Karen Gonsalkorale Flashcards

Question

Limits to Self-affirmation

Answer 1

Culture may moderate effects of self-affirmation: Who finds what threatening? Who finds what affirming? Affirmation in domains that are related to the threat is less effective >Increases commitment to the identity at stake There is a difference to how easterners & westerners see themselves. something threatening to a W may not be as threatening to an E, eg criticism of self vs criticism of family members Affirmations in the moral domain can backfire ---After purchasing environmental products, people were more likely to cheat after proving their worth as moral people. Also, when people feel they don't have to prove moral credentials they feel this licenses them to show prejudice to people of different backgrounds

Answer 2

College Board Survey (1976-77): 89% of nearly 1 million high school students rated themselves as above average on the ability to get along with others Considered range of skills assessed in the College Board Survey, according to difficulty... Ability to get along with others very easy, 89% rated themselves >m. Mechanics very difficult only 38% rated >m. We may not be engaging in social comparisons, basing ratings just on ourselves. Comparative ability judgments are egocentric We base our assessments on our own level of ability – How skilled am I? If the task is easy, we think we’re good at it If the task is hard, we think we’re not good at it We don’t take into account the skills of the comparison group – we don’t ask: How skilled are my peers? ``` Compare self to other students in class on 8 skills: 4 easy (e.g., using a computer mouse) 4 difficult (e.g., computer programming) (percentile estimates) ``` Domain difficulty rated by a third party For each skill, make absolute ratings of: own ability, peers’ ability (i.e., the average student’s ability) (1=very unskilled, 10 = very skilled) Absolute ratings of own ability predicted the comparative judgments (the percentile estimates). However, absolute ratings of peers’ ability did not. Thus, egocentric judgment accounts for the above average effect

Answer 3

Cultural Differences in Self-Enhancement Westerners were significantly more likely to self-enhance than East Asians ----85/91 studies, of which 53 yielded “large” effect size, 28 “moderate”, 7 “small” Within the Western samples, there was a significant self-enhancing bias (44/48) Within the Eastern samples: significant self-enhancement bias (19/46) significant self-criticism bias (20/46)

Answer 4

Cultural Differences in Responses to Failure Canadian students of European origin and Japanese students Remote Associates Test “sleep”, “fantasy”, “day”- relates to dream Manipulated success vs. failure Easy version of the test and scored well above the 50th percentile, or Difficult version and scored well below the 50th percentile Were given the opportunity to work on the task again “if they wanted” When Westerners did well, they want to keep working and keep feeling good about themselves. If told you fail, they disengage. Japanese participants work on average 4 minutes longer then if told they did well on the task. May be because there's more influence on self-improvement.

Answer 5

Both Westerners and Easterners self-enhance, but they self-enhance on different traits (Sedikides et al., 2003) Westerners: individualistic attributes (“independent”, “self-reliant”, “unique”) Easterners: collectivistic attributes (“cooperative”, “good listener”, “self-sacrificing”) Easterners tend to engage in relationship enhancement (Endo et al., 2000) See their family, friends, and romantic partners as better than themselves

Answer 6

Self-enhancing biases are examples of “positive illusions” that may promote mental health - Associated with happiness/contentment - Promote capacity for creative, productive work (e.g., via greater motivation, persistence)

Answer 7

Self-enhancing biases are a form of self-deception that may help us to deceive others (evolutionary perspective) We tell lies and deny failures a lot -We frequently deceive others in order to acquire resources -We will be more successful at deceiving others if we deceive ourselves (process information in a biased manner) self-enhancing may be a form of self-deception -Self-enhancing biases boost our self-confidence, which enables us to advance socially and materially

Answer 8

Morphed attractive and unattractive faces. They were the actual participants who had been morphed to look more attractive or unattractive. Participants picked options that were 10% more attractive then they actually were. Evidence of people being self-deceptive. Participants also faster to pick face that was 20% more attractive then there actual face when faces were flashed at them, and significantly slower to pick a face that was ugly. In our minds eye, we are more attractive then we actually are, this gives us more confidence and we are better at promoting ourselves as partners who are worthy of a mate.

