ity, etc.) and ensuring that the cli- to work up the nerve to ask an inter- mate of the Society is inclusive and and a complimentary copy of How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to esting question. These supportive. The DCC members for can be critical to the intellectual de- 2009-10 are Denise Sekaquaptewa Productive Academic Writing by Paul J. Silvia (our thanks to APA velopment of any student researcher, (chair), Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta, and working through one’s and Rudy Mendoza-Denton. In this Books for providing the two award books at a considerable discount). to meet the challenge can be liberat- report, I describe the activities and ing. Sometimes there are additional events we organized for the SPSP Graduate student awardees also had an opportunity to meet 2-3 “admired barriers to these interactions for stu- conference held in Las Vegas in dents whose life experiences and January 2010. scholars” of their own choosing at the Diversity and Climate Commit- group memberships are not well- Diversity Fund Undergraduate tee Reception. These admired schol- represented among conference atten- Registration and Graduate Travel ars were social or personality psy- dees. The DCC seeks to alleviate Awards chologists whose work had influ- those barriers. Mentoring Luncheon with the SPSP provided financial assis- enced the award winners’ intellectual GLBT Alliance in Social Psychol- tance to undergraduate and graduate development and/or were sources of students from various demographic inspiration to them. This year we ogy (GASP) groups that are underrepresented in received 104 applications for the This year we launched a new personality and social psychology. Graduate Travel Award (up from 68 mentoring lunch for graduate stu- For undergrads, these awards paid last year) and we granted 24 awards dents, postdocs, and young faculty for conference registration so that (23% acceptance rate). Please visit associated with the GLBT Alliance students could attend the conference http://www.spsp.org/divwin10.htm in Social Psychology (GASP). Our and get a taste of the professional for pictures and biographies of our goal was to create a space for profes- lives of personality and social psy- 2010 award winners. sional and social networking among chologists. This year, undergraduate Diversity and Climate Committee social and personality psychologists students also received a complimen- Reception who identify as gay, lesbian, bisex- tary copy of a book entitled Getting ual, or transgender (GLBT) and/or In: A Step-by-Step Plan for Gaining The DCC also sponsored a re- whose research focuses on issues of Admission to Graduate School in ception at the Las Vegas conference sexuality. The luncheon was held on Psychology (American Psychologi- to honor the student awardees. The Friday afternoon, and was hosted cal ) published by APA event was open to all conference at- jointly by the DCC and GASP. Like books. In previous years, the under- tendees, and we had a really great all DCC events, this event was open graduate registration award was lim- turnout! The reception provided an to all conference attendees. Our first ited to students who were enrolled in opportunity for graduate and under- GASP mentoring luncheon was a a college in the region of the confer- graduate awardees to mingle with great success! GLBT community ence. However, several SPSP mem- senior social psychologists as well as members and allies were able to mix bers noted that this criterion is likely their peers and to start developing and mingle socially and profession- to favor states in warm parts of the professional and mentoring net- ally to develop professional net- country where SPSP is typically works. We extended a special invita- works and foster an inclusive and held. Therefore, this year we opened tion to the admired scholars identi- supportive climate. For more infor- up the undergraduate registration fied by the awardees to attend the mation on GASP, please visit http:// award to all undergraduate Psychol- reception with the expressed purpose www.psych.utah.edu/gasp/ . of seeking out and chatting with the 7 GUE DIALO

Diversity Symposium nary Center (IDC) Herzliya, and ideas about expanding or improving This year, the DCC sponsored a Tessa West, New York University). our programs or activities, please symposium at the conference that The symposium featured talks by send an email to any of the commit- was closely related to issues of di- Michael Inzlicht, Michael Norton, tee members. The DCC members versity. This symposium was held on Tamar Saguy, and Tessa West. (Denise Sekaquaptewa (chair), Saturday afternoon and was entitled Get involved with DCC! Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta, and “A Multi-Stage Approach to Under- Rudy Mendoza-Denton), can be con- We welcome any comments and tacted via the Social Psychology standing Intergroup Contact: Chal- input from SPSP members. If you lenges and Potential Solutions” (Co- Network are interested in serving on the com- (www.socialpsychology.org ).  Chairs: Tamar Saguy, Interdiscipli- mittee at some point, or if you have Looking Back, Looking Forward: News and Views from the Training Committee

By Marti Hope Gonzales, Uni- talks and informal discussions, person- Training Committee are hard at work versity of Minnesota, SPSP ality and social psychologists who planning for next year’s preconference Training Committee Chair work inside and outside colleges and and symposium to be held at the next universities in the U.S. and Europe meeting of SPSP in San Antonio, shared their experiences and tips for Texas (January 27-29, 2011). As plan- Although attendance at conferences success with a graduate student audi- ning progresses, be on the lookout for often activates the “” dimen- ence that broke all previous attendance listserv messages that will provide sion of our professional self-concepts, records. We are grateful for their par- detailed information on topics and the demands of our professional ticipation. speakers. as personality and social psychologists Also in keeping with our fo- Finally, the Training Commit- are multidimensional. Of course, we cus on the myriad demands of doing tee has rounded third in connection conduct research, often in collabora- professional personality and social with our Applied Personality and So- tion with students and faculty peers. psychology, the Training Committee, cial Psychology web site. In keeping Those of us in academic settings, how- under the able of Jamie with our commitment to providing ever, also teach and mentor graduate Arndt and Michael Robinson, spon- graduate students with a wide array of students, all the better to ensure that sored a well-attended symposium on employment options—including ap- along the way they become profes- the rewards and challenges confronted plied work outside of academia—we sional peers who will join us in shap- by the graduate mentor. Too often— are putting the finishing touches on a ing the future of our discipline. whether in academic positions or in site that includes information on ap- At the last meeting of SPSP in careers outside of the academy—new plied researchers and applied work Las Vegas, the Training Committee PhDs tackle the demands of mentoring settings for which the skill set of new worked closely with the SPSP Gradu- with only their own personal experi- personality and social psychologists is ate Student Committee to address top- ences as advisees to guide them, as ideally suited. Again, be on the look- ics especially relevant to changes in they work to replicate what worked for out for future messages, in which we higher . Our professional them and to avoid what didn’t. The will provide you with additional infor- Malthusian dilemma is reflected in the Training Committee symposium— mation on that site, and solicit contact fact that academic psychologists repro- Giving Them Wings to Fly —served to information on colleagues and former duce at a geometric rate, whereas ten- expand the toolbox of mentoring op- students who work in applied settings. ure-track positions in the academy tions for new and future faculty mem- increase at an arithmetic rate, if at all. bers, all the better to prepare attendees Given that the supply of new PhDs far for the additional rigors of their new In the meantime, feel free to visit our exceeds the demands for faculty, re- roles as faculty members. Some of the web site sponsible graduate training more than most committed and gifted mentors in (http://www.spsptrainingcommittee.or ever requires faculty and students to our field shared their and g/index.php ) or to contact one or more consider alternatives to traditional ca- the best practices that follow, and we of us: Marti Hope Gonzales, Jamie reer trajectories. This topic was the appreciate their participation, as well. Arndt, Michael Robinson, Stacey Sin- clair.  focus of the annual preconference held As for the future, members of the in Las Vegas. In a daylong series of 8 GUE DIALO Publishing Papers: Myths and Facts

By Jack Dovidio dialogue to achieve true mutual under- the established body of literature. In standing. fact, the field counts on reviewers to

be such a filter. For the first half of my professional life, I was amazed by the mysteries of In this article, I try to de-mystify the publishing. I would work diligently review process by discussing common How does this rejection set work? I on a project, analyze it responsibly, author of the publication use the metaphor of five gold coins. write it up carefully, and send it on its process and bringing, as much as pos- Each author has the benefit of the way, hopefully to be published in a sible, data to bear on these issues. doubt equivalent to these five coins. top-flight journal such as JPSP, PSPB, These data are based on an analysis of Every time a reviewer becomes con- or JESP. I soon learned that submit- 18 papers published during my term as fused, suspicious, or concerned by a ting a paper was like having a baby: Editor of JPSP-IRGP, yoked to 18 point in the manuscript, the author No matter how ugly it really is, it manuscripts submitted at the same forfeits a coin. When all five coins are looks beautiful to me. So, I was al- time but which were not published in used up, the show is over; the recom- ways surprised – and frequently of- JPSP. These were all initial submis- mendation will be to reject the manu- fended – by the responses of reviewers sions to JPSP, not invited revisions or script. resubmissions. Some of the issues may and editors. I just could not under- stand why they did not love it the way be unique to JPSP, and I suspect may I did. They just didn’t understand , be specific to my editorial term: buyer Although there is no precise number of and I blamed them for it. beware. However, I suspect that the gold coins an author has, in essence issues I am focusing on represent more reviewers typically root through a

