June 11-15, 2009, Kloster Bronnbach, Wertheim, Germany
Small Group Meeting On Cognitive Consistency as an Integrative Concept in Social Cognition
Organisers: Fritz Strack & Betram Gawronski
Contact: Bertram Gawronski (bgawrons@uwo.ca)

Despite its “fall from grace” during the closing decades of the last century, research at the dawn of the 21st century is rediscovering cognitive consistency as a powerful and integrative concept in social psychology. To a considerable extent, this rediscovery has been emerging from the application of new methodologies (e.g., implicit measures, neuropsychological measures), which provided deeper insights into classic and contemporary questions in social psychology. Even though systematic elaborations of these findings in terms of consistency theories are still relatively rare, the basic notion of cognitive consistency seems applicable to a large variety of phenomena, including attitudinal ambivalence, processing fluency, counterfactual reasoning, expectancy violation and surprise, stereotype threat, consistency between explicit and implicit attitudes, and the regulation and experience of regret.

The meeting aims at bringing together researchers from a variety of areas that make either explicit or implicit reference to the notion of cognitive consistency, and to explore the range and the limits of cognitive consistency as an integrative concept in social psychology. Contributions to the meeting are encouraged to discuss (a) how a theoretical conceptualization in terms of cognitive consistency may inform research on classic and contemporary phenomena, or (b) how the application of new methodologies can provide deeper insights into the fundamentals of cognitive consistency.
The meeting will be co-organized by Bertram Gawronski (University of Western Ontario, Canada) and Fritz Strack (University of Wuerzburg, Germany) and held at Kloster Bronnbach (Germany) from June 11th to 15th, 2009 (http://www.kloster-bronnbach.de). Applications for participation (incl. contact information, title of presentation, and abstract of not more than 150 words) should be sent electronically to Bertram Gawronski (bgawrons@uwo.ca). The deadline for applications is January 31st, 2009.

June 21-24, 2009, Tuebingen, Germany
Small Group Meeting On Self-Regulation Approaches to Group Processes
Organisers: Kai J. Jonas, Kai Sassenberg, & Daan Scheepers
Contact: Karin Kaldewey (k.kaldewey@iwm-kmrc.de), Kai J. Jonas (k.j.jonas@uva.nl)

The integration of self-regulation theories to group processes is a relatively young and growing field of research, and it is the aim with this Small Group Meeting to document the state of the research and to further its impact. In doing so we seek to establish a more ”social” view on self-regulation by focussing on the intersection of basic (intra-personal) cognitive and motivational principles and inter-personal, intra-group, and inter-group phenomena like negotiation, leadership, decision-making, stereotyping, and discrimination. Therefore, the current meeting aims to bring together research on group processes and self-regulation, recurring to a similar set of theories and foster the exchange among them.

In particular, we seek to instigate an exchange of: (a) researchers that are working on self-regulation in other domains of social psychology that can impact on the inter- and intragroup self regulation perspective, (b) scholars with a background in group research that are interested in applying self-regulation approaches and (c) finally, those who have already conducted self-regulation research on both group phenomena.

The format of the meeting is single session, with a strong focus on discussion to be reflected in the schedule. We believe that this meeting should provide a fruitful means to bring existing research accounts together. We are asking for indication of interest and/or submissions from both junior and senior researchers.

We are planning to host the meeting from the 21st of June (arrival in the evening) to the 24th of June (departure in the morning) at a cozy conference location close to Tübingen, Germany. Tübingen can be reached easily by train and is close to Stuttgart Airport with excellent connections to all major European cities, as well as direct flights to the US.

If you are interested in participating, please send an email including the title of your presentation, an abstract (max. 250 words) and your contact details to Karin Kaldewey (k.kaldewey@iwm-kmrc.de) before March 7, 2009. For further information please contact Kai J. Jonas (k.j.jonas@uva.nl).

