November 17-18, 2011, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Joint EASP-SPSSI Meeting on Meaning and Existential Psychology
Contact: travis_proulx@sfu.ca

Organizers: Travis Proulx (Simon Fraser University) and Kees van den Bos (Utrecht University)

The psychology of meaning has never been more relevant than in the current age of societal uncertainty. We find ourselves in an endless crossfire of information, where every angle on every issue is accessible at a keystroke and worldviews can shift in a 24-hour news cycle. To address the psychological implications of this unique era, a small group conference on Meaning and Existential Psychology is being held at Tilburg University in Tilburg, Holland, November 2011. This is a joint Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)-European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) conference, and will focus on the ways that people find meaning in their experiences, along with the ways that these meaning frameworks allow us to make sense of ourselves, our world and our relation to it. We aim to present a comprehensive summary of the meaning literature as it addresses essential existential concerns, including free will, mortality, uncertainty, and the desire for happiness and well-being.

Potential attendees must be a member of SPSSI or EASP or both. Abstracts (300 words) should be submitted by email to Travis Proulx (travis_proulx@sfu.ca), by the deadline of May 31, 2011. The cost of registration and attendance will be offset by funding support provided by SPSSI, EASP and Tilburg University.

May 25-27, 2012, Ghent University, Belgium
EASP Medium Size Meeting on Motivational Processes in Attitudes
Contact: Adriaan.Spruyt@ugent.be

Organizers: Adriaan Spruyt, Ghent University Adriaan.Spruyt@ugent.be
Jan De Houwer, Ghent UniversityJan.DeHouwer@UGent.be
Pablo Briñol, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid pablo.brinnol@uam.es
Geoff Haddock, Cardiff University haddockgg@cardiff.ac.uk
Rob Holland, Radboud University Nijmegen r.holland@psych.kun.nl
Greg Maio, Cardiff University maio@cardiff.ac.uk
Rich Petty, Ohio State University petty.1@osu.edu

The role of motivation in attitudes is becoming increasingly important as an issue. Diverse motivations are important in attitude change, including accuracy motivation, self-esteem, consistency, and social acceptance. Many of these motivations were highlighted by classic theories of attitude function many decades ago, but our understanding of their effects has become increasingly sophisticated in the past decade. At the same time, the contributions on this topic have become very diverse, including research on goals and evaluation, the self as a target of change, and motivations in intra- and inter-groups attitudes, deliberative versus incidental self-persuasion, and even motives to feel consistent with our own bodily responses. Recent developments in theories of associative learning, motivation, goals, and values also have important implications for attitude and behavior change. In addition, there is increasing knowledge of the impact of motivational processes on attitudes, as assessed using implicit and explicit measures. Not only do these findings have important implications for theories of social cognition, they also call for further refinement and sophistication of implicit measures of attitude and the way they are used in applied fields. Finally, there is more knowledge about relevant individual differences in motivation (e.g., need to evaluate, need for cognition, preference for consistency) and about relevant biological and cultural factors. There is a pressing need for integrative perspectives on these diverse motivational influences. The aim of the proposed meeting is to facilitate this integration.

The meeting will take place May 25-27, 2012, at Ghent University, Belgium. We plan to include 40-50 participants, with at least 50% from Europe and 50% at the junior faculty or postgraduate level. Up to 20 participants will be asked to give a 30-min presentation, and the remaining participants will present posters. During the poster session, there will be several opportunities for informal interaction and discussion. A roundtable discussion will take place midway through the schedule of talks. If you are interested in attending this meeting, please send an abstract (between 100-200 words) to Adriaan Spruyt before November 30th, 2011.

June 6-10, 2012, Delphi, Greece
EASP Small Group Meeting on the Societal Meanings of Minority Influence
Contact: Stamos Papastamou

Organizers: Stamos Papastamou, Antonis Gardikiotis, & Gerasimos Prodromitis

Minority influence has been a central issue for social psychological research since Moscovici’s early theorizing in the late 1960s. In a last review of research on minority influence, (Martin & Hewstone, 2010), several key themes of minority influence research were identified. Four of these themes are interesting, in our opinion, not only because they remain timely but because they are largely unexplored. These themes are:
1. The interplay between minority influence and dual-process models of persuasion,
2. The importance of indirect, as well as direct, influence,
3. Minority influence in dynamic, intra-group contexts and
4. The diversity of minority sources as social influence.

The common denominator of all these four themes is the need to bring out the societal dimension and significance of minority influence phenomena. In other words, we suggest that it is timely to explore the role of active minorities in the construction and decosntruction of social consensus, by focusing on the influence they exert as well as on the resistence processes triggered against it.

