Psychological essentialism and attention allocation: preferences for stereotype-consistent versus stereotype-inconsistent information

People who believe that human attributes are immutable (entity theorists) display preferences for stereotype-consistent over stereotype-inconsistent information (J. E. Plaks, S. J. Stroessner, C. S. Dweck, & J. W. Sherman, 2001). In this article, the authors argue that entity theories are components of broader sets of beliefs that represent differences between people in terms of underlying essences. Consistent with expectations, the authors found that measures of essentialist beliefs (i.e., in the biological basis, discreteness, informativeness, and inherence of human attributes) covaried with the presence of entity theories. Essentialist beliefs as a set were related to stronger preferences for stereotype-consistent information, and this effect was not reducible to the effect of entity theories. The authors propose that research on implicit person theories can be placed within an encompassing framework of psychological essentialism.     

Support for the domain specificity of implicit beliefs about persons,intelligence, and morality

Implicit theories are beliefs that pertain to the nature of person attributes. Entity theorists believe that a person's attributes are fixed entities, whereas incremental theorists believe that a person's attributes are malleable. Here, the theory was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and examining the relationship between the broad constructs of implicit beliefs about intelligence, persons, and morality and specific measures related to the broad domains. A model drawn from the theory provided strong evidence for implicit theories. Further, evidence in support of domain specific measures was also found. An additional study investigated a hypothesis regarding incremental belief endorsement. Discussion centers on the usefulness of implicit belief measures for basic and applied research.     

Implicit negotiation beliefs and performance: experimental and longitudinal evidence

The authors argue that implicit negotiation beliefs, which speak to the expected malleability of negotiating ability, affect performance in dyadic negotiations. They expected negotiators who believe negotiating attributes are malleable (incremental theorists) to outperform negotiators who believe negotiating attributes are fixed (entity theorists). In Study 1, they gathered evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the implicit negotiation belief construct. In Study 2, they examined the impact of implicit beliefs on the achievement goals that negotiators pursue. In Study 3, they explored the causal role of implicit beliefs on negotiation performance by manipulating negotiators' implicit beliefs within dyads. They also identified perceived ability as a moderator of the link between implicit negotiation beliefs and performance. In Study 4, they measured negotiators' beliefs in a classroom setting and examined how these beliefs affected negotiation performance and overall performance in the course 15 weeks later. Across all performance measures, incremental theorists outperformed entity theorists. Consistent with the authors' hypotheses, incremental theorists captured more of the bargaining surplus and were more integrative than their entity theorist counterparts, suggesting implicit theories are important determinants of how negotiators perform. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

KEEN TO HELP? MANAGERS' IMPLICIT PERSON THEORIES AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYEE COACHING

Although coaching can facilitate employee development and performance, the stark reality is that managers often differ substantially in their inclination to coach their subordinates. To address this issue, we draw from and build upon a body of social psychology research that finds that implicit person theories (IPTs) about the malleability of personal attributes (e.g., personality and ability) affect one's willingness to help others. Specifically, individuals holding an "entity theory" that human attributes are innate and unalterable are disinclined to invest in helping others to develop and improve, relative to individuals who hold the "incremental theory" that personal attributes can be developed. Three studies examined how managers' IPTs influence the extent of their employee coaching. First, a longitudinal field study found that managers' IPTs predicted employee evaluations of their subsequent employee coaching. This finding was replicated in a second field study. Third, an experimental study found that using self-persuasion principles to induce incremental IPTs increased entity theorist managers' willingness to coach a poor performing employee, as well as the quantity and quality of their performance improvement suggestions.     

Essentialist beliefs about personality and their implications

Two studies examine implicit theories about the nature of personality characteristics, asking whether they are understood as underlying essences. Consistent with the hypothesis, essentialist beliefs about personality formed a coherent and replicable set. Personality characteristics differed systematically in the extent to which they were judged to be discrete, biologically based, immutable, informative, consistent across situations, and deeply inherent within the person. In Study 1, the extent to which characteristics were essentialized was positively associated with their perceived desirability, prevalence, and emotionality. In Study 2, essentialized characteristics were judged to be particularly important for defining people's identity, for forming impressions of people, and for communicating about a third person. The findings indicate that people understand some personality attributes in an essentialist fashion, that these attributes are taken to be valued elements of a shared human nature, and that they are particularly central to social identity and judgment.     

