Leila SelimbegovicUniversité de Poitiers | UP · Department of Psychology
Leila Selimbegovic
Ph.D., Assistant Professor
About
62
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
September 2010 - present
September 2010 - present
November 2008 - August 2010
Education
September 2008 - August 2010
September 1999 - December 2007
Publications
Publications (62)
Twenty years after 9/11, the impact of terrorism on social and political attitudes remains unclear. Several large-scale surveys suggest that terrorism has no discernible effects on direct, self-report measures of prejudice toward Arab-Muslims. However, direct measures may lack the sensitivity to detect subtle underlying attitudes that are considere...
Twenty years after 9/11, the impact of terrorism on social and political attitudes remains unclear. Several large-scale surveys suggest that terrorism has no discernible effects on direct, self-report measures of prejudice towards Arab-Muslims. However, direct measures may lack the sensitivity to detect subtle underlying attitudes that are consider...
Failure increases the motivation to escape self-awareness. To date, however, the role of self-conscious emotions (shame and guilt) in triggering escape responses after failure has not been sufficiently addressed. In this pre-registered study (N = 156 undergraduates), we adapted a classic paradigm (avoidance of one’s image in a mirror) to a modern e...
Self-focus has been shown to induce negative thoughts and affects. We hypothesized that individual differences in sense of entrapment moderate the effects of self-focus on failure- and escape-thought accessibility. Participants (N = 150) were briefly primed with their first names or a random string of letters (33 ms), before completing a lexical de...
The present research aimed to investigate whether retraining thin-beautiful associations could modify implicit beliefs relating thinness to beauty, increase me-beauty associations, and decrease explicit body anxiety in young women. In Experiment 1 (N = 180 women), participants were repeatedly exposed to beauty-related words paired with thin-related...
Mobile phone use and misuse have become a pressing challenge in today's society. Dangerous mobile phone use, such as the use of a mobile phone while driving, is widely practiced, though banned in several jurisdictions. Research aiming at unfolding the psychological predictors of dangerous mobile phone use have so far been scarce. Especially, resear...
Self-focused attention has been shown to induce negative thoughts and affects. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that individual differences in proneness to shame and guilt moderate the effects of self-awareness priming on failure- and escape-thought accessibility. Using a priming procedure known to increase self-awareness, participant...
Research shows that negative or threatening emotional stimuli can foster movement velocity and force. However, less is known about how evaluative threat may influence movement parameters in endurance exercise. Based on social self-preservation theory, the authors predicted that evaluative threat would facilitate effort expenditure in physical exerc...
Previous research indicates that individuals often deal with death anxiety by affirming beliefs in national or cultural superiority (worldview defense). Because worldview defense may be associated with negative consequences (ethnocentrism), it is important to identify alternative means to deal with death-related thoughts, especially in times of a p...
When individuals are exposed to their own image in a mirror, known to increase self-awareness, they may show increased accessibility of suicide-related words (a phenomenon labeled “the mirror effect”; Selimbegović & Chatard, 2013). We attempted to replicate this effect in a pre-registered study (N = 150). As in the original study, self-awareness wa...
Directing one’s attention towards the self makes salient the discrepancy between the actual and the ideal self (Duval & Wicklund, 1972). Hence, self-aware individuals should be motivated to escape from this aversive state (Chatard & Selimbegovic, 2011).
General Hypothesis: Self-awareness should increase the accessibility of escape-related thoughts....
Common processes underlying the effects of exposure to unattainable beauty standards and their regulation are currently poorly understood. The present study therefore investigates the impact of this exposure on executive inhibitory control. Between two blocks of a semantic Stroop task, seventy-two healthy young women were exposed to pictures of a t...
Objective:
The present study compared the ability of two contemporary theories of suicidal behavior-the interpersonal and escape theories of suicide-to predict suicidal ideation. The interpersonal theory proposes that the interaction of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness predicts suicidal ideation. The escape theory proposes that...
Based on expectancy-value theory of achievement, this paper aims to examine the relative contributions of gender stereotype endorsement and gender identification on expectancies for success in STEM fields. In a sample of 880 Croatian primary school pupils of approximately 12 years of age, stereotyped beliefs about gender-appropriateness of STEM-rel...
