Rising to the threat: Reducing stereotype threat by reframing the threat as a challenge

In two experiments, we found that the performance-inhibiting consequences of stereotype threat were eliminated when the threat was subtly reframed as a challenge. In Experiment 1, Black school children in North Carolina completed a 10-item mathematics test. Participants who reported their race before taking the test performed more poorly than participants who reported their race after completing the test, unless the test was framed as a challenge. Experiment 2 replicated this effect with undergraduates at a prestigious university. When reminded that they graduated from high schools that were poorly represented at the university, they performed more poorly than their peers on a math test. However, when the test was reframed as a challenge, this threat had no effect on their performance. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical applications for both educational and athletic training.     

Threatened to distraction: Mind-wandering as a consequence of stereotype threat

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the threat of a negative stereotype increases the frequency of mind-wandering (i.e., task-unrelated thought), thereby leading to performance impairments. Study 1 demonstrated that participants anticipating a stereotype-laden test mind-wandered more during the Sustained Attention to Response Task. Study 2 assessed mind-wandering directly using thought sampling procedures during a demanding math test. Results revealed that individuals experiencing stereotype threat experienced more off-task thoughts, which accounted for their poorer test performance compared to a control condition. These studies highlight the important role that social forces can have on mind-wandering. More specifically, these results serve as evidence for task-unrelated thought as a novel mechanism for stereotype threat-induced performance impairments.     

Homogeneity perception as a reaction to identity threat: effects of status difference in a simulated society game

The present study examined how members of low status groups would react to a threat to their social identity. Undergraduates participated in a ‘simulated society game,’ and were divided into four groups, each of which was assigned either a high or low status. During a series of game sessions with intergroup competition and cooperation, participants estimated the range of distributions among in‐ group and out‐group members regarding various traits. The central tendency and variability derived from each estimate were analysed. Members of the low status groups deprecated their in‐group with respect to a status‐defining trait, but showed in‐group favouritism regarding alternative, status‐irrelevant traits. Furthermore, the low status members judged their in‐group as more homogeneous than the out‐group regarding the alternative traits, particularly when they were compared to a high status group. The results were interpreted as an indication of a subtle form of maintaining positive in‐group evaluations. Theoretical and methodological implications for the study of status effects are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Automatic and controlled cognitive responses to intergroup threat as assessed using the process dissociation procedure: a study of a low-status group from China

Xiang, L. & Zhao, Y. (2012). Automatic and controlled cognitive responses to intergroup threat as assessed using the process dissociation procedure: A study of a low-status group from China. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 280-285. Explicit and implicit methods are typically employed to investigate the respective controlled and automatic cognitive responses to intergroup threat. However, these may not be "process pure" measures of automatic or controlled responses. The present study used the process dissociation procedure to investigate the relative contributions of automatic and controlled cognitive responses to intergroup threat. Following exposure to a threat/no threat manipulation, fifty Chinese rural undergraduates who were regarded as low-status group members completed a recognition memory task, in which they were asked to identify all or select "old" (previously presented) trait words relating to an urban outgroup. The results showed that compared to the non-threat group, when rural members perceived threat from an urban group, their automatic response was a decrease in favoritism for this outgroup, but was not derogative, whereas the controlled response was neither positive nor negative. These findings are inconsistent with previous research using explicit and implicit methods. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

Children's behavioural reactions to marital conflict as a function of parents' conflict behaviours and alcohol problems

This paper examines how children's previous exposure to destructive marital conflict and parental problem drinking relate to children's immediate and specific behavioural reactions to marital conflict. Data are from 215 second-graders and their families participating in a larger study. Children watched analogues of marital conflict and indicated their behavioural response. Parents completed questionnaire measures of marital conflict and drinking problems. Children's exposure to marital stonewalling was associated with increased child intervention in conflict and decreased avoidance of conflict. Exposure to maternal drinking was related to child caretaking responses to escalated conflict. Exposure to paternal drinking was related to child mediation and avoidance of child-related conflict, but inactive response to escalated conflict. Boys were more likely to mediate and less likely to avoid escalated conflict.     