general publication principles. I con- manuscript until there is sufficient For much of the second half of my sider four common publication question about the appropriateness of career, I have served in various edito- “myths.” In each case, I describe a the work for publication. When they rial roles. I have personally been ac- common assumption and then present reach that conclusion – which appears tion editor on a couple of thousand the data from the studies in my sam- like it can be done relatively reliably – manuscripts. So, I have more recently ple. After each, I suggest an interpre- the recommendation is to reject the spent many hours wondering why au- tation. manuscript. As a consequence of this thors don’t understand the decisions I rejection set, reviewers tend to be very have made. Reviewers volunteer sub- hard on authors, typically even harder stantial time and energy evaluating Myth #1: Reviewers have poor reli- than editors. Indeed, of the 18 manu- manuscripts, spelling out what is ability. scripts I accepted, 27% of the review- wrong, what is right, and what needs Fact #1: Of the 18 accepted manu- ers had recommended rejection or re- to be done to improve the manuscript scripts, 6 had full agreement by the submission with major changes; for and the research. As an editor, I three or more reviewers that the the 18 I chose to reject, only 8% rec- would independently review the manu- manuscript merited an invited revision ommended acceptance. Before I be- script; read, process, and synthesize or acceptance. Of the 18 rejected came an editor, a former editor of the reviewers’ comments; and spend manuscripts, for 12 there was full JPSP once said to me, “If I relied hours writing an action letter. agreement by the reviewers that the solely on the recommendations of re- viewers, I would never publish any- manuscript should be rejected or not invited for further consideration (i.e., thing.” This, of course, is an exag- It then occurred to me that the problem major revision, including new data, geration, but not as much of one as I in communication is not necessarily was needed). originally . about the details of any given manu- script. The problem is that the edito- rial process is a black box, with au- These data suggest that there is consid- Myth #2: The more studies in a manu- thors making certain assumptions erable agreement among reviewers, script, the better chance it has be pub- about the process and editors operating but that agreement is much stronger lished. on a separate set of assumptions. for rejection than for acceptance. In Fact #2: The modal number of studies There is enough overlap between the my experience, reviewers approach in an accepted manuscript was 2; in two sets of assumptions to create the new manuscripts with a “rejection rejected manuscripts the modal num- illusion that we are “on the same set.” Essentially, they see their as ber of studies was 3. Of the accepted page,” but because our transactions are protecting the profession from inferior manuscripts, 1 included one study, 9 sequential – authors submit, editors or misleading work becoming part of had 2 studies, 4 had 3 studies, 1 had 4 later respond – there is insufficient 9 GUE DIALO studies, and 3 had 5 or more studies. Of course, this is a correlation and it ity. As the one accepted paper out the Of the rejected manuscripts, 2 repre- would be wrong to imply causation. It 10 manuscripts submitted without new sented one study, 4 had 2 studies, 3 may be that more skilled researchers data reveals, there is some limited had 3 studies, 1 had 4 studies, and 4 are the ones with more experience, at the margins. Editors face complex had 5 or more studies. which also relates to clarity of writing. decisions, and many decisions involve I suspect that there is a causal element, fine distinctions. But 90% of the time, as well, though. First, the clarity of the original decision holds, and now In my editorial experience, evalua- writing, represented by details as small many journals will not even reconsider tions of manuscripts are not based on a as correspondence with APA format, a manuscript under these conditions. simple additive model – more is not conveys an impression of professional- In contrast, when authors follow the necessarily better. The algorithm is ism. A simple, clear flow makes re- suggestions offered in the review proc- more like a weighted average, with viewers (and editors) happy; it makes ess and collect the data to make a more negative aspects weighted particularly their job easier. Densely or poorly compelling case, the acceptance rate is heavily. If we a consider this in the written manuscripts take longer to re- 50%, far above the 10%-15% rate for context of the rejection set embedded view, are more cognitively taxing, and initial submissions. Thus, it is more in the process, reviewers and editors make us cranky. Although reviewers productive to see the relationship are more likely to reach the saturation and editors focus primarily on the con- among the editor, reviewers, and au- point leading to rejection when more tent of a manuscript and consciously thors as a collaborative one with the studies are included in a manuscript. adjust for the challenges in writing in a common goal of publishing top quality non-native language, there is little gen- work. erosity for carelessness. Carelessness Moreover, the goal of publication is communicates a lack of seriousness in the communication of research find- the endeavor and, at the very least, it Conclusion ings. It is not about an author’s per- costs the author a gold coin (or two). sonal journey of discovery. For in- I began this article with the goal of try stance, authors often begin their manu- to offer a peek into the black box of the editorial and publication process. I script with a study that did not work Myth #4: Reviewers and editors have well. Study 2 usually accomplishes provided a little bit of data, and a lot of their mind made up and won’t admit interpretation. For me, seeing the everything that Study 1 did, but more when they are wrong. and better. Drawing from the earlier process from both sides, as an author discussion, Study 1 uses up most of Fact #4: Editors and reviewers are and an editor, gives me an apprecia- the gold coins without making a real, more responsive to new data than to tion of the and dedication substantive contribution to the work. new arguments. In an additional sam- of those in our profession. It has also Sometimes people ask me whether the ple of 10 manuscripts that were origi- given me a keen sense of how impor- weak study should be first, last, or nally rejected but resubmitted with tant openness and honesty are. Our buried in the middle. My answer is narrative revisions and re-analyses, work requires integrity; it is critical to always the same. It shouldn’t be there but no new data, 9 of the 10 were re- our reputation, contribution, and suc- at all. The contribution of a manu- jected again. In contrast, of 8 other cess. The author-reviewer-editor one script is not measured in terms of the manuscripts that were originally re- thus should not be adversarial. But in author’s effort or the length of his or jected but resubmitted with new data, a process which is secretive in so her journey; it is determined by the 50% (4 out of 8) were eventually ac- many ways, it is difficult to develop novel contribution of the work and the cepted. Thus, editors are open to be the that is needed to create and efficiency with which it is communi- persuaded – but mainly with new data. maintain effective communication. Hopefully, the snippets of I cated. More is thus not always better, have provided will make the process a and frequently it is worse. Believe it or not, reviewing and edit- little more transparent and help create ing are not about ego. They are about a bridge that will facilitate the success Myth #3: Writing quality does not helping authors and serving the profes- of authors and ultimately meet the matter. (Or, being confusing makes sion. No good egoist would commit need of editors for high quality manu- the time it takes to serve as a reviewer you seem smart.) scripts. The goals of authors, review- or editor with such miniscule material ers, and editors are indeed the same. Fact #3: On a 1 (= poor) to 5 (= ex- payoff. Reviewers and editors feel an cellent) rating scale of clarity of pres- obligation to the field and work pri- entation used by reviewers, accepted marily to uphold scholarly standards. papers averaged 4.2, whereas rejected The editorial process thus should not papers had a mean of 3.4. be construed as a battle or even as a negotiation. The bottom line is qual- 10 GUE DIALO Report from the Publication Committee

By Wendy Wood use research methods higher in external psychology. Thus, PSPB continues to validity, they may get credit for the find- prosper. ings. On the other hand, social psychol- Personality and Social Psychol- SPSP’s journals and the Dia- ogy is flourishing, as evidenced by our ogy Review has a new editorial team in logue are probably the most important citation impact in other fields. Social (Editor), Bernadette Park activities of the society. So it is good psychology as a science is a citation hub, news that they continue to flourish. En- suggesting that our knowledge base is (Associate Editor), and Deborah Pren- suring that they do so is the central job highly respected. Also putting our nar- tice (Associate Editor), taking over for of the SPSP Publications Committee. row data base in perspective, all social Galen Bodenhausen and his team. PSPR You may not know what this Committee science fields to some extent favor west- submissions have increased 46% over does—I didn’t have a very good idea ernized, educated, industrialized, rich, 2008 to a total of 98 new submissions in until I became a member. Mostly, we democratic (WEIRD) participants. 2009—reducing a chronic concern with give advice. We recruit and recommend numbers of submissions. An additional Given this range of views, the new journal editors when positions be- 13 papers were received for a special publication committee suggested that (a) come available. We also advise the ex- issue on religiosity edited by Constan- decision rules for publication should isting editors about Society policy, and reflect that, all other things being equal, tine Sedikides. The rejection rate last we work with SAGE to make sure that should be given to articles year was 76%, consistent with past they understand the needs of social psy- with diverse samples and methods, and years, and mean editorial decision lag chology. The other thing we do is report (b) SPSP should work to increase re- stayed short at 8.4 weeks. The remark- on journal functioning. Twice a year, the searchers’ opportunities to access di- able PSPR news is its impact factor that editors report to us on the status of their verse samples and methods—in this way rose to 8.50 under Galen’s editorship. It journals, and we in turn report to the increasing the supply of such articles is now the top-most cited journal in so- Executive Committee. This might sound th available for publication in the field. cial/personality and the 8 most impact- a bit bureaucratic, but we also get to- ful journal in all titles. Also noteworthy, from our dis- gether for dinner a couple of times a We welcome Mark and look forward to year to talk over journal policies with cussions with SAGE, new developments his innovative ideas for the journal’s the journal editors, SAGE publishers, are on the way for authors. SAGE has continued success. and the rest of the Publication Commit- started attaching podcast interviews be- tee (this year Dwayne Wegener, Daniel tween an editor and author to some arti- Finally, the new brief-reports Cervone, and myself, Wendy Wood, as cles for some journals. SPSP would like journal, Social Psychology and Person- Chair). What we discussed this year and to start this policy for our journals, and ality Science , is now in full operation. then reported to the Executive Commit- we discussed how editors might do so. This new journal, edited by Vincent Yz- tee is the following: Such podcasts apparently increase cita- erbyt and 8 Associate Editors, is a joint tion rates of articles, and even have a venture among four societies: the Asso- The issue that generated the spill-over effect of increasing citations ciation for Research in Personality, the most discussion was, how can our jour- of other articles published in a given European Association for Experimental nals better represent a broader, diverse issue. Social Psychology, the Society of Ex- ? That is, how can they pub- perimental Social Psychology, and lish more papers that draw on broadened As for the end of year reports, SPSP. SPSP owns a 32% stake in the participant beyond college Dialogue is thriving under the editorial journal. The journal is wildly success- students, broadened settings outside of team of Hart Blanton and Diane Quinn. ful. After its start in April, SPPS re- the lab, and broadened research method- This smart, entertaining publication does ceived 378 submissions—far outstrip- ologies beyond 2x2 experiments. Shi- an excellent job of keeping us informed ping the submission rate of any launch nobu Kityama, the Editor of PSPB, about what is going on in the profession. with which SAGE has been associated. stressed the importance of diverse popu- For the Personality and Social Submissions were from 22 countries, lations in his editorial statement in the Psychology Bulletin , Shinobu Kitayama with of acceptance/revisions January issue of the journal. The discus- continues his leadership, along with two closely mirroring that of the submis- sion was split on how much journal pol- senior associate editors, nine associate sions. The first issue has been published, icy should be changed to promote a editors, and a 104-person editorial and a hard copy was distributed to all broad data base. On the one hand, pol- board. Manuscript submissions continue members of SPSP as well as the mem- icy makers and others outside of the high, with 638 total submissions in bers of the other associated societies. field sometimes dismiss the value of 2009. Editorial lag time continues to be The journal is meeting its goal of speedy social and personality research because impressive at 8.5 weeks. The impact decisions on manuscripts, with a mean of our narrow data base. Also, when our factor of PSPB has stabilized at a high editorial decision lag of about 5 weeks. findings are adapted by marketing re- level, rising to 2.24 in 2008, ranking  searchers, economists, and others who PSPB #7 out of 47 journals in social 11 GUE DIALO