Violations of implicit theories and the sense of prediction and control: implications for motivated person perception

Beginning with the assumption that implicit theories of personality are crucial tools for understanding social behavior, the authors tested the hypothesis that perceivers would process person information that violated their predominant theory in a biased manner. Using an attentional probe paradigm (Experiment 1) and a recognition memory paradigm (Experiment 2), the authors presented entity theorists (who believe that human attributes are fixed) and incremental theorists (who believe that human attributes are malleable) with stereotype-relevant information about a target person that supported or violated their respective theory. Both groups of participants showed evidence of motivated, selective processing only with respect to theory-violating information. In Experiment 3, the authors found that after exposure to theory-violating information, participants felt greater anxiety and worked harder to reestablish their sense of prediction and control mastery. The authors discuss the epistemic functions of implicit theories of personality and the impact of violated assumptions.     

Lay Theories of Personality: Cornerstones of Meaning in Social Cognition

Lay theories (or ‘implicit theories’) are cornerstones for social cognition: people use lay theories to help them make sense of complex and ambiguous behavior. In this study, we describe recent research on the entity and incremental theories (the belief that personality is fixed or malleable). In so doing, we demonstrate that each theory does not act alone. Instead, each is associated with a set of allied beliefs, the sum total of which cohere into two distinct meaning systems. We present evidence that these meaning systems produce systematic differences in a range of fundamental social cognition processes, with important implications for the field’s understanding of trait/situation attribution, moral judgment, person memory, and stereotyping. We further argue that because meaning systems serve a central meaning‐making function, people are motivated to believe that the meaning system they are using is effective and accurate. Accordingly, we present evidence that people exhibit processing distortions and compensatory mechanisms to minimize the impact of information that violates their meaning system. We discuss the implications of these findings for the field’s understanding of basic social cognition.     

Aging stereotypes and active lifestyle: Personal correlates of stereotype internalization and relationships with level of physical activity among older adults

ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to identify the personal correlates (openness to experience and implicit theories of ability) of internalization of aging stereotypes and its relationships with physical activity.DesignCross-sectional survey.MethodOne hundred and ninety-two older adults (78 men and 114 women) from 60 to 93 years (M_age = 73.44, SD = 7.34) completed a series of questionnaires measuring openness to experience, implicit theories of ability, stereotypes about older people and physical activity, attitude toward own aging, physical self-worth, physical activity level, self-rated health and education level.ResultsThe main results showed that (a) openness to experience positively predicted physical activity level through incremental theories, endorsement of aging stereotypes relative to benefits, attitude toward own aging, and physical self-worth; and (b) entity theories negatively predicted physical activity level through endorsement of aging stereotypes relative to risks, attitude toward own aging, and physical self-worth.ConclusionThe present study indicates that openness to experience and implicit theories of ability are correlates of endorsement of aging stereotypes and suggests that endorsement may be an important factor of engagement in physical activity in older adults.     

内隐人格理论的实体论－渐变论维度研究述评

对内隐人格理论的实体论－渐变论维度的研究是近年来社会认知研究的一个新趋势。研究发现,人们对人的特性（如智力、品德和人格特征等）的内隐认知理论,制约调节着他们对人的行为的理解和反应。人们持有的不同内隐人格理论导致他们不同的社会认知模式和行为反应方式。实体论者由于认为人的特性是固定不变的,而倾向于用抽象概括化的和静态的内在特质来理解人的行为;而渐变论者由于认为人的特性是动态可塑的,而倾向于用影响心理动态过程的内外具体调节因素来理解人的行为。作者在综述有关研究的基础上,进而提出一些新的见解。     

Explaining Normative Versus Nonnormative Action: The Role of Implicit Theories

The current research investigates what motivates people to engage in normative versus nonnormative action. Prior research has shown that different emotions lead to different types of action. We argue that these differing emotions are determined by a more basic characteristic, namely, implicit theories about whether groups and the world in general can change. We hypothesized that incremental theories (beliefs that groups/the world can change) would predict normative action, and entity theories (beliefs that groups/the world cannot change) as well as group identification would predict nonnormative action. We conducted a pilot in the context of protests against a government plan to relocate Bedouin villages in Israel and a main study during the Israeli social protests of the middle class. Results revealed three distinct pathways to collective action. First, incremental theories about the world predicted hope, which predicted normative action. Second, incremental theories about groups and group identification predicted anger, which also predicted normative collective action. Lastly, entity theories about groups predicted nonnormative collective action through hatred, but only for participants who were highly identified with the group. In sum, people who believed in the possibility of change supported normative action, whereas those who believed change was not possible supported nonnormative action.     

