Social comparison and differentiation strategies in social representations of intelligence

Abstract

The two studies presented here analyse the effect of conditions of social comparison on the organisation of social representations of intelligence. In order to induce the comparisons, participants were asked successively to describe either the intelligence of humans and that of animals (Study 1), or the intelligence of men and that of women (Study 2). Results indicate that a comparison between species leads to maximising the differences between the two forms of intelligence, by increasing the relevance of the categories' most typical dimensions in the descriptions of their respective forms of intelligence. The induction of a comparison between male intelligence and female intelligence produces effects that differ according to participants' own sex. Whereas male participants are led to accentuate the differences between the two forms of intelligence, female participants seem to look for similarity rather than for difference. The differentiations produced suggest, moreover, that the structure of the representations resulting from a comparison between two categories of unequal status tends to legitimate their respective positions in the social structure.

Brain potentials in outcome evaluation: When social comparison takes effect

“…Since Festinger's first proposal of social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954), work on social comparison has been growing. Research on social comparison has developed into a complex area encompassing cognitive mechanisms and applications (Buunk and Gibbons, 2007;Fazio, 1979;Fishbein et al, 1963;Gibbons, 1999;Greenberg et al, 2007;Kumar, 2004;McCreary and Saucier, 2009;Poeschl, 2001;Ruble et al, 1980;Stapel and Marx, 2006;Zell and Alicke, 2009). Social comparison has been recognized as an important social psychological phenomenon, and extensive effort has been devoted to understanding its causes and their cognitive and emotional consequences.…”

Social representations of the development of intelligence, parental values and parenting styles: a theoretical model for analysis

“…Subjects answered a total of 31 items by indicating the extent of agreement or disagreement on a seven-point scale (1 = totally disagree, 7 = totally agree). The process which led to the construction of the questionnaire on the development of intelligence stemmed from previous stages of our research (Miguel, et al, 2008(Miguel, et al, , 2010, and from an extensive literature review (Amaral, 1997;Constans & Leonardis, 2003;Faria & Fontaine, 1993;Flament, 1999;Matteucci, 2007;Mugny & Carugati, 1985;Poeschl, 1998Poeschl, , 1999Poeschl, , 2001Sternberg, 1985Sternberg, , 2004Sternberg, et al, 1981). Overall, several dimensions related to the development of intelligence were included in the questionnaire: parent, teacher and peer role in the development of intelligence (e.g., "parents are the child's main model for the development of his/her own intelligence", "teachers' competence is the best assurance of the child's development of intelligence", "in a group of children working together, they will develop their intelligence better than if they each work by themselves"), stimuli and challenge (e.g., "for the child to make progress, he/she has to be presented with challenges that stimulate him/her intellectually"), social and biological determinism (e.g., "intelligence does not develop, it is a hereditary gift"),…”

Efectos de la Asimetría de Género en la Representación Social del Desempleo Femenino

“…En el campo de las RS varias investigaciones han evidenciado la organización en base al género de diferentes objetos sociales. Poeschl (2001), por ejemplo, en su estudio sobre la representación social de la inteligencia, identifica elementos específicos y diferenciadores entre la inteligencia femenina y la masculina. Los análisis muestran que las características diferenciales de la inteligencia femenina son el encanto -característica de poco prestigio social-, mientras que la inteligencia masculina se caracteriza por el éxito social -característica valorada socialmente.…”