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By Diana Sanchez address at the convention. These programming will be held at the leading are joined by a San Diego Convention Center The APA Convention 2010 will host of other pioneering research- (not the Manchester Hotel). take place from August 12 th to ers invited to present at APA on Moreover, the APA Convention August 15 th in sunny San Diego, the topics of , emotion, program now features several California at the San Diego Con- close-relationships, , addresses and symposia on the vention Center. Because the APA health, stereotyping, and stigma. topic of LGBT issues in psychol- Convention theme is Caregiving, These presentations include ogy from a wide variety of divi- the Division 8 program boasts Aron, Monica Biernat, Sapna sions including our own. For ex- several exciting addresses from Cheryan, Nicholas Christenfeld, ample, we are co-sponsoring a the leading experts on caregiving. Thierry Devos, Brooke Feeney, symposium on the new directions For example, Nancy Collins and Diane Quinn, Toni Schmader, in research on minority Shelly Gable from the UC Santa Jenessa Shapiro, and Margaret among LGBT populations with Barbara will represent the social Shih. Division 9 (SPSSI). We have and personality perspectives on also joined forces with Division 9 caregiving in an invited APA I also want to take this opportu- (SPSSI) to offer a joint social President Highlighted Sympo- nity to address the controversy hour on Saturday evening at the sium. They will be joined by surrounding this year’s APA San Diego Marriott Hotel. So, Naomi Eisenberger and Joan Convention. As a researcher of there are many that I Monin to discuss the conse- stereotyping, , and highly recommend attending the quences of caregiving and social stigma, I accepted my appoint- APA Convention this year. The support. The 2010 Spielberger ment as the APA Program Chair 2010 APA Convention will pro- Symposium on emotion, motiva- for Division 8 with mixed emo- vide an opportunity to learn about tion, and personality will feature tion—excitement about the op- the new directions of the field, M. Lynne Cooper who studies portunity to put together a strong especially in the areas of caregiv- motivation for risky behaviors. program of scholars to represent ing, stereotyping, prejudice, and In addition, 2010 APA Distin- our discipline and anger about the LGBT topics. In addition, your guished Scientist Award recipi- APA’s decision to designate the attendance will support the SPSP ent, will present her Manchester Hotel as an APA boycott of the Manchester Hotel latest research on scorn and envy Convention Hotel. The Manches- (and you could take the opportu- in social comparison. The Henry ter Hotel is owned by a known nity to picket the Manchester Murray Award winner, Avril supporter of the Prop 8 Initiative Hotel should you be inclined to Thorne will also present her re- to ban same-sex . Be- take further social action). I hope search on introverted personali- cause of SPSP’s united front with to see you at the Convention. ties and . The current Divisions 9, 12, 17, 27, 32, 35, Registration begins on Thursday, th President of SPSP, Jennifer 39, 44, 45, 48, and 56 to boycott April 15 (see website for details: Crocker will revisit the social the Manchester Hotel, I am happy http://www.apa.org/convention/ ). importance of self-esteem in her to report that all of the Division 8  Report on APA Council of Representatives

By Janet K. Swim and of California. Several divisions, in- want to use the Hyatt have other at- cluding Division 8, wrote letters en- tractive options. Special has Lynne Cooper couraging APA to move divisional also been given to convention pro- APA Convention events and the APA Council meeting gramming that highlights same sex The APA convention will be itself out of the hotel. Council voted in marriage rights. held in San Diego from August 11-15. solidarity with the letter writers, thus Other conference events of Controversy had arisen over APA’s directing the APA to move its meet- interest to Division 8 members in- initial decision to remain in the Man- ings elsewhere. APA is not calling for clude: Dan Gilbert will deliver a key- chester Grand Hyatt Hotel after con- a general boycott of the hotel, but will note address, and Shelly Taylor will cerns about the hotel owner’s mone- make every effort to provide other receive a life time achievement award. tary contribution to Proposition 8 lodging and meeting space options so Roslyn Carter will also receive an which bans gay marriage in the state that members or groups who do not APA Presidential citation. Attention 15 GUE DIALO Report on APA Coun- Stages of Work-Life Balance ☺☺ cil of Representatives By DMQ Early Grad School Late Grad School Assistant Professor (continued from p 14)

“It is way harder “It not easy, but if I “Balance- has also been given to making the con- than undergrad, but work hard on re- schmalance, I’ll vention a fun place for attendees, in- if I shift all my re- search, teaching, worry about balance cluding opportunities for visiting the search, course- and writing my dis- later. If I work really work, and TA duties San Diego Zoo. sertation, I can still hard on my research, to Mon-Fri, 10-5, I take one day off per teaching, advising, Public Education Campaign still have plenty of week for other life writing, and service time for other life activities. Unless no Council reauthorized monies activities every day, 7 activities! I can do writing gets done . . days a week, I can for APA's public education campaign, this!” stupid dissertation!” still get 5-6 hours of adding the stipulation that the focus of sleep a night!” the campaign be brought into line with the goals and objectives of APA's Stra- tegic Plan. The previous public educa- tion campaigns has very successfully raised . . . Associate Professor Full Professor public awareness about psychological services and, for instance, worked to “ . . . . what’s that? “Sure, I’ve got work- “As I tell all my gradu- remove the stigma associated with What do you mean life balance. I teach, ate students, being a seeking help from a clinical psycholo- now is a good time advise, write, re- professor is the per- search, edit, see my fect job for work-life gist. The current re-authorization re- to start a ?! Now? Really? OK, partner, take care of balance. A lot of flexi- quires that the public education dollars OK, you’re right, if I my kid. Plus, I go to bility, time for your be used for broader purposes, espe- cut the sleep down conferences!! That’s family, golf, you name cially educating the public about psy- to 3 hours per night, balance right? Wait, it! Oh, and next week chology as a science. I could fit a baby did I mention the I’m spending a month and tenure in.” kids? I can’t remem- in Greece! I have no APA Dues ber . . . research plan to retire. No, I shows that sleep don’t remember any Council voted to create a $25 deprivation affects major work-life bal- dues credit for full members of APA .” ance issues.” who are also members of the Associa- tion for Psychological Science; the Society of Neuroscience; as well as any organization that is part of the Federation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain . The credit also extends to members of the state, provincial and territorial psycho- it may have the unintended effect of Task Force Reports logical associations and the four na- further decreasing the number of pri- Task force reports are one tional ethnic-minority psychological mary scientists who are members of way that APA is able to build bridges associations. At the same time, Coun- APA. across different areas of expertise in cil repealed what had been a 25% dues code. Psychology and make connections reduction for who were between research and practice. This also members of APS or one of the In its continued effort to be clear about its stance against torture, fall, Council voted to receive the Final other Federation organizations. Al- Report of the Task Force on Psychol- though this move is seen as creating Council approved changes to the APA Ethics Code to resolve potential con- ogy's Contribution to End Homeless- parity for across all APA members ness. According to the report, provid- who pay dues to more than one profes- flicts among professional ethics, legal , and organizational demands. ing housing without addressing the sional organization, it has the effect of psychosocial factors associated with increasing membership costs for most The revised language to standards 1.02 and 1.03 is intended to ensure that the homelessness is not enough to solve scientists since the 25% discount the overarching problem. The full re- greatly exceeds the $25 reduction. standards can never be interpreted to justify or defend violating human port is available at: www.apa.org/pubs/ This move will be discussed further by info/reports/end-homelessness.pdf . the APA membership committee since rights. 16 GUE DIALO State of SPSP:

News from the Executive Committee Meeting (cont. from page 1) year, with 3512 conference attendees. Student Travel Awards Committee . runs out well before people are fin- The finances of the Society remain in The committee (chaired by Toni ished conversing. (Special Dialogue good shape with no surprises in the Schmader) received 592 applications Tip: Get in line for food early, talk positive or negative direction. for student travel awards. Each appli- later!) The DCC also co-sponsors a cation was reviewed and rated by two mentoring lunch with the GLBT Alli-

committee members. Seventy-five ance in social and personality psychol- Convention and Program Committees . awards were given, distributed propor- ogy (GASP). This year featured 13 The convention committee (Monica tionally across year in graduate school. mentors leading discussions on a vari- Biernat, Wendi Gardner, and Toni See page 12 for the full list of win- ety of topics. See page 6 for more Schmader) discussed the search for ners. information on the work of the DCC. future convention venues. The execu- tive committee discussed how to get increased media involvement and re- Publication Committee . The commit- Graduate Student Committee (GSC) . porting on the conference, including tee (Wendy Wood, Duane Wegener, The GSC was, as always, very busy the ideas of inviting specific journal- and Daniel Cervone) reported that this year. In addition to co-sponsoring ists to attend the conference and video- each of the publications – PSPB, the pre-conference on career trajecto- taping major addresses for download PSPR, SPPS, and Dialogue – is run- ries, they organized a symposium on a on the internet. ning smoothly. PSPR is transitioning “graduate student’s guide to external to a new editorial team this year. For a funding.” They also created a poster The program committee full report from the publication com- from the results of a survey on gradu- (chaired by William Fleeson and mittee, see page 10. ate student experiences. The GSC Serena Chen) noted that there were continued to organize two very popu- 195 symposia submitted for the con- lar events at SPSP: The mentor lunch- ference – the highest number of sub- Training Committee . The training eon and the student poster award. The missions yet. There were 77 accepted, committee, along with the graduate student luncheon included 272 stu- yielding a 61.6% rejection rate. We student committee, organized a pre- dents and 35 mentors, and a total of 88 discussed potential ways to increase conference that focused on the differ- posters were submitted for poster the number of symposia accepted in ent types of careers available to those awards. See page 20 for a full report future years, such as adding an earlier with training in personality and social and the winners of the poster awards. start time to each convention day. psychology. Talks included informa- The GSC also made two important There were 2026 posters accepted tion on academic jobs in research- recommendations that are under con- (again, a record high). The submission oriented universities and liberal arts sideration by the executive committee: portal for SPSP 2010 underwent sig- colleges, jobs in business schools and (a) In order to reduce paper use (and nificant improvements this year with a medical schools, and jobs in the public strain on people’s backs!) it was rec- new automated process that stream- and private sectors. The training com- ommended that the printed program lined submission and allowed the use mittee also organized a symposium become optional. Many people al- of keywords in scheduling the pro- session in order to give advice and ready use the electronic version and gram. Specifically, posters were ar- best practices on the mentoring of would prefer to opt out of the printed ranged in groups by their keywords in graduate students. See full report on program book. (b) Introduce a cus- order to allow similar posters to be page 7. tomizable online schedule for the con- near each other. In order to prevent ference. Given the size of the confer- timing conflicts, there were several ence, this would help people to easily different sessions for heavily sub- Diversity and Climate Committee organize their schedules in order to scribed keywords. Keywords were (DCC) . In the spirit of “It ain’t broke, attend all the events of interest at the also used to arrange the symposia ses- don’t fix it,” the DCC reported that conference. sions in order increase variety in each they continue to have great success time slot and to avoid conflicts on sponsoring the Diversity reception. At similar themes. Several people noted the reception, the winners of the diver- Additional News and Task Forces. In that the signage in the poster rooms sity fund travel award (both graduate addition to the standing committees was very helpful in allowing people to and undergraduate) get a chance to above, members of the executive com- find specific posters. talk to researchers they admire. This mittee continue to work on several reception is so popular with students other issues, listed below in no par- and faculty that the food invariably 17 GUE DIALO ticular order: made several recommendations to themes will be used to develop increase the media attention to new funding opportunities. social and personality psychology, • The task force for Scientific Lead- including (a) Initiate two awards ership was originally given the for high quality journalism about • Finally, the executive committee goal to consider ways to increase social and personality psychology, discussed some of the complaints the representation and visibility of (b) Increase media training for about the Las Vegas convention social and personality psycholo- SPSP members, including training location. Concerns about the ob- gist in distinguished and honorary on how to write op-ed pieces and jectification of women in the con- societies at the national level. The how to conduct television inter- ference hotel décor and entertain- task force recommended that (a) a views, (c) Hire a public outreach ment venues were noted. Dissatis- database listing the objective im- consultant, (d) Embargo a small faction with some of the rooms in pact of SPSP fellows be created group of articles for which the the conference hotel was also and maintained. Work began on public outreach consultant will noted. The committee talked about creating the database. (b) Create a write press releases, (e) Have des- ways to reduce these issues in the list of senior scientists who could ignated press rooms at confer- future. See Monica Biernat’s re- immediately be nominated to dis- ences. The executive committee port on page 2 about how conven- tinguished societies. Work began voted to go forward with the jour- tion locations are chosen. on creating this list. (c) Create a nalism awards and the training for standing Nominating Committee writing op-ed pieces. The other  who would report directly to the recommendations will be exam- SPSP executive committee. This ined in more detail at the next committee would be charged each meeting. year with identifying a group of scientists to be nominated to hon- Meeting on Division 8 – APA . Reports orific societies. • The executive committee had a from the Division 8 APA council rep- teleconference with Bill Elwood, a resentatives and the APA program- health science administrator at the ming chair were given to the SPSP • The Financial Task Force worked National Institutes of Health, to Executive Committee in Las Vegas, on devising and maintaining the discuss OPPNET, an NIH-wide and appear on page 14. Discussion Society’s financial resources. The initiative to expand funding to was focused on whether Division 8 task force devised a plan to keep basic and behavioral science. The Council Representatives should boy- enough emergency funding for society was encouraged to draft a cott events held within the Manchester one year’s expenses while pursu- response detailing the type of re- Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego at the ing a conservative investment search that they would like to see APA Convention later this year. The strategy with any budget surplus. funded and submit this informa- issue is that the owner of the hotel The task force recommended ob- tion when the official Request for provided substantial financial support taining recommendations for the Information was posted in late for Proposition 8 last year in Califor- investment plan from two separate January. The society as well as nia, which vacated the recent Califor- certified financial planners, not many other societies and individ- nia Supreme Court Ruling that al- associated with any bank or bro- ual researchers responded to the lowed for same-sex marriage. Al- kerage, in order to examine all RFI. Information about the results though all Division 8 related program- possible investment strategies. can be found here: http:// ming was removed from the Manches- oppnet.nih.gov/news-012810.asp . ter hotel, there was still a plan to have Encouragingly, a review of this the APA council meeting held there. • The search for a “web editor” for page shows that the top research After much discussion, the executive SPSP’s planned website contin- themes submitted were: Decision committee decided to join with the ued. Although has been making; Cognitive and emotional other APA divisions to request a made on finding a web editor, the processes; Social, personality and change of venue for the council meet- progress has been slow. One issue cultural factors; Health behaviors ing. If that meeting was not moved has been how to define the scope and disparities; The intersection from the Manchester hotel, the plan of the job and whether it is best between behavior and gene/ was for the Division 8 council mem- suited to just one person or to two environment interactions; Life- bers to boycott the meeting. Happily, people with different types of ex- span/developmental perspectives; the council meeting has since been pertise. The search continues. Psychosocial stress; Sleep and moved out of the hotel. circadian rhythms; and Neurobiol-  ogy/. These • The task force on Media Outreach 18 GUE DIALO

TRAVEL SECTION In this installment of the travel section, we explore the life of social and person- ality psychologists at teaching colleges.

