Arousal’s Influence on Moral Condemnation

Arousal’s Influence on Moral Condemnation 

  

Abstract 

Moral condemnation, how much one thinks another should be punished for a crime and how wrong the crime is, has been suggested to be under the influence of one’s arousal. Some studies have suggested that a main effect of low arousal on moral condemnation is likely. Other studies suggest that only high arousal states have a main effect on moral condemnation. Participants in this study were assigned to a high, control, and low arousal conditions to investigate the main effect of arousal and crime severity on moral condemnation as well as any interaction of arousal X crime severity. The severity of crime did have a main effect of more moral condemnation but none of the high arousal conditions were found to have a main effect on moral condemnation.  

Arousal’s Influence on Moral Condemnation 

On a daily basis, people make moral judgements based on what they think is right or wrong. Sometimes these decisions are made without much effort or introspection and without a thought as to why they may feel as if some moral-violator deserves some level of punishment. What some researchers are attempting to investigate is if and how arousal contributes to someone’s decision on how wrong a moral violation is and the severity of punishment one feels is fitting for that violation. 

In one study, it was found that anger has some influence on reporting a higher level of permissibility for a moral violation (Ugazio, Lamm, & Singer, 2012). They induced disgust or anger in the participants to find whether these induced emotions would affect their moral judgement by having the participants write essays on controversial topics. Following the induction of an emotion, the participants were required to read moral scenarios as a way to measure the effects on moral judgement. After the analysis of variance, it was found that both disgust and anger have an influence on moral judgement and anger was found to have more of a stronger positive influence than disgust. In one of the scenarios that were given, the participant was asked if it was permissible for the participant to push someone else off a bridge. As anger increased permissibility, it was more likely for the participant to in the anger condition to find that hypothetical as permissible. This trend is also found in impersonal scenarios. Disgust, though less than anger, also followed this trend.  This supports the argument that emotions and arousal do have an influence on moral judgement as will be tested. Both disgust and anger are high arousal states. Anger is a state that is more aroused than disgust and we used a high arousal condition to examine its influence on moral condemnation.  

A similar study by Wheatley and Haidt (2005) used two experiments that were used to measure induced disgust and severity of moral judgement. The participants were hypnotized and induced into feeling disgusted when reading a moral scenario. Afterwards, they were to make judgements related to the scenario. The result suggested that the high arousal condition of disgust increases the severity of judgement. This further aligns with the previous study’s results.  

The previous two articles investigated high arousal states and their influence on moral judgements. Cho, Barnes, and Guanara (2016) investigated how sleep deprivation, a low arousal condition, increased severity of sentences given out by judges. These researchers sought to determine if there is a main effect of less sleep from losing an hour after daylight savings on the length of sentences. The conclusion suggested that, indeed, sleep-deprived judges gave sentences that were 5% longer than average. We also used a low arousal condition in attempt to replicate the results here as well.  

Cho and colleagues (2016) findings run, however, contrary to the findings of Cheng, Otatti, and Price (2013). In this study, the high arousal condition was found to increase a greater amount of moral condemnation reported in the moral scenarios than the low arousal condition did. Similar to our study, the high arousal condition induced both high arousal and low arousal by having the participants listen to fast tempo music and slow tempo music respectively.  

Further, Chen et al., (2013) sought to find if their study’s results would support either the emotion-specificity hypotheses or arousal hypothesis by manipulating participants’ arousal and emotion and having them make moral judgements on vignettes describing moral scenarios. The emotion-specificity hypotheses suggest that due to some elements of humanity’s evolutionary history, the feeling of disgust (high arousal) would elicit a higher and increased level of moral condemnation than most other feelings. An alternative to disgust eliciting the highest exacerbator in moral condemnation, there is the hypothesis that suggests that the effect of an emotion depends on the sort of moral violation someone is judging. The arousal hypothesis suggests that states of arousal increase moral condemnation. Their study’s results did not support the disgust-specificity hypothesis or the second emotion-specificity hypothesis. Their findings did however support the arousal hypothesis by having their high arousal condition eliciting greater moral condemnation than the other conditions. Although their low arousal condition was not found to elicit more moral condemnation, our study attempted to investigate if a low arousal and high arousal condition has a significant main effect on moral condemnation.  

In order to further test the claim that arousal can indeed have an influence on moral judgement, our experiment will build upon the research and experimentation of previous studies. Participants older than 18 and capable of moderate physical activity were assigned randomly to a low, control, and high arousal conditions which most of the previous studies have not completely attempted in one experiment. What has not also been attempted is to investigate whether there is a linear trend of moral condemnation found among the low, control, and high arousal conditions. Our high arousal condition consisted of having participants stepping on a nine-inch step stool to the beat of a metronome at 55 beats per minute for seven minutes. The control condition only required the participants to fill out a packet that is given to everyone in the study regardless of arousal condition. The packet includes a demographic form, a PANAS, and vignettes detailing four misdemeanors and four felonies. Participants were to rate how severe the punishment should be for each crime detailed and how wrong those crimes were. In the low arousal condition, participants were given a pair of headphones to listen to relaxing music (meditationrelaxclub, 2012) for seven minutes before filling out the packet.  

Our prediction made was that both the low arousal condition (Cho et al., 2016) and high arousal condition (Chen et al., 2013) would have a main effect on moral condemnation to where both increase moral condemnation and that the control condition would serve as an intermediate between the two. No interaction between arousal and crime severity was expected.  

Method 

Participants 

In total, there were 299 participants and 35 experimenters. Experimenters gathered a convenient sample and their participants were eligible if physically capable of moderate exercise and eighteen years old and above. If a participant was a psychology major at the university, then they were given one extra credit point for their psychology courses. Any other compensation would have been at the discretion of the experimenter. Participants were run individually by one experimenters and in private areas.  

Design 

Moral condemnation (how wrong a crime is and how severe the punishment should be) are the dependent variables. High arousal levels were induced by having participants step on a nine-inch step stool along with a 55 beat per minute metronome. This sort of activity was found to significantly increase arousal levels (Sanbonmatsu, & Kardes, 1998). The crime severity (misdemeanor or felony) detailed in the vignettes are independent variables making this a 2x3 design between-subjects design.  

Materials 

This study included participants to either listen to calming music (meditationrelaxclub, 2012) with headphones for seven minutes (low arousal) before completing the survey, step on a nine-inch stool according to the beat of a metronome (high arousal), or simply complete the survey as an experimental control for experimentally induced arousal. To measure the rating of moral condemnation, participants read over moral scenarios presented in vignettes. For example, “Jake gets into an argument with a girlfriend of his and threatens to kill her if she does not stop seeing a friend of hers.” The participant would rate on the scale of 1-7 (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) how morally wrong were Jake’s actions and on a scale of 1-7 (1 = lenient; 7 = severe) how extreme Jake’s punishment should be. For example, “Jake is in his apartment with his girlfriend, Emma. They get into an argument about one of Emma’s male friends. Jake threatens to kill Emma if she does not stop seeing her friend. Emma is frightened and calls the police. Jake is arrested and charged with simple assault. This is a misdemeanor offense and Jake can face up to one year in jail.” 

How wrong were Jake’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Jake? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe). For a felony example, the scenario was like so, “Sam walks into a well-established electronics store. He walks around for a while, then decides to take a few expensive electronics without paying for them. He ends up stealing about $1,200 worth of items. The theft is documented on the security camera and Sam is caught. He is charged with grand theft, which is a felony and can result in up to five years in jail. 

How wrong were Sam’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Sam? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Further, for all conditions, participants completed a PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) questionnaire so that we could measure their arousal. The PANAS used a scale of 1-5 to rate how the participant was feeling at the time (1 = very slightly or not at all; 3 = moderately; 5 = extremely). Examples of that inventory included how afraid, active, hostile, upset, and distressed the participant felt after their treatment condition and rating their read vignettes. Participants also signed a confidentiality agreement, a consent form, and filled out a demographic form that recorded the ages and ethnicities of participants.  

