Fabrizio Butera

Previous research has shown that women eating small portions of food (vs. eating big portions) are perceived as more feminine, whereas men eating large portions are perceived as more masculine. The specific type of food items have also been shown to carry connotations for gender stereotyping. In addition, matching the co-eater's food quantity is also a means to ingratiate him or her. Thus, a potential motivational conflict between gender identity expression and ingratiation arises when people eat in opposite-sex dyads. Scholars have, thus far, focused their attention on one of these two dimensions at a time, and rarely in relation to the co-eaters' sex. The present study investigated, through a restaurant scenario, the way in which women and men, when asked to imagine having lunch in dyads, combine food choice and quantity regulation as a function of the co-eater's sex. Results showed that participants use the quantity dimension to communicate gender identity, and the fo...

We tested whether the goal to attain normative superiority over other students, referred to as performance-approach goals, is particularly distractive for high-Working Memory Capacity (WMC) students-that is, those who are used to being high achievers. Indeed, WMC is positively related to high-order cognitive performance and academic success, a record of success that confers benefits on high-WMC as compared to low-WMC students. We tested whether such benefits may turn out to be a burden under performance-approach goal pursuit. Indeed, for high achievers, aiming to rise above others may represent an opportunity to reaffirm their positive status-a stake susceptible to trigger disruptive outcome concerns that interfere with task processing. Results revealed that with performance-approach goals-as compared to goals with no emphasis on social comparison-the higher the students' WMC, the lower their performance at a complex arithmetic task (Experiment 1). Crucially, this pattern appeared to be driven by uncertainty regarding the chances to outclass others (Experiment 2). Moreover, an accessibility measure suggested the mediational role played by status-related concerns in the observed disruption of performance. We discuss why high-stake situations can paradoxically lead high-achievers to sub-optimally perform when high-order cognitive performance is at play.

Do people feel better or worse about themselves when working with someone who is better than they are? We present the first replication of the work of Stapel and Koomen (2005), who showed that being in a competitive vs. cooperative mindset moderates the effects of social comparison on self-evaluation. In Experiment 1, we present a close replication of Stapel and Koomen (2005, Study 2). Participants in competition/cooperation had to self-evaluate after receiving information about the personal characteristics of an upward/downward comparison target. In Experiment 2, we went further by providing feedback about both the comparison target and the self. Our results and a small-scale meta-analysis combining our experiments and Stapel and Koomen's (2005) confirm that a competitive/cooperative mindset moderates the impact of social comparison on self-evaluation; nevertheless, the effect size we found across the two experiments is clearly more modest than the one found in Stapel and Koome...

ABSTRACT Que se passet-il lorsqu’un individu se trouve confronté à un désaccord avec d’autres individus à propos d’une connaissance, d’un raisonnement, ou de la manière de résoudre un problème donné ? Va-t-il se laisser convaincre par l’autre ? Va-t-il s’opposer, rester sur ses positions, ou simplement l’imiter ? Va-t-il intégrer son point de vue et construire de nouvelles façons de penser, va-t-il innover ? Va-t-il réussir ou échouer à la tâche ? Cet ouvrage propose une approche scientifique de ces questions. Il s’intéresse au processus de l’influence sociale, dans la construction des connaissances. Les auteurs montrent de façon pratique et illustrée comment les relations contribuent au développement des connaissances et de la compétence qui l’accompagne, en insistant aussi sur les facteurs qui ont des effets négatifs, en particulier lorsque les conflits interpersonnels introduisent des menaces sur l’identité personnelle et l’estime de soi. Ce livre est un prolongement original et appliqué du premier ouvrage paru aux PUG en 2013 sous le même titre Psychologie sociale de la connaissanc e, qui s’attachait à ses fondements théoriques. Il intéressera les enseignants et étudiants en psychologie de tous niveaux, et les sociologues et professionnels de l’éducation, de la formation et des organisations.

ABSTRACT Cet article traite de la manière dont le développement des aspirations professionnelles contribue à la formation d'inégalités entre hommes et femmes sur le marché du travail au travers d'une étude empirique portant sur l'influence du sexe et de la filière scolaire sur les intérêts professionnels d'écoliers suisses. Les résultats indiquent que le croisement de ces deux varia-bles affecte particulièrement les jeunes filles dans une filière à exigences élémentaires en restreignant doublement les options envisageables. Les moyens d'action pour les conseiller-e-s en orientation afin d'accompagner spécifiquement cette population est discutée. Abstract This article investigates how the development of career aspirations contributes to the formation of inequalities between women and men in the labor market. More precisely the influence of gender and school level on the professional interests of Swiss schoolchildren was investigated. The results indicate that these two variables reinforce each other and interact and that girls in the lower school stream are especially affected by having, for two distinct reasons, less professional options available. Several practical implications and suggestions in order to improve interventions for career counselors working with this specific population are discussed.