Attitudes and Social Categories: Complementary Explanations of Innovation-Adoption Behavior

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Brown
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Innovation Adoption ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Social Category ◽  
Behavioral Models ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Common Variance ◽  
Agricultural Innovations ◽  
Real World Situation ◽  
Appalachian Ohio

This paper explores the relationships between an individual's attitudes toward innovation adoption, his or her social category with respect to adoption, and innovation-adoption behavior. First the paper describes how attitudes and social categories can theoretically be linked to innovation adoption, and proposes a comprehensive model in which the two sets of variables are viewed as explaining both unique and common variance in adoption behavior. The paper then empirically examines the intercorrelations of attitudes, social categories, and innovation adoption in a real-world situation: The diffusion of five agricultural innovations in a portion of Appalachian Ohio. The results indicate that some attitudes are significantly related to social categories, whereas others are not; both sets of variables are highly associated with innovation adoption, but attitudes more so than social categories; finally, each set of variables explains some unique aspects of innovation adoption. Thus the findings suggest that comprehensive behavioral models must include psychological as well as socioeconomic and locational variables.

What Can Experimental Studies of Bias Tell Us About Real-World Group Disparities?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-82
Author(s):  
Joseph Cesario
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
White Men ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Systematic Testing ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
The Social

Abstract This article questions the widespread use of experimental social psychology to understand real-world group disparities. Standard experimental practice is to design studies in which participants make judgments of targets who vary only on the social categories to which they belong. This is typically done under simplified decision landscapes and with untrained decision makers. For example, to understand racial disparities in police shootings, researchers show pictures of armed and unarmed Black and White men to undergraduates and have them press "shoot" and "don't shoot" buttons. Having demonstrated categorical bias under these conditions, researchers then use such findings to claim that real-world disparities are also due to decision-maker bias. I describe three flaws inherent in this approach, flaws which undermine any direct contribution of experimental studies to explaining group disparities. First, the decision landscapes used in experimental studies lack crucial components present in actual decisions (Missing Information Flaw). Second, categorical effects in experimental studies are not interpreted in light of other effects on outcomes, including behavioral differences across groups (Missing Forces Flaw). Third, there is no systematic testing of whether the contingencies required to produce experimental effects are present in real-world decisions (Missing Contingencies Flaw). I apply this analysis to three research topics to illustrate the scope of the problem. I discuss how this research tradition has skewed our understanding of the human mind within and beyond the discipline and how results from experimental studies of bias are generally misunderstood. I conclude by arguing that the current research tradition should be abandoned.

scholarly journals Reducing Social Judgment Biases May Require Identifying the Potential Source of Bias

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1232-1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan R. Axt ◽  
Grace Casola ◽  
Brian A. Nosek
Keyword(s):  
Social Judgment ◽  
Bias Reduction ◽  
Social Category ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Zero Bias ◽  
Social Bias ◽  
Total N ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Judgment Biases ◽  
Social Biases

Social judgment is shaped by multiple biases operating simultaneously, but most bias-reduction interventions target only a single social category. In seven preregistered studies (total N > 7,000), we investigated whether asking participants to avoid one social bias affected that and other social biases. Participants selected honor society applicants based on academic credentials. Applicants also differed on social categories irrelevant for selection: attractiveness and ingroup status. Participants asked to avoid potential bias in one social category showed small but reliable reductions in bias for that category ( r = .095), but showed near-zero bias reduction on the unmentioned social category ( r = .006). Asking participants to avoid many possible social biases or alerting them to bias without specifically identifying a category did not consistently reduce bias. The effectiveness of interventions for reducing social biases may be highly specific, perhaps even contingent on explicitly and narrowly identifying the potential source of bias.

scholarly journals Reducing social judgment biases may require identifying the potential source of bias

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Axt ◽  
Grace Casola ◽  
Brian A. Nosek
Keyword(s):  
Social Judgment ◽  
Bias Reduction ◽  
Social Category ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Zero Bias ◽  
Social Bias ◽  
Total N ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Judgment Biases ◽  
Social Biases

Social judgment is shaped by multiple biases operating simultaneously, but most bias-reduction interventions target only a single social category. In seven pre-registered studies (Total N > 7,000), we investigated whether asking participants to avoid one social bias impacted that and other social biases. Participants selected honor society applicants based on academic credentials. Applicants also differed on social categories irrelevant for selection: attractiveness and ingroup status. Participants asked to avoid potential bias in one social category showed small but reliable reductions in bias for that category (r = .095), but showed near zero bias reduction on the unmentioned social category (r = .006). Asking participants to avoid many possible social biases or alerting them to bias without specifically identifying a category did not consistently reduce bias. The effectiveness of interventions for reducing social biases may be highly specific, perhaps even contingent on explicitly and narrowly identifying the potential source of bias.

scholarly journals Feminist approach to geriatric care: comprehensive geriatric assessment, diversity and intersectionality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merle Weßel
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Geriatric Assessment ◽  
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment ◽  
Older Patients ◽  
Geriatric Medicine ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Social Category ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
The Social

AbstractDespite being a collection of holistic assessment tools, the comprehensive geriatric assessment primarily focuses on the social category of age during the assessment and disregards for example gender. This article critically reviews the standardized testing process of the comprehensive geriatric assessment in regard to diversity-sensitivity. I show that the focus on age as social category during the assessment process might potentially hinder positive outcomes for people with diverse backgrounds of older patients in relation to other social categories, such as race, gender or socio-economic background and their influence on the health of the patient as well as the assessment and its outcomes. I suggest that the feminist perspective of intersectionality with its multicategorical approach can enhance the diversity-sensitivity of the comprehensive geriatric assessment, and thus improve the treatment of older patients and their quality of life. By suggesting an intersectional-based approach, this article contributes to debates about justice and diversity in medical philosophy and advocates for the normative value of diversity in geriatric medicine.