Procedure 

Once a participant verbally agreed to participating in the study, they were brought to a private and quiet area to sign a consent form. Afterwards, they were given the packet that included the demographic form, consent form, confidentiality form, PANAS questionnaire, and vignettes describing moral scenarios. Crime severity described in the vignettes were randomly assigned as well to participants. The experimenter then read the protocol aloud, stating what the survey entails, how the participant must be 18 or older, and able to partake in moderate physical activity before asking the participant to sign the consent form. After signing the consent form, the participant was then put in the high, control, or low arousal condition. For the high arousal condition, the experimenter puts the metronome, demonstrated how to complete the activity (by moving one foot per beat), and told the participant to do the task for seven minutes. If the participant was put in the control condition, then they had to only give their moral judgements for the scenarios, fill out the PANAS, and complete the rest of the packet. In the low arousal condition, participants were given headphones to listen to a particular melodic and calming song for seven minutes before filling out the packet. Conditions were assigned randomly before finding participants. It took no more than twenty minutes per participant to go through the experiment. Debriefing was conducted by email, so long as the participants wrote their email addresses on the consent form. A debriefing was conducted because participants were initially told that the study they were participating in was about music and person perception when in reality the study was about the effect of arousal on moral condemnation.  

Results 

 To examine the influence of arousal and moral condemnation, a 2 (crime severity: misdemeanor vs felony) X 3 (arousal condition: low, control, or high) between-subjects ANOVA was used. A manipulation check found reported arousal to be reliable. The reported arousal being the active, alert, attentive, and strong scores from the PANAS. There was not a significant main effect of crime severity on reported arousal which was composed of aggregating participants’ active, alert, attentive, and strong scores on the PANAS, F (1, 293) = 0.71, p = .07, pη2 = 0.01. Crime severity (M = 2.94, SD = 0.88) in the high arousal condition did not significantly differ from the crime severity (M = 2.91, SD = 0.83) in the control condition. The crime severity in the high arousal condition did not significantly differ from the crime severity in the low arousal condition (M = 2.60, SD = 0.89). The crime severity in the control condition did not also significantly differ from the low arousal condition (refer to figure 1). There was a significant main effect of arousal condition on reported arousal, F (2. 293) = 4.77, p < .01, pη2 = .03, the participants in the high arousal condition (M = 2.94, SD = 0.88) were no more or less aroused from those in the control arousal condition (M = 2.91, SD = 0.83). The participants in the low arousal condition (M = 2.60, SD = .89) were significantly less aroused than those in high and control arousal condition. No significant arousal condition X crime severity interaction was found, F (2, 293) = 0.40, p = .67, pη2 = .003. 

Calculation of reliability for both DV 2 and 3 is not possible due to how the vignettes described various crimes, thus a consistent response throughout the vignettes is not expected. This second dependent variable was created by averaging participants’ responses as to how much punishment was warranted for a crime. Reported arousal had no significant main effect on how strong a punishment (refer to figure 2) was given in the scenarios, F (2, 293) = .03, p = .12, pη2 = 0.01. The crime severity did however have a significant main effect, F (1, 293) = 39.45, p <.001, pη2 = 0.20. Participants significantly rated felons (M = 4.97, SD = 0.87) to have a harsher punishment than misdemeanors (M = 3.92, SD = 1.17). No significant arousal condition X crime severity interaction was found, F (2, 293) = 0.37, p = .69. All of the means and standard deviation for the variables can be found on table 1.  

How wrong a crime was rated by participants was the third dependent variable created by averaging the participants’ responses as to how wrong the person is by committing a crime within the vignettes. The arousal conditions did not have a main effect on how wrong (refer to figure 3; table 3) participants rated a scenario, F (2, 293) = 0.03, p = .97, pη2 = 0.00. Crime severity did have a significant main effect on how wrong a scenario was rated, F (1, 293) = 39.50, p < .001, pη2 = 0.12. Scenarios that detailed felonies (M = 5.55, SD = 0.79), received a higher score of wrongness than the misdemeanor scenarios (M = 4.93, SD = 0.90). No significant arousal condition X crime severity interaction was found, F (2, 293) = 1.60, p = .20, pη2 = 0.01.  

The values corresponding with how much punishment a crime should receive along with how wrong the crime was found to have a 0.61 correlation.  

Discussion 

As the ANOVAs suggest, we were able to manipulate arousal as Sanbonmatsu, and Kardes (1998) had previously done with the arousal conditions as well as Ugazio et al. (2012), Chen et al. (2013), and Cho et al. (2016). This time, however, we did not find a significant main effect between the high arousal and control arousal conditions on reported arousal and thus did not establish an intermediate condition between the high and low conditions. We were not able to replicate the findings of Cho et al. (2016) where low arousal contributed to harsher punishment. Instead, our findings support none of the studies in relation to finding arousal to have a main effect on moral condemnation. If this hold true in the real world, then one could reasonably make the same moral judgements regardless of their arousal level and that judges could give out sentences while tired without a deviation from their average sentencing while not tired. The severity of crime did have a main effect of more moral condemnation however and the correlation suggests this as well as the ANOVAs. There was a positive correlation between crime severity and suggested punishment and sense of how wrong that crime or wrong-doer was. Both the ANOVAs and the correlation suggest this.  

Perhaps participants should be prompted to do more physical activity in the high arousal condition or those in the control condition should be controlled for previous residual physical activity done before participating. Further, arousal was not found to have a significant main effect on reported moral condemnation (both reported levels of punishment and wrongness). Other studies have, however, suggested that arousal does have a significant main effect on moral condemnation. More research into this is warranted. 

References 

Cheng, J. S., Ottati, V.C., & Price, E. D. (2013). The arousal model of moral condemnation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(6), 1012-1018.  

Cho, K., Barnes, C.M., & Guanara, C.L., (2017) Sleepy punishers are harsh punishers: Daylight saving time and legal sentences. Psychological Science, 28(2), 242-247. 

Meditationrelaxclub. “Sleep Music Delta Waves: Relaxing Music to Help You Sleep, Deep Sleep, Inner Peace.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ6xgDI7Whc. 

Sanbonmatsu, D., & Kardes, F. (1988). The Effects of Physiological Arousal on Information Processing and Persuasion, Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 15, Issue 3, 378-385.  

Ugazio, G., Lamm, C., & Singer, T. (2012). The role of emotions for moral judgments depends on the type of emotion and moral scenario. Emotion, 12(3), 579-590. doi:10.1037/a0024611 

Wheatley, T., & Haidt, J. (2005). Hypnotic disgust makes moral judgments more severe. Psychological Science, (10), 780. 

Watson, D., Clark., L.A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development & Validation of Brief Measures of Positive and Negative Affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070.  

Figure 1 

Bar Graph of Reported Arousal by Arousal Condition and Arousal X Crime Severity Interaction 

 

Note. n = 299Page Break 

Figure 2  

Bar Graph of Reported Wrongness by Arousal Condition and Arousal X Crime Severity Interaction 

Note. n = 299 

Page Break 

Figure 3 

Bar Graph of Reported Level of Punishment by Arousal Condition and Arousal X Crime Severity Interaction 

 

Note. n = 299Page Break 

Table 1 

Descriptive Statistics of Three Tependent Variables, Arousal, Punishment, and Wrongness Means and Standard Deviations 

DV		Mean	SD
Arousal	2.81		0.88
Punishment	4.42		1.16
Wrongness	5.22		0.9

Appendix 

Person Perception Task 

Sam walks into a well-established electronics store. He walks around for a while, then decides to take a few expensive electronics without paying for them. He ends up stealing about $1,200 worth of items. The theft is documented on the security camera and Sam is caught. He is charged with grand theft, which is a felony and can result in up to five years in jail. 