Answer 9

Self-verification Theory Don’t always want to self-enhance Sometimes we want our self-views verified - -Even negative ones! - -We want other people to see us how we see ourselves Self-verification: The motivation to confirm what we already know about ourselves

Answer 10

Why Self-verify? Serves to stabilise self-views Stable self-views can be used to: - -Make predictions about the world - -Guide behaviour: We like opera, know Karmen is playing, know that we will like the show - -Maintain a sense of coherence Origin of self-verification motive? - -Stable self-views promote group survival: need cooperation, know someone is good at building huts, they can build the huts - -Self-verifying information is more readily processed and fosters positive affect Strategies for Self-verification People satisfy the need for self-verification by constructing self-verifying “opportunity structures” Strategies: - -Seek self-verifying partners - -Communicate self-views to others: talk about politics so people think you're smart - -Display identity cues - -Enact behaviours that will bring others to see you as you see yourself - -“See” self-verifying evidence - -Biased attention and recall

Answer 11

Evidence for Self-verification Series of studies looking at strategies for self-verification (seeking self-verifying partners, communicating self-views, biased attention) Recruited participants who had either a positive or negative view of themselves. People with negative self-views provide evidence, 70% of people have good self-vies, 30% have bad. In one study: Participants indicated whether they would prefer to interact with a positive evaluator or a negative evaluator They were asked to “think aloud” into a tape recorder as they chose an evaluator “Think aloud” responses indicated that participants preferred partners who made them feel they knew themselves, e.g., “Yeah, I think that’s pretty close to the way I am. [the negative evaluator] better reflects my own view of myself, from experience” 75% of people with negative self-view chose negative evaluator whereas only 18% of people with positive self-views did. =>We seek self-verifying interaction partners – prefer to interact with partners who evaluate us the same as we see ourselves

Answer 12

Evidence for Self-verification ct’d In another study, participants interacted with someone who they suspected viewed them differently to how they viewed themselves These participants behaved in ways that confirmed their existing self-views—if they see you as nice, act mean; if they see you as mean, act nice > We communicate our self-views to others In another study: participants were told that another person had evaluated them in a positive or negative manner Participants spent longer reading the passage if it was consistent with their self-view > We pay more attention to self-verifying information

Answer 13

Whole theory rests on people with negative self-evaluations Flawed personalities But participants with negative self-views express ambivalence about choosing the negative evaluator, said 'I like the positive evaluation, but I'm not sure it sounds like me.' Perceived similarity If we think the same way, maybe we have things in common. Is possible but in the think aloud people didn't spontaneously measure this Winning converts People may be trying to 'win over' the other, trying to convince the person they're wrong. Some said this, but this was limited to positve people who were picking people with different views. People with negative self evaluations rarely did this at all

Answer 14

Cultural Differences in Self-verification Indians and North Americans Completed questionnaire on self-view specifically, self-perceived sociability Imagined that two people had reviewed their answers on the questionnaire, and had given evaluation Positive “I’d say this person probably feels comfortable and at ease around other people Negative: “I get the feeling that this person doesn’t seem socially confident” DV: Rated how accurate they thought the evaluation was Participants with positive s-e thought the positive reviews were good, the negative reviews were bad. The reverse for participants with negative self views. In Indian sample, evidence of self-verification, North American sample had the same effect. The difference was larger for NA, shows the effect was stronger Not clear why there's such a difference

Answer 15

Self-enhancement vs. Self-verification meta-analysis All studies had a measure of pre-existing self-views SV stronger when measuring cognitive responses SE stronger when measuring affective responses Compared effect size for self-enhancement to effect size for self-verification as a function of various dimensions When rejection risk is: high (e.g., dating), self-enhancement > self-verification low (e.g., married), then self-verification > self-enhancement See slides (lecture 22) for more details