Availability to peer group treatment in residential care as a function of relational ethics

Forty-five adolescent boys from abusive and depriving homes were not doing well in positive peer culture residential care. Despite their backgrounds, given a modified form of the Relational Ethics Scale, they indicated that their relational life with their families of origin was trustworthy, fair, and worthy of continued devotion. In contrast, on the Firo-B these same boys demonstrated distrust of others outside of their families and an unwillingness to get involved. These results support the inference from contextual family theory that peer group interventions cannot bypass identification and resolution of the injustices that took place in the family of origin.This project was fully supported by Teen Ranch, Inc., Marlette, MI 48453.     

Exploring the associations shared by mood,pain-related attention and pain outcomes related to sleep disturbance in a chronic pain sample

Objective: Sleep disturbance in chronic pain is common, occurring in two-thirds of patients. There is a complex relationship between chronic pain and sleep; pain can disrupt sleep and poor sleep can exaggerate pain intensity. This may have an impact on both depressive symptoms and attention to pain. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between chronic pain and sleep, and the role of mood and attention.

Methods: Chronic pain patients, recruited from a secondary care outpatient clinic, completed self-report measures of pain, sleep, depressive symptoms and attention to pain. Hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling were used to explore the relationships between these measures. Participants (n = 221) were aged between 20 and 84 (mean = 52) years.

Results: The majority of participants were found to be ‘poor sleepers’ (86%) with increased pain severity, depressive symptoms and attention to pain. Both analytical approaches indicated that sleep disturbance is indirectly associated with increased pain severity Instead the relationship shared by sleep disturbance and pain severity was further associated with depressive symptoms and attention to pain.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that sleep disturbance may contribute to clinical pain severity indirectly though changes in mood and attention. Prospective studies exploring lagged associations between these constructs could have critical information relevant to the treatment of chronic pain.     

Attitude change as a function of threat to attitudinal freedom and extent of agreement with a communicator

Subjects who previously expressed either partial or full agreement with an attitudinal position were exposed to a low- or high-threat essay advocating the position. Anonymous post-communication measures of opinion indicated a reactance effect (negative attitude change) only for subjects who (1) read the hrgh-threat essay, and (2) previously expressed complete agreement with the communicator. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Human physical aggression as a function of alcohol and threat of harm

The present study investigated the effect of threat of physical harm on the aggressive behavior of intoxicated and nonintoxicated subjects. Forty male undergraduates competed in a reaction time task in which they could deliver shock to an increasingly provocative opponent. In the threat condition, subjects could be hurt by the opponent (they wore a shock electrode), while in the no-threat condition, they could not be hurt by the opponent (the electrode was removed prior to the competition). The results indicated that under conditions of low provocation, the intoxicated subjects behaved more aggressively than the nonintoxicated subjects in both the threatening and nonthreatening condition. However, under conditions of increasing provocation, only the intoxicated subjects in the threatening condition increased their shock settings.     

Differentially tuned responses to restricted versus prolonged awareness of threat: a preliminary fMRI investigation

Responses to threat occur via two known independent processing routes. We propose that early, reflexive processing is predominantly tuned to the detection of congruent combinations of facial cues that signal threat, whereas later, reflective processing is predominantly tuned to incongruent combinations of threat. To test this prediction, we examined responses to threat-gaze expression pairs (anger versus fear expression by direct versus averted gaze). We report on two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, one employing prolonged presentations (2 s) of threat-gaze pairs to allow for reflective processing (Study 1), and one employing severely restricted (33 ms), backward masked presentations of threat-gaze pairs to isolate reflexive neural responding (Study 2). Our findings offer initial support for the conclusion that early, reflexive responses to threat are predominantly tuned to congruent threat-gaze pairings, whereas later reflective responses are predominantly tuned to ambiguous threat-gaze pairings. These findings highlight a distinct dual function in threat perception.     

