Changing stereotypes,changing grades: a longitudinal study of stereotyping during a college math course

Previous research has illuminated an important connection between stereotypes and the performance of those targeted by a stereotype. This body of work suggests that even implicit (i.e., nonconscious and unintended) math-gender stereotyping is related to poor math performance among women. Our longitudinal study sought to measure students’ math-gender stereotyping during a college math course and examine the relationship between changes in implicit stereotyping and course performance. Results showed that, for both male and female students, stereotypes increased during the course. Importantly, there was a significant interaction between gender and changes in implicit stereotyping when predicting course performance. Female students showed a negative relationship between changes in implicit stereotypes and course performance, while male students showed no relationship between changes in implicit stereotyping and course performance. This suggests that only for women, who are stereotyped as poor math performers, did the observed increases in stereotyping over time predict poorer math performance.     

Immigration from the perspective of hosts and immigrants: Roles of psychological essentialism and social identity

Implicit person theory research can be conceptualized within the framework of psychological essentialism. Essentialist beliefs are associated with entity theories and both predict phenomena such as stereotyping. The present research extended previous work on the links between implicit theories and social identity processes, examining how essentialist beliefs are associated with social identification and processes related to prejudice and intergroup perception. After developing a new measure of essentialist beliefs in Study 1, Study 2 showed that these beliefs were associated with negative bias towards immigrants, particularly when participants were primed with an exclusive social identity. In Study 3, essentialist beliefs among immigrants moderated their adoption of Australian identity as a self-guide during acculturation. Essentialist beliefs therefore play a significant role in the psychology of social identity.     

Enhancing the Conceptualization and Measurement of Implicit and Explicit Affective Evaluations: A Case Study in Disordered Eating

Affective evaluations (i.e., evaluations of affectively evocative stimuli) play important roles in many behaviors, including clinically relevant behaviors like disordered eating. Understanding automatic and controlled affective evaluations can enhance prediction and treatment of more deliberate versus more impulsive clinical behaviors, respectively. However, methodological and theoretical shortcomings cloud the implicit affective evaluation literature, particularly as applied in clinical psychology. This article aims to improve the clinical science of implicit and explicit affective evaluation by capitalizing on theoretical and methodological advancements drawn from implicit social cognition. We recommend three key enhancements to the affective evaluation literature: improve the structural comparability between indirect and direct measures, assess evaluations on both valence and arousal dimensions of affect, and carefully characterize and select stimuli. Additional improvements to analytic approaches (e.g., mixed effects modeling and process dissociation) are also recommended. Such efforts will advance our theoretical understanding of the relative contributions of automatic and controlled processes to clinically relevant affective evaluation, thereby informing assessment and improving intervention. Applying advanced methodologies of implicit cognition to clinical phenomena will also reiterate and reinforce the use of these advances in social psychology.     

Are implicit affective evaluations related to mental rotation performance?

Conscious and unconscious emotions are related to mental rotation. In this study, we investigated if also unconscious emotional evaluations of the stimuli are related to mental rotation performance. 114 students (39 men, 75 women) solved implicit and explicit affective evaluations and a psychometric mental rotation test with cube and pellet figures. Furthermore, the use of spatial toys, the stereotyping of spatial abilities, and the self-rating in spatial abilities were registered. The mental rotation test with pellet figures was more difficult than the one with cube figures. Mental rotation performance was predicted by the self-rating of spatial abilities. For the cube figures, it was additionally predicted by the implicit affective evaluation of those figures. The results did not differ between men and women. The study provides evidence for a relation between affective emotional evaluations and mental imagery processes, although this does not hold true for all stimulus types.     