Answer 16

Strategic self-verification People want their partner to view them positively on relationship-relevant dimensions (e.g., loving and caring) But prefer to seek self-verifying evaluations on characteristics that are lower in relationship-relevance (e.g., artistic) It’s not a case of which, but when… determined by current needs and opportunities to self-enhance vs. self-verify

Answer 17

Recall Taylor and Brown’s (1988) argument that self-enhancing biases are examples of “positive illusions” that promote psychological health However, Swann (e.g., 2012) argues that non self-verifying information could be bad for your health. Specifically, people who have negative self-views: show threat responses to positive feedback (Mendes &; Akinola, 2006) are more likely to get sick after positive life events (Shimizu & Pelham, 2004) Also recall von Hippel and Trivers’ (2011) argument that self-enhancing biases can help us to acquire resources Swann (e.g., 2012) argues that self-verification should also promote survival - -people who self-verify are more predictable to other group members - -being on the same page with your relationship partner should facilitate activities such as successful child-rearing When is Self-verification Maladaptive? When people have developed inappropriate negative self-views, e.g., - -thinks they are stupid, but they are smart - -thinks they are fat, but they are thin In such cases, people’s self-views can make them behave in maladaptive ways Thus, although self-verification can be adaptive, it can also have negative consequences

Answer 18

Global self-esteem (or “trait self-esteem”): a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth the way people generally feel about themselves typically measured using Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE; 1965): “I feel I’m a person of worth” “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself” ``` Correlates of Global Self-esteem (Relatively) high global self-esteem is correlated with a range of positive outcomes in several domains, including: Academic achievement Physical health Psychological health ``` However, in some domains, the findings are less clear cut E.g., in the domain of interpersonal behavior, high global SE individuals think they are more popular, but they aren’t

Answer 19

Shared method variance Typically, both self-esteem and outcome variable measured using self-report Correlations are lower when DVs are assessed using objective measures E.g., self-reported vs. observer-rated physical attractiveness: r = .59 vs. r = .01 (Miller & Downey, 1999) Correlation doesn’t imply causation Need experimentation, longitudinal studies 3rd variable problem

Answer 20

Longitudinal Data Global self-esteem measured in early adolescence (age 11) At age 26, assessed mental health, physical health, economic prospects, criminal behaviour -Looked at self-reports and more objective 3rd party reports, as well as criminal records Results: adolescent global self-esteem predicted better adjustment in early adulthood Even when controlling for confounding variables (e.g., depression, SES) Even for objective measures (e.g., criminal records)

Answer 21

Self-esteem and Antisocial Behaviour Antisocial behaviour, such as aggression, is not associated with low global self-esteem Instead, antisocial behaviour is associated with a particular form of very high self-esteem Ego-threat model Individuals with this form of high self-esteem will aggress in response to self-threat Applies to individuals who have over-inflated, unjustified views of themselves Criminals did agree with narcissism inventories eg. If I ruled the world, it would be a much better place I am going to be a great person

Answer 22

An aside: There is a debate over whether narcissists actually have low-self-esteem “deep down”, but there is at last some evidence suggesting that narcissists genuinely do think extremely well of themselves;

Answer 23

- “Passionately wanting to feel well of oneself” (Baumeister & Bushman, 1998, p. 10) - Overinflated sense of positive self-worth - Feel superior to other people - Self-centered and entitled

Answer 24

Self-esteem and Antisocial Behaviour: Testing the Ego-threat Model Completed measures of narcissism and global self-esteem Wrote an essay Given a bad evaluation of essay (or not): This is the worst essay I have ever read! vs. No suggestions, great essay! Given an opportunity to aggress against the person who had offended them (noise blasts) Global self-esteem did not predict aggression When threatened, narcissism was positively related to aggression When praised, no relationship between narcissism and aggression

