Carol T. Miller

Stop Complaining! The Social Costs of Making Attributions to Discrimination

Recent research indicates that stigmatized people may avoid claims of discrimination because such attributions are costly in terms of perceived control over outcomes and social self-esteem. The authors hypothesized that minimization of discrimination also occurs in part because negative social costs accompany attributions to discrimination. In Experiment 1, an African American who attributed a failing test grade to discrimination was perceived as a complainer and was less favorably evaluated in general than was an African American who attributed his failure to the quality of his test answers. This overall devaluation occurred regardless of the objective likelihood that discrimination occurred. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and revealed that this devaluation generally occurred only when the target made discrimination attributions, not when he made other external attributions. The social costs of making attributions to discrimination may prevent stigmatized people from confronting the discrimination they face in their daily lives.

Differences in Helping Whites and Blacks: A Meta-Analysis:

The amount of help given to Blacks versus Whites is often assumed to reflect underlying levels of racism (or lack thereof). This meta-analysis assessed discrimination against Blacks in helping studies. The overall effect size for the 48 hypothesis tests did not show universal discrimination against Blacks (d = .03, p = .103). However, consistent with the predictions of aversive racism, discrimination against Blacks was more likely when participants could rationalize decisions not to help with reasons having nothing to do with race. Specifically, when helping was lengthier, riskier, more difficult, more effortful, and when potential helpers were further away from targets, less help was given to Blacks than to Whites. Interestingly, discrimination against Blacks was shown when there were higher levels of emergency. This suggests that discrimination may occur when the ability to control prejudicial responding is inhibited, or when the arousal of the emergency is misattributed to intergroup anxiety.

The relationship between obesity, employment discrimination, and employment-related victimization

Abstract This study examined whether obese persons report more types of employment discrimination and employment-related victimization than do nonobese persons. This question has never been answered directly using obese and nonobese persons in naturalistic settings. The subjects were recruited through the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). They were assigned to one of three weight level groups: average (no more than 19% above ideal weight as defined by 1983 Metropolitan Life Height and Weight Tables), obese (20 to 49% above ideal weight), or very obese (50% or more above ideal average weight). Very obese subjects reported more types of employment discrimination, school victimization, attempts to conceal weight, and lower self-confidence than did nonobese subjects. Women reported more attempts to conceal their weight and lower self-confidence because of their weight than did men. Since permanent weight loss is not possible for most obese persons, the results of this study suggest that societal attitudes toward obese persons, particularly toward women, need to change in order to eliminate the employment-related discrimination and victimization experienced by the obese.

Psychosocial characteristics of preschool siblings of handicapped and nonhandicapped children

This project examined psychosocial characteristics of 24 preschool-aged siblings of handicapped children in relation to a control group of 22 siblings of nonhandicapped children. Subjects were matched on family size and income, sibling age, birth order, sex, age spacing, and marital status of their parents. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between groups of children on measures of perceived self-competence and acceptance, understanding of developmental disabilities, empathy, and child care responsibility. Significant group differences were found where brothers of handicapped children were rated by their mothers as being more depressed and aggressive than brothers of nonhandicapped control children. Sisters of handicapped children were rated by mothers as being more aggressive than sisters of nonhandicapped children. Sisters of handicapped children and brothers of nonhandicapped children had significantly fewer privileges and more restrictions on their home activities than other groups. Results are discussed in relation to previous research on older silbings of handicapped children and the general literature on family stress and childhood disability and disease. The importance of examining sibling functioning via multiple measures of child behavior is stressed.

A Stress and Coping Perspective on Confronting Sexism

In this study we tested a stress and coping model of confronting sexism. One hundred fourteen university women completed measures of optimism, cognitive appraisals about the prospects of confronting discrimination (expectations of the costs and benefits of confrontation as well as confrontation-related anxiety), and reported on the extent to which they behaved confrontationally in two recent encounters with sexism. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that an optimistic outlook on life was associated with more more benign appraisals of the consequences of confronting discrimination, which in turn was associated with greater reports of confrontational responses to prejudice. This study suggests that silence in the face of prejudice does not necessarily or generally represent contentment with the status quo and emphasizes the importance of understanding how appraisals of the costs and benefits of confronting discrimination relate to this process.