How wrong were Sam’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Sam? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Alex is arguing with a stranger in a parking lot. Alex is angry because the person took his parking spot. The argument escalates very quickly and after a few minutes, Alex pulls a knife out of his pocket and stabs the person in the stomach. A witness calls the police and Alex is arrested and charged with aggravated battery. This is a felony offense and Alex can face up to 20 years in prison. 

How wrong were Alex’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Alex? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Peter is caught with 16 ounces of marijuana in his possession. He lives in a state were marijuana is illegal and he is arrested. Peter is charged with possession of marijuana, which is a felony in his state due to the amount that was found. He can face up to 10 years in prison.  

How wrong were Peter’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Peter? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe) 

Jake is in his apartment with his girlfriend, Emma. They get into an argument about one of Emma’s male friends. Jake grabs his gun and threatens to kill Emma if she does not stop seeing her friend. Emma is frightened and calls the police. Jake is arrested and charged with aggravated assault. This is a felony offense and Jake can face up to 20 years in prison. 

How wrong were Jake’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Jake? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Jake is in his apartment with his girlfriend, Emma. They get into an argument about one of Emma’s male friends. Jake threatens to kill Emma if she does not stop seeing her friend. Emma is frightened and calls the police. Jake is arrested and charged with simple assault. This is a misdemeanor offense and Jake can face up to one year in jail.  

How wrong were Jake’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Jake? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Peter is caught with less than one ounce of marijuana in his possession. He lives in a state were marijuana is illegal and he is arrested. Peter is charged with possession of marijuana, which is a misdemeanor in his state due to the amount that was found. He can face up to one year in prison. 

How wrong were Peter’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Peter? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Alex is arguing with a stranger in a parking lot. Alex is angry because the person took his parking spot. The argument escalates very quickly and after a few minutes, Alex punches the person in the stomach. A witness calls the police and Alex is arrested and charged with simple battery. This is a misdemeanor offense and Alex can face up to one year in jail. 

How wrong were Alex’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Alex? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Sam walks into a well-established electronics store. He walks around for a while, then decides to take a few inexpensive electronics without paying for them. He ends up stealing about $200 worth of items. The theft is documented on the security camera and Sam is caught. He is charged with petty theft, which is a misdemeanor and can result in up to a year in jail.  

How wrong were Sam’s actions? _____ (1 = not at all morally wrong; 7 = extremely morally wrong) 

How extreme should the punishment be for Sam? _____ (1 = lenient; 7 = severe)  

Gender Studies

This was a final paper submitted to a Gender Studies class. 

Gender as a concept and institution influences the individual through other institutions such as work, family, media, and sports. Borrowing from Connell and Pearse (2018), gender is defined as “the structure of social relations that centers on the reproductive arena, and the set of practices that bring reproductive distinctions between bodies into social processes.” Further, gender is done and practiced in daily life in accordance to what is considered normal within one’s sex. Therefore, we see that are men expected to act like men and women are expected to act like women (Connell and Pearse, 2018). However, gender is a process that must be maintained, socially embodied, and expressed. By acting, one’s gender is reinforced and because sexuality intersects and can reinforce one’s gender, we can observe the high school boys accounted in Pascoe (2012)’s book using sexualized and gendered slurs such as fag and gay. By using such insults, boys reaffirm and strengthen their gender—their masculinity. While reaffirming their own masculinity, they can also put down another’s masculinity by using the word fag. To be a fag, one only must be unmanly or have done something that is the opposite of masculine (Pascoe 2012). Theoretically, one can be male, gay, and masculine, but the chances of that may be low according to Pascoe (2012). Clothes and actions are often mentioned as factors that play into how masculine or not masculine someone is in Pascoe’s book. Fags are thought to care about their style of clothes than those who were not fags. Masculine men, however, are not supposed to care too much about their style or whether their clothes are clean. Pointing out and labelling actions and people as fags is a form of gender policing on the part of students in the high school Pascoe observed.

However, students are not alone in gender policing students and guiding normative behavior. Teachers also play a role. Many of the teachers observed by Pascoe did not punish students for using slurs such as fag and gay. Heterosexist, homophobic, and heteronormative discourses were common throughout a high school and sometimes incorporated within lectures or demonstrations as observed by Pascoe. Rituals, plays, and performances that are allowed by the administration of the school can reflect and affirm the heteronormative perspective. In Pascoe’s example, the school’s skit linked masculinity with getting girls and being physically tough. The more masculine one is, the more girls they can get. This ties into hegemonic masculinity and homosociality. Hegemonic masculinity is both at the top of the gender hierarchy and the gendered practice of supporting gender inequality (Pascoe 2012). Homosociality contributes to hegemonic masculinity and includes emotional detachment, competitiveness, and sexual objectification of women (Bird, 1996). Emotional detachment can include suppressing emotions that may be regarded as feminine. Competitive behavior is demonstrated so to not present one’s self as feminine and a way to assert dominance over those who are less masculine and more feminine. This sort of behavior can be seen in the behavior of males that bullied Ricky, a gay male, in Pascoe’s book. Other behavior can include the boasting of one’s sexual experience and the amount or quality of a girl had by a male. These sorts of behaviors are a sort of maintenance of masculinity. Apart from school being an institution that serves as an institutional level from which to disseminate gendered meanings and normative behaviors, gender itself is an institution.

Defining characteristics of an institution can be found in the concept of gender. Some of those characteristics include distinct social practices, a legitimating ideology, and organized by power (Risman 2004). Gender, then, as an institution or social structure can be used to justify gender inequality or gendered practices which can be studied. On the individual level, gender as an institution reproduces gender and gender inequality by means of socialization and internalization; on a cultural level, reproduces gendered expectations, biases, and othering; institutionally, ideology, distribution of resources, and legal regulations are reproduced (Risman 2004). Similarly, on an individual, cultural, and institutional level, there is a bias against females that discourages them from entering the STEM fields. There has been increasing pressure and attempts to increase the female participation within STEM, but the gender segregation in the field is one that will take some time to overcome. Employers seeking analytical employees may often hold biases against females by thinking that women do not possess what is often attributed to masculinity: analytical and reasoning skills (Thébaud and Charles 2018). This is coined as the demand-side explanation for the gendered segregation of the STEM field. Preconceived notions of skills and attributes based on gender held by the employer, in other words. On an institutional level, the gendered employment patters have been set by policy and tradition. Females, thought to be more apt in social work, care-taking, childcare, and the likes have been reproduced enough to where it is certain fields of work become normative of a gender. This contributes to the deep divide between male and female dominated fields of work and why certain jobs tend to be dominated by a certain gender. Men tend to work in careers that are primarily technical or labor-intensive while women work in fields that are thought to be naturally complimentary to feminine traits. Further, gendered and cultural stereotypes can influence aspirations. Gendered stereotypes can influence the supply-side by suggesting that aptitudes and affinities are gendered (Thébaud and Charles 2018). Stereotypes set expectations of normative behavior or aptitudes as well. An example of this shows in Cottingham’s (2014) research.

Nursing, as a profession, is a predominately female field with recruiters seeking to appeal to some men. In the media used by recruiters, there was found to be an emphasis on certain hegemonic and nonhegemonic masculine traits used to appeal to different masculinities embodied in their targeted audience. The emphasis on certain masculine traits such as technical and rational skills as well as an emphasis on risk-taking, adventure, and athleticism are pointed out by Cottingham’s analysis. While this may entice or appeal to the target demographic of males, it is gendered in its approach and reproduces hegemonic masculinity within a field populated by women. This creates two of several problems. Supporting hegemonic masculinity also serves to support gender inequality and hegemonic masculinity’s superordinate position on top of the gender hierarchy. Second issue that presents itself is that men sometimes must negotiate their masculinity with their career choice. Often seen as a female designated career choice, the caring aspect of being a nurse conflicts with hegemonic masculinity which does not encourage being caring or showing emotion. This can demonstrate how gendered norms carry over into the workforce as it does family.