Objective: The present study compared the ability of two contemporary theories of suicidal behavior—the interpersonal and escape theories of suicide—to predict suicidal ideation. The interpersonal theory proposes that the interaction of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness predicts suicidal ideation. The escape theory proposes that f...
It has been determined that girls have less confidence in their own STEM abilities, show less interest towards STEM, experience STEM less positive than boys and have lower aspirations towards STEM careers (Catsambis, 1995 ; Su, Rounds, & Armstrong, 2009). Consequently, women are less represented in different STEM professions (NSF, 2013). First it w...
Contribution In the expectancy-value theoretical framework (Eccles et al., 1983), expectancies for success play a major role in academic and professional orientation, alongside the value that individuals place in a given achievement domain. In addition, gender differences have been a central focus of the theory over the years (Eccles, 1994). More s...
Women are routinely exposed to images of extremely slim female bodies (the thin ideal) in advertisements, even if they do not necessarily pay much attention to these images. We hypothesized that paradoxically, it is precisely in such conditions of low attention that the impact of the social comparison with the thin ideal might be the most pronounce...
This is the appendix 1.
(DOCX)
Research on body image suggests that social comparison with the thin ideal has a number of negative consequences for women. To date, however, little is known on how social comparison with the thin ideal affects the accessibility of positive thoughts and feelings about the self (implicit self-liking). To examine this issue, one hundred and twenty-si...
The aim of the present study was to examine, for the first time, the level of gender-stereotyped beliefs about STEM-related school subjects among Croatian primary school students and to explore how stereotyped beliefs can be predicted from prior achievement in STEM school subjects and students’ STEM interests. Eight hundred and eighty primary schoo...
The JOBSTEM research project is now in its second year of research activates. We obtained the data from two waves of testing which targeted three cohorts of students in 16 primary schools in Croatia. This year, we also obtained part of the data from students’ parents. Our research team started with analysis on the collected data in order to address...
One of the important research goals in JOBSTEM project is to examine gender differences in STEM vocational interests and to test effects of gender on the structure and dynamics of relation between students’ school achievement, self-competence beliefs and students’ general and specific STEM career interests. The present paper examines the possibilit...
Last update on October 14, 2017We have developed and tested a new experiment script that bypasses the need for special equipment (CRT monitor). The new script has been successfully tested on a MacBook Pro computer (see https://osf.io/3xsg9/). An English version of the new script is available here: https://osf.io/spzvd/. We recommend using this scri...
Although social comparison is often considered as an automatic process, the evidence in support of this idea is weak and inconclusive. In this paper, we reexamined the question of automaticity in social comparison by testing the hypothesis that subliminal social comparison affects explicit self-evaluations. In two high-powered experiments, young wo...
Abundant research document the negative effects of thin ideal exposure on women’s psychological well-being (Want, 2009). To date, the most common explanation of those negatives effects refers to social comparisons processes (Festinger, 1954). The question of the automaticity of social comparison remains open. The aim of the present research is to t...
Building on escape and terror management theories, we reasoned that after failure the desire
to escape the self (as reflected in suicide-thought accessibility) would dominate among dysphoric students, while fear of death (as indexed by death-thought accessibility) would dominate among nondysphoric students. The present study (N = 82 college student...
Three experiments investigated the impact of nuclear accident reminders on support for nuclear power, as a function of initial attitudes towards environmental protection. Data were collected in France, where nuclear plants produce approximately 80% of the country's electricity, and where this is a highly politicized issue. Nuclear accident reminder...
L’idéal de minceur est connu pour provoquer des effets indésirables chez de nombreuses femmes. Deux études expérimentales ont testé l’hypothèse selon laquelle des contenus de pensées négatifs deviendraient automatiquement plus accessibles et des contenus positifs moins accessibles suite à l’exposition à l’idéal de minceur. Des mesures implicites on...
For 20 years, the impact of stereotypical knowledge on math performance has been intensively investigated, especially within the framework of “stereotype threat” (Steele, 1997). Stereotype threat (ST) theory and research “do not focus on the internalization of inferiority images or their consequences. Instead, they focus on the immediate situationa...
Autobiographical memories are a major feature of mental life in humans. However, research on the influence of autobiographical recall on actual behaviour is scarce. We predicted and found that general memories of failure and specific memories of success resulted in worse performance than general memories of success and specific memories of failure....
