Karen Gonsalkorale

National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement

About 70% of more than half a million Implicit Association Tests completed by citizens of 34 countries revealed expected implicit stereotypes associating science with males more than with females. We discovered that nation-level implicit stereotypes predicted nation-level sex differences in 8th-grade science and mathematics achievement. Self-reported stereotypes did not provide additional predictive validity of the achievement gap. We suggest that implicit stereotypes and sex differences in science participation and performance are mutually reinforcing, contributing to the persistent gender gap in science engagement.

The self-regulation of automatic associations and behavioral impulses

The distinction between automatic processes and controlled processes is a central organizational theme across areas of psychology. However, this dichotomy conceals important differences among qualitatively different processes that independently contribute to ongoing behavior. The Quadruple process model is a multinomial model that provides quantitative estimates of 4 distinct processes in a single task: the likelihood that an automatic response tendency is activated; the likelihood that a contextually appropriate response can be determined; the likelihood that automatic response tendencies are overcome when necessary; and the likelihood that in the absence of other information, behavior is driven by a general response bias. The model integrates dual-process models from many domains of inquiry and offers a generalized, more nuanced framework of impulse regulation across these domains. The model offers insights into many central questions surrounding the operation and the interaction of automatic and controlled processes. Applications of the model to empirical and theoretical concerns in a variety of areas of psychology are discussed.

“That Is Bloody Revolting!” Inhibitory Control of Thoughts Better Left Unsaid

An experiment explored the hypothesis that inhibitory ability helps people stop themselves from engaging in socially inappropriate behavior. All participants completed a Stroop color-naming task, after which half of the participants were asked to remember an eight-digit number (inducing divided attention). Participants were then offered an unfamiliar and visually unappetizing food product (a chicken foot) under conditions of either low or high social pressure to pretend that it was appealing. Participants who had full attention available and were under pressure to pretend the food was appealing were least likely to emit a negative response, and performance on the Stroop task predicted the degree to which they successfully restrained negative responses. These results suggest that the cognitive ability to inhibit unwanted information facilitates socially appropriate behavior.

Darwinian Grandparenting: Preferential Investment in More Certain Kin

Studies on grandparental investment have revealed that mothers’ fathers are emotionally closer to their grandchildren than are fathers’ mothers. In the current study, it was hypothesized that this difference is caused by the fact that fathers’ mothers often have the potential to invest in genetically more certain kin (children through their daughters). To test this hypothesis, 787 participants rated their emotional closeness and exposure to their grandparents and indicated whether they had cousins through paternal and maternal aunts and uncles. Results indicated that participants felt closer to mothers’ fathers than fathers’ mothers only when alternate investment outlets for fathers’ mothers were available. Closeness ratings to fathers’ fathers also were reduced when they had grandchildren through their daughters. Exposure to grandparents revealed a similar pattern of findings but did not show the same sensitivity to the presence of more certain kin and did not appear to account for the closeness ratings.

The Quadruple Process model approach to examining the neural underpinnings of prejudice

In order to investigate the systems underlying the automatic and controlled processes that support social attitudes, we conducted an fMRI study that combined an implicit measure of race attitudes with the Quadruple Process model (Quad model). A number of previous neural investigations have adopted the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine the automatic processes that contribute to social attitudes. Application of the Quad model builds on this previous research by permitting measures of distinct automatic and controlled processes that contribute to performance on the IAT. The present research found that prejudiced attitudes of ingroup favoritism were associated with amygdala, medial and right lateral orbitofrontal cortex. In contrast, prejudiced attitudes of outgroup negativity were associated with caudate and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Frontal regions found in previous neural research on the IAT, such as anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and operculum were associated with detecting appropriate responses in situations in which they conflict with automatic associations. Insula activity was associated with attitudes towards ingroup and outgroup members, as well as detecting appropriate behavior.

