Prime and prejudice: co-occurrence in the culture as a source of automatic stereotype priming

It has been argued that stereotype priming (response times are faster for stereotypical word pairs, such as black-poor, than for non-stereotypical word pairs, such as black-balmy) is partially a function of biases in the belief system inherent in the culture. In three priming experiments, we provide direct evidence for this position, showing that stereotype priming effects associated with race, gender, and age can be very well explained through objectively measured associative co-occurrence of prime and target in the culture: (a) once objective associative strength between word pairs is taken into account, stereotype priming effects disappear; (b) the relationship between response time and associative strength is identical for social primes and non-social primes. The correlation between associative-value-controlled stereotype priming and self-report measures of racism, sexism, and ageism is near zero. The racist/sexist/ageist in all of us appears to be (at least partially) a reflection of the surrounding culture.     

A Test of the Agency Hypothesis in Women��s Cosmetic Surgery Usage

Women??s agency??their ability to make conscious choices and to act on them??is a central consideration in feminist theories of cosmetic surgery. Several key issues in this longstanding debate are how much external or coercive influence women experience (or acknowledge) in their choice to pursue surgery, whether they are aware of sexist ideology more so than non-recipients, and whether their choice to pursue surgery exemplifies a strong sense of self worth. To test this agency hypothesis, we draw on survey data from a volunteer sample of 202 adult women ages 19?C86 years from the southern California region in the U.S. to compare cosmetic surgery recipients to non-recipients across these key socio-cultural and personal domains. Results reveal that cosmetic surgery recipients were more likely to have friends who had undergone cosmetic surgery, endorsed more covert sexist beliefs, exhibited greater media usage, and had higher household incomes, than non-recipients. Recipients also evidenced lower ratings in global self-esteem than non-recipients. These findings challenge some of the notions attendant to agency claims, and engage with conceptions of autonomy introduced in the feminist philosophical literature.     

Activating Effects of Resources Relative to Threat and Responsibility in Person‐Relative‐to‐Event Theory of Coping With Threat: An Educational Application1

Person‐relative‐to‐event (PrE) theory is a general theory of coping with threat that emphasizes the relationship between level of appraised threat relative to level of appraised person resources, and personal responsibility (Duval & Mulilis, 1999; Mulilis & Duval, 1995, 1997, in press; Mulilis, Duval, & Bovalino, 2000; Mulilis, Duval, & Rombach, 2001). While the theory has assumed that level of personal responsibility moderates the effects of appraised levels of resources relative to threat, nevertheless it also has been suggested (Mulilis & Duval, 1997) that these processes might, in fact, occur in an independent and parallel manner. Alternatively, Brickman (1987) suggested that a person attributes responsibility for the solution of a problem to self only to the extent that the person perceives that he or she is in control of future events surrounding the problem. Using an academic assessment as the threatening event, the present study was conducted to test these competing assumptions in the context of an educational setting. Results of this investigation support the previous suggestion of the authors that personal responsibility and resources relative to threat appear to operate as independent and parallel cognitive processes in PrE theory. Implications of these results for improved academic performance are discussed.     

Youth Risk and Mentoring Relationship Quality: The Moderating Effect of Program Experiences

Because program experiences are more amendable than mentor or mentee characteristics, they may be important factors to consider in buffering the negative impact of youth risk on the quality of the mentor–mentee bond. Data from 455 mentees (ages 11–18; 57% male) and their undergraduate student mentors (82.3% female) from the Campus Connections mentoring program were used to assess whether youth risk and mentors’ program experiences (i.e., program structure, supportive relationships with staff, opportunities for skill building, support for efficacy and mattering, and opportunities to belong) were associated with mentoring relationship quality and whether mentors’ experience within the program moderated the association between youth risk and mentoring relationship quality. Results indicated that environmental, but not individual, risk was negatively associated with relationship quality. Mentors’ experiences with the program were positively associated with mentoring relationship quality, and in many cases, above and beyond youth level of risk. Finally, mentors’ perception of program structure, supportive relationships, and opportunities for skill building attenuated the negative relationship between environmental, but not individual, risk and relationship quality. Mentors’ experiences of program support for efficacy and mattering and opportunities to belong were not significant moderators in any model. Implications for programs and future research directions are presented.     

Promoting positive community relations: what can RE learn from social psychology and the shared space project?

In this article we considered the relevance of specific claims that ‘multi-faith’ approaches to Religious Education (RE) play a role in promoting good community relations. In doing so, we adopted a social-psychological perspective where engaging in positive and meaningful interactions with diverse others reduces prejudice. Survey responses from 92 RE teachers across the UK were examined to determine the extent to which strategies for promoting positive community relations were embedded within classroom practice. We next examined whether teachers intuitively used social psychological theory – namely the contact hypothesis – to promote positive communities in their classrooms. Results demonstrated that the majority of surveyed RE practitioners perceived community relations to be a core aim of RE and that contact theory was applicable to their practice. Teachers reported examples of how they embed both contact theory and RE in their classrooms but not all of these aligned with social psychological theory. Findings suggest that successful practice in RE may be further developed by integrating theoretical principles of the contact hypothesis. Implications and future directions will be discussed.     

Social cognition after head injury: sarcasm and theory of mind

Closed head injury (CHI) is associated with communication difficulties in everyday social interactions. Previous work has reported impaired comprehension of sarcasm, using sarcastic remarks where the intended meaning is the opposite of the sincere or literal meaning. Participants with CHI in the present study were assessed using two types of sarcastic items, those with a directly opposite meaning and those with an indirect, non-literal but not directly opposite meaning. The CHI group was differentially poorer at comprehending sarcastic versus sincere remarks, although type of sarcastic materials did not influence performance. Errors involved not only literal interpretations, but also incorrect non-literal interpretations. Theory of mind (mentalising) was also assessed by comparing comprehension of human actions with control physical events. The CHI group was selectively impaired on the mentalising component of this task, and mentalising scores correlated with sarcasm comprehension. The implications of the findings for our understanding of impaired sarcastic comprehension after acquired brain injury are discussed.     

Culture and social support: who seeks it and why?

Are Asians and Asian Americans more or less likely to seek social support for dealing with stress than European Americans? On the one hand, the collectivist orientation of Asian countries might favor the sharing of stressful problems; on the other hand, efforts to maintain group harmony might discourage such efforts. In 2 studies, Koreans (Study 1) and Asians and Asian Americans in the United States (Study 2) reported using social support less for coping with stress than European Americans. Study 3 examined potential explanations for these effects and revealed that relationship concerns accounted for the cultural differences in use of support seeking. Discussion centers on the potential benefits and liabilities of seeking social support.     

Brain activation during semantic processing in autism spectrum disorders via functional magnetic resonance imaging

Language and communication deficits are core features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), even in high-functioning adults with ASD. This study investigated brain activation patterns using functional magnetic resonance imaging in right-handed adult males with ASD and a control group, matched on age, handedness, and verbal IQ. Semantic processing in the controls produced robust activation in Broca's area (left inferior frontal gyrus) and in superior medial frontal gyrus and right cerebellum. The ASD group had substantially reduced Broca's activation, but increased left temporal (Wernicke's) activation. Furthermore, the ASD group showed diminished activation differences between concrete and abstract words, consistent with behavioral studies. The current study suggests Broca's area is a region of abnormal neurodevelopment in ASD, which may be linked with semantic and related language deficits frequently observed in ASD.