Une étude a été menée afin de de tester l'hypothèse selon laquelle l'augmentation des pensées négatives (notamment celles liées au suicide) observée suite à l'exposition à l'idéal de minceur est automatique. Nous nous attendions à ce qu'une telle augmentation soit favorisée par la charge cognitive et l'impulsivité, et plus particulièrement sur la s...
These findings suggest that implicit memory biases may contribute to explain gender differences in decisions to major in math/science.
Media promote a feminine standard of beauty focused on thinness, unattainable for most women. Research shows that exposure to this standard negatively affects women’s psychological well-being. In two experiments (total N = 104), we examined the effect of a disclaimer, specifying that a photo had been airbrushed, on negative thought accessibility an...
Reminding individuals of their mortality intensifies their support for their culture, decreases their support for foreign cultures, or both (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997). The present study extends this basic finding by examining reactions to contempo- rary popular music, as moderated by authoritarianism. Participants assigned to a morta...
Two studies examined the influence of an anti-discrimination norm on Swiss nationals' discrimination against foreigners as a function of initial attitude (pro-foreigner vs. anti-foreigner) and in-group threat (i.e., whether or not foreigners are perceived as taking nationals' jobs). Results showed that anti-foreigners decreased their level of discr...
According to objective self-awareness theory, when individuals are in a state of self-awareness, they tend to compare themselves to their standards. Self-to-standard comparison often yields unfavorable results and can be assimilated to a failure, activating an escape motivation. Building on recent research on the link between failure and suicide th...
The present study (N = 293) examined whether stereotype endorsement and prejudice moderate stereotype lift (i.e., a performance boost caused by the salience of a negative out-group stereotype in the testing situation). The stereotype in the focus of inquiry was the belief that immigrant students have lower intellectual ability than native students....
Two studies conducted in the aftermath of the Côte
d'Ivoire civil war tested the anxiety buffer disruption theory prediction that high war exposure and/or high posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are associated with a disruption in normal anxiety buffering functioning. In line with predictions, Study 1 indicated that mortality salience (as compar...
Two experiments examined the effect of comparison with immigrants on the intellectual performance of stigmatized native students
(i.e., women and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds). It was predicted that such a comparison may boost the test
performance of both groups of students rather than comparison with their counterparts who are not s...
Previous research has identified economic and political factors that can contribute to the outbreak and the duration of armed conflicts. However, the psychological factors that may play a role in conflict escalation and duration have received less attention. Adopting a psychological perspective, the present study aims to investigate the role of dea...
When individuals realize that they fail to attain important standards or expectations, they may be motivated to escape the self, which could lead thoughts of suicide to become more accessible. Six studies examined this hypothesis, mainly derived from escape theory (Baumeister, 1990). The results indicated that whenever individuals realize that they...
Two studies tested the impact of autobiographical recall of general versus specific academic success or failure on actual task performance. As expected, it was found that general memories of failure and specific memories of success resulted in worse performance than general memories of success and specific memories of failure. In Study 1, this perf...
Participants (N = 567) from six countries (Belgium, Ivory Coast, Italy, Kosovo, Portugal, and Switzerland) drew borders of their own and of neighbor countries on boundary-free maps. It was predicted and found that the tendency to overestimate versus underestimate the sizes of the countries, compared to the original maps, reflects the perceiver’s at...
Drawing on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (OECD/PISA), we examined the relationship between the percentage of immigrant students and the reading and mathematics performances of native and immigrant students across nations. In line with research on cultural diversity...
Using recent data from the International Sexuality Description Project (ISDP), we examined whether national differences in self-esteem across 55 nations are reflected in suicide rates. Results indicate that suicide is especially common in nations with relatively low levels of self-esteem. This relation is consistent across sex lines, age of suicide...
This study examined the intellectual performance of leftists (or liberals) and rightists (or conservatives) when a stereotype about members of a disadvantaged outgroup (immigrants) is salient. Building on system-justification theory (SJT) and the motivated social cognition approach of political conservatism, it was predicted that when the stereotyp...
This study examined the transmission of social dominance orientation (SDO) from parents and grandparents to children. It was predicted that parents as well as grandparents would pass their social dominance attitudes to children. Children's levels of SDO would thus be the highest when parental and grandparental attitudes are high; the lowest when pa...