Blind spots in the search for happiness: Implicit attitudes and nonverbal leakage predict affective forecasting errors

We investigated implicit knowledge and affective forecasting, reasoning that although conscious evaluations are available to people when predicting their future emotional responses, nonconscious evaluations are not. However, these automatically-activated evaluations should contribute to in-the-moment emotional experiences, and thus they should account for misforecasts (i.e., discrepancies between affective forecasts and actual experiences). We conducted two studies to explore affective misforecasts, using food items as stimuli. In Study 1, participants' implicit attitudes (but not their explicit attitudes) predicted misforecasts of food enjoyment, supporting the role of nonconscious evaluations in affective forecasting errors. In Study 2, we examined participants' facial expressions (another index of nonconscious evaluation) upon the presentation of food items, and we found that these nonverbal behaviors predicted affective misforecasts as well. In sum, although nonconscious evaluations are unavailable when anticipating the future, they may contribute to one's in-the-moment experiences and thus serve as blind spots in affective forecasting.     

Implicit prejudice and stereotyping: how automatic are they? Introduction to the special section.

This special issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cogniition addresses issues of the measurement and the malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes. The findings raise fundamental questions about the assumptions underlying the assessment of implicit prejudice, particularly with regard to the widely used Implicit Association Test and the assumption of extant models of prejudice and stereotyping that implicit biases are automatically and invariantly activated when perceivers come in contact with members of stigmatized groups. Several of the articles show that contextual manipulations produce reductions in implicit manifestations of prejudice and stereotyping. The articles in this issue, in challenging conventional wisdom, are thought provoking and should be generative in the field's ongoing efforts to understand the role of implicit (and explicit) processes involved in prejudice and stereotyping.     

"Unlearning" automatic biases: the malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes.

The present research suggests that automatic and controlled intergroup biases can be modified through diversity education. In 2 experiments, students enrolled in a prejudice and conflict seminar showed significantly reduced implicit and explicit anti-Black biases, compared with control students. The authors explored correlates of prejudice and stereotype reduction. In each experiment, seminar students' implicit and explicit change scores positively covaried with factors suggestive of affective and cognitive processes, respectively. The findings show the malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes and suggest that these may effectively be changed through affective processes.     

Explicit and implicit cognition: a preliminary test of a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability to depression

Two studies were conducted to test a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability to depression. According to this theory, implicit and explicit cognitive processes have differential effects on depressive reactions to stressful life events. Implicit processes are hypothesized to be critical in determining an individual's immediate affective reaction to stress whereas explicit cognitions are thought to be more involved in long-term depressive reactions. Consistent with hypotheses, the results of study 1 (cross-sectional; N=237) showed that implicit, but not explicit, cognitions predicted immediate affective reactions to a lab stressor. Study 2 (longitudinal; N=251) also supported the dual-process model of cognitive vulnerability to depression. Results showed that both the implicit and explicit measures interacted with life stress to predict prospective changes in depressive symptoms, respectively. However, when both implicit and explicit predictors were entered into a regression equation simultaneously, only the explicit measure interacted with stress to remain a unique predictor of depressive symptoms over the five-week prospective interval.     

Imagining stereotypes away: the moderation of implicit stereotypes through mental imagery.

Research on implicit stereotypes has raised important questions about an individual's ability to moderate and control stereotypic responses. With few strategies shown to be effective in moderating implicit effects, the present research investigates a new strategy based on focused mental imagery. Across 5 experiments, participants who engaged in counterstereotypic mental imagery produced substantially weaker implicit stereotypes compared with participants who engaged in neutral, stereotypic, or no mental imagery. This reduction was demonstrated with a variety of measures, eliminating explanations based on response suppression or shifts in response criterion. Instead, the results suggest that implicit stereotypes are malleable, and that controlled processes, such as mental imagery, may influence the stereotyping process at its early as well as later stages.     