Being Teacher-Scholars in a Liberal Arts Setting

By Kathryn C. Oleson , Reed graduates in the learning process and frequently piles of papers to grade and College and Carolyn Weisz , helping them develop important skills in rarely or never the help of a teaching writing, research, and critical thinking. assistant. Teaching a 2/2, 2/3, or 3/3 University of Puget Sound In addition, it assumes an active and course-load is time-consuming. The Sunshine has returned to the Pacific engaged research program that develops types of courses one offers may in part Northwest, giving the small, private lib- one’s social- be limited by the fact you are the only eral arts colleges here the look of a re- identity, involves students in conducting person in the department with particular sort or summer camp, and fitting nicely research, and informs and enhances expertise. You may, however, be able to within the theme of Dialogue’s “Travel one’s teaching. Faculty members are offer upper-level specialty seminars that Section.” Many people – rightly or therefore expected to be excellent teach- serve to bring students into your re- wrongly – assume that they already ers and excellent scholars. At both of search lab. There are additional benefits know what it would be like to work in our institutions, promotion and tenure to teaching in this environment. Know- such a setting. Some imagine that is it a require meeting high standards for ing students’ names by the second week smaller version of a larger university - teaching excellence; if one is not an ex- of class creates a sense of camaraderie often interpreted, therefore, as less cellent teacher who loves to teach under- which quickly grows into shared expec- stressful or demanding. Such percep- graduates, a liberal arts environment tations that both students and instructor tions, however, are misguided and can would likely be a poor fit. At the same will contribute to the vitality of the be damaging for candidates on the job time, lack of quality research engage- learning environment. Having col- market or for their well- advi- ment would be seen as problematic be- leagues, within and outside of psychol- sors. In this piece we’ll try to give you a cause of its harm to both the researcher ogy, who share a commitment to teach- realistic sense of our lives as teacher- and his or her ability to teach first-rate ing is also a joy. Such colleagues serve scholars in liberal arts settings. Whereas courses. Ideally, one finds a balance and as a practical resource and support net- previous travel columns have considered synergy between teaching and research work. Moreover, we both find that con- differences between being faculty mem- such that, by being an active and en- versations with peers about teaching are bers in a psychology department versus gaged researcher and an active and en- a stimulating source of intellectual en- other settings (e.g., marketing depart- gaged teacher, both one’s teaching and gagement. Both of our institutions pro- ment, polling firm), our task is different research are enriched. The line between mote effective teaching through a variety in that we are writing about being social teacher and researcher is often blurred, of means such as brown bag discussions, psychologists in a psychology depart- as is the case when one is teaching the workshops led by visiting scholars, and ment – but within a liberal arts college research process through collaborating evaluation processes that ensure we re- instead of a larger institution that trains with a student on a senior thesis or inde- ceive regular and thorough feedback graduate students. Instead of contrasting pendent study project. from students and peers. the two, we focus on what it is like to be a social psychologist in a liberal arts Teaching. Teaching high-quality under- Research . There are challenges to con- setting and consider what factors might graduate courses that promote students’ ducting research in a liberal arts setting. make it a more or less good fit for some- development as scholars is an intensive First, there are not graduate students or one. As a caveat, our comments are activity. Like first-rate research and postdocs, and you may be the only primarily based on our own experiences writing, it involves focused time, hard scholar in your sub-area of psychology. at Reed College and the University of work, and creativity. Few, if any, Instead, your collaborators are under- Puget Sound, which may only loosely courses are large lectures with multiple graduates – often whip-smart, motivated resemble positions at other liberal arts choice exams. Instead most classes in- undergraduates who are a delight to institutions. volve teaching the writing of lab reports, work with and who appreciate one-on- research proposals, or term papers; con- one mentoring –but still undergraduates Teacher-Scholar . One’s identity in a ducting hands-on research; reading who may only be able to commit 1-2 liberal arts setting is as a teacher- original research; and guiding animated semesters to your lab and who are scholar. Being a teacher-scholar in- discussions of class readings. Given the clearly beginners. Second, there is lim- volves a commitment to engaging under- amount of writing students do, there are ited time for research during the school 19 GUE DIALO year. Clearly we can point to folks with 10-person team in which each person is tions who started jobs around the same high research in liberal arts a critical link. If you have a chain of time, and we met about every quarter for settings; however, individuals who pur- individuals with great generosity of several years to talk about research ideas sue positions at liberal arts colleges spirit, the department thrives. But if indi- and the challenges of being new profes- should assume that most of their time viduals contribute little to the life of the sors. Within our institutions, interac- during the academic year will be focused department and institution, the commu- tions across areas of psychology are on high-quality teaching. Third, there is nity suffers. Your mere presence on common. For example, one of us has often no subject pool, or if there is one, campus may be valued or expected. In routinely team-taught Introduction to it is small. Finally, some research may our departments, most faculty members Psychology with a behaviorist, a devel- demand a different type of setting, such are in their offices on most days, though opmental psychologist, and a clinical as projects that entail technical proce- some carve out part or all of a day to psychologist. In addition, interdiscipli- dures that take months or years to learn, work from home. Moreover, as with nary collaborations are common at lib- necessitate specific populations (e.g., for any small team or a family, one needs to eral arts institutions, given the lack of which a medical school would be help- develop skills to cope with personality other collaborators, the value placed on ful), or require access to an fMRI scan- differences and potential conflicts. It is interdisciplinary learning, and the crea- ner. In some settings, there may be re- both a blessing and a curse that service tive freedom enabled in institutions with sources or strategies one can use to help activities, small and large, make a differ- less dependency on external grants. confront these challenges. For instance, ence. These include department meet- Many liberal arts institutions also value liberal arts colleges often have small ings, curriculum reviews, advising stu- educational opportunities for students to pools of money to support faculty re- dents, and shaking hands with at develop as citizens and leaders prepared search, summer research opportunities, graduation receptions. You might, soon to contribute outside the academy, and and student-centered research projects. after tenure, be asked to be Department therefore encourage ways for faculty Collaborations with faculty at other in- Head (both of us were), and sooner or members and students to connect with stitutions can provide access to larger later you may take your turn making the larger community. Community ser- subject pools. On the positive side, col- decisions about the tenure of faculty vice and field-based research, for exam- laborative research with undergraduates across the college, helping your institu- ple, may be valued activities, especially can be extremely gratifying. At Reed, tion through its accreditation process, or when they enrich classroom teaching or for instance, where all students are re- chairing the IRB or professional stan- provide research or internship opportuni- quired to conduct senior theses, many dards committee. Service related to sup- ties for students. faculty members find that working porting under-represented students and closely with students in developing their diversity efforts is also important at lib- thesis projects is one of the most intel- eral arts institutions, where there may be Liberal Arts Setting - A Good Fit? Nei- lectually rewarding parts of being a small numbers of students of color and ther of us was trained in a liberal arts teacher-scholar. Another advantage of where some student organizations may institution, or, in all honesty, knew this conducting research in a liberal arts set- have few allies. Moreover, as the only is where we’d end up at the time we ting is that there may be a high degree of social psychologist on staff, you might interviewed for our current jobs. Having scholarly freedom to work outside of be uniquely able to share expertise on spent almost 30 years (collectively) at one’s specific subfield, take interdisci- topics like threat and inter- liberal arts institutions, however, we plinary perspectives, or explore “risky” group in order to improve the have experience and knowledge to help questions. Many liberal arts institutions educational climate. At both our institu- others discern whether the teacher- value the role that faculty scholarship tions, we are frequently reminded that scholar model might be a good fit. Our plays in their larger educational mis- service activities of the major sort can analysis above suggests a good fit for sions, rather than as a tool to attract and should wax and wane throughout those who love teaching and learning, graduate students or compete for exter- one’s career. Saying no, and resisting whose research can be conducted with nal funding. For example, one of us has interesting service opportunities, how- undergraduate collaborators, who func- ditched the experimental lab for several ever, can be difficult. tion well in small groups, who can jug- years to collect messy data on experi- gle multiple roles and responsibilities, ences of stigma among individuals who and who enjoy forging connections are homeless. This type of research of- Making Connections – Across Disci- across communities. That said, one’s fit fers opportunities that are valuable for plines, Institutions, and Communities . with a particular liberal arts setting undergraduates but could prove prob- For both of us, a concern when moving might depend on a number of factors lematic for training graduate students to a small college from larger institu- that vary across positions such as teach- seeking mainstream social psychology tions was that we would be isolated as ing load, lab facilities, expectations for positions. the only social psychologist. Who service and research productivity, char- would we bounce our research ideas off acteristics of students, and the location of if there was no “social psych brown of the institution. A liberal arts setting Service. In a small department within a bag”? We were lucky to be in the Pa- isn’t a spa, but, if you are lucky, every 7 small college, each ’s service cific Northwest with a group of junior years you may get a sabbatical! is important. The department is a 6- to social psychologists at various institu-  20 GUE DIALO

Spring 2010 Graduate Student Committee Report

By Austin Lee Nichols dents about their experiences in grad Session B – 1 st Place: Jessica Remedios school. (University of Toronto)

