Quantitative and qualitative centrality of a social representation's core elements: The use of the Basic Cognitive Schemes model

The general aim of this research was to investigate the use of the Basic Cognitive Schemes (BCS) model in examining the qualitative vs. quantitative centrality of a social representation’s (SR) core elements. Firstly, we examined the internal structure of the social representation of the European integration (Study 1, N = 71) according to Central Core Theory of the structural approach of social representations. Secondly, we investigated the qualitative vs. quantitative centrality of its core elements (Study 2, N = 106) using the BCS model. The study included young people from Eastern Romania enrolled in a Psychology undergraduate degree. The results permitted the identification of the elements defining the internal structure of the SR of the European integration among young Romanians. We identified five central elements with prescriptive functions (i.e., mobility, unity, opportunity, European funds, and civilization). Furthermore, after checking their qualitative and quantitative centrality using the BCS model, only three of them were confirmed as both qualitatively and quantitatively central. Thus, the results also underlined the importance of the BSC model in better understanding the relationships between the SR’s internal elements. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

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

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024//1421-0185.61.3.177 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 61 (3) ◽

pp. 177-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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 ).

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Greedy elites and poor lambs: How young Europeans remember the great war

Journal of Social and Political Psychology ◽

10.5964/jspp.v7i1.781 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 52-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Pierre Bouchat ◽

Laurent Licata ◽

Valérie Rosoux ◽

Christian Allesch ◽

Heinrich Ammerer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

European Integration ◽

Social Representations ◽

Social Representation ◽

Great War ◽

Major Event ◽

Social Psychological ◽

The People ◽

The Social ◽

The Great War

The present study examines current social representations associated with the origins of the Great War, a major event that has profoundly affected Europe. A survey conducted in 20 European countries (N = 1906 students in social sciences) shows a high consensus: The outbreak of the war is attributed to the warring nations’ leaders while the responsibility of the populations is minimized. Building on the concept of social representation of history (Liu & Hilton, 2005), we suggest that the social representations of the Great War fulfill social psychological functions in contemporary Europe. We suggest that WWI may function as a charter for European integration. Their content also suggests a desire to distinguish a positively valued ingroup ("the people") from powerful elites, construed as an outgroup.

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O núcleo central da representação social de estagiários(as) do curso de Pedagogia/UERN acerca da docência

Revista Principia - Divulgação Científica e Tecnológica do IFPB ◽

10.18265/1517-0306a2020v1n52p157-168 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (52) ◽

pp. 157

Author(s):

Antônia Maíra Emelly Cabral da Silva Vieira ◽

Elda Silva Do Nascimento Melo

Keyword(s):

Teaching And Learning ◽

Word Association ◽

Social Representations ◽

Rio Grande ◽

Social Representation ◽

Central Nucleus ◽

Font Size ◽

The Social ◽

Central Elements ◽

Free Word

This study is part of the master’s dissertation entitled “The social representation of interns of the Education course about teaching” presented to the postgraduate program in Education of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). The research seeks to identify the social representation of interns of the Education course at UERN about teaching. We present the results of the evaluation of the TALP (Free Word Association Technique), analyzed in the light of the Theory of Social Representations (MOSCOVICI, 1978) and the Central Nucleus Theory (ABRIC, 1998) with the help of EVOC software and the technique of content analysis (BARDIN, 2011) that allowed us to visualize the central nucleus of the social representation of teaching. The results contemplate regularities that helped us to perceive that the subjects of the research construct a social representation of teaching, rooted in the central elements as: love, dedication, teaching and learning.

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Examining the Most and Least Changeable Elements of the Social Representation of Giftedness

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12135361 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (13) ◽

pp. 5361 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Josué Pérez ◽

Leire Aperribai ◽

Lorea Cortabarría ◽

Africa Borges

Keyword(s):

Item Response Theory ◽

Item Response ◽

Classical Theory ◽

Social Representations ◽

Social Representation ◽

The Social ◽

Educational Implications ◽

Central Elements ◽

Test Discrimination ◽

Highly Able

Giftedness and high abilities have been broadly defined and this fact has led to many problems related to the detection and educational response given to gifted or highly able pupils due to the stereotyped social representations of the concepts. However, the main misconceptions might be changed with the aim of solving the mentioned problems. For this purpose, the aims of this study are to explore the main misconceptions of giftedness and to identify which among them seem to be most and least changeable. A questionnaire with the most extended myths and stereotypes about giftedness was applied in a sample of 824 participants. The items’ analyses were carried out by first studying item-test discrimination indices (test classical theory), and secondly, the a and b parameters of items (item response theory). The results show that there are items that would be easily changeable (9 items) and others less malleable (4 items). Therefore, it might be concluded that the social representation of giftedness would have peripheral elements that could be changed, while there would be less malleable central elements. Thus, different strategies to foster the change of the social representation of giftedness should be considered, which will have social and educational implications.