Low-income black single mothers, for example, attempt to protect their kids with a racialized and gendered strategy: brothermothering. Elliot, Brenton, and Powell (2017) in their research found that these mothers tend to use one of their elder sons as a father figure for the younger children. This is in part due to how there is a cultural emphasis on a two-parent family. The mothers feel unable to properly take care of their children without a father, so they use their elder son as a sort of make-shift dad. Unfortunately, this idea that men can take care of children in a different way from a mother is gendered and gives more power to masculinity than femininity. Economically marginalized black young women navigate the narrative formed about them by forming an identity at a distance. The narrative suggests that young black women are sexually “precocious” and at-risk for single teen pregnancy (Ray 2017). In order to navigate this narrative, young black women attempt to separate themselves from sexually active and pregnant peers by othering them. They instead focus on being self-reliant and independent while seeing their own bodies as a risk or problem that may cause them to be pregnant and stagnant their ability to be independent. The focus on self-reliance comes from the feminist empowerment model, which is largely a narrative that comes from women with privilege and the model unreliable for those without privilege. Middle- and working-class white women, for example, can rely on the empowerment model and may form care networks in order to care for their children (if they have any; Gerson 2010). “Othermothering” this may be called as these women are more likely to be capable of either hiring caretakers or finding some other means to care for their children as they work without the need of a father figure. Given the privilege had by those that formed the self-reliant empowerment strategy, the reproductive justice model receives less attention, and this causes barriers within the feminist movement. For other family types, another strategy is to employ the father as a stay-at-home dad.

The growing increase in stay-at-home fatherhood is partially caused by the lack of available work for some of the fathers. Others stay at home because they are not able to find work with a criminal background or lack the education to attain a job. Gendered expectations follow and men tend to experience their stay-at-home position negatively (Kane 2015). There is a stigma attached to being a stay-at-home father. Suspicions of not living up to the masculine expectations of a man tend to follow. Stay-at-home mothers tend to be the ones reproducing gender norms of men being the breadwinner of a family and that taking care of kids is the job of a mother.

2) Recent social movements have advocated for change in the gender system, however, there have been new challenges that have arisen to meet these social movements. Amid the MeToo movement, for example, a new way of shaming of men charged with sexual harassment or assault has appeared. Men charged with sexual crimes against women can be presented as a failed man (Pascoe and Hollander 2015). Being charged with a sexual crime is now not masculine.  A real man would not have to resort to sexual violence to get a woman is the narrative being written. Instead, being masculine should mean that you can get women without raping them and men can assert that they do not rape as a show of dominance towards the men that do rape, harass, or assault women. Further, practices associated with sexual violence may be used for masculine dominance over men and women. For instance, sharing or telling rape jokes or engaging in rape culture can be associated with a display of dominance over men and women. Anti-violence literature can also reproduce the hegemonic masculine assumptions. Pascoe and Hollander (2015) give an example where the strength is given to the man. The strength to prevent rape and the assumption that women are vulnerable and needing of protection. Such an attempt unfortunately works to reproduce gender inequality by means of supporting hegemonic masculinity.

With the rise of the MeToo movement, most of the focus has been put on acts of sexual assault, harassment, and rape. However, there are other forms of sexism that goes under the radar, so to speak. Workplace sexism can take the form of any behavior that is aimed towards women and can be described as sex discrimination or inequality (Schultz 2018). The most prevalent form of workplace sex discrimination comes in the form of nonsexual forms of sex-based harassment and discrimination. What has also gone under the radar is discrimination against nonhegemonic males within the workplace. Weinstein, for example, used homophobic slurs and gender-based insults to attack the masculinity of other men (Schultz 2018). Weinstein reportedly also assigned women to do gendered tasks, to care for his children, pick-up his medication, and other domestic labor (Schultz 2018). Other forms of nonsexual discrimination are detailed by Schultz that demonstrates the amount of work to be done to change laws to include these other forms of discrimination against women and men.

The MeToo movement that occurs in what many refer to as third wave feminism. The wave analogy is useful but misleading. The feminist movement is more so one long wave with changing approaches and visibility. The wave approach tends to focus on the most visible members of a given wave and does not account for the work done in the movement that is not highly publicized or rallied around larger groups. It also does not account for the various types of feminisms that can be found within the historical feminist movements and overlooks the diversity found within the movement in a given wave. The third wave of feminism is often characterized as the result of the erasure of grounds gained by the second wave. For the most part, the issues sought to be addressed are the same in both the second and third wave. However, there is an emphasis on collaboration, diversity, recognizing and creating a space for different forms of feminism to coexist. In a sense, third wave feminism is a continuation of the second wave but adhering to the critiques it received. Feminist movements come to be by using identity-based politics. Such politics are formed by organizing people who share a similar experience in the world. In this case, women who face oppression in a (modified) patriarchy are able to speak out against the oppression by organization with their similar experiences as a foundation for change. It is the formation of a collective. However, not every woman is a feminist, and some join the opposition.  Conservative (usually religious) proponents of the anti-feminist opposition focus on valuing women’s work and discourage the legalization of abortion.

Between the conservative anti-feminists and the pro-choice feminists are the pro-life feminists. Using the reproductive model, they seek to change the system in such a way that abortion should not be necessary. Women should be able to give birth without socioeconomic pressures discouraging them. Some pro-life feminist organizations provide various types of aid for women that may not have many privileges that would make child-caring easier. Well-intentioned, this nonetheless causes division within the feminist movement; however, the third-wave has been characterized as an increasingly inclusive movement that should allow different feminist movements to coexist. This is coalition-building and despite having differing opinions on the abortion debate, they are still united in identity-politics by claiming a stigmatized identity.  

Resources used

Bird, Sharon R. 1996. “Welcome to the Men’s Club: Homosociality and the Maintenance of Hegemonic Masculinity.” Gender and Society 10(2):120-132.

Connell, Raewyn and Rebecca Pearse. 2015. Gender in World Perspective. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Cottingham, Marci D. 2014. “Recruiting Men, Constructing Manhood: How Health Care Organizations Mobilize Masculinities as Nursing Recruitment Strategy.” Gender and Society 28(1):133-156.

Elliott, Sinikka, Joslyn Brenton, and Rachel Powell. “Brothermothering: Gender, Power, and the Parenting Strategies of Low-Income Black Single Mothers of Teenagers.” Social Problems 65:439-455.

Gerson, Kathleen. 2010. The Unfinished Revolution. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Kane, Nazneen. “Stay-at-home Fatherhoods.” Contexts 14(2):74-76.

Pascoe, C.J. 2012. Dude You’re a Fag. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.

Pascoe, C.J., and Jacelyn A. Hollander. 2016. “Good Guys Don’t Rape: Gender, Domination, and Mobilizing Rape.” Gender and Society 30(1):67-79.

Ray, Ranita. 2017. “Identity of Distance: How Economically Marginalized Black and Latina Women Navigate Risk Discourse and Employ Feminist Ideals.” Social Problems 65:456-472.

Risman, Barbara J. 2001. “Gender as a Social Structure: Theory Wrestling with Activism.” Gender and Society 18(4):429-450.

Schilt, Kristen and Laurel Westbrook. 2015. “Bathroom Battleground and Penis Panics.” Contexts 14(3):26-31.

Schultz, Vicki. 2018. “Reconceptualizing Sexual Harassment, Again.” The Yale Law Journal Forum.

Thébaud, Sarah and Maria Charles. 2018. “Segregation, Stereotypes, and STEM.” Social Sciences.