6～9岁儿童特质观与其人格特质的关系

为考察特质观与稳定的行为方式之间的关系,采用情境故事法和问卷法分别对180名6～9岁儿童进行了特质稳定性理解的个别测查和人格特质的教师评定。结果发现,持三种不同特质观（实体论、中间论、渐变论）的6～9岁儿童开始在认真有恒、自制稳重、聪慧性、开朗活泼和同情利他五种人格特质行为上表现出显著差异;6～9岁儿童的特质观能够预测以上五种人格特质,丽儿童“开朗插泼”和“聪慧性”特质行为的线性组合是预测儿童特质观的最佳指标。这些研究结论有助于说明关于特质的认知在调解和制约个体稳定的行为理解和反应中的重要作用,验证了人格认知流派的观点;支持了认知与人格之间交互作用的理论假设;对于解释年幼儿童发展中的不适应问题具有一定的意义。     

Implicit stereotypes and women’s math performance: How implicit gender-math stereotypes influence women’s susceptibility to stereotype threat

This experiment examined the effects of implicit gender-math stereotyping and implicit gender and math identification on women’s math performance under stereotype threat and reduced threat conditions. Results showed that of the three, only implicit gender-math stereotyping moderated stereotype threat effects on women’s math performance: women who showed less implicit math-gender stereotyping showed the largest performance difference across experimental conditions. These results suggest that women’s implicit associations between gender and math interact with situational cues to influence their math performance: women who implicitly associate women more than men with mathematics were most benefited by reduction of stereotype salience during testing.     

大学生内隐职业性别刻板印象研究

采用内隐联想测验和刻板解释偏差两种测量内隐社会认知的方法考察了60名大学生被试的内隐职业性别刻板印象。结果表明,大学生也存在非常明显的内隐职业性别刻板印象,刻板程度在性别、专业上没有显著差异。在男女职业评价刻板印象上,男大学生表现出非常明显的刻板印象,女大学生的观念已有所改变。用内隐联想测验和刻板解释偏差测量这两种方法测量大学生的内隐职业性别刻板印象,在被试的性别变量上得到的结果不一致。     

Control of impulsive emotional behaviour through implementation intentions

Past research has established that people can strategically enhance or override impulsive emotional behaviour with implementation intentions (Eder, Rothermund, & Proctor, 2010). However, it is unclear whether emotional action tendencies change by intentional processes or by habit formation processes due to repeated enactment of the intention (or both). The present study shows that forming implementation intentions is sufficient to modulate emotional action tendencies. Participants received instructions about how to respond to positive and negative stimuli on evaluation trials but no such trials were actually presented. Results showed that merely intending to approach and avoid affective stimuli influenced emotional action tendencies in a modified affective Simon task in which affective valence was irrelevant. An affective Simon effect (i.e., faster reactions when the valence of the stimulus corresponded with the valence of the movement) was observed when participants intended evaluations with affectively congruent responses (i.e., positive-approach, negative-avoid); in contrast, the effect was reversed in direction when participants planned evaluations with incongruent responses (i.e., positive-avoid, negative-approach). Thus, implementation intentions can regulate implicit emotional responses even in the absence of possible habit formation processes. Implications for dual-system accounts of emotion regulation are discussed.     

Control of impulsive emotional behaviour through implementation intentions

Past research has established that people can strategically enhance or override impulsive emotional behaviour with implementation intentions (Eder, Rothermund, & Proctor, 2010). However, it is unclear whether emotional action tendencies change by intentional processes or by habit formation processes due to repeated enactment of the intention (or both). The present study shows that forming implementation intentions is sufficient to modulate emotional action tendencies. Participants received instructions about how to respond to positive and negative stimuli on evaluation trials but no such trials were actually presented. Results showed that merely intending to approach and avoid affective stimuli influenced emotional action tendencies in a modified affective Simon task in which affective valence was irrelevant. An affective Simon effect (i.e., faster reactions when the valence of the stimulus corresponded with the valence of the movement) was observed when participants intended evaluations with affectively congruent responses (i.e., positive–approach, negative–avoid); in contrast, the effect was reversed in direction when participants planned evaluations with incongruent responses (i.e., positive–avoid, negative–approach). Thus, implementation intentions can regulate implicit emotional responses even in the absence of possible habit formation processes. Implications for dual-system accounts of emotion regulation are discussed.     

