Ignoring biased feedback: Membership in a stigmatized group as a moderator of mnemic neglect

A personal history of being the target of biased negative evaluation may lead individuals to habitually divert attention from negative feedback when it is possible to do so. Two studies tested for the first time the hypothesis that people belonging to a stigmatized group (Black students on a predominantly White campus) will, relative to non-stigmatized people, be more likely to engage in mnemic neglect—that is, they will reveal a greater tendency to insulate themselves from the effects of negative self-relevant feedback by means of motivated forgetting. The results of Study 1 supported that hypothesis. In Study 2, priming the concept of egalitarianism reduced the tendency of Black participants to engage in higher levels of mnemic neglect, consistent with the idea that the higher observed levels of mnemic neglect among stigmatized individuals derives from expecting biased, discriminatory responses from other people.     

Application of social identity theory in group therapy with stigmatized adults.

Social identity theory was applied in group therapy for adults with mild mental retardation. Social identity theory suggests that social group membership, also called collective identity, has an impact on self-esteem. Individuals will try to maintain self-esteem by viewing their social groups positively. This may not be possible for individuals who are members of a stigmatized group. However, it may be possible to enhance self-esteem by broadening one's awareness of collective identity. Furthermore, being able to positively view other individuals who are co-members of one's own stigmatized group can also have positive consequences for self-esteem. A clinical vignette demonstrates this process in group therapy. Results are discussed as being applicable to members of various stigmatized groups.     

Endorsing a negative in-group stereotype as a self-protective strategy: Sacrificing the group to save the self

This work examined if stigmatized targets will embrace negative in-group stereotypes in order to protect their self-esteem from the threat of stereotypic failures. All studies focused on the stereotype that women have lower math ability than men. In Study 1, women who failed a math test showed buffered self-esteem if they were first given the opportunity to endorse this stereotype. Study 2 replicated this effect and showed that women, but not men, increased their endorsement of this stereotype following math failure. Study 3 showed that the tendency to embrace this stereotype in response to failure was most pronounced among women with high trait self-esteem. Together, these findings suggest that there are contexts in which stigmatized individuals can protect their self-esteem in the face of stereotypic failures by embracing the very stereotypes that would have predicted their failure.     

Matching choices to avoid offending stigmatized group members

People (selectors) sometimes make choices both for themselves and for others (recipients). We propose that selectors worry about offending recipients with their choices when recipients are stigmatized group members and options in a choice set differ along a stigma-relevant dimension. Accordingly, selectors are more likely to make the same choices for themselves and stigmatized group member recipients than non-stigmatized group member recipients. We conducted eight studies to study this hypothesis in different choice contexts (food, music, games, books) and with recipients from different stigmatized groups (the obese, Black-Americans, the elderly, students at lower-status schools). We use three different approaches to show that this effect is driven by people’s desire to avoid offending stigmatized group members with their choices. Thus, although prior research shows that people often want to avoid being associated with dissociative groups, such as stigmatized groups, we demonstrate that people make the same choices for self and stigmatized other to minimize offense.     

Counterfactual thinking following negative outcomes: evidence for group and self-protective biases

Despite the robustness of self-serving and group-serving biases in attribution, there has been only limited evidence for these effects in counterfactual thinking. The present studies demonstrate that, following a negative outcome, individuals counterfactualize external factors relatively more than internal factors when they are identified with the target (i.e. ingroup members or the self) than when they are not. However, these effects are found only for external factors that are in some way disadvantageous to the target and could have led to the negative outcome. Implications of these findings for understanding the relationship between counterfactual thinking and judgments of causality, blame and affect are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prejudice in person memory: Self‐threat biases memories of stigmatized group members

The present research investigated whether self‐threat biases memory via retrieval‐induced forgetting. Results show that people under self‐threat whose goal is to restore their self‐worth by making prejudicial judgments that deprecate others are more likely to exhibit an enhanced RIF effect for positive items and a reduced RIF for negative items ascribed to a stereotyped target (i.e., homosexual). Overall, the present findings are consistent with the view that motivation can affect the magnitude of RIF effects in person memory and that, in turn, they can serve as mechanisms for justifying desired conclusions.     

On Externalization Processes in a Small Child A Case Presentation

The article argues that in understanding the psychological both mind and body might be misleading concepts. The proposal is to link the psychological to activities creating something that cannot be reduced to a more fundamental level. In this context images and words are linked to articulation and perception understood as symbolizations.     

Group evaluations as self-group distancing: Ingroup typicality moderates evaluative intergroup bias in stigmatized groups

Outgroup favoritism among members of stigmatized groups can be seen as a form of self-group distancing. We examined how intergroup evaluations in stigmatized groups vary as a function of ingroup typicality. In Studies 1 and 2, Black participants (N = 125,915; N = 766) more strongly preferred light-skinned or White relative to dark-skinned or Black individuals the lighter their own skin tone. In Study 3, overweight participants (N = 147,540) more strongly preferred normal-weight relative to overweight individuals the lower their own body weight. In Study 4, participants with disabilities (N = 35,058) more strongly preferred non-disabled relative to disabled individuals the less visible they judged their own disability. Relationships between ingroup typicality and intergroup evaluations were at least partially mediated by ingroup identification (Studies 2 and 3). A meta-analysis across studies yielded an average effect size of r = .12. Furthermore, higher ingroup typicality was related to both ingroup and outgroup evaluations. We discuss ingroup typicality as an individual constraint to self-group distancing among stigmatized group members and its relation to intergroup evaluations.     