Answer 25

Self-esteem and Antisocial Behaviour Outside the Lab Adolescents and uni students Study outside the lab suggests both narcissism and low self-esteem associate with antisocial behavior. Had self-reports and third party observers, was cross-sectional but could conduct analyses as if data sets. Different models looked at self-esteem and outcome variables and could make some convincing conclusions from the analysis. Controlled for IQ, SES and supportive parenting, found narcissism positively related to antisocial behavior. More likely to engage in behavior like lying to parents, beating people up. Low SE also more likely to lie to parents, get into fights: both are problematic. Global SE negatively related to outcome variables; higher SE= lower aggression. Method: Measured narcissism and global self-esteem Outcome variables: Aggression, delinquent behaviour (self and informant reports) Cross-sectional and longitudinal-type analyses Controlled for SES, IQ, supportive parenting Results: Narcissism: Positively related to antisocial behaviour Global self-esteem: Negatively related to antisocial behaviour

Answer 26

Lab: Low global self-esteem is NOT related to antisocial behaviour (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998) Real-world: Low global self-esteem IS related to antisocial behaviour (Donnellan et al., 2005) Why this discrepancy? The types of anti-social behaviours examined in the lab vs. real-world may differ in the degree to which they: - had obvious repercussions - are antisocial - noise blast is very artificial and it almost seems like the experimenter wants one to give the noise blast However, both lab and real world studies find a link between narcissism and antisocial behaviour Suggests that we need to distinguish between global self-esteem and an overinflated sense of self-worth

Answer 27

The extent to which self-esteem is contingent upon particular conditions being met (Deci & Ryan, 1995) Domains of contingency may include acceptance, approval, family, self-reliance, morality, etc. (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001) Individual differences in self-esteem contingency are associated with fluctuations in self-esteem

Answer 28

If SW is highly contingent on a particular domain, your SE is likely to go up and down. Study looked at uni students applying for lots of different programs. would get acceptances or rejections according to programs. People with low SE contingency for academics were the same when rejected or accepted, not so for those with high academic contingent self-esteem.

Answer 29

Interacts with levels of self-esteem People with high, unstable self-esteem (“fragile” self-esteem) report that they are more prone to anger and hostility (Kernis et al., 1989) are more defensive (Kernis et al., 2008), more likely to interpret things as threats, much more defensive when asked to write essays describing when they'd done something bad. Describe a time when you've broken the rules “I have honestly never done anything bad. Like the worst thing I do is burn CDs ... I've honestly never drank anything. The only time I have drank anything was in Mexico and I was 18 at the time so that was legal ... I've never like broken any rules.”

Answer 30

Basic emotions expressed by animals, universal across cultures. Also have distinct facial features and don't require internal processes. Most non-human animals don't have a sense of self-awareness, when they see a mirror reflection with red dot they don't take the red dot off. Shows they don't know who they are, suggests they lack self-awareness, suggests you don't need self-awareness for emotions e.g., anger, fear, sadness, joy Self-conscious emotions e.g., guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride Less universal compared to other emotions, vary across cultures in terms of the extent to which emotions are valued, some emphasize shame and others don't. What causes shame may also vary across cultures.

Answer 31

Features of Self-conscious Emotions Require self-awareness and self-representations which together enable self-evaluation You need to have self-awareness; sense of agency 'I' and self-representation 'me'. You need to know what other people are thinking of you, and that you've achieved a standard. Basic emotions may involve but they don't have to, eg. fear Are cognitively complex Emerge later in life than do basic emotions -Basics appear within first months of life, but the more cognitively complex don't come until roughly the end of people's third year when kids can have complex self-representations Do not have universally recognised facial expressions- in order to recognise embarrassment you need to see the face and body, do have universal non-facial expressions, like body, way of moving Facilitate attainment of social goals Guilt may help you repair a relationship and give you access to greater resources. Shame may makes someone withdraw, stop doing something bad which allows one to survive indirectly, helps us to survive social rejection.

