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Journal Article 1: Delvaux, E., Vanbeselaere, N., & Mesquita, B. (2015). Dynamic interplay between norms and experiences of anger and gratitude in groups. Small Group Research, 46, 300–323.

Abstract: Emotions of task group members tend to be congruent, yet the processes that lead to this congruence are not well understood. In this study, we longitudinally followed the convergence of anger and gratitude in 68 task groups, and investigated the role of emotion norms in achieving this convergence. Over time, individual members’ emotions influenced the group’s emotions, and, conversely, the group’s emotions influenced individual members’ emotions. Moreover, over time the coherence between the emotions of different group members became stronger. This supports the idea that the emotions within groups converge. In addition, we found evidence for the dynamic interplay between norms and experience. Norms guided experience, and experience became normative, both at the individual and group levels. In addition, group norms on a particular emotion predicted individuals’ experience of that emotion over time, and conversely, individual members’ norms about an emotion predicted the group’s experience of that emotion.

Discussion Questions:

1. Identify the most likely population of interest for this study based on the description of the sample?
2. What sampling technique was used in this study?
3. Do you think the sample collected in this study provided a sample that was representative of the population of interest? Why or why not?
4. What are some of the disadvantages of the sampling technique used in the study?

Journal Article 2: Isen, J. D., McGue, M. K., & Iacono, W. G. (2015). Aggressive-antisocial boys develop into physically strong young men. Psychological Science, 26, 444–455.

Abstract: Young men with superior upper-body strength typically show a greater proclivity for physical aggression than their weaker male counterparts. The traditional interpretation of this phenomenon is that young men calibrate their attitudes and behaviors to their physical formidability. Physical strength is thus viewed as a causal antecedent of aggressive behavior. The present study is the first to examine this phenomenon within a developmental framework. We capitalized on the fact that physical strength is a male secondary sex characteristic. In two longitudinal cohorts of children, we estimated adolescent change in upper-body strength using the slope parameter from a latent growth model. We found that males’ antisocial tendencies temporally precede their physical formidability. Boys, but not girls, with greater antisocial tendencies in childhood attained larger increases in physical strength between the ages of 11 and 17. These results support sexual selection theory, indicating an adaptive congruence between male-typical behavioral dispositions and subsequent physical masculinization during puberty.

Discussion Questions:

1. Identify the most likely population of interest for this study based on the description of the sample?
2. What sampling technique was used in this study?
3. Do you think the sample collected in this study provided a sample that was representative of the population of interest? Why or why not?
4. What are some of the disadvantages of the sampling technique used in the study?