Coping with examinations: Exploring relationships between students' coping strategies,implicit theories of ability,and perceived control

Background Relatively little is known about the contribution of students' beliefs regarding the nature of academic ability (i.e. their implicit theories) on strategies used to deal with examinations. Aims This study applied Dweck's socio‐cognitive model of achievement motivation to better understand how students cope with examinations. It was expected that students' implicit theories of academic ability would be related to their use of particular coping strategies to deal with exam‐related stress. Additionally, it was predicted that perceived control over exams acts as a mediator between implicit theories of ability and coping. Sample Four hundred and ten undergraduate students (263 males, 147 females), aged from 17 to 26 years old (M = 19.73, SD = 1.46) were volunteers for the present study. Methods Students completed measures of coping, implicit theories of academic ability, and perception of control over academic examinations during regular classes in the first term of the university year. Results Multiple regression analyses revealed that incremental beliefs of ability significantly and positively predicted active coping, planning, venting of emotions, seeking social support for emotional and instrumental reasons, whereas entity beliefs positively predicted behavioural disengagement and negatively predicted active coping and acceptance. In addition, analyses revealed that entity beliefs of ability were related to coping strategies through students' perception of control over academic examinations. Conclusions These results confirm that exam‐related coping varies as a function of students' beliefs about the nature of academic ability and their perceptions of control when approaching examinations.     

Fear of the dark: interactive effects of beliefs about danger and ambient darkness on ethnic stereotypes

Two studies examined effects of ambient darkness and chronic beliefs about danger on activation of stereotypes about Blacks. Chronic beliefs were measured by a Belief in a Dangerous World (BDW) questionnaire. In Study, 1, participants in either a dimly lit or dark room saw photos of Black men and rated the extent to which specific traits described the cultural stereotype of Blacks. In Study 2, participants in either a well-lit or dark room completed reaction-time tasks assessing implicit associations between Blacks and evaluative attributes. Separate measures assessed stereotypes connoting danger versus those that are merely derogatory. Results revealed BDW x Darkness interactions on activation of danger-relevant stereotypes: BDW positively predicted activation in dark but not in light conditions. It appears that chronic beliefs about danger can facilitate activation of functionally relevant stereotypes, but this effect occurs primarily under circumstances (such as darkness) that heuristically suggest vulnerability to harm. Conceptual implications are discussed.     

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.     

大学生对年轻人和老年人的年龄刻板印象

采用内隐联想测验(IAT)和相应的外显测量,考察了大学生被试对年轻人和老年人的内隐和外显年龄刻板印象。结果表明:大学生被试在身体特征、个人表达和认知能力等3个方面对老年人都普遍存在明显消极的内隐态度;而在外显测量中,对年轻人和老年人的态度不存在显著差异;内隐和外显的年龄刻板印象测量之间相关不显著,可以用不同的记忆系统理论和联结-命题评价(APE)模型来解释内隐和外显测量不一致现象;不同性别的大学生被试在外显态度测量和内隐联想测验中测得的年龄刻板印象均不存在显著差异。     

Implicit theories in driving: Scale development,validation, and predictive role on violations and driving self-efficacy

Implicit theories focus on how ability may be perceived by individuals. There are two main beliefs: entity beliefs (i.e., driving ability is a gift) and incremental beliefs (i.e., driving ability is improvable through effort). Implicit theories have been studied in various domains (e.g., education, sport), but never in driving, even though they could improve the knowledge of drivers’ psychological characteristics. The first objective of the present study was to develop and validate a questionnaire measuring implicit theories in driving. The second objective was to assess the predictive role of implicit theories on violations and driving self-efficacy, and the moderating role of gender. In study 1, confirmatory factor analysis, analyses of gender invariance, and concurrent validity were assessed to validate the questionnaire named Implicit Theories in Driving Questionnaire (ITDQ). In study 2, the predictive role of implicit theories on violations and driving self-efficacy was evaluated using multiple regression analyses. Moderation analyses evaluated the moderating role of gender on the relationships between implicit theories and violations, along with driving self-efficacy. The ITDQ showed acceptable psychometric properties. The results highlighted that entity beliefs positively predicted aggressive violations and negatively predicted driving self-efficacy. Conversely, incremental beliefs negatively predicted ordinary violations and positively predicted driving self-efficacy. The ITDQ is a valid scale now available for assessing implicit theories in driving, that have been shown to influence self-reported driving behavior. Future research on implicit theories in driving may help to better understand the psychological characteristics of at-risk drivers and improve driver’s training, to reduce the number of road accidents.     