For a copy of the poster, please visit HM: Maureen A. Craig The SPSP Conference has come and http://www.spsp.org/student/ (Northwestern University), gone and so has our term as your Gradu- pdf/2010_GSC_poster.pdf. Emily Falk (UCLA) ate Student Committee (GSC). Through- st out the year, we focused on creating and Session C – 1 Place: Edward O’Brien (University of Michigan) maintaining events that would be most GSC Mentor Luncheon beneficial to our fellow students. Below This year’s conference included two HM: Andres Golden Martinez is a summary of the events we sponsored mentoring luncheons, one on Friday and (UC Berkeley), Christopher P. this past year. one on Saturday. As in past years, lead- Barlett (Iowa State University) ers in the field hosted tables on topics Session D – 1 st Place: Julie Longua SPSP Conference Events related to both professional issues and (Loyola University Chicago) research-related topics. This year’s HM: Aleksandr Kogan GSC Co-sponsored Preconference: luncheons were in a room at the top of Bridge(s) Over Troubled Waters: Tradi- (University of Hong Kong), the Riviera, where across the two days Jennifer Smith (Loyola Univer- tional and Non-Traditional Careers for 272 students had box lunches with 37 sity Chicago) Personality and Social Psychologists mentors and outstanding views of the st The SPSP Training and Graduate Stu- Strip. We want to especially thank all of Session E – 1 Place: Jennelle Yopchick dent Committees teamed up to recruit our outstanding mentors for making this (Northeastern University) leading social psychologists working in event the success it was - Nalini Am- HM: Nadia Bashir (University and out of traditional Psychology depart- bady, , Keith Campbell, of Toronto), Rick Andrews ments to speak about their experiences. Deanna Caputo, Bryan Castelda, Robert (NYU), Joshua Eng (UC Berke- During the preconference, speakers de- Cialdini, Catherine Cottrell, Chris Cran- ley) scribed jobs within and outside or acade- dall, Lisa Diamond, Joyce Ehrlinger, Session F – 1 st Place: Jessica Sim mia and presented the pros and cons of Grainne Fitzsimons, William Fleeson, () each. Speakers included Adam Galinsky, Olga Godes, Sam Gosling, Marie Hel- Meg Gerrard, Blair Jarvis, Marisa weg-Larsen, William Ickes, John Jost, HM: Debbie Ma (University of Miller, Stacey Sinclair, Sheldon Solo- Cheryl Kaiser, Benjamin Karney, Andy Chicago), Kyle G. Ratner mon, Fritz Strack, and Sophie Trawalter. Karpinski, Aaron Kay, Jon Krosnick, (NYU) Kristin Lane, Mark Leary, Winnifred We had a great turnout and thank the Session G – 1 st Place: Danny Osborne Louis, Brian Lowery, Sonja Lyubomir- Training Committee (especially Marti (UCLA) Hope Gonzalez) for their collaboration sky, Jon Maner, Keith Markman, Iris on this event. For more information and Mauss, Kate Morris, Ara Norenzayan, HM: Sunita Sah (Carnegie Mel- to view some slides from the presenta- Tom Pyszczynski, Catherine Sanderson, lon University), Ryan Buell tions, please visit http://www.spsp.org/ James Shepperd, Leigh Ann Vaughn, (Harvard Business School) student/preconf10.htm. Kathleen Vohs, Seth Wagerman We would also like to recognize the in- GSC Symposium: A Graduate Stu- GSC Poster Award dividuals who volunteered their time to judge the posters prior to and during dent’s Guide to External Funding The GSC hosted awards throughout the each poster session. We thank you for conference for the best posters in each This year’s GSC symposium focused on your support! finding funding, determining which op- session. Three winners in each session portunities are worthwhile, and learning received a monetary reward (i.e., $100 Reviewers : Matt Baldwin, Jenna Barry, st how to be successful in obtaining fund- for 1 and $50 for honorable mention), Anne Bergen, Danielle Blanch, Kathryn ing. The symposium featured Laura while the author of the top poster in each Brooks, Camille Brown, Coral Bruni, King, Janessa Shapiro, and Amber session additionally received Empirisoft Rochelle Burnaford, Shannon Callahan, Story. For the slides from the presenta- hardware and software. Congratulations Peter Caprariello, Christina Carino, Ran- tions, please visit http://www.spsp.org/ to all of our winners! die Chance, Justin Chase, Lyssette Chavez, Lillia Cherkasskiy, John Chris- student/symposia.htm. Session A – 1 st Place: Daniel Philip tensen, Christine Chu, Brian Clark, Weisberg (University of Bir- DeAnn Collins, Brian Davis, Wendy de mingham) GSC Poster: What Graduate Students Waal-Andrews, Tara Dennehy, Ada Di- Want Faculty to Know HM: Pamela Sawyer (UC Santa aconu-Muresan, Emily Dow, Stephanie Barbara), Danay Novoa Echols, Dan Evans, Carey Fitzgerald, In this year’s poster, we presented the (Wilfrid Laurier) Nicholas Freeman, Patricia Gilbert, Hay- results of a survey asking graduate stu- 21 GUE DIALO lie Gomez, Jessica Good, Laura regardless of presentation at the confer- Funding Opportunities Gravens, Jessica Harding, David Her- ence. This year, the SPSP Travel Award We created a comprehensive list of all ring, Gina Hoover, Kim Howell, Chin Committee awarded each winner a $500 relevant funding opportunities - http:// Ming Hui, Jeffrey Hunger, Paul Hutman, travel award to defray the cost of travel www.spsp.org/student/funding.htm. We Lixin Jiang, Kathryn Johnson, Joana associated with the conference. In addi- will update this list regularly to ensure Katter, Summer Kim, Bijan Kimiagar, tion, winners had the opportunity to the newest opportunities are always Janet King, Scott King, Jay Ledbetter, meet with a faculty member of their available. Sadie Leder, Greta Lee, Brittany Liu, choice. The winners were: Peter

Evelina Lou, Kristjen Lundberg, Eliza- Caprariello, Juan Contreras, Eric Heh- beth Majka, Sarah McLachlan, Erin man, David Rast, and Jamil Zaki. New GSC McMichael, Tanya McNeil, Meghan Our term as your GSC is officially over McPhie, Marijn Meijers, Matt Miller, and the new GSC is already working We also want to thank our judges for Caitlin Mooney, Amanda Morin, Angela hard to meet your needs. We are espe- this competition – Jessica Barber, Nierman, Joonha Park, Raquel Perez, cially excited to add a new position fo- Heather Barry, Jenna Jo Barry, Vera Lopez, Michelle Peruche, Eileen Pitpi- cusing specifically on undergraduate Bossel, Justin Chase, Justin Cheng, Lil- tan, Mariana Preciado, Kacy Pula, Lisa affairs. Please welcome your 2010-2011 lia Cherkasskiy, Katherine Corker, Rui Reddoch, Allecia Reid, Janet Rha, Mi- GSC: President - Sean Hughes (National Costa, Amber DeBono, Benjamin Drury, chelle Rheinschmidt, Travis Riddle, Jo- University of Ireland, Maynooth); Past Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, Emily Fisher, seph Roberts, Jaclyn Ronquillo, Erika President - Austin Lee Nichols Ricardo Fonseca, Jim Fryer, Angela Salomon, Kiersten Sandfoss, Stacey (University of Florida); Members-at- Garrison, Ashley Gowgiel, Stacy Haw- Sasaki, Iris Schneider, Sandy Schumann, Large - Kristin Dukes (Tufts Univer- kins, Gina Hoover, Chin Ming Hui, Jef- Cherisse Seaton, Sawa Senzaki, Eliza- sity), Haylie Gomez (University of frey Hunger, Figen Karadogan, Neda beth Shockley, Alexandra Sigillo, Aukje Texas at Arlington), Robin Kaplan Kerimi, Ashley King, Scott King, Eliza- Sjoerdsma, Allison Skinner, Kara Son- (University of California, Irvine), and beth Lee, Evelina Lou, Elizabeth Majka, sky, Nick Stauner, Jane Stout, Erin Tho- Amy-Jo Lynch (University of Kent); and Miriam Matthews, Sylvia Morelli, An- mas, Stan Treger, Alexa Tullett, Greta Member-at-Large for Undergraduate thony Nelson, Danay Novoa, Matylda Valenti, Stephanie Vezich, Amanda Vi- Affairs - Carmel Gabriel (University of Osika, Joonha Park, Allecia Reid, Bas- cary, Adrian Villicana, Beth Visser, California, Davis). Craig Vollert, Ashley Waggoner, Dana tiaan Rutjens, Erika Salomon, Maya Weiser, Jodi Whitaker, Angela White, Sarah Santoro, Charles Seger, Karen John Paul Wilson, Steven Young, and Sixkiller, Nick Stauner, Ally Stevens, Thanks to … Jia Wei Zhang Amanda Vicary, Dana Weiser, and Elena Wright Finally, the GSC would like to thank all of those who attended our

Judges : Stephanie Afful, Rezarta Bilali, events, provided feedback, and volun- Eliane Boucher, David Butz, M. Janelle Finally, thank you to the faculty that teered to help. Without all of you, these Cambron, Amy Canevello, Paul Con- graciously agreed to meet with our win- events would not be possible. I would way, Thomas Denson, John Edlund, Jim ners - Dominic Abrams, Susan Fiske, also like to thank those of you whose Fryer, Kathleen Fuegen, Azenett Garza, , and Leaf Van Boven. name I have misspelled in this report or others throughout the past year for your Jesse Graham, Lindsey Harkabus, Jer- emy Heider, Kristin Henkel, Andrew forgiveness. Karpinski, Kristine Kelly, Megan Teaching Resources Knowles, Elizabeth Lee, Laura Luchies, On our webpage, we updated the teach- Laurel Newman, Elizabeth Nisbet, ing resources, providing students with Talk to us Diana Odom-Gunn, Michael Poulin, information on many aspects of teaching Joan Poulsen, Tila Pronk, Krista Ranby, - http://www.spsp.org/student/ If you have questions about the Daniel Randles, Stephen Reysen, Patrick teachintro.htm. GSC or would like to provide feed- Shrout, C. Veronica Smith, Weylin back or suggestions, please contact

Sternglanz, Claudia Toma, Ahmet Uy- us at [email protected]. In addi- sal, Irem Uz, Jay Van Bavel, Joseph Statistical Resources tion, you can reach the new GSC Wellman, Jessica Williamson, and A list on our webpage provides links to President, Sean Hughes, at Joshua Wilt details and tips on many statistical pro- [email protected]. Finally, cedures - http://www.spsp.org/student/ you can find more information stats.htm. In addition, a portion of the about us and what we do on the Non-conference Events page is devoted to workshops and semi- Web at www.spsp.org/student or GSC Outstanding Research Award nars available for continued statistical on our Facebook page at http:// www.facebook.com/SPSPGSC. We Independent of the poster education. would love to hear from you! award, the ORA recognized the best research performed by graduate students 22 GUE DIALO

Seeking Answers from Social and Personality Psychologists: 10 Research Questions in the Torture/Interrogation Debate

