Unconditional respect for persons and the prediction of intergroup action tendencies

The role of psychological factors in patients' choices to see their general practitioner or pharmacist for minor conditions

OBJECTIVE

UK-based patients can consult with, and be treated by, pharmacists for various minor medical conditions. However, research needs to identify the psychological factors that influence patients' decisions to consult with a pharmacist over alternative treatment responses. The current study addressed this gap.

METHODS AND MEASURES

UK residents (N = 329) completed measures of respect and trust for general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists, alongside other measures that could influence treatment choices. Participants then read vignettes describing symptoms of conjunctivitis, influenza, and contact dermatitis and were asked to choose how they would respond if they experienced those symptoms.

RESULTS

Participants were nearly twice as likely to choose to see their pharmacist than GP. Respect and trust of pharmacists were higher for those choosing to see their pharmacist over those selecting treatment alternatives. GPs were respected more than pharmacists, an effect mediated by greater perceived assertiveness and morality of GPs. However, seeing pharmacists was rated less hassle and participants reported greater self-efficacy for seeing them compared to GPs.

CONCLUSION

Strategies that increase pharmacists' perceived assertiveness and morality could enhance respect and trust of pharmacists. Such changes could facilitate the current drive in the UK to utilize pharmacies more to minimise GP service demand.

A test of the Morality-Agency-Communion (MAC) model of respect and liking across positive and negative traits

The Morality-Agency-Communion (MAC) model of respect and liking suggests that traits linked with morality are important for respect and liking; traits related to competence or assertiveness are important for respect and traits related to warmth are important for liking. However, tests of this model have tended not to consider traits related to immorality, incompetence, lack of assertiveness or coldness. This study addressed this issue by utilizing a within-subjects design in which participants were required to rate their respect and liking for individuals with specific trait types across four categories (moral; competence; assertiveness; and warmth) at three levels (positive, negative and neutral). The central tenets of the MAC model were supported for 'positive' traits (morality, competence, assertiveness and warmth). However, for 'negative' traits (immorality, incompetence and lack of assertiveness), individuals were similarly not liked and not respected. Individuals who were cold were respected more than liked. The findings of this study extend the MAC model by indicating that the amount that individuals are respected versus liked depends not only on trait type but also whether a trait is positive or negative.

Positive and negative behavioural intentions towards immigrants: A question of ethnic categorisation or worldview conflict?

Anti-immigrant attitudes are often explained in terms of ethnic boundaries in which a categorical distinction between the ethnic ingroup and immigrant outgroup is made. However, these attitudes might also result from contrasting cultural worldviews. We examined the importance of ethnic categorisation and perceived cultural worldview difference in explaining behavioural intentions towards immigrants. Using an experimental survey design with a national sample of ethnic Dutch respondents (N = 832), we studied two positive and two negative behavioural intentions towards either immigrants with a contrasting cultural worldview or co-ethnics with such as worldview. Our findings indicate similar behavioural intentions towards both target groups. Furthermore, except for "the intention to learn" there were no differences in behavioural intentions towards both target groups for respondents with lower and higher authoritarian dispositions. Overall, this pattern of findings is theoretically most in line with a worldview conflict perspective rather than an ethnic boundary perspective.

Toleration and prejudice-reduction: Two ways of improving intergroup relations

While a large body of social psychological research has shed light on the nature of prejudice and how to reduce it, we argue that such work does not address situations of cultural or religious outgroup beliefs and practices that are considered incompatible with one's own. The present theoretical article contrasts a prejudice-reduction approach with a toleration-based approach to consider the differences each have with regard to the attitude object they focus upon, the perceived reasonableness of the attitude, and the behavioral consequences each may lead to. In doing so, we consider the psychological processes involved in whether the negative attitude leads to negative actions. We conclude by arguing that a toleration-based approach forms an important addition to the psychological thinking about cultural diversity and intergroup relations. Collectively, the present work makes a novel contribution to the social psychological literature by stimulating theory development and raising novel questions for empirical research.