The aim of the proposed small meeting is to contribute in filling this epistemological and theoretical gap in the social influence literature by providing the podium to social psychologists working in this area to present their work.

Topics to be covered are the following:
1) Social vs cognitive processes of social influence: cooperation vs antagonism
2) Majority and minority influence: a singular or a double socio-psychological process?
3) Conversion vs appropriation of minority ideas
4) Different meta-theoretical considerations such as the third person perception or implicit theories of social influence through which the determining contribution of social representation is reintroduced in the study of minority influences.

Applications for participation, including an abstract for a contribution (up to 200 words) and contact information, can be sent to Stamos Papastamou (papastamou@eekpsy.gr).

Deadline for applications: July 30, 2011.

June 24-26, 2012, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
EASP Small Group Meeting on Extreme Emotions in Human Interaction
Contact: Marte Otten

Organizers: Marte Otten, Agneta Fischer & Kai Jonas ( University of Amsterdam)

Extreme emotions, both positive and negative, have far-reaching consequences for intra-personal, inter-personal and intergroup processes. Research into the characteristics and consequences of extreme emotions such as hate, humiliation or exuberance show that these emotions can fuel intergroup conflict and violence, tear apart or strengthen relationships, and influence basic cognitive functions such attention or perception.
With this meeting, we aim to bring together researchers from different fields of social psychology, including the study of emotion, intergroup processes, interpersonal relationships, individual differences, and cultural psychology, but also social cognition and neuroscience, who study the characteristics and consequences of extreme emotional experiences. The aim of the meeting is to further the understanding of the processes that underlie (the consequences of) extreme emotions, and establish a theoretical framework for future research. Two keynote presentations will be given by Eran Halperin, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at IDC Herzliya, and Eddie Harmon-Jones, Texas A&M University.
We are asking submissions from both junior and senior researchers who are interested in contributing to this small group meeting. There are a limited number of presentation and poster slots available. Please indicate in your submission which format you would prefer. We plan to host a single session format with ample time for presentation and discussion.
The meeting will take place in beautiful Amsterdam, from June 24 until June 26, 2012. It can be easily reached via plane or high-speed trains from within Europe, and lends itself nicely as a hub for further travel. The participation fee is 120 Euro (60 euro for PhD-students).
If you are interested in participating, please send an email including title and abstract (max. 250 words), the format of presentation (talk or poster), and your contact details to Marte Otten (m.otten@uva.nl) before 31. January 2012.

July 2-5, 2012, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland
EASP Small Group Meeting on Control Experience, Power, and Intergroup Relations
Contact: Aleksandra Cichocka

Organizers: Mirek Kofta, Immo Fritsche, Ana Guinote, Marcin Bukowski, Aleksandra Cichocka

The aim of the meeting is to bring together researchers interested in the role of personal control in power and intergroup relationships.
In the last two decades, a rapidly growing interest in control needs and control experience in the social context could be observed. On the one hand, investigators of power propose to redefine power relationships in terms of control enhancement and/or control deprivation. On the other, students of intergroup relations point to the importance of a group-based personal control for understanding the nature of group identification and intergroup processes as well. In our meeting, researchers from various conceptual and methodological traditions will have an opportunity to discuss the theoretical meaning of control motive and its role in social behavior. The meeting’s central aim is to relate control (motivation) research to the areas of power and intergroup relations. Studies addressing explicit judgments and attitudes as well as more basic processes (affective, attentional, memory, inferential; implicit stereotyping, implicit attitudes) are welcome.
The meeting opens thus an avenue for a better integration of present-day research on personal control as an important ingredient of social life. Inclusion of this fundamental notion into the social psychological theorizing would allow to look at people embedded in power/intergroup networks as agents motivated to maintain personal control and give meaning to their existence. In a broader perspective, it might help to develop closer links between social psychology and the psychology of personality and motivation.
The meeting will take place on July 2-5 2012 in Kazimierz Dolny, a charming little town in the eastern part of Poland. Abstracts (up to 250 words) should be sent until March 1, 2012. For more information and submissions visit: http://cbu.psychologia.pl/control/ or contact Aleksandra Cichocka at acichocka@psych.uw.edu.pl

July 9-12, 2012, Pecs, Hungary
EASP Small Group Meeting on Social Cognition and Communication
Contact: Osolya Vincze vincze.orsolya@pte.hu & Joe Forgas jp.forgas@unsw.edu.au

Organizers: Janos Laszlo, Joe Forgas, Orsolya Vincze

Contributors to the meeting will explore the close and interdependent relationship between social cognition and communication at the individual, intergroup and cultural level. Papers may explore the psychological processes involved in the way people use language and construct narratives, stories and explanations, and the ways that our social cognitive processes are shaped by communication, and in turn, cognitive processes and representations influence how social actors communicate with each other. Cognitive mechanisms associated with priming, moods, fluency, and salience have an important influence on people’s communicative strategies, and recent theories produced important new insights into the links between evolutionary and cultural processes in shaping interactive strategies. The aim of this small group meeting is to bring together established scholars and young researchers from the fields of contemporary social cognitive and communications research, in order to explore the multifaceted ways that social cognitive mechanisms and communicative processes interact at the individual, group and cultural level.