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Representações sociais da aprendizagem autodirigida entre médicos da atenção primária à saúde

Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica ◽

10.1590/1981-5271v45.3-20200522 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Gustavo Valadares Labanca Reis ◽

Jucimere Fagundes Durães Rocha ◽

Leonardo Cançado Monteiro Savassi ◽

Cristina Andrade Sampaio ◽

Antônio Prates Caldeira

Keyword(s):

Social Representations ◽

Medical Professional ◽

Social Representation ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Self Directed Learning ◽

The Core ◽

Core Theory ◽

The Social ◽

Four Quadrant ◽

Self Learning

Abstract: Introduction: In a scenario of a great information availability, the production of scientific knowledge in medicine has been increasingly accelerated. The way the medical professional perceives and directs their acquisition of knowledge still lacks national studies, particularly in times of easily accessible internet. Objective: To analyze the social representations of physicians working in Primary Health Care (PHC) teams about self-directed learning. Method: This is a qualitative-quantitative study based on Moscovici’s Social Representations Theory, with a structural approach to Abric’s Central Core Theory, conducted in three municipalities of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on the subject, which were recorded and transcribed. The freely evoked words that emerged from the inducing term “medical self-learning” were analyzed with the aid of EVOC® software through the four-quadrant chart and CHIC® software analyzed the similarity. Content analysis was performed for the participants’ speeches. Results: Fifty interviews were carried out and the freely evoked words that possibly constitute the core of the representations were “knowledge”, “dedication”, “study”, “reading”, “need”, contrasting “research” and “book”. Conclusion: The results showed that the learners’ characteristics, practice as a learning locus as opposed to theory, associated with the time barrier, define the core content of the social representation of the participating physicians. In this assessed context, PHC reinforces its importance as a scenario for medical self-learning.

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

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024//1421-0185.61.1.34 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 34-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

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 ).

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Social Representations and Commitment

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000317 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 233-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

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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Understanding professional distress through social representations: Investigating the shared experience of healthcare social workers in Canada

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/0020872820967428 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002087282096742

Author(s):

Lilian Negura ◽

Maude Lévesque

Keyword(s):

Social Workers ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Social Representations ◽

Social Representation ◽

Front Line ◽

Shared Experience ◽

Organizational Contexts ◽

Workplace Experiences ◽

The Social ◽

Canadian Provinces

Our study sought to refine our understanding of professional distress by examining the experience of healthcare social workers in the following three Canadian provinces: Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick. Thirty semi-directed interviews were conducted to explore the social workers’ social representation of professional distress and its ties to professional identity and growing organizational constraints. Attitudes, work–life imbalances, and negative workplace experiences were found to increase the subjective experience of distress. Current psychosocial and organizational contexts of front-line practitioners are contributors to their professional distress, a matter further exacerbated by the misrepresentation of social work by colleagues and service beneficiaries.

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The representations of adolescents about gynecological consultation

Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP ◽

10.1590/s0080-623420140000300008 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 438-445 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vera Lúcia de Oliveira Gomes ◽

Adriana Dora da Fonseca ◽

Denize Cristina de Oliveira ◽

Camila Daiane Silva ◽

Daniele Ferreira Acosta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽

Social Representations ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Social Representation ◽

Contextual Analysis ◽

Central Nucleus ◽

Treatment Results ◽

Education Professionals ◽

The Social ◽

Qualitative Descriptive

Objective: To analyze the social representation of adolescents about gynecological consultation and the influence of those in searching for consultations. Method: Qualitative descriptive study based on the Social Representations Theory, conducted with 50 adolescents in their last year of middle school. The data was collected between April and May of 2010 by Evocations and a Focal Group. The software EVOC and contextual analysis were used in the data treatment. Results: The elements fear and constraint, constant in the central nucleus, can justify the low frequency of adolescents in consultations. The term embarrassment in the peripheral system reinforce current sociocultural norms, while prevention, associated with learning about sex and clarifying doubts, allows to envision an educative function. Obtained testimonies in the focal groups exemplify and reinforce those findings. Conclusion: For an effective health education, professionals, including nurses, need to clarify the youth individually and collectively about their rights to privacy, secrecy, in addition to focus the gynecological consultation as a promotion measure to sexual and reproductive health.

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ESPACIO VIVIDO: DEL ESPACIO LOCAL AL RETICULAR. NOTAS EN TORNO A LA REPRESENTACIÓN SOCIAL DEL ESPACIO VIVIDO EN LA GLOBALIZACIÓN

Revista Pueblos y fronteras digital ◽

10.22201/cimsur.18704115e.2013.15.92 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 8 (15) ◽

pp. 225

Author(s):

Enriqueta Lerma Rodríguez

Keyword(s):

Social Mobility ◽

Social Representations ◽

Social Groups ◽

Social Representation ◽

Lived Space ◽

The Social ◽

Local Space ◽

Los Grupos

En este artículo argumento la necesidad de repensar el espacio vivido. Propongo complejizar el análisis, consensado teóricamente, del espacio local, integrando el enfoque del espacio reticular. Busco incluir el margen de espacialidad que los grupos sociales construyen fuera de sus lugares cotidianos para explicar las representaciones sociales del espacio vivido, producto de las posibilidades de movilidad social hacia otros lugares. LIVED SPACED: FROM LOCAL TO RETICULAR SPACE. NOTES ON THE SOCIAL REPRESENTATION OF LIVED SPACE WITHIN GLOBALIZATIONABSTRACTIn this article, I defend the need to rethink lived space. I propose increasing the complexity of the analysis of local space, based on theoretical consensus, by integrating a reticular approach to space. I seek to include the margin of spatiality that social groups construct outside their every day places in order to thus explain the social representations of lived space resulting from the possibilities of social mobility toward other places.

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