Reacting to Impending Discrimination: Compensation for Prejudice and Attributions to Discrimination

This experiment tested the hypothesis that stigmatized people attempt to compensate for or overcome the effects of prejudice on social interactions. In an adaptation of Ruggiero and Taylor’s minimization of discrimination design, the authors informed 134 women either prior to or after completing a task that there was some chance that a prejudiced man would evaluate them. The women who were forewarned about prejudice compensated for this threat by distancing themselves from traditional feminine stereotypes relative to the women who learned about prejudice only after the experimental task was completed. However, the overall impression created by the women who were forewarned about prejudice suffered in this process. In addition, the authors did not replicate the minimization of discrimination finding. Regardless of when the women learned about prejudice, those who faced certain and possible prejudice were equally likely to attribute failing feedback to discrimination.

The role of performance-related similarity in social comparison of abilities: A test of the related attributes hypothesis

Abstract The hypothesis that individuals evaluate their abilities by comparison with others who are similar on nonability attributes that are related to performance has been supported in recent experiments. However, since these experiments did not include conditions in which attributes were unrelated to performance, they provide no evidence that it was the relationship of attributes to performance that explains why subjects compared with similar others. In the present experiment, 66 female undergraduates could choose to compare their test performance to the performance of women who were similar or dissimilar to themselves in physical attractiveness and the college they attended. In a 2 × 2 design these attributes were either related or unrelated to test performance. Results showed that only the performance relevance of college attended influenced comparison choices. Subjects compared with similarly attractive women even when attractiveness was unrelated to performance. These results indicate that identification of the conditions in which people do and do not consider the relevance of attributes to performance in selecting comparison others warrants attention.

The interaction of mindful-based attention and awareness and disengagement coping with HIV/AIDS-related stigma in regard to concurrent anxiety and depressive symptoms among adults with HIV/AIDS.

This investigation examined the interaction of disengagement coping with HIV/AIDS-related stigma and mindful-based attention and awareness in regard to anxiety and depressive symptoms among people with HIV/AIDS. There was a significant interaction in regard to anxiety symptoms. Higher levels of disengagement coping paired with lower levels of mindful-based attention and awareness was related to the greatest degrees of anxiety symptoms, while lower levels of disengagement coping paired with higher levels of mindful-based attention and awareness was related to the lowest levels of anxiety symptoms. Although the interaction for depressive symptoms was not significant, a similar pattern of results was observed.

Preschool siblings of handicapped children: interactions with mothers, brothers, and sisters.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine similarities and differences between young (aged 3 years to 6 years 9 months) siblings of handicapped and nonhandicapped children in their behavioral interactions with their mothers, brothers, and sisters. Behavior of mothers toward the different groups of children also was examined. Results revealed few differences between sibling groups in the quantity or quality of their interactions with family members. In comparison to the matched control children, siblings of handicapped children engaged in more parallel play and social play, and were more nurturing but no more likely to interact aggressively or to be commanding or directive with their brothers or sisters. Mothers in the experimental group were found to target significantly more nurturant behaviors toward their children compared to control mothers and were significantly more likely to deliver commands, directives, and reprimands to siblings of handicapped children than to any other child. Results are discussed in terms of their correspondence to previous observational and interview research.

Effects of Stereotypes about Feminists on Feminist Self-Identification.

This study examined whether negative stereotypes about feminists serve as a barrier to self-identifying as a feminist. College women were exposed to positive stereotypes about feminists, negative stereotypes about feminists, or were not exposed to stereotypes about feminists (control condition) in a between-participants design. Women who read a paragraph containing positive stereotypes about feminists were twice as likely to self-identify as feminists as women in the control condition or the condition in which they read a paragraph containing negative stereotypes about feminists. Women exposed to positive feminist stereotypes had greater nontraditional gender-role attitudes and performance self-esteem compared to the no-stereotype-control condition.