The influences of harmony motives and implicit beliefs on conflict styles of the collectivist

The collectivist preference for nonconfrontational conflict styles is usually attributed to the influences of the Confucian value of harmony, which promotes tolerance of interpersonal transgression. Harmony has two distinct motives in collectivistic Asian societies (Leung, 1997 ): harmony enhancement is affective in nature and represents a genuine concern for relationship harmony, while disintegration avoidance is instrumental in nature and sees harmony maintenance as a means to other ends. Hence, as predicted, harmony enhancement is positively related to the use of integrating and compromising, while disintegration avoidance is positively related to the use of avoiding and obliging and is negatively related to the use of integrating during a conflict with a peer in a collectivistic society, Singapore. Besides examining this from a motivational perspective, the study also examines the role of implicit beliefs of personality on one's choice of conflict styles. The two implicit theories of personality refer to the two different assumptions the lay person has about the mutability of personal attributes; an entity theorist believes that personal attributes are fixed and nonmalleable qualities, while an incremental theorist sees personal attributes as qualities that can be developed and changed. Results reveal that incrementalist implicit beliefs also significantly predicted the use of integrating. Harmony enhancement represents a genuine concern for relationship harmony and involves feelings of closeness, unity, and trust. The finding that integrating is predicted by a harmony enhancement motivation suggests the importance of fostering collectivist values of interdependence and feelings of unity and trust so as to encourage the use of integrating to discuss the opposing views openly and constructively. The present study also underscores the benefit of learning an incremental theory to be open to the positive changes in others and work toward improving the relationship and the situation during a conflict.     

Buffering against weight gain following dieting setbacks: An implicit theory intervention

Research on implicit theories suggests that incremental beliefs—that attributes are malleable—can help buffer people against the adverse effects of setbacks on goal achievement. We conducted a longitudinal experiment to examine whether an incremental beliefs intervention could help dieters manage their body weight in the face of severe dieting setbacks. To explore the efficacy of our incremental beliefs intervention, we randomly assigned individuals to a control, a knowledge, or an incremental beliefs condition. In addition to examining the main effect of intervention condition on weight-loss across a 12-week period, we also tested the hypothesis that although participants assigned to the control or knowledge intervention condition would gain more weight as dieting setbacks became more severe, participants assigned to the incremental beliefs condition would not. Results supported this hypothesis: Incremental beliefs protected against setback-related weight-gain. Implications for integrating implicit beliefs interventions with obesity relapse prevention programs are discussed.     

Sex stereotypes and implicit personality theory: Toward a cognitive—Social psychological conceptualization

Progress in understanding sex stereotypes has been impeded by the failure of researchers to address two critical conceptual questions: What is a sex stereotype? How do sex stereotypes function in social cognition and behavior? As a step toward answering the first question, the meaning of the term “sex stereotype” was considered. On the basis of points of agreement among extant conceptual definitions of the construct “stereotype” (in both the female-male and ethnic relations literatures), a generic definition of “sex stereotypes” is proposed: the structured sets of beliefs about the personal attributes of women and of men. In order to relate sex stereotypes more closely to research and theory on “normal” psychological processes, this basic definition is recast in terms of the person perception construct, “implicit personality theory”: the structured sets of inferential relations that link personal attributes to the social categories female and male. Two studies are presented to illustrate the utility of this translation. The remainder of the article addresses the second question. Here we offer preliminary ideas regarding a more general cognitive—social psychological framework for the study of sex stereotypes. Stereotype and stereotyping are distinguished, and each is discussed in light of relevant research in cognitive and social psychology.     

(Why) do I think what you think? Epistemic social tuning and implicit prejudice

This research examines whether people who experience epistemic motivation (i.e., a desire to acquire knowledge) came to have implicit attitudes consistent with the apparent beliefs of another person. People had lower implicit prejudice when they experienced epistemic motivation and interacted with a person who ostensibly held egalitarian beliefs (Experiments 1 and 2). Implicit prejudice was not affected when people did not experience epistemic motivation. Further evidence shows that this tuning of implicit attitudes occurs when beliefs are endorsed by another person, but not when they are brought to mind via means that do not imply that person's endorsement (Experiment 3). Results suggest that implicit attitudes of epistemically motivated people tune to the apparent beliefs of others to achieve shared reality.     

Sex stereotypes and implicit personality theory. I. A personality description approach to the assessment of sex stereotypes

It was proposed that sex stereotypes be phrased in terms of the person perception construct, “implicit personality theory,” as the structured sets of inferential relations that link personal attributes to the social categories female and male. The utility of this formulation was assessed by having 31 college students use a set of 66 personality traits to describe other people. A measure of trait co-occurrence was derived from these data and was used as input to Kruskal's multidimensional scaling program. A two-dimensional configuration was interpreted in terms of two orthogonal properties, Social Desirability and Potency. An Indirect Female-Male property (based on the proportion of times each trait was used to describe a male) was strongly related to the configuration and was closely aligned with the Potency vector. Thus, stereotypes of females and males were associated with the Potency dimension of person perception, with females seen as “soft” and males as “hard.” The directly rated sex property Male-Female was also located near the Potency vector, but was not strongly related to the configuration. This lack of fit may have been due to social desirability responding. The results support the utility of formulating sex stereotypes in terms of implicit personality theory and suggest the need to distinguish direct and indirect assessments of stereotypes.