What to Do About Grandstanding

Grandstanding ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 167-188
Author(s):  
Justin Tosi ◽  
Brandon Warmke
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Implementation Intentions ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
Moral Talk

How can we cut down on grandstanding and all the damage it causes? Drawing from empirical research in psychology, this chapter explains how individuals can avoid grandstanding and help change social norms so others grandstand less, too. People can reduce their grandstanding by altering their situations, forming implementation intentions about how to talk about morality and politics, and satisfying their desires for moral recognition with activities that are more likely to do good. One tempting and obvious way to get others to stop grandstanding is to call them out and criticize them. But this is a bad idea for moral, epistemic, and practical reasons. A more promising route is to change social norms so that grandstanding becomes embarrassing. This can be done by correcting peoples’ beliefs about grandstanding and moral talk, setting a good example in public discourse, and withholding from suspected grandstanders the praise and attention they seek.

scholarly journals Personal Life, Pragmatism and Bricolage

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social World ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Link Structure ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Social Legitimation

Individualisation theory misrepresents and romanticises the nature of agency as a primarily discursive and reflexive process where people freely create their personal lives in an open social world divorced from tradition. But empirically we find that people usually make decisions about their personal lives pragmatically, bounded by circumstances and in connection with other people, not only relationally but also institutionally. This pragmatism is often non-reflexive, habitual and routinised, even unconscious. Agents draw on existing traditions - styles of thinking, sanctioned social relationships, institutions, the presumptions of particular social groups and places, lived law and social norms - to ‘patch’ or ‘piece together' responses to changing situations. Often it is institutions that ‘do the thinking’. People try to both conserve social energy and seek social legitimation in this adaption process, a process which can lead to a ‘re-serving' of tradition even as institutional leakage transfers meanings from past to present, and vice versa. But this process of bricolage will always be socially contested and socially uneven. In this way bricolage describes how people actually link structure and agency through their actions, and can provide a framework for empirical research on doing family.

Accessing Bodies that Matter

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Krasuska ◽  
Ludmiła Janion ◽  
Marta Usiekniewicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
The Political ◽  
Original Publication ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Gendered Language

Abstract In this self-reflexive paper, co-written by scholars currently collaborating on the Polish translation of Judith Butler’s Bodies that Matter, we discuss the political and activist stakes of translating a canonical queer theory text over 25 years after its original publication, in the context of anti-lgbtq+ public discourse in today’s Poland. We argue that the collective character of our translation process turns it into an activist workshop that negotiates social norms and works on the invention and application of their alternatives. This activist practice results in a programmatically accessible translation, written in gender-inclusive and queer-sensitive language that follows the poststructuralist philosophical underpinnings of the 1993 source text and its gendered language. Discussing examples of Butler’s use of grammatical gender and her politicized style in our translation, the article contributes to understanding the queer activist practice of translation and, specifically, underwritten questions of translating queer theory in a contemporary Polish (linguistic) context.

The Social Costs of Grandstanding

Grandstanding ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 67-96
Author(s):  
Justin Tosi ◽  
Brandon Warmke
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Moral Discourse ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Group Polarization ◽  
The Social ◽  
Moral Talk

This chapter presents some consequentialist considerations against moral grandstanding. Grandstanding contributes to group polarization. Relatedly, grandstanding leads people to hold false beliefs, and to be overconfident about their beliefs. Grandstanding also threatens to undercut the effectiveness of moral talk. It makes people increasingly cynical about moral discourse, and it may cause outrage exhaustion—an insensitivity to expressions of outrage by others, and an inability to muster outrage oneself. When grandstanding becomes too common in public discourse, moderates avoid discussions of morality and politics. In spite of these costs, the possibility that grandstanding may be socially beneficial is also considered.

scholarly journals Values dependence on generation identification

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 00108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Sivrikova ◽  
Tatyana Ptashko ◽  
Elena Chernikova ◽  
Artem Perebeynos
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Communication Problem ◽  
The People ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mathematical Data Processing

In the article the communication problem between generations is considered in terms of differences of values. The authors generalize the results of research on the problem solved worldwide and provide data of an empirical research of differences in values of the Soviet, Transitional and Post-Soviet generations. At the same time values of the people identifying themselves with different generations are compared. 132 persons (72 women and 60 men) participated in the questionnaire. Sch. Schwartz's questionnaire is applied to studying values of people. Jonckheere-Terpstra test is used for mathematical data processing. Researchers confirmed a hypothesis that the existing differences in values of generations consist in a more impressed orientation of the senior generation to traditions and social norms, and more impressed orientation of the younger generation to the power and receiving pleasure. Results of the research confirm the universal trends in distinctions to values of generations consisting in stronger orientation of younger generations to values expressing interests of the individual and senior generations to values expressing interests of the group. Limitations and future research directions, possible implications of these results are also discussed.

Inference and Hypothesis Testing in Cultural Evolution

2019 ◽  
pp. 152-159
Author(s):  
Ruth Mace
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Empirical Testing

This chapter demonstrates how evolutionary anthropologist Ruth Mace applauds Robert Boyd's multidisciplinary approach to the study of human evolution, while stressing her own belief in the importance of empirical testing. She points out that many questions remain about how norms arise, why they vary, “how they are maintained, and how easily they change.” In a more critical vein, Mace suggests that some of the behaviors that Boyd attributes to social norms and sanctions might better be explained based on individual benefits. This includes the decision to participate in warfare. Mace then describes her own empirical research on intergroup conflict in Northern Ireland and raises the question of whether “competition and conflict between groups, such as interethnic warfare, leads to parochial altruism (that is, altruism directed only within the group).”