The location: PECS, HUNGARY
Pecs, selected as European Capital of Culture in 2010, is a delightful small town in the south of Hungary, with an excellent Mediterranean climate and a rich historical and cultural tradition. The city (then called Sopianae) was founded by the Romans in the 2nd century; it was the capital of Valeria province, and has been an important cultural and religious centre and a bishopric from the Middle Ages. The first University in Hungary was founded in Pecs by Louis I the Great in 1367, and the city retains to this day a rich and varied architectural heritage and a large number of museums and artistic treasures. In 2008 Pecs was selected as the second most Livable city (The LivCom Awards)[5] in the category of cities between 75-200 thousand inhabitants. For further information and pictures, check out the following websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9cs
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-07-18-pecs-hungary_N.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g274905-Pecs-Vacations.html
http://www.1hungary.com/info/pecs/

The meeting (and accommodation) will be located in the University Hotel Hunyor, in easy walking distance from all the major attractions. The hotel has been recently refurbished and is under new management. For details of the hotel, please see the website at http://hunyorhotel.pte.hu/

All costs of accommodation and meals for the three days of the conference will be fully covered (from July 9 to July 12th). Further, a rich and varied cultural and social program including a wine tasting in the local wine region will also be organised as part of the meeting.
The conference will be supported by EASP and the University of Pécs. We expect that there will not be a registration fee.

Contributions will be subsequently published in a book form. Draft chapters should present a brief review of a significant area of research emphasizing especially the latest theoretical and empirical developments (length: 6000 words).
Abstract submission deadline: 15.06.2011 (150-250 words)

If you wish to participate,
1. Please contact the organisers and send a 150-250 word abstract of your proposed paper both to Joe Forgas and to Orsolya Vincze by June 15, 2011.
2. You will be notified about acceptance a few weeks later.
3. If invited, we need to receive a full draft of your proposed paper (6000 words text) that will form the basis of the book chapter by February 15th 2012.

August 31- September 4, 2012, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
EASP Small Group Meeting on Reconciliation in intergroup contexts: The divergent perspectives of perpetrator and victim groups
Contact: sabina.cehajic@ssst.edu.ba

Organizers: Sabina Cehajic-Clancy (Sarajevo School of Science and Technology) & Ruth Ditlmann (Yale University)

People’s associations with ethnic, cultural or religious groups shape how they experience the aftermath of violent intergroup conflict. Perceiving their group’s role in a conflict as ‘perpetrators’ or ‘victims’ is an especially powerful determinant of experiences and behaviours. The motives of perpetrator and victim groups greatly diverge. For example, while perpetrators want to forget, victims want to remember; while perpetrators want to restore their moral image, victims want empowerment. Successful reconciliation, however, often requires addressing the motives of both groups, their perspectives and emotional orientations towards the conflict itself, their role, and the relationship between the groups. As social psychologists we are challenged to reflect on the social roles of perpetrators and victims in public and private intergroup contexts.
The aim of our meeting is to discuss the following questions: (1) Who identifies as victim or perpetrator and what are the consequences of such self- or other-ascribed social roles? (2) What needs and interests stem from the perpetrator versus victim role? (3) How do reconciliation processes unfold throughout repeated intergroup encounters? (3) How do broad-based policy initiatives, such as TRCs, Public Apologies, and Reparations shape intergroup dynamics? (4) What can social psychologists contribute to our understanding of such, often highly political and controversial, reconciliation processes?
The meeting will take place August 31st – September 4th, 2012, at the University of Sarajevo. We plan to include 25 – 30 participants, with at least 50% from Europe and 50% at the junior faculty or postgraduate level. Up to 20 participants will give presentations, and the remaining participants will have the opportunity to participate in discussions without presenting their own work. We will leave 15 – 20 minutes following each presentation for discussion.
If you are interested in attending this meeting, please send an abstract (between 100-200 words) to Sabina Cehajic-Clancy before February 1st, 2012 (sabina.cehajic@ssst.edu.ba).