Disreputable
Surprised elaboration: When White men get longer sentences
Lauren Eskreis-Winkler & Ayelet Fishbach
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
We present a new consequence of stereotypes: they affect the length of communications. People say more about events that violate common stereotypes than those that confirm them, a phenomenon we dub surprised elaboration. Across two public data sets, government officials wrote longer reports when negative events befell White people (stereotype-inconsistent) than when the same events befell Black or Hispanic people (stereotype-consistent). Officers authored longer missing child reports of White (vs. Black or Hispanic) children (Study 1a), and medical examiners wrote longer reports of unidentified White (vs. Black or Hispanic) bodies (Study 1b). In follow-up experiments, communicators found stereotype-inconsistent events more surprising and this prompted them to elaborate (Study 2). Surprised elaboration occurred for negative events (i.e., crimes, misdemeanors) and also positive ones (i.e., weddings; Study 3). We found that surprised elaboration has policy implications. Observers preferred to funnel government and media resources toward White victims, since their case reports were longer, even when longer reports were not more informative (Studies 4–6). Together, these studies introduce surprised elaboration, a new theoretical phenomenon with implications for public policy.
Gender stereotypes are racialized: A cross-cultural investigation of gender stereotypes about intellectual talents
Yuhang Shu et al.
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
In the United States, there is a common stereotype associating brilliance with men. This gender brilliance stereotype emerges early and may undermine women’s engagement in many prestigious careers. However, past research on its acquisition has focused almost exclusively on American children’s beliefs of White people’s intellectual talents. Therefore, less is known about how this stereotype develops in non-Western cultures and whether children consider other social identities such as race in forming this stereotype. To address these issues, the present research (a) provided the first cross-cultural test examining its development in 5- to 7-year-old Chinese and American children and (b) compared children’s gender brilliance stereotype of White people with that of Asian people. Studies 1 (N = 96; Chinese children) and 2 (N = 96; Chinese children) revealed that, similar to American children, Chinese children associated brilliance with White men (vs. White women) around the age of 6. In contrast, Studies 3 (N = 96; Chinese children) and 4 (N = 96; American children; 76.9% White) showed that 5- to 7-year-old children from both cultures associated brilliance with Asian women (vs. Asian men). The results suggest that the gender stereotype about brilliance has a racial component and may be culturally consistent. Overall, these findings add to our knowledge of children’s acquisition of the gender stereotype about brilliance in non-Western cultural contexts and highlight the importance of considering multiple social identities to understand the acquisition of stereotypes.
Factors Affecting Public Opinion on the Denial of Healthcare to Transgender Persons
Long Doan & Matthew Grace
American Sociological Review, April 2022, Pages 275-302
Abstract:
Between one-fifth and a third of people who are transgender have been refused treatment by a medical provider due to their gender identity. Yet, we know little about the factors that shape public opinion on this issue. We present results from a nationally representative survey experiment (N = 4,876) that examines how common justifications issued by providers for the denial of healthcare, and the race and gender identity of the person being denied care, intersect to shape public opinion concerning the acceptability of treatment refusal. We find that religious objections are viewed as less acceptable compared to a medical justification, in this case, inadequate training. However, the difference between religious objections and inadequate training is larger when the person being denied healthcare is White or Asian than when the person is Black or Latinx. Analysis of open-ended responses indicates the modest effect of doctor’s rationale on attitudes toward treatment refusal with respect to Black and Latinx patients is partially attributable to a racialized, free-market logic. Respondents were more likely to advocate for a doctor’s fundamental right to refuse service when evaluating Black and Latinx patients compared to White patients. We discuss the implications of these findings for intersectional approaches to trans studies and future public opinion research.
Presentation in self-posted facial images can expose sexual orientation: Implications for research and privacy.
Dawei Wang
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, May 2022, Pages 806–824
Abstract:
Recent research has found that facial recognition algorithms can accurately classify people’s sexual orientations using naturalistic facial images, highlighting a severe risk to privacy. This article tests whether people of different sexual orientations presented themselves distinctively in photographs, and whether these distinctions revealed their sexual orientation. I found significant differences in self-presentation. For example, gay individuals were on average more likely to wear glasses compared to heterosexual individuals in images uploaded to the dating website. Gay men also uploaded brighter images compared to heterosexual men. To further test how some of these differences drove the classification of sexual orientation, I employed image augmentation or modification techniques. To evaluate whether the image background contributed to classifications, I progressively masked images until only a thin border of image background remained in each facial image. I found that even these pixels classified sexual orientations at rates significantly higher than random chance. I also blurred images, and found that merely three numbers representing the brightness of each color channel classified sexual orientations. These findings contribute to psychological research on sexual orientation by highlighting how people chose to present themselves differently on the dating website according to their sexual orientations, and how these distinctions were used by the algorithm to classify sexual orientations. The findings also expose a privacy risk as they suggest that do-it-yourself data-protection strategies, such as masking and blurring, cannot effectively prevent leakage of sexual orientation information. As consumers are not equipped to protect themselves, the burden of privacy protection should be shifted to companies and governments.
