On the malleability of automatic stereotyping

论自动刻板的可塑性

• 批准号: 6657334
• 负责人: Nilanjana Dasgupta
• 金额: $ 7.5万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-09-06 至 2005-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6657334
• 关键词: attitude; behavioral /social science research tag; belief; clinical research; human subject; peer group; prejudice; psychological tests; self concept; social group; social psychology; socioenvironment; stimulus /response

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed project seeks to assess the conditions under which cues in the social environment promote the malleability of automatic stereotypes about social groups and the self. Until recently, automatic beliefs and attitudes were considered to be quite intractable, partly because belief and attitude change, however temporary, was assumed to require volition and control. New studies now offer initial evidence suggesting that automatic beliefs and attitudes are more flexible than previously imagined. Some studies found changes in automatic responses after altering the social context that people were in without directly manipulating their motivations. For example, exposure to images of admired members of stigmatized groups and disliked members of valued groups has been found to diminish automatic negative group-related attitudes. The first goal of this project is to investigate whether the effect of counterstereotypic images can extend beyond attitudes, to influence automatic beliefs about stigmatized groups; and if so, whether in-group (vs. out-group) members are more likely to be sensitive to counterstereotypes. The second goal is to investigate whether the effect of counterstereotypes on in-group beliefs produces parallel changes in people's beliefs about themselves on the stereotypic dimension. The final goal is to examine whether the malleability of automatic self and group stereotyping is dependent on how frequently people encounter counterstereotypes. When stereotypes affect people's sense of self, it has negative health implications as has been illustrated by past research showing that the threat of being stereotyped has damaging effects on mental and physical health (e.g., it raises anxiety, blood pressure, and lowers performance. The present project implies that people may non-consciously internalize harmful stereotypes that may negatively impact their mental health; however, counterstereotypic role models may serve as buffers against damaging self-perceptions

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议的项目旨在评估社会环境中的线索在何种条件下促进了关于社会群体和自我的自动定型观念的可塑性。直到最近，自动的信念和态度被认为是相当棘手的，部分原因是信念和态度的改变，无论是多么短暂，都被认为需要意志和控制。新的研究现在提供了初步的证据，表明自动的信念和态度比之前想象的更灵活。一些研究发现，在改变人们所处的社会背景而不直接操纵他们的动机后，自动反应发生了变化。例如，暴露在受人尊敬的污名化群体成员和不受欢迎的有价值群体成员的形象中，已经被发现减少了与群体相关的自动负面态度。这个项目的第一个目标是调查反刻板印象的影响是否可以延伸到态度之外，以影响对被污名化群体的自动信念；如果是这样的话，组内(相对于组外)成员是否更有可能对反刻板印象敏感。第二个目标是调查反刻板印象对群体内信念的影响是否会导致人们在刻板印象维度上对自己的信念产生平行的变化。最终目标是检验自动自我和群体刻板印象的可塑性是否取决于人们遇到反刻板印象的频率。当刻板印象影响人们的自我意识时，它会对健康产生负面影响，正如过去的研究所表明的那样，被刻板印象的威胁会对心理和身体健康产生破坏性影响(例如，它会增加焦虑、血压和降低表现。目前的研究表明，人们可能会无意识地将有害的刻板印象内化，这些刻板印象可能会对他们的心理健康产生负面影响；然而，反刻板印象的榜样可以作为缓冲，防止破坏性的自我认知。