Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences - Research Publications

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Author: Haslam, Nicholas × Type: Journal Article × Subject: Social and Community Psychology; Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences ×

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    Beastly: What Makes Animal Metaphors Offensive?
    Haslam, N ; Loughnan, S ; Sun, P (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2011-09)
    Animal metaphors convey a wide range of meanings, from insulting slurs to expressions of love. Two studies examined factors contributing to the offensiveness of these metaphors. Study 1 examined 40 common metaphors, finding that their meanings were diverse but centered on depravity, disagreeableness, and stupidity. Their offensiveness was predicted by the revulsion felt toward the animal and by the dehumanizing view of the target that it implied. Study 2 examined contextual factors in metaphor use, finding that the offensiveness of animal metaphors varies with the tone of their expression and the gender and in-group/out-group status of their targets. These variations influence offensiveness by altering the extent to which the target is ascribed animalistic properties.
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    Economic Inequality Is Linked to Biased Self-Perception
    Loughnan, S ; Kuppens, P ; Allik, J ; Balazs, K ; de Lemus, S ; Dumont, K ; Gargurevich, R ; Hidegkuti, I ; Leidner, B ; Matos, L ; Park, J ; Realo, A ; Shi, J ; Eduardo Sojo, V ; Tong, Y-Y ; Vaes, J ; Verduyn, P ; Yeung, V ; Haslam, N (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2011-10)
    People's self-perception biases often lead them to see themselves as better than the average person (a phenomenon known as self-enhancement). This bias varies across cultures, and variations are typically explained using cultural variables, such as individualism versus collectivism. We propose that socioeconomic differences among societies--specifically, relative levels of economic inequality--play an important but unrecognized role in how people evaluate themselves. Evidence for self-enhancement was found in 15 diverse nations, but the magnitude of the bias varied. Greater self-enhancement was found in societies with more income inequality, and income inequality predicted cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement better than did individualism/collectivism. These results indicate that macrosocial differences in the distribution of economic goods are linked to microsocial processes of perceiving the self.