Do we judge fiction by the author’s gender?
Chantelle Ivanski et al.
Journal of Media Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Female authors of fiction often perceive themselves to be undervalued in relation to their male counterparts. What is not clear is whether this preference for male authors comes from readers or publishers. Two pre-registered studies examined how university students evaluated book passages attributed to either male or female authors, and investigated whether negative evaluations of romance novels are based on their association with women. In Study 1, participants read identical passages attributed to either male or female authors and evaluated them. Study 2 extended this work by adding attributions of genre: either romance or literary fiction. Linear mixed-effects modeling and Bayesian analyses were employed to analyze these data. Study 1 demonstrated little preference for books attributed to males over females and Bayesian analyses confirmed support for the null in most cases. The results of Study 2 similarly suggested that author gender and genre attributions do not have a strong influence on evaluations.
Perceived authenticity as a vicarious justification for prejudice
Mark White & Christian Crandall
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, forthcoming
Abstract:
When is the expression of prejudice seen as authentic? Perceived authenticity refers to how much one judges another’s behavior to reflect the beliefs, attitudes, goals, and desires of that person. We investigate whether perceived authenticity can operate as a vicarious justification for prejudice — a way for prejudiced people to defend the prejudiced statements of others. In six studies, prejudice was positively related to perceived authenticity of similarly prejudiced statements: People are more likely to label prejudiced statements they agree with as authentic. We develop a vicarious justification account of “authentic prejudice.” People need not justify what is socially acceptable; if authenticity serves as a justification for prejudice, it will be reported only when the prejudice is nonnormative. Three studies demonstrate that the positive relationship between prejudice and perceived authenticity is heightened when the expressed prejudice is seen as unacceptable. People call “authentic” what they agree with but feel they cannot express.
Pandemic and prejudice: Results from a national survey experiment
Neeraj Kaushal, Yao Lu & Xiaoning Huang
PLoS ONE, April 2022
Abstract:
Do health and economic shocks exacerbate prejudice towards racial/ethnic minority groups? We investigate this question in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by collecting nationally representative survey data with an embedded experiment. Results show that priming COVID-19 salience has an immediate impact: compared to the control group, respondents in the treatment group reported increased prejudice towards East Asian and Hispanic colleagues. East Asians in the treatment group faced higher prejudicial responses from Americans living in counties with higher COVID-19 infections and those who lost jobs due to COVID-19, and fewer prejudicial responses in counties with a higher concentration of Asians. These results point to the salience of COVID-19 fueled health and economic insecurities in shaping prejudicial attitudes, specifically towards East Asians. County-level socioeconomic factors did not moderate the increased prejudicial attitudes toward Hispanics in the workplace. These findings highlight a dimension of prejudice, intensified during the pandemic, which has been largely underreported and therefore missing from the current discourse on this important topic.
Retail Race Discrimination
Meirav Furth-Matzkin
University of California Working Paper, February 2022
Abstract:
This Article investigates everyday race discrimination while shopping in clothing stores of different price ranges. It reports on an original field experiment which examines the combined effects of race and gender on consumers’ shopping experiences and outcomes. Nineteen testers -- Black and white females and males -- were recruited and trained to return pre-purchased, unworn clothing items (without receipts) to approximately sixty retail stores in Chicago. Overall, more than 200 audits were conducted and analyzed in this study. The findings show that, controlling for all other variables, Black customers receive worse treatment in retail stores than do comparable white customers seeking to return identical goods, and that Black females are particularly vulnerable to discrimination. Implications for law and policy are discussed.