July 3-6, 2009, Appingedam (near Groningen), The Netherlands
Medium Size Meeting On Collective Action and Social Change: Toward Integration and Innovation
Organisers: Martijn van Zomeren (University of Groningen), Andrew Livingstone and Nicole Tausch (Cardiff University), Aarti Iyer (University of Queensland)
Contact: Nicole Tausch (tauschn@cf.ac.uk)

We have now put a website online on which you can see some more details about the meeting (e.g., location). All updates and information will be disseminated through this website: http://www.rug.nl/psy/organisatie/vakgroepen/seno/casc_congres/Welcome

The dynamics of collective action and social change in hierarchical societies have long been of interest to social psychologists. As is evident from an upcoming volume of the Journal of Social Issues (Iyer & Van Zomeren, 2009), theory and research on collective action has moved steadily over the last decade to integrate diverse psychological processes such as group identity, efficacy, emotion, empowerment, politicisation, and (moral) group norms. As such, the literature offers integrated insights into how low-status group members cope with the collective disadvantages they face.

Nevertheless, recent work has also focused on innovation and explored a number of novel research questions. For example, what are the factors that determine the action strategies of members of high-status or advantaged groups, ranging from solidarity with a disadvantaged group, to overt oppression? What is the role of communication in shaping social change strategies, and what are the implications of this for opinion-based groups, or for the ‘radicalization’ of moderate group members? What are the conditions under which support for a collective cause shifts from legal to more radical, illegal forms of action? Moreover, could actions by high-status or advantaged group members designed to reduce inequality actually perpetuate it?

To adress these issues we invite proposals for a Medium-Sized Group Meeting that will bring together researchers who are interested in integration and innovation in the field of social change and collective action. The meeting will have up to 50 participants, and we particularly encourage junior and postgraduate researchers to apply.

Applicants should submit a 250-word abstract to tauschn@cf.ac.uk before 5pm GMT on Friday, January 30th, 2009. Please include your name, affiliation, contact information, and EASP membership status.

September 7-10, 2009, Jerusalem, Israel
Small Group Meeting On Resolving Societal Conflicts and Building Peace: Socio-Psychological Dynamis
Organisers: Daniel Bar-Tal, Christopher Cohrs, Eran Halperin, Evanthia Lyons, Dario Spini
Contact: Eran Halperin (eranh75@hotmailcom)

One of the most important challenges faced by the international community is how to resolve intractable and long-standing inter-group conflicts peacefully and then maintain the evolved peace. Solutions to such conflicts are often reached through processes of negotiation, mediation and arbitration between leaders, but their lasting success largely depends on the degree of support they command from the peoples involved in the conflict. The support of society members in turn depends on major changes in the societal repertoire which through the years of conflict was dominated by societal beliefs, attitudes and emotions that perpetuated continuation of the conflict. These changes are especially important if the societies decide to embark on the road of peace building via reconciliation processes.

The small meeting will be preoccupied with the following questions: What are the psychological conditions and processes that deescalate intractable conflict and move it towards its peaceful resolution? Or how can the socio-psychological repertoire that fuelled the continuation of the conflict be changed? How is peaceful resolution achieved? What are the socio-psychological processes and outcomes of reconciliation and how can they can be facilitated?

In recent years there has been a growing interest among social psychologists in providing answers to these questions. This has led to the emergence of new perspectives and the publication of some innovative studies in the field. This Small Group Meeting aims to provide a forum where established and junior researchers will present recent empirical studies and social psychological theoretical statements that will comprise the basis for discussions of the current state of the art in this area and the direction(s) that future socia l psychological research should take to contribute to a useful and better understanding of inter-group conflict resolution and peace building.

The meeting will take place in Israel, close to Jerusalem, which provides an appropriate context for our deliberations given its history of conflict and attempts for peace building. The participants will have the opportunity to join an organised tour in the conflict zone-Jerusalem, listen to a lecture from practitioners, as well as to hear presentations that focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The meeting will have a maximum of 27 participants. The accommodations (two participants in a room), events, a tour, and all the meals will be covered from the evening of Sept 7 until the morning of Sept 10. However participants will be asked cover to their travel to the venue of the meeting and pay 100 Euros fee to help to cover all the expenses.

Original papers are invited from both established and more junior researchers. We particularly welcome original conceptual papers based on empirical data that can advance our understanding of the psychological dynamics that contribute to the peaceful resolution of real societal conflicts and reconciliation. We also welcome original theoretical papers focusing on the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge which illuminates new understanding of inter-group conflict resolution and peace building.

Those interested in participating should submit 1) a cover page with their name, institutional affiliation, contact details and membership status in EASP, 2) an abstract of 150 words and 3) a longer summary (500 words) of their contribution by April 30 2009 to Eran Halperin (eranh75@hotmailcom)