West, Candace and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender & Society 1(2):125–51.

Online Communities

With the rise of the internet and social media, there emerges a new platform for solidarity, companionship, and community. The concept of the imagined community is nothing new. Communities have been formed over national identities, ideologies, creeds, and mottos since the Neolithic era, if not prior. However, the formation of new identities and communities have arguably increased as time goes ever forward. The means to expand and proselytize for a community has, however, changed along with the addition of new ideas and mediums to center a community around. Further, with the progress of the human mind, the practice of true equality within imagined communities seems near apparent. Many newer forms of community seem to hold equality as a dear principle practiced. Societal rank and status seem to have less bearing on one’s place in these imagined communities. That is not to say that these communities have no sense of hierarchy, however. With rising adherence to the principle of equality, it is by merit does one rise through the ranks. Newer communities revolving around (online) games, forms of art, and hobbies, for example, regards its members quite equally, but those with merit instead of bloodline, law, race, or nationality are held in high regard. Perhaps, too, there is always the growing sense of independence formed within these communities as well.  The abolition of inequality between nations, the progress of equality within each nation, and the true perfection of mankind discussed by Condorcet (1979) can arguably be an approach to study the framework of imagined communities as well as nations and nation-states.

We have passed the first state of civilization as Condorcet writes. We are no longer confined to small societies that live by hunting, gathering, and fishing. We have developed language by which we communicate to explain and describe our semi-shared reality between humankind. We now have various degrees of idle time in which we can use to indulge in thought and explore new ideas that may not have bearing on our ability to survive, but to thrive and find meaning or identity among fellow humans. We now can form our own communities based on new ideas that idleness has allowed us to find. There is now a relatively new complexity given to mankind with the formation of the myriad of communities in existence already that force ourselves to navigate through. Only a few centuries ago, community was founded mostly in the ethnicity, race, and country one was born in. The Völkerwanderungen of the Middle Ages eventually led to the mass migration and peopling seen in the migration patterns of Europeans and Africans into the New World (Bailyn 1988). In both the Middle Ages and the early colonialization of the Americas, for most people the access to communities was largely based on one’s immediate surroundings. One’s class, economic status, race, family, and birth largely barred one’s ability to resources, art, and other people. This is largely no longer the case as the principles of Enlightenment have decreased the inequality between humans. It is arguable, even, that equality and enlightenment is progressing us towards a civilization without sexes since the aftermath of World War 1 (Roberts, 2015 ).

Perhaps firstly, like many early Americans, people began to increasingly feel disconnected from one another (within physical proximity) and due to their self-consciousness, began to not trust those that seem to be far-removed from one’s self to speak for them (Wood 1991). Secondly, like in early American society, hierarchy, patronage, and aristocracy were brittle institutions from the start, thus a monarchial or aristocratic society had weak connections to the formation of communities on the internet. A partial consequence of these two factors is that communities and identity-politics begin to form. This can be seen within cyberspace as communities are based and founded upon meaningful connections, empathy, support, and interests instead of socioeconomic statuses (Caciulan 2017). Unlike America and other nation-states, the internet and online communities in general did not have to go through a loosening of bands in society. Online communities formed because of and within a society of loose bands. The loosening of bands is best exemplified by the movement of peoples to and within early America. The frequent moving of people to one place to another (or the continuation of the Völkerwanderungen) within America “broke apart households, churches, and neighborhoods” (Wood, 1991). We now live in a time where we do not live and die in the village we are born in. Moving from one part of the country to the next is quite common whether it be for work or enjoyment. This capability to move far from where one is born led to the loosening bands of society within America. For the early American family, this led to a change in how parents treated their children.

Enlightened paternalism came about in America as traditional authority weakened and became less applicable (Wood, 1991). “The social hierarchy seemed less natural” and “leaders lost… their aura of mystery and sacredness” (Wood, 1991). The growing skepticism towards authority included the question of paternal authority; with the loosening bands of society, some parents wanted to prevent their children from moving far away and possibly not seeing them again or strengthen familial loyalty. To encourage children to stay with their parents, a change in how parents treated their children had to occur. Families had to be republicanized “as they were republicanizing monarchy (Woods, 1991). In short, affection grew more important than dependency within families. Affection became more of a primary aspect that kept families together (Woods, 1991). The family began to revolve more around the well-being and satisfaction of the children instead of, say, family pride and wealth. As the internet and its communities began to sprout, it sprouted within a culture that had shifted towards this enlightened paternalism. Communities that are not bound by traditional paternalism and its obligations but bound by general affection towards its members. Community leaders of, particularly, internet (sub-)cultures are not revered like leaders in a monarchial or traditional paternalist society. Instead, like parents, there is a sense of filial piety or sense of equalness, egalitarian sentiment, extended between one person and another. Like how the early American family depended less on the aspect of dependency, online communities, too, do not depend on dependency, rather they focus more on sentimental attraction to keep the community from falling apart. Sentimental attraction towards the members of the online community and towards what the online community centers itself around. Online games, for example, exemplify how aggregated selves come together and demonstrate pro-social behavior.

Postmodern tribes in general depend on the sense of self-identification of people towards a group (Pinto, Reale, Segabinazzi, and Rossi 2015). The pro-social behavior and sharing of resources with others happen usually due to a feeling of unity and sense of an aggregated self (Pinto, Reale, Segabinazzi, and Rossi 2015). People within online communities, especially those that are close-knit, share quite openly their time, effort, and resources among each other. In online games, players work together for a common goal and help other players in an effort to reach that goal. Pinto, Reale, Segabinazzi, and Rossi (2015) go into detail how in online games like World of Warcraft give players an extended self through the usage of avatars and how the extended self gives players the ability to form aggregated senses of self through guilds and alliances. Social media platforms also allow people to form group, guilds, fanbases, and the likes as forms of communities.

Anime, for example, has hundreds of communities. Some are dedicated to a particular series, genre, or character. Some go further still and role-play certain characters and interact with other people online and join or create communities that can have upwards of hundreds of members that share an aggregated self or identity. Despite the hundreds of sub-communities, there is but one uniting factor and that is an artform. The individual is secondary to the reverence given to what a community revolves around and this allows its members to share a common identity and egalitarian sentiment towards one another; a general sense of affection holds its members together. Despite the low likelihood that any person within an online community will know most of their fellow-members, “each lives the image of their communion” (Anderson 2016). If two or more members of an imagined community made apparent their affiliation of their imagined community by happenstance and without having known one another prior to their meeting, then a sense of acknowledgement and sense of similarity is likely to follow.  However, self-identification with a community and the participation of an individual depends on their motivation. People join communities for a variety of reasons ranging from a feeling of acceptance, commonality, belonging, or some sort of end, telos. Reciprocity and exchanging of information or feedback is commonplace among online communities. Peer recognition, identity-verification, and self-image are primary motivations toward the development of online communities and the spur contributions (Chen, Wei, and Zhu 2018). Chen, Wei, and Zhu develop a model that suggests how one can produce an effective IT artifact that encourages 

contribution within an online community. Especially an open-sourced community like Wikipedia.

Another example, though bleak, is a community on Weibo that revolves around suicidal ideation. Researchers Wang, Yu, and Tian found through content analysis that those who had attempted suicide in the past within the community had “little fear of death” (2018). It is possible, as they write, that people within the community or those that join the community want to “get acquainted” with those that are similar in their suicidal ideation and to “supervise” their process of committing suicide (Wang, Yu, and Tian 2018).

Reiteratively, online communities revolve around subjects (from the concrete to abstract). This allows for one to essentially be able to find at least one sort of community they attempt to participate in. So long as there is an interest, a community can be formed around it. Some communities are relatively benign, and others may be arguably malignant or detrimental. Nonetheless, people will join all sorts of communities in an attempt to verify themselves and pursue their interests. Humans are a social species and through historical means, the loosening bands of society spurs the proliferation of numerous communities. In conjunction with the loosening bands of society, more idle time and having passed the first stage of civilization, communities that do not revolve around simple interests dedicated to making a living or food sustenance are no longer necessary to be a part of.      

