Groups in space: Stereotypes and the spatial agency bias

We propose that spatial imagery is systematically linked to stereotypic beliefs, such that more agentic groups are envisaged to the left of less agentic groups. This spatial agency bias was tested in three studies. In Study 1, a content analysis of over 200 images of male-female pairs (including artwork, photographs, and cartoons) showed that males were over-proportionally presented to the left of females, but only for couples in which the male was perceived as more agentic. Study 2 (N = 40) showed that people tend to draw males to the left of females, but only if they hold stereotypic beliefs that associate males with greater agency. Study 3 (N = 61) investigated whether scanning habits due to writing direction are responsible for the spatial agency bias. We found a tendency for Italian-speakers to position agentic groups (men and young people) to the left of less agentic groups (females and old people), but a reversal in Arabic-speakers who tended to position the more agentic groups to the right. Together, our results suggest a subtle spatial bias in the representation of social groups that seems to be linked to culturally determined writing/reading habits.     

小而灵通，老而顽固？年龄信息对创造性观念评价的影响及其机制

创作者的年龄作为重要的社会线索信息,可能会影响大众对其观点的创造性评价。本研究以物品非常规用途想法作为评价材料,考察了4类年龄信息对创造性观念评价的影响,以及相关刻板印象在其中的作用。结果发现,10岁左右年龄信息会提升被试的新颖性和适用性评分;30岁左右的信息提升了新颖性评分,但刻板印象强弱对评分变化不具有预测作用。这表明,对于领域一般性产品,有关创作者的刻板印象不易被激活并应用于创造性评价。     

Perceived social structural relations and group stereotypes: A test of the Stereotype Content Model in Malaysia

Using data from two studies, the current research tests the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) within a Malaysian context using Chinese and ethnic Malay participants. The aim of the research is to examine the theoretical underpinnings of the SCM in a new context by investigating the role of aspects of the perceived social structure that have not been considered previously. In line with the SCM it is found that the two dimensions of warmth and competence underlie in‐group and out‐group stereotypes in Malaysia. In addition, the in‐group was evaluated more positively than the out‐group on both dimensions. Furthermore, perceived economic social status rather than cultural or power status was related to out‐group competence (Study 1), and to out‐group warmth (Studies 1 and 2). Higher perceived economic competition was weakly and not consistently associated with less out‐group warmth, and political competition was not related to warmth.     

What's in an accent? General spontaneous biases against nonnative accents: An investigation with conceptual and auditory IATs

Nonnative accents are prevalent in our globalized world and constitute highly salient cues in social perception. Whereas previous literature has commonly assumed that they cue specific social group stereotypes, we propose that nonnative accents generally trigger spontaneous negatively biased associations (due to a general nonnative accent category and perceptual influences). Accordingly, Study 1 demonstrates negative biases with conceptual IATs, targeting the general concepts of accent versus native speech, on the dimensions affect, trust, and competence, but not on sociability. Study 2 attests to negative, largely enhanced biases on all dimensions with auditory IATs comprising matched native–nonnative speaker pairs for four accent types. Biases emerged irrespective of the accent types that differed in attractiveness, recognizability of origin, and origin‐linked national associations. Study 3 replicates general IAT biases with an affect IAT and a conventional evaluative IAT. These findings corroborate our hypotheses and assist in understanding general negativity toward nonnative accents.     

The being a patient effect: negative expectations based on group labeling and corresponding treatment affect patient performance

Patient studies provide insights into mechanisms underlying diseases and thus represent a cornerstone of clinical research. In this study, we report evidence that differences between patients and controls might partly be based on expectations generated by the patients’ knowledge of being invited and treated as a patient: the Being a Patient effect (BP effect). This finding extends previous neuropsychological reports on diagnosis threat. Participants with mild allergies were addressed either as patients or control subjects in a clinical study. We measured the impact of this group labeling and corresponding instructions on pain perception and cognitive performance. Our results provide evidence that the BP effect can indeed affect physiological and cognitive measures in clinical settings. Importantly, these effects can lead to systematic overestimation of genuine disease effects and should be taken into account when disease effects are investigated. Finally, we propose strategies to avoid or minimize this critical confound.     

Stereotype validation and intellectual performance: Negative implications for future achievement

Previous research has found that activating negative stereotypes after completion of a task can lead people to feel more certain that they performed poorly (i.e., stereotype validation). The current research examined the implications that stereotype validation may hold for future performance. In two studies, the accessibility of gender stereotypes was manipulated after participants completed an initial test on a topic. After reporting perceptions of their performance, participants completed a follow-up test on the same subject. Consistent with hypotheses, activating negative stereotypes after the initial test was found to increase certainty in negative performance evaluations among stigmatized participants. Importantly, this higher certainty – triggered by stereotypes – predicted decreased performance on the later, follow-up test.     

Gender stereotypes in education: Development,consequences, and interventions

Despite many efforts to increase gender fairness in education in recent years, the issue has not yet become obsolete: Gender discrimination still exists and finds expression in unused chances and limited action repertoires for both sexes. This article gives an overview on existing gender differences across the lifespan before providing explanations for these differences from a developmental perspective. We present psychological theories of development dealing with the adoption of gender typical preferences and behaviors in children, and draw the connection to the role parents’ and teachers’ gender stereotypes play in this process. The mechanisms contributing to the perpetuation of gender differences are illustrated via empirical studies. Finally, we offer starting points for interventions to prevent the development of these gender differences, and introduce the REFLECT program which enhances gender competence in secondary school teachers and their students, and a training program for kindergarten teachers as concrete examples of such interventions.     

How Accurate Are National Stereotypes? A Test of Different Methodological Approaches

We compared different methodological approaches in research on the accuracy of national stereotypes that use aggregated mean scores of real people's personality traits as criteria for stereotype accuracy. Our sample comprised 16,713 participants from the Central Europe and 1,090 participants from the Baltic Sea region. Participants rated national stereotypes of their own country using the National Character Survey (NCS) and their personality traits using either the Revised NEO Personality Inventory or the NCS. We examined the effects of different (i) methods for rating of real people (Revised NEO Personality Inventory vs. NCS) and national stereotypes (NCS); (ii) norms for converting raw scores into T‐scores (Russian vs. international norms); and (iii) correlation techniques (intraclass correlations vs. Pearson correlations vs. rank‐order correlations) on the resulting agreement between the ratings of national stereotypes and real people. We showed that the accuracy of national stereotypes depended on the employed methodology. The accuracy was the highest when ratings of real people and national stereotypes were made using the same method and when rank order correlations were used to estimate the agreement between national stereotypes and personality profiles of real people. We propose a new statistical procedure for determining national stereotype accuracy that overcomes limitations of past studies. We provide methodological recommendations applicable to a wider range of cross national stereotype accuracy studies. Copyright © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Intergroup Differentiation: Stereotyping as a Function of Status Hierarchy

Abstract

The authors explored how negative intergroup comparisons affect intergroup differentiation. More specifically, they tested the prediction that the in-group's negative intergroup comparisons with a high-status group would result in more negative stereotyping of a lower status out-group. The authors elicited stereotypes of a lower status university in 2 conditions. In the 1st, the participants judged only the middle-ranking university in-group and a lower status university. In the 2nd, those judgments followed comparison with a higher status university. In the 2nd condition, there was an increased differentiation between the in-group and the lower status out-group because of the more negative stereotyping of the lower status out-group. This evidence of intergroup differentiation was found only on the dimension judged most important and along which the in-group was negatively compared with the higher status group.