Responses, Corrections, Applications

2020 ◽  
pp. 294-316
Author(s):  
Christoph Möllers
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Social Fields ◽  
Art Historians

This concluding chapter offers some commentary on various topics covered in the preceding chapters. It first discusses the need for a comparative study of social norms. The investigation of social norms still largely follows their respective provenance from law, politics, religion, or other social fields, and accordingly is disciplinarily divided up among jurists, political scientists, theologians, art historians, or psychologists. The chapter considers how this volume approached the topic in a different way. In addition, the chapter addresses critiques from practical philosophy about the distinction highlighted between norms and their justification. Afterward, the chapter lists some brief reflections on the automation and rule-bound determination of social practices, before discussing further empirical research perspectives.

Grandstanding: A Field Guide

Grandstanding ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Justin Tosi ◽  
Brandon Warmke
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Moral Discourse ◽  
Moral Outrage ◽  
Field Guide ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Moral Qualities

Drawing on empirical research from psychology, this chapter shows what grandstanding looks like in public discourse and why it often takes the forms it does. When grandstanders pile on, they contribute to public moral discourse to proclaim agreement with something that has already been said or to join in a shaming brigade. When grandstanders ramp up, they make increasingly strong claims about the matter under discussion to impress others with their moral qualities. Grandstanders trump up when they try to show off their moral credentials by making up moral problems that don’t really exist. Grandstanders use expressions of strong emotions such as moral outrage to show off how good they are. Finally, grandstanders are often dismissive of others’ views, treating disagreement as a sign of moral disorder. The chapter concludes by explaining why there is no simple, foolproof way to tell whether someone is grandstanding.

scholarly journals The New Videomalaise: Effects of Televised Incivility on Political Trust

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIANA C. MUTZ ◽  
BYRON REEVES
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
Political Differences

Does incivility in political discourse have adverse effects on public regard for politics? If so, why? In this study we present a theory suggesting that when viewers are exposed to televised political disagreement, it often violates well-established face-to-face social norms for the polite expression of opposing views. As a result, incivility in public discourse adversely affects trust in government. Drawing on three laboratory experiments, we find that televised presentations of political differences of opinion do not, in and of themselves, harm attitudes toward politics and politicians. However, political trust is adversely affected by levels of incivility in these exchanges. Our findings suggest that the format of much political television effectively promotes viewer interest, but at the expense of political trust.

Can a Social Norms Appeal Reduce Indoor Tanning? Preliminary Findings From a Tailored Messaging Intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 818-823
Author(s):  
Nick Carcioppolo ◽  
Wei Peng ◽  
Di Lun ◽  
Aurora Occa
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Indoor Tanning ◽  
Perceived Social Norms ◽  
Intervention Message ◽  
Different Levels

Perceived social norms are routinely observed as positive predictors of indoor tanning. Past research has suggested that messaging interventions target normative perceptions to reduce indoor tanning behavior. Despite this call, little empirical research has investigated the utility of taking a social norms approach in behavioral interventions. The present study addresses this gap by conducting a quasi-experiment ( N = 206) assessing the effect of an intervention message correcting normative misperceptions on indoor tanning intentions at different levels of tanning frequency. Results suggest that tailored normative intervention messages can successfully reduce tanning intentions among high-frequency tanners, those who scored at the 75th and 90th percentile of tanning frequency ( f2 for interaction = .015). These results provide preliminary empirical evidence to support previous theorizing on the efficacy of social norms interventions among high-frequency indoor tanners.

scholarly journals Moral Grandstanding in Public Discourse: Status-seeking Motives as a Potential Explanatory Mechanism in Predicting Conflict

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua B. Grubbs ◽  
Brandon Warmke ◽  
Justin Tosi ◽  
Alicia Shanti James ◽  
William Keith Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Mechanical Turk ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Status Seeking ◽  
Initial Support ◽  
Moral Talk ◽  
Explanatory Mechanism ◽  
The U.S

Public discourse is often caustic and conflict-filled. This trend seems to be particularly evident when the content of such discourse is around moral issues (broadly defined) and when the discourse occurs on social media. Several explanatory mechanisms for such conflict have been explored in recent psychological and social-science literatures. The present work sought to examine a potentially novel explanatory mechanism defined in philosophical literature: Moral Grandstanding. According to philosophical accounts, Moral Grandstanding is the use of moral talk to seek social status. For the present work, we conducted six studies, using two undergraduate samples (Study 1, N = 361; Study 2, N = 356); a sample matched to U.S. norms for age, gender, race, income, Census region (Study 3, N = 1,063); a YouGov sample matched to U.S. demographic norms (Study 4, N = 2,000); and a brief, one-month longitudinal study of Mechanical Turk workers in the U.S. (Study 5 , Baseline N = 499, follow-up n = 296), and a large, one-week YouGov sample matched to U.S. demographic norms (Baseline N = 2,519, follow-up n = 1,776). Across studies, we found initial support for the validity of Moral Grandstanding as a construct. Specifically, moral grandstanding motivation was associated with status-seeking personality traits, as well as greater political and moral conflict in daily life.

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