Resources used:

Anderson, Benedict. (2016). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.

Căciulan, Denisa Andreca. 2017. “Social Networks Sites as a Virtual Community — Can SNSs Replace the Organic Communities?” Romanian Journal of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Hypnosis. 4(3-4)

Condorcet, J. D. (1979). Sketch for a historical picture of the progress of the human mind. Westport, CT: Hyperion Press.

Chen, Wei, Xihua Wei, and Kevin Xiaoguo Zhu. „Engaging Voluntary Contributions in Online Communities: A Hidden Markov Model.” MIS Quarterly 42(1)

Rheingold, Howard. 2000. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT.

Pinto, Diego Costa, Getulio Reale, Rodrigo Segabinazzi, and Carlos Alberto Vargas Rossi. 2015. “Online Identity Construction: How Gamers Redefine Their Identity in Experiential Communities.” Journal of Consumer Behavior 14:399-409.

Roberts, Mary Louise. 2005. Civilization without Sexes: Reconstructing Gender in Postwar France, 1917-1927. New York: ACLS History E-Book Project.

Wang, Zheng, Guang Yu, and Xianyun Tian. “Exploring Behavior of People with Suicidal Ideation in a Chinese Online Suicidal Community.” International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health 16(1)

Wood, G. S. (1993). Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage.

Artist: N/A

Recovered Memory Review

 Recovered Memory Review

Stemming largely from the 1990s (Colangelo, 2009), recovered, suppressed, and repressed memory phenomenon has been the grounds for heated debates among scientists and scholars. Coined the “memory wars” (Rubin & Boals, 2010; McNally & Geraerts, 2009), Freud is often credited with beginning the psychological concept of repressed memories that can resurface at some other time (Colangelo, 2009). However, research in the last thirty years have challenged, particularly, the accuracy of these recovered memories. With research into imagination inflation and the ability to instill false memories in people, there has been further controversy over the phenomena. Clinicians or practitioners especially have been the focal point in this debate because clinicians, psychotherapists, and the likes are more likely to incur recovered memories in patients and believe in the validity of recovered memories with 43 per cent of clinical psychologists believing memories can be recovered accurately (Brewin & Andrews, 2017; McNally, 2016). This is the science-practice gap suggesting clinicians are less informed than researchers (Brewin & Andrews, 2017).

Key terms used in the discussion of memory recovery include memory suppression and repression. Memory suppression involves the conscious avoidance of recalling a particular memory (Oulton, Strange & Takarangi, 2016). Memory repression is the Freudian mechanism of the unconscious (involuntary) avoidance of (usually) harmful or traumatic experiences. Other key terms include dissociation wherein a memory is hidden in another stream of consciousness (Colangelo, 2009) which is associated with the repressed memory interpretation and false feedback which is often a strategy employed in imagination inflation studies; false feedback involves giving participants generic false information while suggesting they experienced an event that never occurred (Brewin & Andrews, 2017). Recent research suggests that memories can be recovered but their accuracy or veracity varies (McNally & Geraerts, 2009; Brewin & Andrews, 2016; Geraerts et al., 2009; Oulton, Strange & Takarangi, 2016).

The two major interpretations of recovered memories are also the major two factions that are clashing over recovered memory phenomena. All factions usually study the phenomena by using studies pertaining to participants that claim to have suffered from childhood sexual abuse or sorts of amnesia. One faction uses some variation of the false memory interpretation that suggests “recovered memories of abuse do not correspond to real events” (McNally & Geraerts, 2009). Further, this interpretation argues that traumatic events such as childhood sexual abuse ought to be remembered better and not less. So, they are skeptical of reports of memories of abuse that surface years later. However, cases of individuals recovering memories that were forgotten have been documented and the false memory interpretation does not include individuals that have suppressed their traumatic memories to where they eventually forget they happened (Colangelo, 2009). Another faction uses the repression interpretation which suggests that a traumatic event can be forgotten for a period of time. A therapist may also be able to help a patient remember a memory according to this interpretation (McNally, 2016). A third interpretation is detailed by McNally and Geraerts (2009) that suggests: childhood sexual abuse was not experienced as trauma, suppression, lack of retrieval cues, and forgetting are associated with recovered memories of abuse. The third interpretation seems the most likely in the average case.

Repression

Given the amount of research into the recovered memory phenomena thus far, evidence for the memory repression mechanism has been inadequate largely due to its low capability in being tested in experiments (McNally & Geraerts, 2009). More recent studies into memory repression use the word “dissociation” in the place of repression. Dissociation is theoretically similar and often tied to Freud’s concept of repression. Both are often mentioned as possible explanations for forgetting and remembering past events (Colangelo, 2009). As in Kikuchi et al., (2009)’s study, dissociative amnesia prevents the patient from having the ability to retrieve certain memories. It is theorized, like with Freud’s memory repression, that dissociative amnesia is caused shortly after a traumatic event in order to manage the trauma. Further, Kikuchi et al., (2009) found that there is increased activity in the prefrontal cortex and decreased activity in the hippocampus with their subjects that were reported to have dissociative amnesia. Decreased activity in the hippocampus suggests that memory retrieval is inhibited (Anderson & Levy, 2009). Kikuchi et al., (2009) conclude that memory repression in dissociative amnesia is linked with an altered pattern of neural activity as their experiment demonstrated. However, no causal relationships could have been drawn from the heightened activity in the prefrontal cortex and the decreased activity in the hippocampus.  

Suppression.

Research has been increasingly focused towards finding other mechanisms of forgetting, suppression, and the creating of false memories. For example, Benoit and Anderson (2012) use a four-phase modified Think/NoThink procedure to find two neural mechanisms associated with suppression and memory substitution. Oulten, Strange, and Takarangi (2016) with a between-subjects design divided participants into three groups: suppression, monitoring-only, and control. The participants were asked to watch a multi-fatality car accident. Across conditions, participants were found to have intrusive memories of the video they were asked to watch; but suppressing memories of the multi-fatality accident did not produce a rebound effect amplifying the memory. Memory recall of the traumatic video produced some inaccuracies. Abadie and Camos (2018) had participants remember words from an associatively high or low similar list. Their experiment demonstrated how false memories are not produced in the working memory because of working memory maintenance, but when the working memory maintenance mechanism is removed, then false memories begin to appear in both immediate and delayed recognition tests. Anderson and Levy (2009), using a modified procedural model of a go/no-go task, demonstrated that participants can control their intrusive memories by stopping memory retrieval. The stopping of conscious recollection was signified by the decreasing of activity in the hippocampus while emotionally negative memories stopped were signified by decreased activity in the hippocampus and amygdala.

Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse are possible. Some victims do go through a period of time in which they do not consciously remember the incidents (Colangelo, 2009). 14 of 27 subjects had reported deliberately not thinking of their childhood sexual abuse (McNally & Geraerts, 2009). The period of time in which they do not consciously remember the incidents, however, are not exactly repressed memories, because repressed memories are supposed to be inaccessible to recall. The 14 of 27 subjects were able to access the recollection but consciously suppressed the memories. There seems to be a lot of room for a study to attempt an answer of how long someone who as experienced childhood sexual abuse suppresses their memory of it. Such an answer would tie well with Geraerts et al., (2009)’s study that found that those who spontaneously recover memories of childhood sexual abuse tend to show an enhanced ability to suppress unwanted thoughts. Such suppression seems to inhibit their access to long-term memories.

Magical ideation.