Judgments of marital rape as a function of honor culture,masculine reputation threat,and observer gender: A cross-cultural comparison between Turkey,Germany, and the UK

Previous research has shown that there is higher tolerance of violence against women in cultures with salient gender-specific honor norms, especially when the violence occurs in intimate relationships and in response to threat to male honor. The present cross-cultural study (N = 398) extended these findings to sexual aggression (i.e., marital rape) by comparing participants from a culture that emphasizes honor (Turkey) and participants from cultures without strong honor traditions (Germany and Britain). Turkish participants blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator more than did German and British participants. In all cultural groups, participants blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator more when the husband's reputation was threatened than in the absence of such threat, and in all cultural groups, men blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator more than women. Yet, the effect of masculine reputation threat and this pattern of gender differences were somewhat more pronounced among Turkish than German or British participants. Results exploring the predictive role of honor norms at the individual level beyond rape myth acceptance and traditional gender role attitudes revealed that honor norms were the primary predictor of rape perceptions and blame attributions in Turkey (an honor culture), but not in Germany and Britain (dignity cultures) where rape myth acceptance was the strongest predictor. These results provide insights into the cultural factors influencing marital rape judgments in ways that may undermine victim's well-being and fair handling of rape cases, and highlight the domains most urgently in need of potential intervention.     

An investigation of an Expanded Encapsulate Model of Social Identity in Collective Action (EMSICA) including perception of threat and intergroup contact to understand support for Islamist terrorism in Indonesia

Although there have been many empirical studies of terrorism within the psychology literature, relatively few studies have theorized terrorism from the perspective of collective action theory. The present study aimed to understand factors that predict support for Islamist terrorism by using the Encapsulate Model of Social Identity in Collective Action (EMSICA) perspective. To extend previous studies, we added perception of threat and intergroup contact to the model. A correlational study using 66 terrorism detainees in Indonesia as participants found solid support for our expanded EMSICA. The models extending EMSICA with perception of threat and quantity of contact as predictors had improved fit indices and explained more variance in the dependent variable support for Islamist terrorism, as compared to the standard model. Social identity had a significant direct effect on support for Islamist terrorism and mediated the effect of intergroup contact, perception of threat, perceived injustice, and group efficacy on support for Islamist terrorism.     

Inter-hemispheric recruitment as a function of task complexity,age and cognitive reserve

In a behavioral divided visual field study, we investigated the efficiency of inter-hemispheric cooperation according to (1) task computational complexity (physical-identity versus name-identity letter matching), (2) age (younger versus older adults) and (3) educational attainment, used as a proxy for cognitive reserve. Overall, the results indicated a shift from within- to across-hemisphere processing advantage with increasing task complexity, suggesting that bilateral engagement leads to enhanced performance under high-demand conditions. This pattern was influenced by age, with older adults showing no within-hemisphere advantage in the simpler task and a greater across-hemisphere advantage in the more complex one, consistent with an age-compensatory view of inter-hemispheric recruitment. Moreover, for older adults, more years of education was associated with a weaker across-hemisphere advantage. Thus, we propose that cognitive reserve may account for bilateral engagement efficiency. Finally, the groups differed in terms of laterality effects, with only younger adults demonstrating a left visual field advantage in the name-identity task, lending some support to the right hemi-aging hypothesis.     

Absorbed in sleep: Dissociative absorption as a predictor of sleepiness following sleep deprivation in two high-functioning samples

In recent years, a labile sleep-wake cycle has been implicated as a cause for dissociative experiences, and studies show that dissociation is elevated following sleep deprivation. Dissociative individuals may find it harder to regulate sleepiness in the face of sleep disruption. Although there is significant variability in reactions to sleep deprivation, research on trait predictors is scarce. The present study examined the ability of trait dissociation to prospectively predict sleepiness following sleep loss and recovery sleep. Two high-functioning samples, namely, Remotely Piloted Aircraft officers (N = 29) and Air Force jet pilots (N = 57) completed state and trait questionnaires assessing sleep and dissociation before and after full or partial sleep loss. Dissociative absorption was a consistent predictor of an increase in sleepiness following sleep loss and following recovery sleep, controlling for baseline sleepiness levels. We discuss the findings in light of a difficulty to regulate and monitor consciousness states.     

Stereotypical beliefs and psychological well-being of African American adolescent girls: Collective self-esteem as a moderator

African American women are often times characterized by stereotypes that can be traced back to slavery. Those stereotypes have been found to affect many outcomes in an array of domains related to work, intimate relationships, and personal well-being. The literature does not address how these stereotypes may affect adolescent African American girls. This study aimed to fill that gap by examining how the endorsement of stereotypes affects the psychological well-being, specifically stress, in 144 African American adolescent girls (N = 144) who ranged from 12–19 years old. This study goes a step further to investigate whether collective self-esteem can serve as a buffer between endorsement of stereotypes and perceived stress. Using combined mediation–moderation model, the analysis showed that there is a significant positive relationship between stereotypic beliefs and perceived stress that is buffered by moderate to high levels of collective self-esteem. Implications for treatment and policy, as well as educational recommendations are discussed.     