The present study (N = 293) examined whether stereotype endorsement and prejudice moderate stereotype lift (i.e., a performance boost caused by the salience of a negative out-group stereotype in the testing situation). The stereotype in the focus of inquiry was the belief that immigrant students have lower intellectual ability than native students....
In the present paper, we revisit the question of the impact of higher education on students’ egalitarian attitudes and values. Research in this domain indicates that students tend to become more egalitarian and tolerant with higher education, but there are also differences depending on academic disciplines. Two main hypotheses aiming to explain why...
Two studies examined the effect of gender stereotypes on students’ recollection of their school marks in stereotypically feminine (arts) and masculine (mathematics) domains. As predicted, the results of Study 1 indicated that the more students believed in gender stereotypes prior to recall, the more they biased their reported marks, compared to the...
A study was conducted to explore expert influence as a possible way to encourage girls’ mobility towards math- and science-related
careers. High school students were exposed to an expert source presenting “scientific evidence” that contrary to stereotype,
girls are better than boys in all subject domains. Beliefs related to stereotype content, self...
Two studies were run to explore the relations between a conflict of competences (i.e., a situation in which two competent individuals present divergent solutions to the same task), counterfactual thinking, and performance. The first study shows that individuals who imagine themselves in a situation involving a conflict of competences generate more...
Questions
Question (1)
Hi,
I am trying to get a hold of the Means-Ends Problem-Solving test (Platt & Spivack, 1975). I can't find it. Can anyone sent it to me (the whole manual would be ideal, but vignettes would be great too), or direct me to a source?
Thank you,
Leila
Projects
Projects (3)
Do individuals like to look at themselves in a mirror?
This PhD project aims to assess whether non-clinical individuals suffer from situation eliciting self-awareness such as reading one's name or looking at one-self through a reflective screen. We hypothesize that self-awareness entails self-to-standards comparisons that could induce a motivation to escape from the situation eliciting self-awareness.
We are particularly interested in self-conscious emotions (i.e., shame, guilt, and pride) moderating those aversive effects of self-awareness.
To explore coping strategies et to determine the role of anxiety buffer functioning, self-esteem, impulsivity, sensitivity to reward in symptomatic expression. To elaborate a French Adaptation of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. Exploration of PTSD after nonsevere stroke and intra-operative awareness in children
STEM career aspirations during primary schooling
Our project (www.jobstem.eu) is focused on the STEM problem as a relatively new and socially relevant research area. The acronym STEM was formulated by the American National Science Foundation to demarcate the general trend of students’ diminished interest for careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and related fields. In Croatia, the acronym would encompass the fields of science, mathematics, technology, engineering, nature and biomedicine.
There are various perspectives from which the problem can be considered, to name just a few – economic consequences, scientific and technological development, the effectiveness of public policy efforts to alleviate the problem, the influence of stereotyping and gender, psychological factors underpinning vocational choices, the relevance of teaching in the development of STEM interests, and so on. Most of what we know about the problem so far has come from data collected in the USA, and only more recently in Europe.
What does our project bring to the table?
The current project is based on the theoretical and empirical expectation that a shift of focus towards younger students and earlier educational periods is needed to understand the STEM problem. The central point of the study is the development of students’ self-competence beliefs, their relation with school achievement, and the effect of self-competence beliefs on vocational interests and choices in STEM area.
Existing studies were primarily focused on the progression of students through age-related educational choices and career stages, while the changes within one developmental level, such as primary school, are less clear. Determining the structure, mapping the changes and revealing causal relations within one early developmental level would present a step forward in the understanding of the STEM problem.
Our project thus includes a longitudinal-sequential design carried out over three years in an early educational period (with students aged 10 to 15). It will involve three cohorts, tested at three different points in their primary school education, as well as an experimental intervention aimed at bringing STEM careers closer to students in half of the schools.
What are the main questions we address?
How are students’ general and specific STEM career aspirations formed, and how do they change over time?
How are students’ academic achievement and self-competence beliefs related to their general and specific STEM career aspirations? How does this pattern of relations change during the course of primary schooling?
How are students’ general and specific STEM career aspirations influenced by characteristics of their families and their gender?