            As pointed out by McNally (2016), patients that tend to report recovered memories score high on measures of magical ideation and absorption. Finkelstein (2017) in his literature review, however, cited studies that are in direct contradiction to McNally’s findings. Further research into correlations of magical ideation, absorption, and recovered memories would be profitable.

Imagination inflation and false memories.

            The participants of Sharman and Scoboria (2009)’s experiment demonstrated that imagination inflation occurs regardless of an event’s plausibility. Participants were more confident that they experienced events that did not occur but were moderately and lowly plausible. This likely goes against what one would normally predict and is in contradiction to another similar study cited in the journal’s discussion. Further, participants were found to have clearer and more complete memories of higher plausibility followed by moderate and lower plausible memories regardless of whether the memory was imagined or not. These findings can be problematic if a patient who has not experienced, say, childhood sexual abuse somehow begins to imagine that they have and proceeds to see a therapist for help. Recovered memories can first occur outside of therapy and a therapist may guide that patient toward believing in that false memory even more without suggesting that spontaneously recovered memories can be false (Brewin & Andrews 2017). However, the probability for a therapist to instill false memories within a patient may not be common as it is difficult (Brewin & Andrews, 2016). Brewin and Andrews (2016) give three scenarios by which a therapist or trusted person may increase the possible emergence of false memories: a belief that is strengthened in plausibility by a trusted figure, recollective experience encouraged by guiding imagery, and confidence in the memory’s veracity.   

Conclusion.

The mechanisms responsible for remembering anything are not wholly understood yet. There are a numerous number of conceptualizations of how we recall objects and concepts. In recovering memories of childhood sexual abuse, to apply that memory in order to accuse a particular person, one would likely have to be able to recall whom was responsible. If a person were to suppress the memory of being abused, then it is also possible that there are inaccuracies in the recollection as suppression has been found to encourage inaccuracies (Oulton, Strange, & Takarangi, 2016). Suppose then, that an individual is having difficulty in recalling the name or face of their abuser. Person recognition could work similar to the serial or parallel model of recognition. The serial model requires first that a face must activate a face recognition unit within in the brain before biographical information become available (Robinson-Riegler, 2012). Parallel processing in the interactive activation and competition model includes the requirement of face activation units, semantic information units, and person identity nodes all being parallel processes of one another (Robinson-Riegler, 2012). Aside from the possible models, cued recall and priming aids in retrieving long-term memories. Those who have suppressed their memories demonstrate a difficulty in retrieving long-term memories (Geraerts et al., 2009). Combining a suppressed memory with a lack of retrieval cues may make it difficult to recall and easy to forget the abuse after so many years until a cue or involuntary episodic memory reminds the individual of their suppressed memory of abuse.

The third interpretation offered by McNally and Geraerts (2009) that suppression, lack of retrieval cues, and the abuse not having been experienced as trauma more aptly explains why and how memories of abuse can be recovered later in life. The false memory interpretation claims that it is unlikely recovered memories of abuse are true on the basis that such a strong experience should strengthen that memory. Neither suppression and its ability to dampen accuracy in recovered memories, nor is the interpretation of (dissociative) amnesia included under the false memory interpretation. To the benefit of the false memory interpretation however, the use of guided imagery, therapist, imagination inflation, false feedback, and the likes can encourage a patient to recover a memory that never occurred. However, implanting false memories in someone is not easy, and, by extension, likely not common among therapists. In research settings, implanting false memories also requires deception on some level such as using edited photos (Brewin & Andrews, 2017). Further, as noted by Brewin and Andrews (2017), no study has yet attempted a repeated implantation of false memories of childhood sexual abuse. Repeated events of childhood sexual abuse are often reported in abuse allegations. Additionally, to the benefit of the false memory interpretation, accuracy is, however, a problem with recovered memories, but the recovered memories occur nonetheless with some degree of accuracy.

           

 References

Anderson M.C., & Levy B.J. (2009). Suppressing unwanted memories. Journal for Psychological Science, 18, 189-194.

Benoit R.G., & Anderson M.C. (2012). Opposing mechanisms support the voluntary forgetting of unwanted memories. Neuron, 76, 450-460.  

Brewin C.R., & Andrews B. (2017). Creating memories for false autobiographical events in childhood: a systematic review. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31, 2-23.

Brewin, C.R., & Andrews B. (2017). False memories of childhood abuse. The Psychologist, 48-52.  

Finkelstein J.D. (2017). The Ψ-files: a review of the psychological literature regarding false memories of alien abduction. The New School Psychology Bulletin, 14, 37-44.

Geraerts E., Lindsay S., Merckelbach H., Jelicic M., Raymaekers L., Arnold M.M., & Schooler J.W. (2009). Cognitive mechanisms underlying recovered-memory experience of childhood sexual abuse. Journal for Psychological Science, 20, 92-98.

Gunawan K., & Gerkens D.R. (2011). The recovery of blocked memories in repeated recall tests. British Journal of Psychology, 102, 373-391.

Kikuchi H., Fujii T., Abe N., Suzuki M., Takagi M., Mugikura S., Takahashi S., & Mori E. (2009). Memory repression: brain mechanisms underlying dissociative amnesia. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 602-613.

McNally R.J. (2016). False memories in the laboratory and in life: commentary on Brewin and Andrews. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31, 40-41.  

McNally R.J., & Geraerts E. (2009). A new solution to the recovered memory debate. Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 4, 126-134.

Oulton J.M., Strange D., & Takarangi M.K.T. (2016). False memories for an analogue trauma: does thought suppression help or hinder memory accuracy? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30, 350-359.

Rasmussen A.S., & Berntsen D. (2009). The possible functions of involuntary autobiographical memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 1137-1152.

Sharman S.J., & Scoboria A. (2009). Imagination equally influences false memories of high and low plausibility events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 813-827.

Keywords: memory, recovered memory, psychology, literature review.

Art retrieved from https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=59338469

Something on Gendered Advertisements

Applebee’s commercial features a woman going about her average day: walking the dog, preparing school lunch, working out, lecturing, working as a nurse, and picking up her clothes from the dry cleaner. At the end of the day, her male partner asks her if she has any thoughts on what they should have for dinner. She orders from Applebee’s mobile app for a quick and easy pick-up order as this is a commercial for Applebee’s. The advertisement could have featured a male and receive about the same results, but they decided to feature a female. Women tend to be portrayed in a warm and amicable manner and perhaps that is why a female was chosen over a male. How women are generally viewed in our culture also lends itself as to why the woman in the advertisement worked as a nurse—a pink collared job. Nursing, teaching (high school and below), and social work are three examples of jobs that are dominated by women. It is almost stereotypical for a woman to work in any three of those fields because of how we presume women to be “warm, kind, nurturing…and polite” (Thébaud and Charles 2018). So, instead of having the woman in the advertisement work as something more commonly dominated by men, they chose to have her work a job that more women could possibly relate to and thus reinforce a sort of STEM stereotype that women are better fit for a job like nursing instead of, say, a doctor or engineer. Aside from the job choice, the advertisement highlights some actions that are commonly female-orientated such as packing her kids’ lunch boxes and taking care of dinner. There is also the heteronormative aspect as she has a male partner that she is seen kissing near the beginning. The male is not shown doing anything other than preparing for work and dancing with the kids as she brings the dinner into the house.

