CLASS 16
MOTIVES EMOTIONS AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS
Religion, the Forbidden, and SublimationCohen, Kim, & Hudson, 2014
Sublimation “Favors” Protestants
Protestants, more than Catholics and Jews
Regard taboo thoughts (not just deeds) as sinfulPlace moral weight on thoughts and feelings, rather than actionsJudge people who think taboo thoughts to be sinfulBelieve bad thought bad deedsProtestants more likely to suppress “bad” thoughts
Salvation Through Action, and Only Through Action
Salvation from sin through workReligion does not provide ritualized means for confession
SUBLIMATION: Past and Present
Freud: Creativity allows forbidden to be expressed in disguised form.
Moderns:
Suppressed ideation merges with “System 1” pool, engages with other material, leads to creative output.
Incubation in creativity: Mind works on unresolved issues unconsciously, as background process.
Hey: Unresolved issues reminds us of what Lewinian construct?
Zeigarnik Effect
Experiment DesignSubjects: Protestants, Catholics, Jews – all males, who have sisters
Procedure: Ss view photos, as if from family albumSs write brief caption, as if from personal pastBoy in picture = self; girl in picture = Sister OR GirlfriendPhotos of girl: moderately plain vs. swimsuit model
Outcome Measures: Career choices; creative tasks (clay, poetry)
Sister Girlfriend
Plain No threat No threat
Sexy Threat No threat
Results
Threatened Protestants:
1. Rated creative jobs (architect, designer, author) more desirable
2. Created more creative sculptures
3. Created more creative poetry
Basic pattern replicates for taboo thoughts related to hostility
“Chicago style”“The life”
Sculptures: “Threatened” Protestants more creative than Catholics, Jews
Stereotype ThreatAronson & McGlone, 2009
Stereotype Threat Defined Psychological discomfort people experience when:
a. Harsh stereotypes applied to their group (e.g., ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation)
b. Stereotypes relate to task that person is attempted to master (e.g. math test, writing)
c. Stereotypes made salient in context of task
Stereotype Threats can be self-fulfilling
a. Threat can disrupt performance, thus confirming stereotype
b. Threat can make performance domain aversive, leading to dis-identification
Demonstrations of Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson, 1995
Prediction: Stereotype loses potency if task is not stereotype-diagnostic
Method: Black and White undergrads complete GRE-level verbal items[Stereotype: Blacks less verbally competent]
Diagnostic condition: Test is IQ type test, truly diagnostic about verbal skillsNon-diagnostic cond: Test is not diagnostic, unrelated to intelligence
Diagnostic Non-Diagnostic
White No threat No threat
Black Threat No threat
Performance as a Function of Subject Race and Test Diagnosticity
IQ Diagnostic Not IQ Diagnostic0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Black White
Result is # items correctly solved
Demonstrations of Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson, 1995
Prediction: Stereotype loses potency if task is not stereotype-diagnostic
Method: Black and White undergrads complete GRE-level verbal items[Stereotype: Blacks less verbally competent]
No threat prime: Subjects NOT asked to report their ethnicity before testThreat prime: Subjects Are asked to report their ethnicity before test
No-Threat Prime Threat Prime
White No threat No threat
Black No threat Threat
Performance as a Function of Subject Race and Threat Prime
Threat Prime No Threat Prime0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Black White
Result is # items correctly solved
Stereotype Threat Applies to ANY Group Subject to Hostile Stereotypes
Women in math and science
Latinos
Native Americans
Low-income Whites
Elderly (memory tasks)
Stereotype Threat of Being a Strereotyper:Whites’ Feedback to Minorities
(Harber, 1998)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
BlackWriter
WhiteWriter
Fa
vora
bili
ty (
Z-u
nits
)
Content
Mechanics
Individual Differences in Stereotype Threat Vulnerability
Blacks who have high expectations of racial prejudice
Internal LOC (as possible mediator). Why would this be?
Mediating Mechanisms in Stereotype Threat Vulnerability
Anxiety:Self-reports– nadaPsychophysio (Blood-Pressure)—Blacks in threat condition show heightened arousal
Women under threat do BETTER, but only during EASY test. Why?
Yerkes Dotson function: Performance increases for moderate arousal
Expectations: Little to no evidence of this
Effort: Little to no evidence to support reduced effort
Priming effects: S-T may have some priming effects, but largely limited to Stereotype targets.
Terror Management Theory and PrejudiceGreenberg et al., 2009
Human’s Existential DilemmaHumans are like other animals
a. Mortal b. Compelled to flee from mortal danger
Humans are unlike other animalsa. Aware of mortality b. Aware cannot flee mortal danger of mortality
Animal compulsion to flee + awareness of inescapable mortality Existential Terror
Terror Management Theory (TMT)To cope with mortality angst, humans seek death transcendence
World view, supplied by culture, provides routes to death transcendence
People Who Challenge World Views Represent Existential Threats When mortality is made salient (MS), people need to hold on to beliefs
Those who challenge beliefs undermine our existential shelter
Those who challenge beliefs are therefore attacked, but mainly when mortality is salient
Terror Management Research DesignMortality Salience (MS) induction
Write about what will happen to you as you physically die.Write about the emotions aroused in you by the thought of your own death.
Control Condition
Write about going to the dentist for painful dental work.Write about the emotions aroused in you by the thought of this dental exam.
Outcome Measure
Attitudes toward group that challenges own world-view, or other means of death transcendence (e.g., career).
Mortality Salience (MS) Induces Hostility Towards:Other religions: Jews, Moslems
Those who evoke reminders of animal nature: Women (for men), elderly (for young)
Other nationalities: Germans (for Italians), Americans (for Iranians), Middle Easterners (for USA)
Own in-groups: For those whose ancestry deviates for majority-culture
MS also induces attraction towards:
Leaders, others who:a. Support world viewb. Provide definite, clear, uncomplicated world view
Moderators of, Challenges to, TMT Individual Differences in susceptibility to MS
1. Intolerance for ambiguity / need for certainty2. Depression3. Low Self Esteem4. Poorly attached
Challenge to TMT
1. Mortality threat or self-esteem threat?2. Loss of life or loss of self?
Remedies to MS 1. Relativistic world view2. Boost resources (YES!): Self-esteem, self worth, attachment
Top Related