Lecture 18: Experiencing Discrimination ll Flashcards
concealment
Hiding or obscuring your stigma
two types of concealment
partial & complete
benefit of concealment
you’re not judged negatively according to your stigma
example of concealment
Sorry to Bother You, 2018: a telemarketer had greater success when using a “white accent”
cognitive costs about concealing
Preoccupation
Increased vigilance
eating-disorder roleplay study
people with an eating disorder role-played not having an ED. They reported having higher secrecy, suppression, and intrusive thoughts about their ED and projected ED thoughts onto the interviewer.
eating disorder concealment study
eating disorder participants who were assigned to not reveal their condition to a confederate later performed worse on a cognitive test
emotional costs of concealment
- Anxiety (about being caught)
- Shame (internalizing your stigma)
- Ambivalence about identity
do most people conceal their stigmas when meeting new people?
A majority (67%) of participants recruited who had a concealable stigma agreed that it was best to conceal this stigma when meeting a new person
concealing identities with a conversation partner experiment
Participants told to hide their identity reported lower levels of belonging and less positive interactions with a conversation partner. These effects were explained by lower feelings of authenticity.
behavioural implications of concealing
- Avoiding social interactions
- Impression management to conceal stigma (ex. Counter-stereotypical behaviour, Modifying mannerisms, Lying or keeping quiet about certain topics)
what shapes the decision to conceal or disclose?
- Threat of discovery
- Self-verification motives
- Context
- Degree of disclosure
self-verification motives
motivations to want others to see us as we see ourselves
compensation
Behaviours that reduce interpersonal discrimination toward one’s self (when stigma is visible or disclosed)
acknowledgement
openly addressing one’s stigma
result of acknowledgement
Eases interactions because they address underlying tension
increased positivity
acting in a way to engender more positive attitudes
examples of increased positivity
acting likeable, friendly, or approachable
individuating information
divulging information that allows others to see one as an individual rather than just a holder of a stigmatized identity
example of individuating information
Jennifer Richeson revealing her candy preferences to take away attention from her race & gender
manipulating stigma consciousness experiment conditions
- Experimental: read an article about how minorities are often the target of racist remarks in social interactions
- Control: read an article about how discrimination is common against the elderly
result of stigma consciousness for ethnic minorities
- More negative emotions
- Felt less authentic
- Like their conversation partner less
result of stigma consciousness for White people
reported having more positive experiences
desert island and confronting discrimination study method
women participated in a group decision-making study with two other people, where they had to pick 12 people out of a list of 30 who would be best suited to survive together on a desert island
During the discussion, a male confederate made sexist statements.