The company Always takes a different approach towards its advertisement. The advertisement highlights how the phrase “like a girl” is used with an insulting intent. It also highlights how the older participants in the commercial take the prompt “like a girl” differently than the younger participants. For example, when one of the younger participants is told to run like a girl, she runs like how one normally runs instead of the stereotypical or gendered action of running the older participants gave. The advertisement is not clear on what it is selling, but an advertisement does not have to offer a product in order to receive more support financially. This is one example of an advertisement advertising for the sake of brand awareness while providing a message to those watching. In that sense, the advertisement does its job well. The message that “like a girl” should not be an insult or a derogatory statement is given quite well. Girls and women do actions just like boy and men do actions. The negative comments in the comment section highlight the idea that women and men have inherent differences in their physical abilities and appearances, but these are easily dismissible as males and females are more likely “culture events” rather than some “collection of traits” or “physical attributions” (West and Zimmerman 1987). Likewise, “like a girl” is a gendered concept that supports the idea that females do actions or do perform their gender in an inferior manner than the default “like a boy” or “like a man”. As noted in the description of the video, the phrase “like a girl” can hurt the self-esteem of a girl in her adolescence and may prompt her to enact a script the gendered hierarchy suggests of her: to accept inferiority and subordination to males who are supposed to perform their gender in a more efficient and better manner compared to the female. In that sense, “like a girl” also supports the gendered divide in how actions are to be performed between males and females. If a male is told he “throws like a girl” then his masculinity is tarnished as this is suggestive that he is weak and feminine.  

First video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CxHEM3L5IA
Second video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

A Critique on Alcoholics Anonymous

The first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting I attended was a rather solemn one. The first speaker mentioned that it was the six-month anniversary of his son’s death. His son was an active participant in the AA group I had attended. According to his father, he had been sober for nine months, but someone had offered him some sort of drug laced with three milligrams of fentanyl and died at the age of 19. The speaker noted that he was surprised that this did not cause him to drink but, rather, inspired him to not take another drink or drug. One thing that surprised me in both the meetings I attended was the religious themes, undertones and overtones of, namely, Christianity or vague spirituality. This is seen even in the twelve AA traditions and steps with mentions of a higher power.

            In the two meetings I attended, most speakers would mention how “no human power” can relieve them from their alcoholism. This was a common theme in the meetings along with being unable to fully control themselves after having one drink. In the first meeting, another theme was the concept of being flammable. One can try their best to not drink or do drugs but if they find themselves in a certain situation, then they are lit on fire. That is, they partake in a drink or drug like the first speaker’s son had done. However, there was no mention of attempting to remove themselves from such situations. Another theme in the stories people were telling were that they arrived at AA and or attempted to stop their alcohol addiction after reaching a low point in their lives. Although low points in someone’s life can be some minor occurrence, many of the people who spoke of their experiences had life-threatening occurrences happen to them. One woman attempted to end her life, another three or so said they were in comas a few times before reaching out for help. For some, it required the death of a loved one before coming to AA meetings. As for the demographic make-up of the meetings I attended, the majority of the attendees were white, male, and about 50 or older. For every four males, there was a female.

            The way AA meetings work is a lot less organized than I would have expected. The hour meetings are completely dependent on how many people want to talk about their alcohol or alcohol related experiences. In one case, one of the meetings ended 15 minutes early because not enough people were willing to share. On the bright side, AA does offer a sort of system for those truly willing to combat their alcoholism with the patron system and other resources. This is one positive aspect to AA. The voluntary nature of AA should lead towards more favorable outcomes as those who volunteer tend to be less pathological than those who do not volunteer for help (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). While this excludes people, who attend AA meetings involuntarily (as a part of a court or employer order), it seems, to me, better to allow those who want to achieve control over their alcoholism than those who do not. From what I could gather, some of the AA attendees in the meetings I attended were there both voluntarily and involuntarily, but one person from the involuntary group seemed quite willing to overcome her alcoholism. So, by having involuntary attendees, there can be a few among them that eventually voluntarily want to attend AA for the sake of their own health. The first negative aspect is its voluntary nature. Although I listed it as a positive aspect earlier, it is also a negative for those who attend the meeting voluntarily but are reluctant (for whatever reason) to participate in the meetings or what else AA offers.

            Not everyone is willing to participate in AA meetings whether they are there voluntarily or involuntarily. In the meetings I attended, there were a few people on their phones despite the head speaker stating that cell phones should be put away during the meeting. Another five or so I could see or hear sleeping during the meeting. Unlike in a more formal setting, the patrons and head speaker are not going to attempt to catch their attention. Or more pragmatically, in a formal setting that one would likely have to pay to partake in, one would likely be less willing to sleep through their session as they are the ones paying for the service and it would be money wasted. Further, for those who may be shyer than average, it seems difficult for them to reach out for additional aid in combatting their alcoholism in the AA setting. The meetings are more suitable for those extroverted enough to talk about their experiences. At best, one can listen to someone else’s story and empathize to where the story further encourages them to overcome their alcoholism. Further, the first step of the 12 steps of AA is the second negative aspect to AA. How effective AA is in treating alcoholism is difficult to determine due to its anonymous nature. Formal treatments, however, have a success rate of 33 to 66 per cent success (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). This leads to the second negative aspect of AA: its informality.

As alcoholism is perceived as a disease among the AA community, then it should be treated as one. Instead however, professionals are not involved with treating the alcoholics that attend AA. The eighth tradition of AA states that AA should remain unprofessional. The head speaker and patrons are all voluntary positions that do not require formal education in order to apply. The meetings revolve around talking about experiences that led attendees to presumably attempt sobriety at best. This serves as a foundation for one to gain encouragement to attempt sobriety but not much else. Formal treatments have so far established a good (33 to 66 per cent) success rate. AA does not have an established success rate. Formal treatment or medication may be a better method for reaching sobriety or controlled drinking for those who attend AA meetings and are struggling to reach their goal. Generally, in treating diseases, those trained in the medical profession are called to give aid, but this is not the case with alcoholism and AA.

Accepting complete powerlessness over alcohol is problematic and the third negative aspect. It would be easy to use what the first step says in order to give up on attaining sobriety or combatting alcoholism. One can reach out for help with their alcoholism at some point in their lives if they are aware enough and in a position in which they can access helpful resources. Unfortunately, many alcoholics do not realize that their alcoholism is at a point where it is problematic until they reach a low point in their lives or are required to attend an AA meeting. However, there are choices one can make to attempt to combat their alcoholism. Further, while the rest of the 12 steps are better than the first, most require a leap of faith into spirituality. Without getting into the arguments of theism and atheism, it seems clear that atheists (or non-believers in a higher or spiritual power) are barred from enacting the majority of the 12 steps. The fourth negative aspect is the attitude of AA aiming towards complete sobriety instead of controlled drinking.

Controlled drinking may be a viable option for those recovering from alcoholism to consider (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). While studies have not yet come to a success rate associated with controlled drinking treatments, alcoholics that eventually overcome their alcoholism tend to partake in what is considered moderate or controlled drinking. So, if sobriety is rarely practiced among recovering (or recovered) alcoholics, then should not controlled drinking be what is aimed for? For the alcoholics in areas where only sobriety is sought for, then there is possibility that they will not seek treatment because they would prefer to aim for controlled drinking instead of complete sobriety like AA aims for.   

While I personally enjoyed attending the AA meetings, I do not find it very objectively effective in its intentions. It was easier to find more flaws than positives in how the organization is structured. Anonymity is nice but with anonymity comes the trouble with identifying its success rate and that is a major issue. From an objective perspective, it becomes difficult to recommend an alcoholic to participate in AA when there is the chance that it does not have a moderate success rate. Given the research into success rates associated with medication and formal treatment, I would be more likely to recommend an alcoholic try both. Based on my experience at the meetings as well, it does not seem as if AA does much else but talk about their bad experiences with alcohol when they could instead teach the attendees how to control their drinking or how to manage lifestyle changes to where they are removed from the easy access of alcohol. There are many other strategies that could be taught to the attendees while still also keeping the current format of talking about experiences, the 12 steps, and 12 traditions. At the least, AA could incorporate some formality within their structure so trained professionals can attempt to aid in counseling and so forth.

 References used

Grilly, D. M., & Salamone, J. D. (2012). Drugs, brain, and behavior (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.