Commitment to pro- versus counter-attitudinal behavior and the dynamics of social representations

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Tafani ◽  
Lionel Souchet
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Cognitive Restructuring ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Dimensional Model ◽  
Students Attitudes

This research uses the counter-attitudinal essay paradigm ( Janis & King, 1954 ) to test the effects of social actions on social representations. Thus, students wrote either a pro- or a counter-attitudinal essay on Higher Education. Three forms of counter-attitudinal essays were manipulated countering respectively a) students’ attitudes towards higher education; b) peripheral beliefs or c) central beliefs associated with this representation object. After writing the essay, students expressed their attitudes towards higher education and evaluated different beliefs associated with it. The structural status of these beliefs was also assessed by a “calling into question” test ( Flament, 1994a ). Results show that behavior challenging either an attitude or peripheral beliefs induces a rationalization process, giving rise to minor modifications of the representational field. These modifications are only on the social evaluative dimension of the social representation. On the other hand, when the behavior challenges central beliefs, the same rationalization process induces a cognitive restructuring of the representational field, i.e., a structural change in the representation. These results and their implications for the experimental study of representational dynamics are discussed with regard to the two-dimensional model of social representations ( Moliner, 1994 ) and rationalization theory ( Beauvois & Joule, 1996 ).

scholarly journals Sexuality of elders with dementia: social representation of nursing students

Rev Rene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. e44199
Author(s):  
Wanderson Carneiro Moreira ◽  
Vanessa Carvalho Fontinele ◽  
Fernanda Cláudia Miranda Amorim ◽  
Maria do Perpétuo Socorro de Sousa Nóbrega ◽  
Cláudia Maria Sousa de Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Nursing Students ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Semantic Classes ◽  
The Social

Objective: to learn about the social representation of nursing students about the sexuality of elders with dementia. Methods: qualitative study, based on the Theory of Social Representations, developed with 20 Nursing Graduation students from a Brazilian higher education institution. Data was collected through a focal group, processed in the software IRAMUTEQ and analyzed using a Descending Hierarchical Classification. Results: four semantic classes emerged: Sexuality as a right, The theme was insufficient in graduation, Meanings attributed to sexuality, and Care from the perspective of students. Conclusion: the study showed that the nursing students investigated had polysemic representations about the sexuality of elders with dementia, among which discriminatory and stigmatizing conceptions stood out, socially constructed and anchored in common sense.

The role of self-esteem in the dynamics of social representations of higher education: An experimental approach

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Tafani ◽  
Sébastien Bellon ◽  
Pascal Moliner
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Core Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Differentiation ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Recent Developments

One hundred and fifty lower-sixth pupils were asked to complete a school self-esteem scale (pre-test). They then responded to a logico-mathematical test which was presented as a means to evaluate their relative chances of succeeding in higher education. Participants were randomly given either positive or negative feed-back about their chances of success before they completed the school self-esteem scale a second time (post-test) and also a test for the centrality of 12 beliefs associated with the social representation of higher education. Results indicate that induction of low self-esteem reduces the importance accorded to higher education whereas induction of high self-esteem results in valuing the efforts that higher education requires. Additionally, it appears that both these dynamics are mediated by an intra-group differentiation process in which salience depends on the level of self-esteem induced. These results are analysed with regard to recent developments in central core theory ( Abric & Tafani, 1995 ) that distinguish two levels of analysis of the dynamics of social representation: (a) a structural and qualitative opposition between central versus peripheral beliefs and (b) a quantitative hierarchy of the relative weights of different central beliefs in the organization of the representational field. Implications for the study of social representation dynamics are discussed with respect to the model of covariation between intra- and inter-group differentiation processes ( Deschamps, 1982a ).

Social Representations and Commitment

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bonetto ◽  
Fabien Girandola ◽  
Grégory Lo Monaco
Keyword(s):  
Social Representations ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Second Line ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
First Line ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bibliographic Search ◽  
English Articles

Abstract. This contribution consists of a critical review of the literature about the articulation of two traditionally separated theoretical fields: social representations and commitment. Besides consulting various works and communications, a bibliographic search was carried out (between February and December, 2016) on various databases using the keywords “commitment” and “social representation,” in the singular and in the plural, in French and in English. Articles published in English or in French, that explicitly made reference to both terms, were included. The relations between commitment and social representations are approached according to two approaches or complementary lines. The first line follows the role of commitment in the representational dynamics: how can commitment transform the representations? This articulation gathers most of the work on the topic. The second line envisages the social representations as determinants of commitment procedures: how can these representations influence the effects of commitment procedures? This literature review will identify unexploited tracks, as well as research perspectives for both areas of research.

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