7- Individual Differences Flashcards
1- Why Study Individual Differences?
Ex:
What is the most representative image of this candidate?
Equally representative: 47%
Unaltered: 17%
Darkened 18%
Lightened 18%
-Agreed With Candidate
Equally representative: 50%
Unaltered: 15%
Darkened 10%
Lightened 25%**
-Disagreed With Candidate
Equally representative: 44%
Unaltered: 19%
Darkened 26%*****
Lightened 11%
Obama:
What is the most representative image of this candidate?
Equally representative: 37%
Unaltered: 11%
Darkened 25%
Lightened 27%
-Liberals
Equally representative: 47%
Unaltered: 13%
Darkened 7%
Lightened 33% ***
-Conservatives
Equally representative: 26%
Unaltered: 11%
Darkened 42% ***
Lightened 21%
2- Understanding Individual Differences in Self-Reported Racial Attitudes
Rensis Likert
Likert Response Example
On a scale of 1-5, how great of an instructor is Dr. Axt?
1 = Very good
2 = Great
3 = Excellent
4 = Unbelievable
5 = The Best Ever
Self-report measures of explicit racial attitudes
‘Symbolic’ or ‘Modern’ Racism
- Theory largely developed by political scientists in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
- People were no longer willing to accept or report more blatant forms of
prejudice.
- Similarly, people high in modern or symbolic racism no longer feel that
discrimination is a significant problem.
- Other racial groups are not inherently inferior, but intergroup disparities can
be attributed to group differences in attitudes or motivations associated with
success in life.
- Example: Certain racial groups don’t value hard work as much as White people do.
- Black people are getting too demanding in their push for equal rights.
Agree: 5%
Neutral: 6%
Disagree: 89%
- Discrimination against Black people is no longer a problem.
Agree: 9%
Neutral: 14%
Disagree: 77%
- It’s really a matter of some people not trying hard enough; if Black people
would only try harder they could be just as well off as White people.
Agree: 18%
Neutral: 14%
Disagree: 68%
- Over the past few years, Black people have gotten more economically than
they deserve.
Agree: 8%
Neutral: 21%
Disagree: 71%
More Direct Measures Racial Attitudes
- Black people come from a less able race and this explains why they are not
as well off as most White people.
Agree: 9%
Neutral: 7%
Disagree: 84%
- To what extent do you prefer White to Black people?
Prefer White: 28%
Neutral: 62%
Prefer Black: 10%
How Do We Know Which Approach Works Better At Measuring Individual Differences In Racial Attitudes?
3- Comparing attitude measures
**understand graph…. rewatch video if needed
More direct approaches correlate better with IAT scores!
4- Individual Differences in Explicit Racial Attitudes: Individual Differences in
Reliance on Prejudice and Stereotypes
Right-Wing Authoritarianism
- Scale and construct first defined by (Canadian) psychologist Robert Altemeyer in 1981.
- Measure developed to identify people who are particularly willing to
submit to (perceived legitimate) authorities and who strongly adhere to societal conventions and norms.
- Subsequent research has found that RWA is a strong predictor of intergroup prejudice.
- Likely due to RWA’s connection to ‘mental inflexibility’ and attitudes
towards groups that violate current conventions.
- The established authorities generally turn out to be right about things, while the radicals and protestors are usually just “loud
mouths” showing off their ignorance.
Agree: 12%
Neutral: 10%
Disagree: 78% - The only way our country can get through the crisis ahead is to get back to our traditional values, put some tough leaders in power,
and silence the troublemakers spreading bad ideas.
Agree: 13%
Neutral: 7%
Disagree: 80% - Correlation between RWA and prejudice towards following groups:
- Black people (r = .50)
- Gay people (r = .52)
- Feminists (r = .74)
- People with a mental disability (r = .31)
- RWA and political orientation (conservatism) correlate at r = .65
Political Orientation
- Political orientation (i.e., the degree to which a person self-identifies as liberal or conservative) can be viewed as a psychological individual
difference.
- Research finds that political orientation is consistently related to psychological processes outside of just political attitudes and beliefs.
- One reason for these findings is the relationship between political
orientation and need for cognitive closure.
- Need for closure refers to an individual’s desire to arrive at a firm answer and
to avoid feelings of ambiguity.
- Sample items:
- I find that a well ordered life with regular hours suits my temperament.
- I don’t like to go into a situation without knowing what I can expect from it.
- When I have made a decision, I feel relieved.
- Need for Closure is consistently found to be related to the degree to which someone identifies as conservative (r ~ .20).
- From this perspective, a need for closure and a need for stereotypical thinking
fill a similar purpose – they allow for a more simplified view of the world.
- Greater reliance on stereotypes in judgment and perceptions means a lower
need or ability to use “individualizing” information.
Participants viewed targets varying in androgyny and had to categorize them as male or female as quickly as possible.
- Afterwards, participants then reported how positive they felt towards each
face and finally reported their political ideology.
Results:
- For conservative participants, categorization time mediated the relationship between target androgyny and liking of each target.
- That is, conservative participants evaluated androgynous targets more
negatively partly because it took them longer to categorize more
androgynous faces (i.e., they created more ambiguity).
- The same pattern did not emerge for liberal participants
Example 2: Use of Physical Appearance
- Participants reported how confident they are in inferring social group
membership from physical appearance.
- “It is possible to know a persons [race/religion/sexual orientation] once
you take a look at them.”
- In every category, conservatives were more confident that social group
membership could be inferred from physical appearance.
- Participants also completed a measure of Need for Structure.
- “I enjoy having a clear and structured life.”
- Again, Need for Structure mediated the relationship between political
ideology (conservatism) and belief that social group membership can be
inferred from physical appearance.
- In other words, conservatives viewed group memberships as more visible
than did liberals in part because they more strongly desired structure in
daily life.
- Can (partly) help inform ideological debates around certain political issues,
like racial profiling or “stop and frisk”.