Implicit theories about groups and stereotyping: the role of group entitativity

The consequences of holding an entity (i.e., the belief that a group's characteristics are fixed) or incremental (i.e., the belief that a group's characteristics are malleable) implicit theory about groups was examined for stereotyping and perceptions of group entitativity. Two studies showed that implicit theories about groups affect stereotyping by changing perceptions of group entitativity. Study 1 found that entity theorists were more likely to stereotype than incremental theorists and that perception of group entitativity significantly accounted for this relation. In Study 2, implicit theories of groups were manipulated via instruction set and entity theorists stereotyped more and perceived groups as more entitative than incremental theorists. Again, the effect of implicit theory was significantly, although partially, mediated by perceptions of group entitativity. The roles of implicit theories about groups and perceptions of group entitativity are discussed regarding stereotyping.     

基于IAT和SEB的内隐性别刻板印象研究

采用内隐联想测验(IAT)和刻板解释偏差(SEB)两种测量内隐社会认知的方法考察了120名大学生被试的内隐性别刻板印象。结果表明,大学生中普遍存在着较强的内隐性别刻板印象,人们对于男性以及男性本身持有的刻板印象符合传统的认知习惯,而对于女性及女性持有的刻板印象则与传统的认知习惯有所不同。用IAT和SEB这两种方法测量大学生的内隐性别刻板印象,在被试的性别变量上得到的结果不一致。     

Changes in implicit and explicit exercise-related attitudes after reading targeted exercise-related information

The purpose of this research was to examine if reading exercise information targeted at pretest explicit attitudes were related to changes in corresponding implicit or explicit attitudes. The associative-propositional evaluation (APE) model guided the research. Participants (N = 154) completed pretest measures of implicit and explicit attitudes; one week later they read information that targeted pretest explicit affective or instrumental attitudes and again completed the attitude measures. Results showed changes in implicit attitudes in both instrumental message conditions that supported the hypotheses that counter-attitudinal information would result in implicit attitude change in the opposite direction to the reading whereas information that targeted congruent attitudes would show changes in keeping with the information. This study demonstrates the importance of considering how implicit cognitions may change as a result of reading exercise-related information, and the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes.     

Mood and Emotions in Small Groups and Work Teams

Affective influences abound in groups. In this article we propose an organizing model for understanding these affective influences and their effects on group life. We begin with individual-level affective characteristics that members bring to their groups: moods, emotions, sentiments, and emotional intelligence. These affective characteristics then combine to form a group's affective composition. We discuss explicit and implicit processes through which this affective combination occurs by examining the research on emotional contagion, entrainment, modeling, and the manipulation of affect. We also explore how elements of the affective context, such as organizationwide emotion norms and the group's particular emotional history, may serve to constrain or amplify group members' emotions. The outcome, group emotion, results from the combination of the group's affective composition and the affective context in which the group is behaving. Last, we focus on the important interaction between nonaffective factors and affective factors in group life and suggest a possible agenda for future research.     

Are You Kynd? Conformity and Deviance Within the Jamband Subculture

I use measures of interpersonal involvement specific to differential association theory to explain variation within the jamband subculture. Specifically, I examine the relationship between the differential association modalities (frequency, intensity, priority, and duration) and the affective meanings (evaluation, potency, and activity) associated with six behaviors that are relevant to that subculture. I expect the modalities to be related positively to the evaluation and potency of four prosocial (what I term “kynd”) behaviors (to barter, to follow a band, to share, to trade music) and negatively to the evaluation and potency of two “unkynd” behaviors (to talk down, to threaten). Using data from self-administered surveys (n = 379), I find that frequency and intensity predict variation in the affective meaning of kynd and unkynd behaviors. However, priority and duration generally do not predict variation in the affective meaning of kynd and unkynd behaviors.