Pride and prejudice and zombies...and statistics: Effects of powerful female role-models in media on attitudes towards women, and female viewer anxiety
Naser Mubarak & Christopher Ferguson
Current Psychology, February 2022, Pages 691–696
Abstract:
At present, there have been a number of studies examining the sexualization of female characters in various media. However, most studies to date have not clearly delineated whether sexualized images or the presence of assertive versus passive female characters influences negative attitudes toward women in viewers, as well as female viewer anxiety. The present study investigated whether the inclusion of powerful female characters in movies with sexualized content influences both male and female viewers’ attitudes towards women as well as anxiety responses of female reviewers. Participants included 134 undergraduate students attending a private liberal arts university in the southern region of the United States. Participants were randomized to watch one of three movie conditions: first, movies that involve strong female lead characters, but which also include sexualized characters, Second, movies that involve strong female lead characters without sexualization and third, movies that involve sexualized female characters without strong portrayals (i.e. damsels in distress). Participants were measured on attitudes toward women, rape myth acceptance and anxiety. Results indicated little support for the view that sexualized media impacted viewers’ attitudes toward women, rape myth acceptance or anxiety.
Minority salience and the overestimation of individuals from minority groups in perception and memory
Rasha Kardosh et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 14 March 2022
Abstract:
Our cognitive system is tuned toward spotting the uncommon and unexpected. We propose that individuals coming from minority groups are, by definition, just that — uncommon and often unexpected. Consequently, they are psychologically salient in perception, memory, and visual awareness. This minority salience creates a tendency to overestimate the prevalence of minorities, leading to an erroneous picture of our social environments — an illusion of diversity. In 12 experiments with 942 participants, we found evidence that the presence of minority group members is indeed overestimated in memory and perception and that masked images of minority group members are prioritized for visual awareness. These findings were consistent when participants were members of both the majority group and the minority group. Moreover, this overestimated prevalence of minorities led to decreased support for diversity-promoting policies. We discuss the theoretical implications of the illusion of diversity and how it may inform more equitable and inclusive decision-making.
Facial width-to-height ratio predicts fighting success: A direct replication and extension of Zilioli et al. (2014)
Neil Caton, John Hannan & Barnaby Dixson
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Zilioli et al. (2014) were the first to show an association between male facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and physical aggression and fighting ability in professional mixed-martial-arts fighters. Here, we re-examined this relationship by replicating (using all original measures) and extending (using 23 new variables related to fighting performance) Zilioli et al. (2014) in a statistically well-powered sample of 520 fighters using automatic and manual measures of the fWHR involving both eyelid and eyebrow landmarks, used interchangeably in previous reports (Studies 1–2). Most importantly, we successfully replicated Zilioli et al.'s (2014) central finding that fighters' fWHR, when manually calculated using the eyebrow landmark, predicted their fighting success (p = .004, controlling for body mass index and total fights). Consistent with past criticisms of using fight rather than fighter data to examine fighting success, which have argued that individual fights can be suddenly and unexpectedly determined and do not capture an individual's overall ability to succeed, Study 3 (N = 1367 fights) found no association between fWHR and singular victories. Studies 1–3 showed continual evidence that larger fWHRs were associated with grappling abilities, even after controlling for demographic and allometric factors. Strikingly, Study 3 discovered associations between all fWHR measures and grappling skill that remained robust before and after controlling for 17 different control variables. We discuss that grappling, or the act of taking down an opponent, involves a more aggressive, close-combat approach than does striking. Combined, these results offer additional support for the argument that fWHR may have been shaped by sexual selection.
Evaluations of Black and White Female Genitalia by Labiaplasty Status: A Pre-Registered Contextualization, Replication, and Extension of Findings on Labial Perceptions
Flora Oswald et al.
Journal of Sex Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Labiaplasty is an increasingly common form of cosmetic surgery involving the removal of portions of the labia minora to achieve a smaller, more symmetrical labial appearance. Labiaplasty is inextricably linked to the colonial medicalization of Black women’s labia, necessitating examination of labiaplasty and race in concert. Participants (N = 4351, Mage = 26.58; SDage = 8.89) were shown 12 randomized images of White and Black female genitalia – unaware that they were “before and after” images of labiaplasty procedures – and evaluated them on their alignment with societal ideals, personal ideals, perceived normalcy, and disgustingness. As hypothesized, postoperative labia were rated as more normal, more societally ideal, and more personally ideal than their preoperative counterparts; preoperative labia were rated as more disgusting than postoperative labia. Preoperative Black labia were perceived as more normal, more societally ideal, and more personally ideal, as well as less disgusting, than preoperative White labia. Postoperative White labia were perceived as more normal, more societally and personally ideal, and less disgusting than postoperative Black labia. Gender trends were inconclusive. Our findings point to the need for greater examination of how White bodily ideals shape evaluations of bodies, and for greater historical contextualization in research on labiaplasty.