Answer 32

Experienced when people believe they are responsible for a socially valued outcome or that they are a socially valued person, arises in response to internal attributions Distinct non-verbal expression -hands on hips and arms in air, expanded back posture deserving of status Reliably recognised and distinguished from other emotions: Adults in USA and Italy (Tracy & Robins, 2004) Adults in Burkina Faso, West Africa (Tracy & Robins, 2008)- Least developed, live in mud huts with no western media, suggest universally recognized Children as young as 4 years old (Tracy et al., 2005)

Answer 33

2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games Sighted, blind, and congenitally blind individuals from 30 nations displayed the pride expression in response to victory They showed the same expressions: not only universal, also innate, something we come with.

Answer 34

Expressing pride Communicates success and social status to others Pride expression is automatically associated with high status (Shariff & Tracy, 2009) Experiencing pride Feels good – reinforces behaviour Motivate efforts to acquire skills that increase status and value to group Pride is associated with perseverance on socially valued tasks (Williams & DeSteno, 2008)

Answer 35

Pride as an Adaptive Emotion Wanted to see how people who experience pride are evaluated by others: if adaptive should be seen as socially valued. They were told they were to participate in a study to assist in the development of spatial tasks (to see if objects rotated are the same) Individual task: measure of visuospatial ability Pride manipulation: Half of the participants received positive feedback on the individual task Other half received no feedback (control condition) Then participated in a group task (with one other participant and one confederate) DVs: Time spent manipulating the puzzle Subjective ratings of participants’ dominance and likeability Results: Proud participants spent more time manipulating the puzzle were perceived as more dominant were liked better Pride leads to functional outcomes, makes you more socially valued

Answer 36

“Think about a time when you felt very proud of yourself… describe the events that led up to your feeling this way in as much detail as you can remember” “Rate how much you felt…” like I was achieving, confident, fulfilled, productive, like I have self-worth, successful > “Authentic pride” arrogant, conceited, egotistical, pompous, smug, snobbish, stuck-up > “Hubristic pride” Authentic pride: “I am proud of what I did” Achievement-oriented Internal, unstable, controllable causes “I won because I practised” Positively correlated with global self-esteem ``` Hubristic pride: “I am proud of who I am” Self-aggrandising Internal, stable, uncontrollable causes “I won because I’m always great” Positively correlated with narcissism ```

Answer 37

“Everyone has, at some time in their life, felt a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Think back to a time in your life where you felt like you had succeeded through hard work and effort, reached your potential, or achieved a goal.” “Everyone has, at some time in their life, felt superior or better than other people. Think back to a time in your life where you behaved in a self-important manner, or felt pretentious or stuck-up.” Were looking at prejudice and found hubristic pride associated with greater levels of prejudice compared to authentic.

Answer 38

The value placed on pride differs across cultures Pride is considered less desirable in collectivistic cultures (Eid & Diener, 2001) Are the differences due to: -the two facets of pride? (concept of pride may be linked more towards hubristic in Asian, authentic in Western) -individual vs. collective pride? Pride expression is better recognised when displayed by women than men (Tracy & Robins, 2008) Men are assumed to experience more pride because of their higher status

Answer 39

Stigma reduces an individual “from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one” Stigma Classifications 1. Tribal stigma (e.g., ethnic groups) 2. Abominations of the body (e.g., physical deformity) 3. Blemishes of individual character (e.g., drug addict, homeless people, prostitutes supposedly reflect a poor moral character)