Differential patterns of post-shelter placement as a function of problem type and severity

Changes in placement restrictiveness, as a function of problem type and severity, were examined in a sample of 154 children departing a shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Six problem types were identified using a principal components analysis of youth-reported personal and family problems. Four of the six factors obtained represented youth problem types interpreted as reflecting antisocial/conduct problems, victimization by abuse, risk of suicide, and rebellious youth behaviors. The two remaining problem types were interpreted as a chaotic/aggressive family type and a mixed pattern of youth aggression and parental skill deficiency. An analysis of the problem types indicated that youth at higher risk for suicide, and those who came from more dysfunctional families, departed to living environments that were more restrictive than their placements at entry.     

The developmental change in strategies parents employ to settle young children to sleep,and their relationship to infant sleeping problems,as assessed by a new questionnaire: the Parental Interactive Bedtime Behaviour Scale

The development of a new parental self‐report questionnaire, the Parental Interactive Bedtime Behaviour Scale (PIBBS) is described. The PIBBS was designed to capture a wide range of parental behaviours used to settle infants off to sleep. The commonest behaviours employed were giving a feed, talking softly to the child, cuddling in the arms, and stroking. A factor analysis revealed five settling strategies; ‘active physical comforting’ (e.g. cuddling in arms); ‘encouraging infant autonomy’ (e.g. leaving to cry); ‘movement’ (e.g. car rides), ‘passive physical comforting’ (e.g. standing next to the cot without picking the infant up), and ‘social comforting’ (e.g. reading a story). Excessive ‘active physical comforting’ and reduced ‘encourage autonomy’ strategy use was associated with infant sleeping problems. Regarding developmental change in strategy between 1 and 2 years, the later the onset at which ‘encourage autonomy’ became the principal strategy used, the more likely that persistent infant sleeping problems would be present. Factors accounting for the change in strategy use over time were: (i) parental adaptation to infant developmental maturation; (ii) the interaction between maternal cognition and strategy, and, to a lesser extent; (iii) the interaction between infant temperament and parental strategy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The victim's reaction to an attack as a function of his perception of the attacker following a verbal insult

This study investigated the role of perception in the victim's behaviour following a verbal attack. It was expected that the victim's counterattack and evaluation of attacker would be influenced by: (a) the victim's level of aggressiveness; (b) the attacker's perceived level of aggressiveness; (c) the attacker's status (prestige in the classroom); and (d) retaliation threat for counterattack. High and low aggressive subjects (victim's) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions differing in the attacker's attributed level of aggression and status. Half of the subjects in each condition received a retaliation threat treatment. The victims were interacting with an assumed partner (attacker) in a guessing game during which they were insulted. After each insult the victim could counterattack by withholding a monetary reward from the attacker. At the end, the victim rated his attacker on aggressiveness, potency and social desirability. The results indicated that there were significant main effects of the victims level of aggressiveness, the attacker's status and retaliation threat. There was also a significant interaction between victim's and attacker's aggressiveness, for the two dependent variables. In addition, victim's behaviour was influenced by the interaction between attacker's status and his aggressiveness.     

Behavioral skills training to increase interview skills of adolescent males in a juvenile residential treatment facility

Some studies suggest that acquiring employment following release from prison may reduce recidivism; however, few studies have evaluated procedures for teaching job-related skills to adolescents in residential detention facilities. Stocco et al. (2017) used behavioral skills training (BST) to improve interview skills of college students. The current study used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate the extent to which BST improved interview skills for 7 adolescents who had been adjudicated for sexual offenses. Results show that BST increased appropriate responses to interview questions for 4 students and BST plus modifications (i.e., stimulus and response prompts) increased correct responding to questions for the other 3. In addition, BST increased appropriate questions, correct posture, and smiling, and decreased fidgeting for all 7 students. We briefly discuss the social implications of teaching interview skills to adjudicated adolescents, as well as the limitations of the findings.