Cookie White Stephan

Anxiety in intergroup relations: a comparison of anxiety/uncertainty management theory and integrated threat theory

Abstract In this article we review two theories in which anxiety and its relationship to intergroup relations play a central role: anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory and the integrated threat theory (ITT) of prejudice. The antecedents and consequences of anxiety in each theory are presented and comparisons between the theories are drawn. AUM specifies a greater range of antecedents, while ITT specifies a greater range of threats. The theories differ in the conceptualizations of the effects of anxiety with AUM holding that anxiety often has beneficial effects on intergroup relations and ITT arguing that anxiety typically has detrimental effects. AUM examines communication as the primary effect of anxiety whereas ITT focuses on prejudice. Possible reconciliations between the theories are discussed along with directions for future research.

Cognition and Affect in Stereotyping: Parallel Interactive Networks

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses cognition and affect in stereotyping. It presents a network model of stereotype-related cognitions and that of the affect and cognition. Perhaps the most basic issue to address concerning the relationship between cognition and the affect in stereotyping is whether the two are independent, form a unitary system, or operate as parallel systems. Independence would seem to be unlikely, except under special circumstances. If the cognitive and affective networks of stereotypes were independent, the affective responses to a stimulus would not be mediated by categorization. Instead, they would be primitive responses to the appearance and behavior of others. Independence is plausible in the case of some spontaneous positive and negative affective reactions. Cognition and affect are also unlikely to be a totally unitary system in which the cognitive and the affective nodes completely overlap. In such a system, cognition and affect would be indistinguishable.

Antecedents of intergroup anxiety in Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans

Abstract A model is presented in which prior intergroup relations and prior individual cognitions are hypothesized to determine the amount of anxiety experienced in intergroup interactions. These hypotheses were tested with Asian-Americans and Hispanics. It was found that Asian-Americans expressed more anxiety about interacting with Caucasians than did Hispanics. They also reported more negative attitudes toward Caucasians, less positive relations, and fewer positive contacts with Caucasians than did Hispanics. Low levels of contact were associated with high levels of intergroup anxiety in both groups. For Asian-Americans, negative relations with Caucasians and high ethnocentrism were also associated with high levels of intergroup anxiety. For Hispanics, low relative status and stereotyping were associated with high levels of intergroup anxiety.

The measurement of racial and ethnic identity

Abstract In this paper we examine some conceptual and methodological problems associated with the measurement of racial and ethnic identity. We discuss the initial use of racial terms, examine early racial classification systems and the bases for these systems. We then consider the characteristics of racial and ethnic identity and address common problems of ethnic classification today. We argue for a classification system based on self identification, and we review some current self-identity measures.

Emotional Expression in Costa Rica and the United States

This study examined three hypotheses concerning differences between collectivistic and individualistic-cultures using samples from Costa Rica and the United States. The first hypothesis was that people in individualistic cultures would express emotions affirming independent self-conceptions, whereas people in collectivistic cultures would express emotions affirming interdependent self-conceptions. The first part of this hypothesis was confirmed, but the second part was not. The second hypothesis was that people in collectivistic cultures would make a greater distinction in the degree to which they expressed emotions toward in-group and out-group members than would people in individualistic cultures. This hypothesis was not supported. The third hypothesis was that people in collectivistic cultures would feel less comfortable expressing negative emotions than people in individualistic cultures. The data provided strong support for this hypothesis. The results are discussed in terms of differences between these two cultures and their significance for intercultural communication and individualism-collectivism.

WOMEN'S ATTITUDES TOWARD MEN An Integrated Threat Theory Approach

Three studies were conducted to measure the antecedents of womens attitudes toward men using the integrated threat model. Four types of threats were hypothesized to produce negative attitudes toward men: (1) realistic threat based on threats to womens political and economic power, (2) symbolic threat based on value differences, (3) intergroup anxiety experienced during social interaction with outgroup members, and (4) negative stereotypes of men. Negative contact was hypothesized to increase the perception of all four threats as well as to affect attitudes directly. The findings suggest that symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative contact are the strongest predictors of negative attitudes toward men. Contrary to expectation, realistic threat may not be important to womens attitudes toward men.

Emotional Expression in Japan and the United States The Nonmonolithic Nature of Individualism and Collectivism

In this study, the impact of individualism-collectivism at the cultural and individual level on the expression of emotion in Japan and the United States was examined. Individualism-collectivism expectations at the cultural level were partially supported, and only weak effects of individualism-collectivism at the individual level were found. The data are consistent with socialization into individualistic and collectivistic values as well as the lessening of these influences in U.S. and Japanese society. They support the idea that individualism-collectivism is not a comprehensive and precise dimension but rather a loose collection of many different cultural characteristics.

Memory for Cultural Information about Russia and the United States Effects of Nationality and Mood

This study examines the processing of information about culture by Russians and Americans. The participants were induced into either a positive or a negative mood; read identical favorable, unfavorable, and neutral information about Russia or the United States; and completed a recognition task containing both statements they had read and statements they had not read. There was evidence of a bias toward greater recognition of unfavorable cultural information, particularly for Americans. In addition, Russians and Americans recognized different types of information, with Americans more likely to accurately recognize information that had been presented, and Russians somewhat more likely to recognize information that had not actually been presented. Finally, for anxiety a mood-incongruent effect was found for favorable cultural information. Implications of these findings for cross-cultural interactions and research needed to understand the effects of anxiety on memory are discussed.

Social Psychology at the Crossroads

More than 35 years ago Muzafer Sherif held a conference entitled “Social Psychology at the Crossroads” (Rohrer & Sherif, 1951). The crossroad to which he referred was the intersection between sociological social psychology (SSP) and psychological social psychology (PSP). The metaphor of an overpass might have been more appropriate, since the two disciplines seldom actually met. Recognizing that the two social psychologies had not achieved a successful synthesis, Sherif (1951) wrote: Social psychology… is still groping its way at the crossroads. Groping at the crossroads may be taken as a sign of vitality. A few decades ago, conditions were not even ripe for serious groping (p. 1).