By Bradley Olson , Foley Center internalization, minority influence or wing authoritarianism is somewhat for the Study of Lives, polarization. But bringing the political different from the construct of social world into the social psychological dominance. Social dominance is dif- Northwestern University laboratory and exploring these para- ferent from low openness; a high level digms with GWOT stimuli would ad- of fear and insecurity is different from vance our understanding of the na- the cognitive narrowing associated As someone trained in personal- tional dynamics around the issue of with dogmatism. We might ask, for ity and social psychology—and now torture. instance, when does escalation of inse- also working as a community psy- curity play a role in pro-torture views? chologist—it’s clear to me that social A tendency toward or and personality theory and research 2. How can the public be inoculated prejudice might be other pieces of the make essential contributions to under- against and pro-torture puzzle. How might some or all of standing social justice issues. political media and marketing? these human characteristics moderate I’ve long been an activist on the Briefings from the White American views, decisions, and ac- American Psychological Association House, conservative cable media out- tions around the issue of torture? And, (APA) torture issue and a member of lets, and each episode of “24” present how do these views interact with the Psychologists for Social Responsibil- social psychologists with research op- reasons people give for supporting ity (PsySR). This led to an invitation portunities that can lead to policy torture? Research of this type might to participate in a session chaired by changes and preventive interventions. contribute to more effective ways of Chris Crandall at last fall’s Society for Elaborations on McGuire’s inoculation influencing those who might otherwise Experimental Social Psychology con- theory — to prepare people for pro- endorse or promote national uses of ference in Portland, Maine. The ses- torture arguments (like the ticking torture. sion involved presentations of several time bomb)—would be a good start. excellent studies related to U.S. torture Such interventions could focus on pro- and interrogation. My role was to act tecting the American public by giving 4. Does psychological salience impact as a discussant and to suggest what them stronger ethical and intellectual empathy for and action to help detain- other areas, as an activist, I thought foundations against torture. Public ees at places like Guantanamo? should be studied empirically. norms on torture may be pushed to Milgram’s original salience and extremes through normative and infor- proximity manipulations in his obedi- mational influence. One hope is that if ence studies still teach us much. La- For several decades, the horrors of all the sound arguments against torture tane’s social impact theory also em- WWII and the that led to the were available, torture would be less phasized salience. Salience may be civil rights movement inspired the acceptable. If Americans could be the most interesting concept in under- work of U.S. social and personality encouraged to search more thoroughly standing torture in the Global War on psychologists. As several participants for deeper and varied pools of infor- Terror. The holding facility for terror mentioned at the session in Portland, mational influence, would they polar- suspects was placed on Guantánamo, the Global War on Terror (GWOT) ize against torture? One hypothesis is an island located on the southeastern and Guantanamo can have similar in- that we would be better off if more end of Cuba, at least partly for psycho- fluences on the discipline in the years Americans vigorously exposed them- logical reasons. The distant and inac- ahead. I agree. From my perspective selves to a wider variety of argu- cessible island reduces psychological as an activist, here are 10 questions I ments—even those of the pro-torture salience, for Americans and for the would love social and personality re- side. rest of the world. Without salience, searchers to help answer: it’s hard to have empathy, and without

empathy, it’s difficult to motivate the 3. What are the distinct roles of au- 1. How does a nation that once pub- public around justice-oriented causes. thoritarianism, , and ag- licly reviled torture come to accept it Research could examine this issue gression in pro-torture views? as an unfortunate necessity? more closely. For instance, what ef- Right-wing authoritarianism is a fect does diminished salience have on Group-oriented social psycholo- topic that combines personality and public support for torture? How might gists have often focused on social con- social psychology. Its nature and its increases in salience motivate greater version and societal change. Norm surrounding correlates involve a fairly public resistance against pro-torture changes may reflect or complex set of characteristics. Right- policies? 23 GUE DIALO

5. Why is psychological torture per- tors play a role in the torture debate? about positive forms of social change? ceived by Americans to be more so- Allport believed it was often The early minority influence cially and legally acceptable than ingroup love that initially forms preju- work of Moscovici provided hope in a physical forms of torture? dice—and there is no doubt that these world of majority influence. How can It appears that the American problems can occur at a national level. we defy senseless forms of majority public grossly underestimates the harm Once that love becomes exclusive, an influence and obedience in places that associated with psychological forms of implicit fence is built—and there is support torture? What are the best torture compared to physical forms. always something on the other side of strategies for the non-violent, social Many are were convinced that tech- that fence. Is American exceptional- justice-oriented dissident? Saul niques like sensory deprivation are ism a macro-level variation of ingroup Alinsky, the famous Chicago commu- more innocuous than physical tech- favoritism? Are there unique features nity organizer, believed verbally ag- niques, whereas released detainees to exceptionalism? Does it lead gressive approaches worked best. He consistently say the opposite is true, Americans to believe detainees don’t stated definitively: “Ridicule is man’s that the psychological abuse is the deserve the protections of U.S. or most potent weapon.” Gandhi’s social most unbearable. Although ethical that international law is irrelevant? action required the exact opposite, constraints prevent us from tackling How does ingroup favoritism as ex- arguing that “Non- is not a this question directly, social psycholo- ceptionalism contribute to the wide- movement of brag, bluster, or bluff” gists may be able to devise spread acceptance of torture for non- and “Not a negative thought or action materials and experimental designs to citizens? should be had against others. One better understand these perceptions. may not respect another, but do not Such studies could begin to understand insult him.” The comparative effec- more about our beliefs and attitudes 8. What is the psychology of bureauc- tiveness of such strategies could be around psychological versus physical racy and how does it contribute to separated in the laboratory. torture-accommodating policies in harm. For example, is psychological harm perceived as less harmful be- organizations? cause it’s invisible, thereby reducing Organizational bureaucracy can 10. What are the psychological di- natural human tendencies toward em- epitomize the banality of evil. Many mensions of truth and reconciliation pathy? saw the APA not as consciously pro- commissions compared to current U.S. trial systems? torture, but as an association with an that had its val- The field of psychology and the 6. How does the average American ues in the wrong place. Its 2002 revi- law has brought substantial knowledge make moral decisions around torture? sion of Ethical Standard 1.02 seem- about how our traditional legal system Naturalistic and descriptive ingly usurped every other proscription works. But what do we now know work on moral decision-making in the code. Under the requirements of about alternatives to this system? Can around torture would also be useful. regulations, law, or governing author- we experimentally compare truth and Do people use some variation of ity, standards such as “Do No Harm” reconciliation approaches with more Kant’s categorical imperative (e.g., and “Do Not Exploit” could be ig- punitive methods on issues related to what if everyone did this)? Do they nored. Whether 1.02 was intentionally torture? apply Rawls’ veil of ignorance (e.g., adopted to protect military psycholo- putting the most vulnerable at the fore- gists or whether it was excessive moral front in their minds)? The world caution in the service of guild-based The global war on terror and the would benefit from some experimental interests is unclear given the current mainstreaming of torture and interro- tests of folk theories. On the torture evidence. Bureaucratic features like gation, by psychologists and others, issue, do we apply a utilitarian equity guild-based protectionism seemed to has put social psychology at the center and exchange model (e.g., weighing be a primary problem for the APA, on of another scientific and philosophical costs and benefits, to individuals or to Standard 1.02 and every other torture- crisis. Fortunately, key advances in society at large)? If so, do we con- related policy. Paradoxically, risk our understanding and potential solu- sider costs and benefits for ourselves, aversion imperiled the stability of the tions are solidly within the domain of for our ingroup members, or for soci- organization. How can such processes experimental social psychology. ety at large? What interventions and decisions be better understood? Many people will benefit from the would lead to more reasoned and ethi- Are they inevitable in large bureaucra- efforts of social and personality psy- cal choices? cies, or are effective interventions pos- chologists to address these challenging questions in their work. sible?

7. What is the relationship between American exceptionalism and ingroup 9. What non-violent dissident strate-  favoritism? And how might such fac- gies are most effective in bringing 24 GUE DIALO

Call for Proposals: SPSP 2011

The SPSP Program Committee which will also be printed as General Submission Infor- invites proposals for symposia poster abstracts in the Proceed- mation and posters to be ings. Poster submissions must include presented at the Twelfth An- An individual may be first au- nual Meeting of the Society for the title, the authors’ affilia- thor on only ONE submission Personality and tions, and an abstract of up to (symposium or 250 words. Social Psychology (SPSP), poster) and may serve only which will be held January 27- ONCE in a symposium speak- 29th, 2011, in San Antonio Submission Content ing role. Individuals Texas. The submission deadline is July 20, 2010. Proposals will may, however, be co-authors on be submitted electronically to • Abstracts must contain the more than one paper (symposia the internet site that will be in- specific goals of the study, the and posters). cluded in the calls for proposals. methods used, a summary of Please note that discussants are the results, and conclusions. no longer allowed in regular symposia submissions. It is in- Presentation Formats • Data must be collected prior to abstract submission. We will cumbent on symposia organiz- not consider abstracts for stud- ers to verify that speakers in Submissions may be in the form ies that have not been con- their symposia have not submit- of symposia or poster presenta- ducted. ted their names as speakers in other symposia. tions. • The title of the abstract should clearly define the work Failing to do so may result in a discussed. symposia being rejected. Indi- Symposia viduals are not allowed to • After listing authors' names, switch who fills the speaker role give the name of each author's after submission. Symposia will be 75-minute ses- institutional sions that include three or more affiliation. talks on a The 2011 Program Commit- common topic, printed as sym- • Use only standard abbrevia- tee: tions. posia abstracts in the Proceed- ings. Symposium • Submissions will be reviewed with regard to: scholarly/ Wendy Berry Mendes (Co- proposals must include a title, Chair) abstracts of up to 250 words for theoretical merit, each talk, and a soundness of methodology, rele- Andrew Elliot (Co-Chair) 250-word (maximum) summary vance to social and personality Grainne Fitzsimmons describing and justifying the psychology, Cheryl Kaiser symposium theme. clarity of presentation, signifi- Rich Lucas Please include audio/visual re- cance, and originality. Final se- Jason Mitchell quirements. lection among Shige Oishi Emily Pronin submissions deemed meritori- ous will be made with an eye Valerie Purdie-Vaughns Poster Sessions toward achieving a balanced Michael Robinson Diedrik Stapel and broadly representative pro- gram. Jessica Tracy Poster sessions will involve Kathleen Vohs standard poster presentations, 25 GUE DIALO

INSERT GUILDORD AD HERE 26 GUE DIALO Dear Me!