Answer 40

Stigmatisation occurs when an individual possesses (or is believed to possess) “some attribute or characteristic that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social context” Believe it's more useful to look at underlying content, not dimensions of stigma Concealability (how visible): -Readily visible stigma provides a schema that colours interpretations: hard like skin color or easy like sexual orientation/ religion? Important because if it's visible, it provides a schema which colours interpretations of ones behaviours. If the stigma is not visible, you're more likely to interact with someone on the basis of their characteristics. -If unconceallable (visible), creates attributional ambiguity: if target is obvious it creates ambiguous attributions, targets don't know if they're treated the way they are because of skin colour or not. For eg. if you go to a job you don't know if you don't get it because of individual characteristics or stigma. Controllability: - The extent to which a stigmatised person is seen as personally responsible for their stigma - Shape cognitive, emotional, and behavioural reactions - If not controllable people not seen as responsible for stigma. Judgements about contollability may vary widely, eg. sexual orientation. As an observer should I be blaming or helping this person? When we view people as responsible for their stigmas we treat them in a harsher way, eg. be meaner to homosexuals,

Answer 41

In stigmatisation, “marks” become associated with negative evaluations and stereotypes (Jones et al., 1984) --These evaluations and stereotypes are consensually shared Negative evaluations and stereotypes becomes a basis for exclusion

Answer 42

Self-esteem and Social Identity Denigrating others to feel good about yourself or your group Engaging in downward social comparison (with groups that are worse off) helps to maintain a positive social identity (Abrams & Hogg, 1988) -There is evidence of in-group bias: think more positive of our own group and treat members better. Is an incredibly robust finding Doesn’t explain why certain groups are stigmatised within a society. Some groups are more likely to be stigmatised than others, doesn't explain the consensual nature of stigmatisation

Answer 43

Functions of Stigma: System Justification People are motivated to justify existing social, economic, and political systems. In every society there is inequalities and we are motivated to justify the social hierarchy Members of a society make attributions about deservingness, etc. based on existing social structure E.g., Low SES people are lazy, stupid. This makes us think society is just and we feel good about this. Makes us think existing function is fair & legitimate People low on social hierarchy tend not to have ingroup bias- don't think their group is better. They maintain a sense of a just society by showing out-group, not in-group bias Explains consensus within a culture about who is stigmatised, but doesn’t explain why some groups are stigmatised in almost every culture

Answer 44

Functions of Stigma: Evolutionary Psychology Approach Stigma does not simply arise from negative evaluations and stereotypes Stigmatised individuals possess a characteristic that constitutes a basis for excluding them, characteristics that serve as a basis for exclusion are not arbitrary, for example "Australians are uncultured' Characteristics are not arbitrary; There is commonality across cultures in what characteristics lead to stigmatisation. It’s adaptive to exclude certain people. This understanding is often criticized, said it suggests we ought to be stigmatizing people, but no; it's a way of understanding why. There are universal characteristics associated with stigmatisation, e.g. Poor partner for social exchange (“blemishes of individual character”, Goffman, 1963) poor prospects (e.g., poor, infirm elderly, poor social connections) cheaters (e.g., criminals, convicts, con artists) Carry parasitic infection (“abominations of the body”) physically ill

Answer 45

there are group differences in ability | women are underrepresented in science and engineering because of a “different availability of aptitude at the high end”

Answer 46

“From an observer’s standpoint, the situations of a boy and a girl in a math classroom or of a Black student and a White student in any classroom are essentially the same. The teacher is the same; the textbooks are the same; and in better classrooms, these students are treated the same. Is it possible, then, that they could still experience the classroom differently, so differently in fact as to significantly affect their performance and achievement there?” -Explaining why, when controlling for minority group ability, there are still differences in outcomes/ performance Stereotype Threat Theory - Success requires identification – leads to sustained achievement motivation - Identification requires perception of “good prospects” - If identification doesn’t form or is undermined, performance will suffer

Answer 47

Socio-structural variables: lack of resources to perform, discrimination, socio-economic disadvantage: don't have access to resources because of background. There's a lack of role models for minorities which makes it more difficult to achieve in a domain. You need skills and opportunities to prosper, you also need the feeling that you belong and will be valued in that domain. Stereotype threat - Know that a stereotype exists about your group - Worry that others will apply the stereotype to you

