E. Ashby Plant

Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor.

The present work suggests that self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source. Laboratory tests of self-control (i.e., the Stroop task, thought suppression, emotion regulation, attention control) and of social behaviors (i.e., helping behavior, coping with thoughts of death, stifling prejudice during an interracial interaction) showed that (a) acts of self-control reduced blood glucose levels, (b) low levels of blood glucose after an initial self-control task predicted poor performance on a subsequent self-control task, and (c) initial acts of self-control impaired performance on subsequent self-control tasks, but consuming a glucose drink eliminated these impairments. Self-control requires a certain amount of glucose to operate unimpaired. A single act of self-control causes glucose to drop below optimal levels, thereby impairing subsequent attempts at self-control.

The regulation of explicit and implicit race bias: the role of motivations to respond without prejudice.

Three studies examined the moderating role of motivations to respond without prejudice (e.g., internal and external) in expressions of explicit and implicit race bias. In all studies, participants reported their explicit attitudes toward Blacks. Implicit measures consisted of a sequential priming task (Study 1) and the Implicit Association Test (Studies 2 and 3). Study 3 used a cognitive busyness manipulation to preclude effects of controlled processing on implicit responses. In each study, explicit race bias was moderated by internal motivation to respond without prejudice, whereas implicit race bias was moderated by the interaction of internal and external motivation to respond without prejudice. Specifically, high internal, low external participants exhibited lower levels of implicit race bias than did all other participants. Implications for the development of effective self-regulation of race bias are discussed.

Responses to Interracial Interactions Over Time

The current work tested and expanded on Plant and Devine’s (2003) model of the antecedents and implications of interracial anxiety by examining people’s experiences with interracial interactions at two time points. Study 1 explored non-Black people’s responses to interactions with Black people and Study 2 explored Black people’s responses to interactions with White people. Non-Black participants’ expectancies about coming across as biased in interracial interactions and Black participants’ expectancies about White people’s bias predicted their interracial anxiety and whether they had positive interactions with outgroup members during the 2 weeks between assessments. Across both studies, interracial anxiety predicted the desire to avoid interactions with outgroup members. In addition, participants who were personally motivated to respond without prejudice reported more positive expectancies. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for understanding the course and quality of interracial interactions.

Increasing Self-Regulatory Strength Can Reduce the Depleting Effect of Suppressing Stereotypes:

Three longitudinal studies and one correlational study tested the hypothesis that increasing self-regulatory strength by regular self-regulatory exercise would reduce the intrapsychic costs of suppressing stereotypes. Participants tried to resist using stereotypes while describing or talking to a stimulus person. Participants whose habitual motivation to suppress stereotypes was low exhibited impaired Stroop and anagram performance after the suppression task, presumably because of self-regulatory depletion (i.e., a reduction of self-regulatory strength following prior use). Two weeks of self-regulation exercises (such as using one’s nondominant hand or refraining from cursing) eliminated this effect. These findings indicate that self-regulatory exercise can improve resistance to self-regulatory depletion and, consequently, people can suppress stereotypes without suffering subsequent decrements in task performance.

The Problem of “Us” Versus “Them” and AIDS Stigma

This article has two goals. The first is to consider what the social-psychological literature on social identity, ingroup-outgroup perception, and prejudice contributes to the understanding of AIDS-related stigma. The second is to address ways to make the world more comfortable and compassionate for people with AIDS (PWAs). At the core of AIDS-related stigma is the perception that PWAs are members of an outgroup threatening ones social identity as a member of the nondeviant ingroup. A variety of psychological principles operate to heighten this perception and to make the boundaries between “us” and “them” seemingly impenetrable. Furthermore, reactions to PWAs are strongly affective and often involve multiple and conflicting emotional experiences. Models that consider the multifaceted, symbolic aspects of AIDS-related stigma may inform strategies for reducing the stigma. However, because many people may be resistant to direct attitude change tactics, the authors suggest an additional strategy that seeks to change attitudes indirectly by first changing behaviors.