Simulation to Enhance Interactivity in E-Learning

2012 ◽  
pp. 51-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Leslie Claesson ◽  
Felicity Pearson ◽  
Jesse Rosel
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Real World ◽  
Service Leadership ◽  
Rich Media ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Media Experience ◽  
Real World Situation ◽  
University Setting

This chapter explores how rich media can be used in these three types of applications using the Riverbend City Simulation project for Capella’s School of Public Service Leadership as a case study example. Riverbend City is a scenario-based simulation that provides a multidisciplinary, rich media experience to learners in an online, asynchronous university setting. The simulation provides real-world scenarios where student skills and knowledge can be applied and tested on specific subjects. The ultimate goal of the project is to empower learners to envision their ability to combine collaboration and leadership when working with multiple disciplines in a real-world situation.

A Policy Game in a Virtual World

2011 ◽  
pp. 910-927
Author(s):  
Martha Garcia-Murillo ◽  
Ian MacInnes
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Policy Game ◽  
Electronic Environments ◽  
Learning Principles ◽  
Real World Situation

Advances in computing and telecommunications make it possible to take advantage of immersive electronic environments to deliver content. In this chapter we present a policy game to be used in a virtual world. The benefits of this tool are examined using Gee’s learning principles. From this analysis we find that games in virtual worlds enable reflective exploration that helps participants learn from their mistakes. Learning takes place from the content conveyed through the game and through the multimedia immersion that allows students to learn the nuances of these virtual contexts. Because there are no realworld consequences, participants can take risks, provide or receive help from other students, and most importantly, apply this knowledge to a real-world situation. Recommendations are provided to educators to help them exploit the great potential of games while being prepared for the obstacles they will face.

Balancing Prosocial Effort Across Social Categories: Mental Accounting Heuristics in Helping Decisions

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722097668
Author(s):  
Johanna Peetz ◽  
Andrea L. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Accounting ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Social Category ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Perceived Utility ◽  
Hypothetical Scenario ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
Scenario Study

Three studies examine whether individuals might use mental accounting heuristics in helping decisions, budgeting their prosocial effort in similar ways to how money is budgeted. In a hypothetical scenario study ( N = 283), participants who imagined that they previously helped someone of a specific social category (e.g., “family,” “colleagues”) were less willing to help someone of that category again. Similarly, when reporting actual instances of day-to-day help in a diary study ( N = 443), having helped more than usual in a social category yesterday was associated with less effort and less time spent on helping in the same category today. In contrast, helping more than usual in other social categories did not reduce helping today. Finally, a scenario study ( N = 489) suggested that the mental accounting effect in helping decisions may, in part, be explained by perceived utility of help (helping others in the same social category is seen as less rewarding).

A Policy Game in a Virtual World

2009 ◽  
pp. 489-507
Author(s):  
Martha Garcia-Murillo ◽  
Ian MacInnes
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Policy Game ◽  
Electronic Environments ◽  
Learning Principles ◽  
Real World Situation

Advances in computing and telecommunications make it possible to take advantage of immersive electronic environments to deliver content. In this chapter we present a policy game to be used in a virtual world. The benefits of this tool are examined using Gee’s learning principles. From this analysis we find that games in virtual worlds enable reflective exploration that helps participants learn from their mistakes. Learning takes place from the content conveyed through the game and through the multimedia immersion that allows students to learn the nuances of these virtual contexts. Because there are no realworld consequences, participants can take risks, provide or receive help from other students, and most importantly, apply this knowledge to a real-world situation. Recommendations are provided to educators to help them exploit the great potential of games while being prepared for the obstacles they will face.

scholarly journals Selection of a Farm Machinery Replacement Criterion Using Simulation

1969 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrel Kletke
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Average Cost ◽  
Marginal Cost ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Farm Machinery ◽  
Rules Of Thumb ◽  
Replacement Decisions ◽  
Real World Situation ◽  
Yearly Cost ◽  
Selection Of

Little research has focused on developing a model which farmers can use to make yearly machinery replacement decisions. This paper contains an optimizing replacement criterion and then demonstrates the results of alternative rules of thumb used to implement the criterion in a real world situation.The economic life of a machine is here defined as the interval of time during which that machine reaches its minimum average yearly cost. If a machine is replaced by an exact duplicate with the same annual costs, replacement occurs when the currently owned machine attains its economic life. When average cost reaches its minimum, marginal cost and average cost are equal. This is the same as saying that when economic life is reached, the actual yearly cost (marginal cost) is equal to the average yearly cost of the machine. Theoretically, replacement should occur when marginal cost first crosses average cost from below.

The Price of Equality: Suboptimal Resource Allocations across Social Categories

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Garcia ◽  
Max H. Bazerman ◽  
Shirli Kopelman ◽  
Avishalom Tor ◽  
Dale T. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Category ◽  
Resource Allocations ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Equal Distribution ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Profit Maximizing ◽  
Decision Making Biases

AbstractThis paper explores the influence of social categories on the perceived trade-off between a relatively bad but equal distribution of resources between two parties and a profit maximizing yet unequal one. Studies 1 and 2 showed that people prefer to maximize profits when interacting within their social category, but chose not to maximize individual and joint profits when interacting across social categories. Study 3 demonstrated that outside observers, who were not members of the focal social categories, also were less likely to maximize profits when resources were distributed across social category lines. Study 4 showed that the transaction utility of maximizing profits required greater compensation when resources were distributed across, in contrast to within social categories. We discuss the ethical implications of these decision making biases in the context of organizations.

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