Answer 48

Produces worry and anxiety: this uses up valuable cognitive resources which may be better spent elsewhere, results in Impaired performance Disidentification Even if you manage to perform well, it is not fun to work in a field where you assume everyone thinks you’re no good. Women in phsyics after school/ uni / work may decide there's too many barriers

Answer 49

Not tied to any one group White males feel stereotype threat when performing a math test with Asian participants. -White males may also feel the burden of being racist and this makes them more racist when performing on implicit measures tests. Driven by situational relevance of stereotypes There is something about the situation that makes the stereotype salient you may be reminded explicitly of stereotype or girl may just be surrounded by boys in a classroom Doesn’t require internalisation: don't have to believe the stereotype is true in order to be affected by it. Overcoming stereotype threat requires new proof with every new challenge Self-doubt can then emerge when task is very difficult

Answer 50

Women and Maths Performance Matched women and men on maths skill Took a difficult maths test Told that the test had been shown to: -produce gender differences or -not produce gender differences -When told the test was known to produce gender differences, there was a huge difference in performance; girls under performed, when not told (the stereotype was not made salient) small difference in performance between genders. Subtle variations of a situation can change results. Stereotypes is one of these contextual factors

Answer 51

African Americans and Test Performance Black and White Stanford students took a verbal test Test framed as diagnostic or not diagnostic of verbal abilities “test of your verbal abilities” or “a problem solving task” Test of verbal skills activated expectation that AA would be worse. When test was framed as diagnostic of verbal abilities, AA under-performed. Shows evidence of stereotype threat. A later part of the study got people to complete letters (could be completed with 'Race' or 'lace' etc.) To see the extent stereotypes were activated. Greater stereotype activation= lower performance. Their 4th study found that just asking participants to complete their race before completing a test lead to a decrement in performance.

Answer 52

Wanted to look at the stereotype women are bad drivers 88 females, all held drivers licence Experimental conditions: Stereotype threat: Purpose of study was to study why men are better drivers than women Control: Mental processes involved in driving Task: Driving simulator DV: hitting jaywalker 60% of women in the stereotype threat condition hit the jaywalker compared to 20% in the control. Performance increments may occur in many domains, even hitting a jaywalker.

Answer 53

Reducing Stereotype Threat Men and women completed a maths test Prior to the test, they were randomly assigned to 3 conditions: Problem-solving condition Maths-test condition Teaching-intervention condition: “it's important to keep in mind that if you are feeling anxious while taking this test, this anxiety could be the result of these negative stereotypes that are widely known in society and have nothing to do with your actual ability to do well on the test” Women were affected by math test condition, not problem solving or teaching condition.

Answer 54

Examined the effects of genetic vs. experiential accounts of gender differences in performance Participants overheard the fake debriefing of “a participant in a different study” “The study that you participated in was designed to add to the recent findings made by an international team of researchers led by scientists from Yale and Oxford who have found that…” Stereotype Threat Condition (S) “… females are constantly aware of their gender, even if only at a subconscious level…” No Gender Difference Condition (ND) “… contrary to some popular beliefs, there are no gender differences in math ability…” Genetic Condition (G) “… gender differences in mathematical ability are caused by genetics…” Experiential Condition (E) “… gender differences in mathematical ability are caused by early childhood experiences…”- women think their may be differences in ability, but this doesn't apply to me... Women in the experiential and no gender difference conditions performed the best on math tests

Answer 55

When there’s no objective standard to measure yourself against e.g., How much money should you donate to charity? When you experience uncertainty about yourself in a particular area e.g., You scored 15/20 on a test. Is this a good score?

Answer 56

We compare ourselves to people who are similar to ourselves Because we are motivated to perceive ourselves accurately Festinger (1954) Social Comparison Theory

Answer 57

Stigma is a social construct which a society creates, stigma in the eye of the beholder, not the person. Society determines who is stigmatised and who is not (Crocker et al., 1998) Variability across time and cultures Irish catholics used to be considered worthy of exclusion: variability across time. Also across cultures: being overweight may be considered bad here but not in other cultures.