Mortality Salience Increases Adherence to Salient Norms and Values

Four studies indicate that mortality salience increases adherence to social norms and values, but only when cultural norms and values are salient. In Study 1, mortality salience coupled with a reminder about cultural values of egalitarianism reduced prejudice toward Blacks among non-Black participants. In Studies 2 through 4, a mortality salience induction (e.g., walking through a cemetery) increased self-reported and actual helping behavior only when the cultural value of helping was salient. These results suggest that people may adhere to norms and values so as to manage awareness of death.

The Causes and Consequences of an Avoidance-Focus for Interracial Interactions

The current work examined the causes and consequences of non-Black people’s desire to avoid interracial interactions (an avoidance-focus). Expecting to respond with racial bias in inter-racial interactions was argued to result in an avoidance-focus for such interactions, which was hypothesized to have negative implications for the quality of interracial interactions. Across three studies, feedback indicating that non-Black participants would respond with racial bias in interactions with Black people resulted in anxiety and the desire to avoid the interaction. In addition, when participants with an avoidance-focus interacted with a Black confederate (Study 2), they had shorter interactions that were rated as less pleasant by the confederate and participant as compared to those without an avoidance-focus. Avoidance-focused participants were less interested in future interactions and came across as more avoidant and biased to their partner than less avoidance-focused participants. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for racial relations.

The Active Control of Prejudice: Unpacking the Intentions Guiding Control Efforts

To date, there is little direct evidence that people who are motivated to respond without prejudice actively work to reduce their prejudice. The authors explored peoples efforts to control prejudice for an upcoming interracial interaction. They proposed that people who were motivated to respond without prejudice should exert effort to control prejudice but that their efforts should reflect the intentions underlying their motivation. Behavioral evidence was provided across 3 studies supporting the contention that external motivation to respond without prejudice results in the intention to hide prejudice and that externally motivated people actively work to reduce detectable prejudice. In contrast, internal motivation gives rise to the intention to be free of prejudice, and internally motivated people actively work to eliminate any form of prejudice whether or not it would be apparent to others. The short- and long-term implications of these differential intentions are discussed.

The influence of depression on cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons.

OBJECTIVE An association between depression and cognitive decline (CD) has been observed in cross-sectional and case/control studies of elderly populations. Whereas a handful of longitudinal community studies have found depressive symptoms to predate the onset of CD, others have found no association between depression and subsequent cognitive dysfunction. The authors examined the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive errors measured 3 years apart in a longitudinal sample of community-dwelling elderly persons. METHODS Data were obtained from 4,162 subjects assessed as part of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, a population survey assessing physical, psychological, and social functioning of persons 65 years and older. RESULTS Depressive symptoms were associated with subsequent CD even after controlling for baseline cognitive status, as well as demographic (e.g., race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status) and physical functioning variables. This was true for the sample as a whole, as well as for a subsample of participants who evidenced no baseline cognitive difficulties. CONCLUSION Study results are consistent with others finding an association between depressive symptoms and subsequent CD. Theories regarding the causal mechanisms underlying the association between depression and cognitive decline are discussed.

Internal and External Motivation to Respond Without Sexism

Based on Plant and Devine’s (1998) measures of Internal and External Motivation to Respond Without Prejudice toward Blacks, new scales were developed to assess Internal and External Motivation to Respond Without Sexism (IMS-S and EMS-S, respectively). The scales possess good psychometric properties. Providing evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, the IMS-S was strongly related to measures of sexism yet unrelated to measures of social evaluation. The EMS-S was modestly related to both sexism and social evaluative concerns. Providing evidence of predictive validity, participants who were either internally or externally motivated to respond without sexism rated sexist jokes more negatively in a situation discouraging sexism compared to participants low in both sources of motivation. However, only high IMS-S participants rated the jokes negatively whether the situation encouraged or discouraged sexism and whether their response was public or private. Implications for understanding the similarities and differences between sexism and racism are discussed.