Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
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Psychologists use the term microaggressions to describe subtle forms of bias and discrimination experienced by members of marginalized groups. Lilienfeld (2017, this issue) makes an important contribution to the literature by presenting a critical review of the meaning and measurement of microaggression experiences. ⋯ We discuss the conceptual potential of microaggressions as a bridging concept across multiple levels of analysis. We conclude that the intensive study of individuals over time can contribute to theory evaluation and offer new insights into the nature of unfolding processes that are theorized to be central to the manifestation of microaggressions in everyday life.
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Perspect Psychol Sci · Nov 2016
Taking Advantage of Citation Measures of Scholarly Impact: Hip Hip h Index!
Professional decisions about hiring, tenure, promotion, funding, and honors are informed by assessments of scholarly impact. As a measure of influence, citations are produced by experts but accessible to nonexperts. The h index is the largest number h such that an individual has published at least h works cited at least h times apiece. ⋯ Striving for a large h index requires both productivity and influence, which provides healthy incentives for researchers striving for eminence through scientific impact. A number of factors that can influence h are discussed to promote the mindful use of what might otherwise be an ambiguous or misleading measure. The h index adds a transparent, objective component to assessments of scholarly impact, and even academic eminence, that merits at least two cheers.
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Empirical research inevitably includes constructing a data set by processing raw data into a form ready for statistical analysis. Data processing often involves choices among several reasonable options for excluding, transforming, and coding data. ⋯ Using an example focusing on the effect of fertility on religiosity and political attitudes, we show that analyzing a single data set can be misleading and propose a multiverse analysis as an alternative practice. A multiverse analysis offers an idea of how much the conclusions change because of arbitrary choices in data construction and gives pointers as to which choices are most consequential in the fragility of the result.
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Perspect Psychol Sci · May 2016
ReviewA Vicious Cycle: A Social-Psychological Account of Extreme Racial Disparities in School Discipline.
Can social-psychological theory provide insight into the extreme racial disparities in school disciplinary action in the United States? Disciplinary problems carry enormous consequences for the quality of students' experience in school, opportunities to learn, and ultimate life outcomes. This burden falls disproportionately on students of color. ⋯ This approach is more comprehensive than accounts in which the predicaments of either teachers or students are considered alone rather than in tandem, it complements nonpsychological approaches, and it gives rise to novel implications for policy and intervention. It also extends prior research on bias and stigmatization to provide a model for understanding the social-psychological bases of inequality more generally.
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In everyday life, many of the decisions that we make are made on behalf of other people. A growing body of research suggests that we often, but not always, make different decisions on behalf of other people than the other person would choose. ⋯ We find no existing domain-general model of surrogate decision making. We propose a framework by which surrogate decision making can be assessed and a novel domain-general theory as a unifying explanatory concept for surrogate decisions.