Adaptación y validación de la versión en español de la Escala de Respeto Incondicional hacia las personas en una muestra de escolares chilenos

La Escala de Respeto Incondicional hacia las Personas (ERIP) mide las actitudes positivas hacia la autonomía, la igualdad y la integridad de los seres humanos. Esta investigación validó y analizó algunas propiedades psicométricas de la versión en español de la ERIP, en una muestra de 947 escolares chilenos entre 12 y 19 años (M = 15.47, DE = 1.49). Mediante análisis factoriales, exploratorio y confirmatorio, emergieron dos factores: Desprecio hacia los demás (F1) y Respeto hacia los demás (F2). La consistencia interna (F1: Omega = 0.82; F2: Omega = 0.78) así como la validez convergente y discriminante de la ERIP fueron adecuadas. Estos resultados indican que la ERIP es un instrumento válido y confiable para ser aplicado en adolescentes y jóvenes.

How Can Respectfulness in Medical Professionals Be Increased? A Complex But Important Question

Respectfulness is demanded of doctors and predicts more positive patient health-related outcomes, but research is scarce on ways to promote it. This study explores two ways to conceptualize unconditional respect from medical students, defined as respect paid to people on the basis of their humanity, in order to inform strategies to increase it. Unconditional respect conceptualized as an attitude suggests that unconditional respect and conditional respect are additive, whereas unconditional respect conceptualized as a personality trait suggests that people who are high on unconditional respect afford equal respect to all humans regardless of their merits. One hundred and eighty-one medical students completed an unconditional respect measure then read a description of a respect-worthy or a non-respect-worthy man and indicated their respect towards him. The study found a main effect for unconditional respect and a main effect for target respect-worthiness but no interaction between the two when respect paid to the target was assessed, supporting the attitude-based conceptualization. This suggests that unconditional respect can be increased through relevant interventions aimed at increasing the relative salience to doctors of the human worth of individuals. Interventions to increase unconditional respect are discussed.

Some like it hot: How voters’ attitude towards disrespect in politics affects their judgments of candidates

In public debates, political candidates often attack their opponents disrespectfully. Research revealed mixed effects of such behavior on voters’ candidate judgments. In order to understand these results, we argue that it is necessary to consider onlookers’ general attitude towards disrespect in politics. Across an experimental design (N = 229) and a field study (N = 199), we found that voters who consider disrespect a “necessary evil” in the political arena judged disrespectful politicians more favorably with regard to both communion and agency. Furthermore, they displayed a higher intention to vote as well as actually voted more in favor of disrespectful candidates compared to voters who disapproved of disrespect in politics. The results show that the success of a disrespectful communication strategy substantively depends on the audience.

The Reliabilities of an English, Afrikaans and Isixhosa Version of the SDO6 Scale in South Africa

This study established the internal consistency of the SDO6 scale as a measure of Social Dominance Orientation in South Africa. The reliability was determined for its original English version and for newly developed Afrikaans and isiXhosa forms. Reliabilities were determined for various demographic sub-groups. The English and Afrikaans forms showed high internal consistencies throughout, which were comparable to those found in other societies. The isiXhosa version of the scale had low internal consistencies, except for participants who had completed their schooling. Deleting three items from the isiXhosa scale improved its reliability for high school students to an adequate level. It is suggested that future research establishes the scales' validity in the South African context.

Respect for persons in the intergroup context: Self—other overlap and intergroup emotions as mediators of the impact of respect on action tendencies

Two studies examined self—other overlap and intergroup emotions as mediators of the effects of respect for persons on action tendencies towards outgroup members. In contexts of both mild (Study 1) and more severe (Study 2) intergroup conflict, respect for persons predicted action tendencies towards outgroup members: those who value the intrinsic worth of others (high respect for persons) expressed less negative and more positive action tendencies towards outgroup members than did those with low respect for persons. These effects were obtained while controlling for Social Dominance Orientation and Agreeableness (Study 1). Further, the effects of respect for persons on action tendencies were shown to be partially mediated by self—other overlap and intergroup emotions. The findings support previous work in suggesting that respect for persons is an important predictor in intergroup contexts, and they highlight potential mechanisms through which respect might operate.