Accounting for Successful Control of Implicit Racial Bias The Roles of Association Activation, Response Monitoring, and Overcoming Bias

Individuals who are primarily internally motivated to respond without prejudice show less bias on implicit measures than individuals who are externally motivated or unmotivated to respond without prejudice. However, it is not clear why these individuals exhibit less implicit bias than others. We used the Quad model to examine motivation-based individual differences in three processes that have been proposed to account for this effect: activation of associations, overcoming associations, and response monitoring. Participants completed an implicit measure of stereotyping (Study 1) or racial attitudes (Study 2). Modeling of the data revealed that individuals who were internally (but not externally) motivated to respond without prejudice showed enhanced detection and reduced activation of biased associations, suggesting that these processes may be key to achieving unbiased responding.

Social identity complexity: Comparing majority and minority ethnic group members in a multicultural society:

Social identity complexity (SIC) as defined by Roccas and Brewer is an individual’s subjective representation of the combination of his or her multiple ingroup memberships. Almost all prior research on SIC and its relationship to intergroup attitudes has been conducted with members of ethnic majority groups. The present research assesses SIC and its correlates among ethnic majority group members (Anglo-Australian students) and members of a salient ethnic minority group (Asian-Australian students). Study 1 found that Asian-Australians perceived significantly more overlap among their ingroups (lower SIC) than did Anglo-Australians, despite the fact that objective overlap is actually greater for majority than minority ethnic groups. Study 2 replicated this difference and found that perceived overlap was predicted by proportion of ingroup friends. Further, for the majority group, low SIC is associated with less inclusive Australian identity, but for minority group members, SIC and Australian identity inclusiveness are essentially independent. Results are discussed in terms of the social-structural environment in which multiple identities are managed.

Threatened masculinity and muscularity: an experimental examination of multiple aspects of muscularity in men.

Two studies examined the threatened masculinity theory of male body dissatisfaction, which posits that threats to masculinity result in increased muscle dissatisfaction. In Study 1, a masculinity threat was followed by tasks examining confidence in physical ability and perceptions of current and ideal body shapes. Results showed that men who experienced a masculinity threat reported lower confidence in their physical ability and perceived themselves as less muscular than men who experienced an affirmation of their masculinity. In Study 2, men were asked to report their intention to increase muscularity and their appearance anxiety following a threat to masculinity. Results showed that men reported lower appearance anxiety and drive for muscularity when their masculinity was threatened than when their masculinity was affirmed. This apparent contradiction can be explained by noting that men may be motivated to deny appearance concerns following a threat to masculinity, as such concerns are equated with femininity.

Sources of Ostracism The Nature and Consequences of Excluding and Ignoring Others

Until recently, researchers in the field of ostracism (i.e., the act of being excluded and ignored) have focused on investigating this phenomenon from the perspective of targets (i.e., the ostracized person). Although this has yielded important discoveries about the consequences of being ostracized, very little is known about the nature and consequences of being a source of ostracism (i.e., the ostracizer). This article reviews the current ostracism research pertaining to sources and outlines the immediate consequences of ostracizing. Also explored are the key challenges that researchers must overcome to ensure that ostracism is investigated from the perspective of both targets and sources.

Measures of Implicit Attitudes May Conceal Differences in Implicit Associations: The Case of Antiaging Bias

Performance on implicit attitude measures is influenced both by the nature of activated evaluative associations and by people’s ability to regulate those associations as they respond. One consequence is that identical implicit attitude scores may conceal different underlying processes. This study demonstrated this phenomenon and also shed light on the nature of age differences in antiaging bias on implicit attitude measures. Although younger and older participants demonstrated equivalent levels of antiaging bias on an Implicit Association Test (IAT), application of the Quad model showed that antiold associations were less activated among older than younger adults, but that older adults were less able to overcome these associations in performing the task. Thus, the lack of age differences in IAT performance concealed differences in both underlying evaluative associations and the ability to control those associations. These findings have important implications for the measurement and interpretation of implicit attitudes.