Do you favor internal, stable attributions for your failures and external, unstable attributions for your successes? Do you only realize you suffer from the hindsight , in retrospect? Are you unable to think of a single instance in which you fall prey to the ? Do you think it is more likely that you suffer from the conjunction fallacy and chronic halitosis than that you suffer from the conjunction fallacy? Do you sometimes fear you are the only one experiencing the ?

Dear me!

If any of this applies to you, you may need help. SPSP is at the ready. Email questions regarding your personal problems, your professional problems or those ever-tricky personal/professional problems to [email protected] . With each issue of Dialogue , the editors will choose one or more questions to be answered by an anonymous do-gooder who can help you through your difficult time. Just realize that all answers are provided for entertainment purposes only. So, if the advice you receive falls flat, take heart in knowing that your problems have entertained others.

Dear Me! fast work of it. Simply note undergraduate thesis ,” “ ill-formed whether the letter is a straightfor- and ill-conceived ” “ previously pub- Will there come a time when ward “reject and don’t ever return lished, ” “ in need of 8 more studies ,” having a paper rejected doesn’t here” letter or the less common “failed to cite my 1984 article in the ruin my day? “reject but possibly resubmit a com- High Today,” ~Laurie O’Brien pletely different manuscript with etc.). the same title” letter. If the letter Put the affirming rejection is of the former type, reframe this letter away and think about how {Note: Dr. O’Brien did not actually “rejection” letter in your mind as a you have great potential and you write in to Dear Me! but she did “revise and resubmit to another, are a great writer and you have post this question on Facebook and better journal” letter. Congratu- good ideas. Don’t tell anybody we all know about Facebook’s pri- late yourself on this success. If the about the letter just yet. Bask in vacy rules, don’t we?} letter is of the latter type, con- the glow of your own success. gratulate yourself on this success.

Put the letter away quickly, savor Dear Laurie, your success. If you run into some- Step 3: Cathartic Engagement. The best way to avoid hav- one who asks you how you are do- Return to the rejection letter and ing your day ruined by a rejection ing, say “fine, thanks” and just reviews a week or so later and give letter is to have your work accepted keep walking. everything a more serious read. Be in the first place. To this end, we sure you are alone while you rain point you to the article by Jack curses down on the reviewers for Step 2: Self-Affirmation. Return Dovidio (p. 8). This nice article has their idiocy. Write such things as to your letter a day or so later to lots of helpful advice. There will, “%$#@ you!” and “What a @#$%ing begin to get some sense of what however, be rejection days in your idiot” and “Didn’t the @#$hole read words can be found in the letter. life. For those days here is a step- what I wrote in footnote 17?!” after Pay close attention to the positive by-step guide to dealing with the each of their misbegotten points. statements, no matter how incon- rejection letters that are bound to Now is not the time to use your sequential (e.g., “great potential in come to every hard-working mem- PhD-level vocabulary. Let the theory, ” “ well written ,” ber of SPSP. righteous indignation burn. Put “ambitious ,” “ a glimmer of an rejection letter away again. Begin

idea ,” “ not completely confounded to tell co-authors and colleagues Step 1: Denial. Scan your cover in Study 9 ,” etc.). Studiously ig- about the letter and how little letter to quickly determine if it is a nore the negative statements no minds aren’t going to hold you rejection letter and if it is, make matter their frequency (e.g., “ a bad down. 27 GUE DIALO

Step 4: Constructive Engagement. Dear Anxious Peer: your criticism, which can later be Once you are able to think about cited by this researcher as evidence your manuscript without It concerns me that you feel a need that the original article has flush in the face, read everything to point out the reviewer that will “weathered criticism.” This means again but now with an open, ac- be opposed to your submission. If you just made a weak article look cepting mind. If the letter is a you have to do this, you’re not be- like established science. Way to go. straight rejection, think construc- ing critical enough. You see, even tively about how to use the re- if you are just mildly critical of a But there is a solution to this too. viewer comments to improve the published article, then its author What you need to do is criticize manuscript for a new audience. If will be asked to review your sub- your own research! Does this there is a glimmer of a hope that mission and will recommend rejec- sound silly? It is. Silly like a fox! you can revise and resubmit a radi- tion. This single negative review cally different manuscript, decide if can tank your paper, as you say. Here’s how it works: After you get the revision you would pursue will a big publication, submit a scath- retain a message you want to pub- So the best advice is just to go for ing criticism of your own article to lish. If it will, resubmit. If it will it. Write your manuscript in the the same journal, under an as- not, consider a new journal. Either spirit of the philosopher Imre sumed name. I encourage you to way, note the concerns that are Lakatos who promoted honest, be creative in thinking of your new easily addressable and begin there. competitive theory testing with his identity. If you wanted, for in- Once you address a few of the eas- famous dictum, “shoot from the stance, you might come up with ier problems, you will gain steam hip” (paraphrase). Sure, some edi- some sort of anagram. So if you and you can get down to the harder tors are Lakatos Intolerant these normally publish under your full business of making substantive days but most can be counted on to name (“Peer Anxious”), then you changes. survey the full range of opinions. could publish your critique under a Yes, yes -- the editor will still invite name like, “Ian Exposure” (male) a review from the researcher whose or “Ina Exposure” (female). Of Step 5: Psychological Acceptance. work you criticized, but since you course you (i.e., the real you) will When you have finished revising, were honest about your opinions be asked to review Dr. Exposure’s read over your new creation and this time, it will be clear to the edi- manuscript and you will argue ve- admit to yourself that the manu- tor that this other author is biased hemently against publication. script has actually improved. against you . The editor will thus From the above analysis, however, Promise yourself that when you are know to discount what this re- you know that the editor will dis- a reviewer of other people’s work viewer says. So, whereas the count your “biased” criticism of Dr. that you will only write nice con- wimpy version of your submission Exposure’s criticism but will later structive comments (at least for the might have been rejected due to ask you to publish a rejoinder to manuscripts that don’t read like this one negative review, your his or her criticism. Later, you can bad undergraduate theses or fail to bold, unabashed and honest sub- cite your rejoinder as evidence that cite your work). mission might be accepted over the your original work has become es- exact same protest. I hope this tablished science. Thus, by criticiz- gives you the courage to embrace ing your first article in print, you See, that wasn’t so bad, right? Karl Popper’s famous directive: cement it into the literature. This “Show a little grit, will nice turn evokes an often-used quo- ~Yours in Rejection, ya?” (paraphrase) tation from Friedrich Nietzshe, who so famously opined, “That Me! But there is a downside and you which does not kill us makes us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ should be prepared. We live in a stronger, especially if we are the Dear Me! postmodern age, an age where ones trying to kill our- I am about to submit an great truths are true and so are selves” (paraphrase). their opposites (a view that is actu- article for peer review and I’m ally false, if it is a great truth). As Of course, if you end up losing the wondering if it is OK to tell the a result, the presence of extreme debate, you can always start regis- editor about a reviewer who will and opposing viewpoints in the tering at conferences under a new be biased against my argument same journal provides name – “I Exposure.” and try to tank my paper. evidence of the presence of multi- What do you think? ple truths. This means that the ~Tough love, ~Peer Anxious author of the work you criticized Me! will be asked to write a rejoinder to 28 GUE DIALO al Offici The e of th letter News r ety fo Soci ty and sonali Per ology 2010 SPSP Officers and Psych Social Committee Members Dial ogue Mis D sion ialogu Statem e is the ent Socie officia ty for P l news President Jennifer Crocker Psy erson letter o cholog ality an f the in y. It ap d Socia the sp pears l President-Elect Todd Heatherton ring an twice e reade d fall. very ye rship is Its inte ar, The mem nded Past President Rich Petty purpo bers of n se of D the So ews of ialogu ciety. Executive Officer David Dunning the So e is to issue ciety, report s, and stimula occ genera te deb Incoming Executive Officer Jack Dovidio asiona lly info ate on p lly ente rm and ublishe rtain. D Deputy Executive Officer Linda Dovidio s summ ialogu the So aries e ciety’s about m sub- execut eeting Secretary-Treasurer Monica Biernat commi ive com s of an ttees, a mittee nounc s well and ements as Editor, PSPB Shinobu Kitayama to the e , opinio ditor, h n piece gener umor, a s, lette Editor, PSPR Mark Leary al inter nd oth rs psy est to er artic cholog person les of p ists. Th ality an Co-Editors, Dialogue Diane Quinn, Hart Blanton ublish e Edit d soci all rele ors see al contri vant an k to Convention Committee Wendy Berry Mendes (co- butions d appr rese , altho opriate rve th ugh the chair), Andrew Elliot (co- p e right Edito ublisha to dete rs bility. C rmine chair) by the ontent Editors may be mem or offe solici bers. N red, u ted APA Program Chair Diana Sanchez Co ews o nsolicit mmitte f the S ed, by e Rep ociety accura orts ar and Diversity Committee Denise Sekaquaptewa (chair), cy and e revie com conte wed fo mittee nt by o r Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta, chairs fficers of SPS or P. All Rudy Mendoza-Denton Publication Committee Wendy Wood (chair), Dwayne at Wegener, Daniel Cervone t us ntac u or Co n.ed Training Committee Marti Hope Gonzales (chair), ucon nn@ du .qui nn.e Jamie Arndt, Michael Robinson, iane uco d ton@ Stacey Sinclair t.blan har Fellows Committee Steven Heine (chair) Members at Large Randy Larson, , Laura King, John Lydon, Nicole Shelton APA Council Rep Lynne Cooper, Janet Swim Webmaster Yoel Inbar Office Manager Christie Marvin

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