Lecture 20: Reducing Discrimination ll Flashcards
the problem of overconfidence
we are overconfident in our objectivity
The Bias Blindspot
people believe that they show less bias than the average person
confirmation bias and the bias blindspot
84% of people said that they show less confirmation bias than others, 16% of people said that they were just as biased, while none said they were more biased
professors and the bias blindspot
92% of professors think that they’re better than average in their academic output
how do we judge our own vs. others’ behaviours
We judge our own behaviour based on our thoughts, but others’ behaviour based on their actions
self-auditing
Going through every possible step of a process and trying to determine where biases might occur
potential solutions to overconfidence
- Self-audit your practices
- Create practices to circumvent your biases
evaluation
the degree to which one group is favoured
noise
the total number of errors made in evaluation
two ways of reducing discrimination
- reducing bias in evaluation
- reducing noise
Axt & Lai, 2019 noise and discrimination study
found that different interventions impact bias and noise differently. Using a decision-making task that produced discrimination based on physical attractiveness, forcing participants to slow down reduced noise but not bias, whereas warning participants to avoid using physical attractiveness reduces bias not noise.
paradoxical thinking
trying to change attitudes by presenting new information that is consistent with one’s beliefs that is so extreme that it leads someone to paradoxically perceive their own beliefs as irrational
the designers of paradoxical thinking argue that ___
“individuals who are provided with extreme information or instructions that are in line with their held beliefs or attitudes may change them even when they are extremely negative and well-entrenched”
Hameiri et al., 2014 Jews and Paradoxical thinking study method
investigated the attitudes and beliefs of 161 Israeli Jews over the course of one election year. The paradoxical thinking intervention involved watching clips that make an argument for why it is essential to have a sustained conflict with Palestinians.
Hameiri et al., 2014 Jews and Paradoxical thinking study findings
- Participants in the paradoxical thinking intervention were more supportive of a policy that evacuated Israeli settlements as a means of achieving peace with Palestinians
- Participants in the paradoxical thinking condition were also more likely to vote in elections for political candidates that had less pro-conflict positions towards Palestinians
why do paradoxical thinking interventions work?
because of their ability to evoke feelings of identity threat and surprise among participants
Bruneau et al., 2020 Muslims and hypocracy induction study method
In a hypocritical condition, participants read summaries of acts of mass violence committed by White Europeans. They then answered questions about how responsible Europeans are for such acts
They then completed the same measures but now about the 2015 Paris attacks led by Muslim extremists
Bruneau et al., 2020 Muslims and hypocracy induction study findings
This hypocrisy intervention reduced collective blame towards Muslims immediately, one month later, and even one year later
the problem of inequalities in education
large and persistent gaps in academic achievement based on demographic status
causes of inequalities in education
- Structural causes (ex. Unequal school funding, lack of access to opportunities, intergenerational transmission of social & cultural capital)
- Psychological causes (ex. Stereotype threat, disidentification from stereotyped domains)
Interventions that have shown to be effective for increasing achievement among under-represesented minorities & first-generation students
- Academic value
- Growth mindset
- Social belonging
- Personal values
- Empathic discipline
academic value interventions
students reflect on why course topics are useful and important for their own lives
why do academic value interventions work?
increases intrinsic motivation to do well in this class
academic value interventions study method
sought to make connections between the course material and ninth-grade science students’ everyday lives. Students were randomly assigned within each classroom to either write about the usefulness and utility value of the course material in their own lives (relevance condition) or write a summary of the material they were studying (control condition).
growth mindset intervention
teaching students that intelligence is malleable, not fixed
why does the growth mindset intervention work
increases motivation to try harder when faced with adversity
growth mindset study method
gave 6,000 high school students a one-hour online training session seeking to instill a growth mindset. In a pre-registered hypothesis, the researchers explored whether the intervention was going to be particularly effective among low and middle-achieving adolescents
growth mindset study findings
Among lower-achieving students, receiving the intervention led to an average increase of a 0.10 points in a ninth-grade GPA
The effect of the intervention was also higher among schools that had more supportive norms in terms of challenge-seeking, as measured by the percentage of students in that school who chose to complete a more difficult (but educational) worksheet when given the opportunity
social belonging intervention
students read testimonials about how more senior students worried about whether they belong in college during first year, but it gets better over time
why do social belonging interventions work?
reduces the tendency to think “I don’t belong here” when faced with adversity
belonging uncertainty
a common concern among Black college students, which can lead them to perceive common challenges in college as confirming that they do not belong. This perception can become self-fulfilling.
social belonging interventions study method
Showed college students from a racial minority a video where older students from the same racial backgroun talked about their own transition to college, with the goal of representing challenging times in college as normal, and as due to the transition itself rather than evidence of a permanent lack of belonging on the part of the self or one’s group
social belonging interventions study findings
- Despite just 8% of participants accurately remembering the video, being in the treatment condition showed lasting effects: Black participants reported greater satisfaction with their employment and greater overall well-being 8.5 years later
- Participants in the treatment condition did not show significant gains in more objective measures of employment success (ex. income)
potential mechanism behind social belonging interventions
the intervention helped facilitate the development of helpful mentoring relationships
personal values intervention
writing about personal values that one holds
why do personal values interventions work?
affirms self-worth broadly, diminishing the impact of academic adversity on self-worth
personal values interventions study method
asked 7th graders to reflect on an important personal value, such as relationships with friends and family or musical interests. This writing practice is meant to reduce psychological stress and improve self-worth.
personal values interventions study findings
low-GPA students showed greater GPA gains & maintenance than the control condition.
empathic discipline intervention
provide teachers with non-pejorative reasons for why students may misbehave at school and discouraged labelling students as trouble-makers
why do empathic discipline interventions work?
encourages teachers to view school discipline as an opportunity to develop mutual understanding and better relationships with students
empathic discipline intervention study method
assigned teachers to read an article supporting a punitive mindset or empathic mindset to approach discipline
empathic discipline intervention study findings
- The punitive mindset reminded teachers that punishment is critical for teachers to take control of the classroom, whereas the empathic mindset article argued that good teacher-student relationships are critical for students to learn self-control
- Middle school teachers who were randomly assigned to undergo a similar empathic-mindset training showed a 50% reduction in suspensions given over the course of the following school year
empathic vs. traditional discipline
Empathic discipline adopts a different approach in that the target of the intervention are teachers or administrators rather than students
similarity between discrimination intervention strategies
While all of these interventions adopt different strategies, each argues that psychological change an be achieved through recursive process (giving tools)
academic value interventions study findings
Those with low expectations of the course in the relevance condition performed better & showed greater interest in the course than those in the control condition.
recursive processes
the effects of an intervention build on themselves outside of the lab
