Social Psychology Special Issue

Marianne Erskine-Shaw & Charlotte R. Pennington
phone application which allowed delegates
to plan their days by selecting which
talks/workshops to add to their itinerary.
Further, the app allowed delegates to
communicate with one another, including
the keynote speakers. This is something that
we feel should be available at more conferences!
Following the symposiums and
papers, was the second keynote of the
conference invited by the SPS, Professor
Hazel Rose Markus. Professor Markus
discussed ‘how to thrive in a multicultural
world’. She provided a fascinating talk highlighting
the effects of multiculturalism in the
workplace and communities. Professor
Markus engaged the audience throughout
and utilised a number of proverbs to
underpin and give more clarity to her argument.
For example, discussing participation
in the classroom across various cultures,
Professor Markus displayed the proverbs ‘the
squeaky wheel gets the grease’ to describe
Western participation, and ‘the duck that
quacks loudest gets shot’ for Eastern participation.
This reflected that those in Western
cultures may be more likely to vocally participate
in class compared to Eastern children,
due to differences in cultural beliefs. After
Professor Markus’s well-received talk the
delegates joined in the Tempus Bar and
restaurant for yet another delicious lunch.
For the last talk of the second day, Professor
Malinda Carpenter was invited as a keynote
speaker by the DPS. Professor Carpenter’s
talk was titled ‘affiliation, alignment, and
belonging in infancy and early childhood’.
As with the other keynotes of the conference,
the talk delved in to areas of both
developmental and social psychology, with
discussion of social-affiliation and ‘groupmindedness’.
Many delegates feel tired from
a day full of intellectually stimulating presentations
and discussions. However, the
engaging presentation from Professor
Carpenter on an interesting and inspiring
topic provided an uplift to delegates, which
was much needed to progress on to the
conference dinner.
The conference dinner provided delegates
with even more stimulating conversation
and delicious food. The event was an
ideal platform for all to let their hair down,
but also to network in a comfortable and fun
environment. The starter served was definitely
a conversation starter, as the course
was served with the appearance of a dessert,
rather than a starter. The mushroom and bay
panna cotta with beetroot jam could
certainly be compared to the description of
Marmite: ‘you love it or you hate it’. After the
delegates had (easily) made their way
through the main and dessert, the evening’s
entertainment began. Paul Pashley and his
band serenaded the delegates with jazz-swing
arrangements, which brought many to their
feet on the dance floor – those psychologists
can sure dance! Sadly the night had to come
to an end but fortunately there was still one
more day of the conference with many more
exciting and interesting talks and events.
Friday 11 September
The final day of the conference began with
possibly a few sore heads and feet. However,
the atmosphere was just as positive and
exciting as the previous days. Starting slightly
later than the previous day, a range of symposiums
and papers were presented in the
morning, including discussions around
social identity (SI) and stereotype threat
(ST) such as enhanced SI as an intervention
for ST (Charlotte R. Pennington), ST on
female online gaming performance (Dr
Linda Kaye), and SI in music fans (Dr Rachel
Taylor on behalf of Dr Daniel Bowers). The
final keynote of the conference, SPS invited
Professor Tania Zittoun highlighted the
reconciliation of social and developmental
psychology, with her discussion on development
in a social world. To do this, Professor
Zittoun presented a sociocultural approach
to the life-course, focusing of the inclusion
of not only social places, but also on an individual’s
memories and dreams. Lunch came
directly after the final keynote, which
included a ‘PsyPAG: Meet the Experts’ event.
The meet the experts event allowed post-
52 PsyPAG Quarterly