Scholars have long criticized the notion of meritocracy, in part because many achievements that are ostensibly earned stem from the intergenerational transmission of advantage. Although much research has demonstrated this link, fewer studies have considered public attitudes toward these constructs, including whether perceptions of privilege…

Early ability tracking increases inequalities in education. It has been proposed that the awareness of negative school-track-related stereotypes contributes to educational inequalities, as stereotype awareness interferes with students' abilities to thrive, particularly those in lower, stigmatized tracks. The present study tested this assumption in…

The current study examined associations of intersectional social identities on Black women's (N = 126) career self-efficacy and interests at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Structural models examined associations of different aspects of gender and racial identity on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) predictors (i.e.,…

Although there has been intense criticism of NAPLAN in educational policy debates in Australia, little scholarly efforts have been made to understand the underlying cognitive mechanisms that contribute to the public narrative about the national testing program. We aim to provide tentative evidence about the way public perceptions about NAPLAN may…

As future holders of power, nurturing a critical consciousness among economically privileged populations is urgently needed as it could encourage them to actively challenge class oppression around them. Egyptian international school students typically belong to this population as they serve as vehicles that push for the interests of global capital…

First-generation college (FGC) students represent 56% of college students in the United States (RTI International, 2019). Studies on the role FGC family in students' campus experiences by Covarrubias et al. (2015) along with Orbe's (2008) work on the role of culture in FGC identity development provide a foundation for understanding FGC…

"Weight-related attitudes" refer to negative attitudes toward individuals because they are overweight or obese. These attitudes are widespread among children and adults and have been proven to be recalcitrant to intervention. To develop more effective interventions, it is necessary to understand the origin and development of explicit and…

Healthy diet and physical activity (PA) prevent and reduce chronic disease. Social cognitive theory delineates multiple attitudes and barriers that influence these behaviors. Understanding covariation in these attitudes and barriers is complex. We examined whether individuals could be grouped into a small number of categories that are easier to…

In keeping with the special issue theme of "Remembering the Future," this article provides a selective review of research on how memory for social information (i.e., social category representation) influences future processing and behavior. Specifically, the authors focus on how categorization and stereotyping affect how we perceive others and…

In most societies, some social identity groups hold a disproportionate amount of social, cultural, and economic power, while other groups hold little. In contemporary U.S. society, examples of this power are evident around issues of ability/disability, with able-bodied individuals wielding social dominance and people with disabilities experiencing…

This article discusses findings from an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study exploring non-disabled children's ideas about disability. This represents the first in-depth sociological investigation of children's ideas about disabled people as members of wider society. Data are presented from focus group discussions with children aged…

Autism involves core impairments in social cognition. Given that social learning underlies the acquisition of stereotypes, it was hypothesized that use of stereotypes would be reduced in autism. Contrary to this prediction, previous studies found the same use of stereotypes in autistic individuals as in controls. Measurement of stereotypes,…

Whether one is a parent of a 3-year-old who is curious about why a friend's skin is brown, the parent of a 9-year-old who has been called a slur because of his religion, or the parent of a 15-year-old who snubs those outside of her social clique at school, this book is designed to help teach children to honor the differences in themselves and in…

Preservice teacher education candidates identified personal and professional benefits of participating in a service-learning project helping a food pantry, culminating in a 48-hour fast. At the end of the project, student reflections revealed that the service-learning component influenced participants' preconceptions about hunger.

Every year approximately 50,000 people immigrate to the United States through the avenue referred to as the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery. In this article, the authors present a literature review of immigration to the U.S. through the DV Lottery, reflect on their own immigration histories, and utilize phenomenology to investigate and describe…