Retracted:It's all in the timing: measuring emotional reactions to stereotype threat before and after taking a test

Stereotype threat is often described as resulting from increased anxiety over confirming a negative stereotype about one's group (Steele, 1997 ). However, variations in the type of emotional reactions targets experience as a function of stereotype threat has never been examined systematically before and after taking a test, thus it is unclear whether targets experience different emotions at different points in the testing session. The present study investigated this issue of emotional specificity. Results demonstrate that targets of a negative stereotype, but not non‐targets, experienced heightened anxiety prior to taking a test under stereotype threat conditions and heightened frustration once the test was concluded. No effects were found in the non‐stereotype threat conditions. These findings, therefore, highlight the specific affective states that targets and non‐targets experience in threat and non‐threat conditions, as well as how these affective states can be assessed using self‐report measures. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A critical discussion of Kellman and Shipley's (1991) theory of occlusion phenomena

Summary Kellman and Shipley (1991) recently advanced a new theory to explain the perception of partly occluded objects and illusory figures. The theory is a formalization of the Gestalt law of good continuation. In this paper we describe their account of occlusion when the contour of the occluded is completely specified by a display. Next, we outline some critical objections and present a number of counterexamples. Finally, we compare their theory with Wouterlood and Boselie's (in this issue) model of occlusion phenomena, which might also be considered as a formalization of the law of good continuation.     

When controversial leaders with charisma are effective: the influence of terror on the need for vision and impact of mixed attitudinal messages

We investigated the idea that a charismatic leader with a controversial message is most likely to persuade people in times of terror, because in those times people have a high need for vision, and vision is what a charismatic leader provides. In addition, we argued that the leader's message should contain a pro‐attitudinal position as well, as this makes the counter‐attitudinal message more palatable. In line with our hypotheses, we found in Experiment 1 that thinking about terrorism increases people's need for vision. Experiment 2 revealed that only when people have a high need for vision they will be influenced by a controversial charismatic leader. Experiment 3 showed that existential threats also directly increase the influence of a controversial charismatic leader. Further, this was especially so when the charismatic leader was both attractive and communicated his message in a charismatic way. Finally, Experiment 4 revealed that after thinking about their own death or about terrorist attacks, people were most likely to be persuaded by a controversial charismatic leader whose counter‐attitudinal message also contained pro‐attitudinal statements. Together, this research suggests that in times of terror people's need for vision increases, which opens them up to a counter‐attitudinal message of a charismatic leader as long as this message also includes some pro‐attitudinal statements. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Go with the flow: conforming to others in the face of existential threat

In three studies we investigate the impact of mortality salience on conformity and show that people have a greater preference to conform to the opinions of others when mortality is salient. Study 1 shows that mortality salience increases the degree to which judgments of abstract drawings are influenced by the majority's opinion. Study 2 shows that mortality salience causes people to change their opinions towards societal issues, so that these fit the attitudes they think others have. Study 3 replicates the findings of the first study and additionally shows that people do not conform to the attitude of outgroup members. Our findings extend previous Terror Management Theory research and suggest that conforming to the group is a means to buffer the fear that may otherwise arise in existentially threatening situations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotion elicitor or emotion messenger? Subliminal priming reveals two faces of facial expressions

Facial emotional expressions can serve both as emotional stimuli and as communicative signals. The research reported here was conducted to illustrate how responses to both roles of facial emotional expressions unfold over time. As an emotion elicitor, a facial emotional expression (e.g., a disgusted face) activates a response that is similar to responses to other emotional stimuli of the same valence (e.g., a dirty, nonflushed toilet). As an emotion messenger, the same facial expression (e.g., a disgusted face) serves as a communicative signal by also activating the knowledge that the sender is experiencing a specific emotion (e.g., the sender feels disgusted). By varying the duration of exposure to disgusted, fearful, angry, and neutral faces in two subliminal-priming studies, we demonstrated that responses to faces as emotion elicitors occur prior to responses to faces as emotion messengers, and that both types of responses may unfold unconsciously.     

Unfinished business: How completeness affects the impact of emotional states and emotion concepts on social judgment

In two studies, we compared the impact of cold emotion concept primes with induced hot emotional states on subsequent social judgments. We hypothesized that the completeness of the prime episode is an important determinant of whether accessible information will lead to emotionally congruent or incongruent judgments. We extend previous research on knowledge and emotion accessibility effects by demonstrating that the effects of incomplete versus completed prime episodes are independent of whether we prime emotion states or emotion concepts. That is, our results show that both hot and cold affective information activated by incomplete prime episodes leads to assimilation, whereas information activated by completed prime episodes leads to contrast effects. Implications for accessibility research are discussed.     

The magic spell of language: linguistic categories and their perceptual consequences

Language is a tool that directs attention to different aspects of reality. Using participants from the same linguistic community, the authors demonstrate in 4 studies that metasemantic features of linguistic categories influence basic perceptual processes. More specifically, the hypothesis that abstract versus concrete language leads to a more global versus local perceptual focus was supported across 4 experiments, in which participants used (Experiment 1) or were primed either supraliminally (Experiments 2 and 3) or subliminally (Experiment 4) with abstract (adjectives) or concrete (verbs) terms. Participants were shown to display a global versus specific perceptual focus (Experiments 1 and 4), more versus less inclusiveness of categorization (Experiments 2 and 3), and incorporation of more rather than less contextual information (Experiment 3). The implications of this new perspective toward the language-perception interface are discussed in the context of the general linguistic relativity debate.     

On models and vases: body dissatisfaction and proneness to social comparison effects

When and why do media-portrayed physically attractive women affect perceivers' self-evaluations? In 6 studies, the authors showed that whether such images affect self-evaluations depends jointly on target features and perceiver features. In Study 1, exposure to a physically attractive target, compared with exposure to an equally attractive model, lowered women's self-evaluations. Study 2 showed that body-dissatisfied women, to a greater extent than body-satisfied women, report that they compare their bodies with other women's bodies. In Study 3, body-dissatisfied women, but not body-satisfied women, were affected by both attractive models and nonmodels. Furthermore, in Study 4, it was body-dissatisfied women, rather than body-satisfied women, who evaluated themselves negatively after exposure to a thin (versus a fat) vase. The authors replicated this result in Study 5 by manipulating, instead of measuring, body dissatisfaction. Finally, Study 6 results suggested that body dissatisfaction increases proneness to social comparison effects because body dissatisfaction increases self-activation.     

Different selves have different effects: self-activation and defensive social comparison

Three studies show that different forms of self-activation have differential influences on the processing of social comparison information. Activating neutral self-conceptions results in defensive processing of threatening social comparison information (Study 1). Participants maintain favorable self-evaluations in the face of upward comparison and rate the upward target of comparison negatively. Activating positive self-conceptions results in non-defensive processing of threatening social comparison information (Study 2). Participants endorse negative self-evaluations following upward comparison and rate the upward target of comparison positively. Activating negative self-conceptions maximizes defensive processing of threatening social comparison information (Study 3). Participants maintain favorable self-evaluations in the face of upward comparison and rate both upward and downward targets of comparison negatively. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for strategies to maintain self-esteem in the face of threatening comparisons.