Perceiver threat in social interactions with stigmatized others

The extent to which stigmatized interaction partners engender perceivers' threat reactions (i.e., stigma-threat hypothesis) was examined. Experiments 1 and 2 included the manipulation of stigma using facial birthmarks. Experiment 3 included manipulations of race and socioeconomic status. Threat responses were measured physiologically, behaviorally, and subjectively. Perceivers interacting with stigmatized partners exhibited cardiovascular reactivity consistent with threat and poorer performance compared with participants interacting with nonstigmatized partners, who exhibited challenge reactivity. In Experiment 3, intergroup contact moderated physiological reactivity such that participants who reported more contact with Black persons exhibited less physiological threat when interacting with them. These results support the stigma-threat hypothesis and suggest the utility of a biopsychosocial approach to the study of stigma and related constructs.     

"They" are old but "I" feel younger: age-group dissociation as a self-protective strategy in old age

Age becomes an important self-defining aspect particularly during advanced age. With increasing age, negative attributes related to age and aging become salient. Aging-related declines, losses, as well as the finitude of life seem to threaten older adults' sense of self. We hypothesize that older adults will try to avoid the negative consequences of their age group membership by distancing themselves from their age group. Study 1 (N = 544, 65% women; 18-85 years of age) examined the role of age-group identification for self-conception and self-image (subjective age and future time perspective) across the life span. Results show that weakly identified older adults feel younger than their chronological age and report a more expanded future time perspective relative to their same-age counterparts. A second experiment (N = 68, 69% women; 65-85 years of age) tested the impact of age stereotypes on older adults' level of age-group identification. Results suggest that older adults are more likely to psychologically dissociate themselves from their age group when negative age stereotypes are salient. Discussion focuses on (mal)adaptive consequences of age-group dissociation in later adulthood.     

Social anxiety and self-protective communication style in close relationships

People with higher social anxiety tend to reveal less information about themselves in interactions with strangers, and this appears to be part of a self-protective strategy adopted in situations in which the risk of negative evaluation is judged to be particularly high. This research examined whether a similar style of communication may be adopted by people with higher social anxiety in their close relationships, and whether it may be associated with decrements in the quality (support, depth, conflict) of these relationships. Over 300 people from the community completed a series of online questionnaires measuring social anxiety and depression, and disclosure in and quality of their close friendships and romantic relationships. After controlling for levels of depression, social anxiety was associated with a paucity of disclosure in both romantic relationships and close friendships in females, but not males. There was an indirect association between higher social anxiety and lower relationship quality (lower support, with a trend towards greater conflict) via lower self-disclosure in women's romantic relationships, but not their close friendships. Addressing disclosure in the context of close relationships may assist socially anxious women to develop more fulfilling and harmonious close relationships.     

Using a self-evaluation system as a group contingency

The efficacy of a group-evaluation system was examined, with a reversal design, in two classes of students with disabilities. The results suggested that a group-evaluation system was effective in decreasing the inappropriate verbalizations of both groups. Student satisfaction data revealed that the students in both groups had positive reactions to the system. Factors contributing to the success of the intervention as well as suggestions for its implementation are discussed.     

Interindividual‐intergroup discontinuity as a joint function of acting as a group and interacting with a group

An experiment assessed the prisoner's dilemma game (PDG) choices of a set of three persons who interacted with another supposed set of three persons. There were four conditions: (1) group‐on‐group (both three‐person sets constrained by a majority vote), (2) group‐on‐one (only own three‐person set constrained by a majority vote), (3) one‐on‐group (only other three‐person set constrained by a majority vote), (4) one‐on‐one (neither three‐person set constrained by a majority vote). The four conditions were compared with three orthogonal contrasts. Consistent with the assumption that interindividual interactions are less competitive than interactions involving groups, the first contrast indicated that there were fewer competitive choices in the one‐on‐one condition than in the other three conditions pooled. Consistent with the assumption that competitiveness can flow either from acting as a group or interacting with a group, the second contrast found no significant difference between the group‐on‐one and one‐on‐group conditions. Finally, consistent with the assumption that the interindividual‐intergroup discontinuity effect is a joint function of acting as a group and interacting with a group, the third contrast revealed that there were more competitive choices in the group‐on‐group condition than in the one‐on‐group and group‐on‐one conditions pooled. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Striving for success in outgroup settings: effects of contextually emphasizing ingroup dimensions on stigmatized group members' social identity and performance styles

For members of stigmatized groups, being confronted with highstatus outgroup members threatens social identity and undermines performance on status-relevant dimensions. Two experiments examined whether the negative effects of outgroup contexts are alleviated when value is expressed for a dimension on which the stigmatized ingroup excels. Specifically, the authors assessed whether ingroup versus outgroup context and contextual value for ingroup dimensions affects group members' reactions to failure on status-relevant dimensions and subsequent performance. Experiment 1 showed that in comparison to ingroup contexts, outgroup contexts induce stigmatized group members to protect social identity and to feel more agitated following negative performance feedback. Experiment 2 showed that when others in the context emphasize the importance of a dimension on which the ingroup excels, the negative effects of outgroup contexts are alleviated, stigmatized group members feel more cheerful concerning an upcoming task, and task performance is characterized by a focus on success.