Ambivalent Prejudice and the Role of Religion: The Cases of Sexism and Ageism
Vassilis Saroglou
University of Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve), Belgium
The relation between religion and prejudice has been the most studied topic in social psychology applied to religion for the last 60 years. There has been extensive research on how religion and religiousness predict and amplify—or attenuate, under conditions—stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination of groups clearly perceived as threatening religious ideas and values: ethnoreligious (including immigrants), convictional (atheists), and moral (mostly sexual minorities) outgroups. In the last 15 years, we extended in our lab that research in two ways: first, by examining atheists’ prejudice toward religionists and, second, by studying religion’s role in ambivalent prejudice toward outgroups that, in the Stereotype Content Model, belong to the “high warmth, low competence” quadrant. In this talk, I will focus on the latter and present theory and research on religion’s role in hostile and benevolent sexism as well as hostile and benevolent ageism.
The Future of Nostalgia
Constantine Sedikides
University of Southampton, UK
Nostalgia is a bittersweet (albeit mostly positive), self-relevant, and social emotion. Nostalgic narratives typically cast the self as the central protagonist, situated among close others during personally meaningful, often defining, life moments. Nostalgia also has remarkable implications for future-oriented functioning. It fosters an approach-oriented (vs. avoidance-oriented) motivational stance. It enhances optimism, in part by increasing social connectedness—a felt sense of support, belonging, and acceptance—which in turn elevates self-esteem. Nostalgia also stimulates creativity by strengthening openness to experience. Moreover, it promotes prosocial tendencies, including donation intentions and actual charitable giving, and it facilitates intergroup contact. Far from reflecting escapist withdrawal from the present, nostalgia serves as a psychological resource that supports a more positive and attainable future.