Mara Cadinu

Why Do Women Underperform Under Stereotype Threat? Evidence for the Role of Negative Thinking

This study investigated the role of negative thinking as a potential mediator of performance deficits under stereotype threat. After being assigned to a stereotype-threat or a no-threat condition, 60 female participants were asked to complete a difficult math task. Using the thought-listing technique, women under stereotype threat reported a higher number of negative thoughts specifically related to the test and to mathematics compared with women in the no-threat condition. Moreover, women under stereotype threat also showed a sharp decrease in performance that (a) was most pronounced in the second half of the test and (b) was mediated by the increase in negative thinking.

Sexual Harassment Under Social Identity Threat: The Computer Harassment Paradigm

Two laboratory experiments investigated the hypothesis that threat to male identity would increase the likelihood of gender harassment. In both experiments, using the computer harassment paradigm, male university students (N=80 in Experiment 1, N=90 in Experiment 2) were exposed to different types of identity threat (legitimacy threat and threat to group value in Experiment 1 and distinctiveness threat and prototypicality threat in Experiment 2) or to no threat and were then given the opportunity to send pornographic material to a virtual female interaction partner. Results show that (a) participants harassed the female interaction partner more when they were exposed to a legitimacy, distinctiveness, or prototypicality threat than to no threat; (b) this was mainly true for highly identified males; and (c) harassment enhanced postexperimental gender identification. Results are interpreted as supporting a social identity account of gender harassment.

The Cognitive Representation of Self-Stereotyping

The present work looks at the self-stereotyping process and reveals its underlying cognitive structure. When this process occurs, it is necessarily the result of an overlap between the representation of the ingroup and that of the self. Two studies measured this overlap and showed that it was higher on stereotype-relevant than on stereotype-irrelevant traits, it involved both positive and negative stereotypical traits, and it implied a deduction-to-the-self process of ingroup stereotypical dimensions. Moreover, the status of one’s social group was found to be a key variable in this process, showing that self-stereotyping is limited to low-status group members. Indeed, results of Study 2 showed that the overlap between the self and the ingroup for high-status group members was the result of an induction-to-the-ingroup process of personal characteristics. Implications for research on people’s self-construal are discussed.

Nomina Sunt Omina: On the Inductive Potential of Nouns and Adjectives in Person Perception

Six studies (N = 491) investigated the inductive potential of nouns versus adjectives in person perception. In the first 5 studies, targets were either described by an adjective (e.g., Mark is homosexual) or by the corresponding noun (e.g., Mark is a homosexual) or by both (Study 3). The authors predicted and found that nouns, more so than adjectives, (a) facilitate descriptor-congruent inferences but inhibit incongruent inferences (Studies 1-3), (b) inhibit alternative classifications (Study 4), and (c) imply essentialism of congruent but not of incongruent preferences (Study 5). This was supported for different group memberships and inclinations (athletics, arts, religion, sexual preference, drinking behavior, etc.), languages (Italian and German), and response formats, suggesting that despite the surface similarity of nouns and adjectives, nouns have a more powerful impact on person perception. Study 6 investigated the inverse relationship, showing that more essentialist beliefs (in terms of a genetic predisposition rather than training) lead speakers to use more nouns and fewer adjectives. Possible extensions of G. R. Semin and K. Fiedlers (1988) linguistic category model and potential applications for language use in intergroup contexts are discussed.

Stereotype threat: When minority members underperform

This chapter provides a brief overview of research on stereotype threat, and considers whether this phenomenon is specific to minority groups (defined as low status groups), or whether similar deficits may also be observed in groups that generally enjoy a high status in society but that are negatively stereotyped in a specific domain. We then review a number of individual difference variables that moderate stereotype threat and that may explain why some people are highly vulnerable to stereotype activation while others appear to resist its influence. Next, we consider what processes drive stereotype threat, including anxiety, intrusive thoughts, shift towards caution, expectancy, and disengagement. In the subsequent section we compare the stereotype threat model with other theories dealing with the link between stereotypes and performance, in particular self-fulfilling prophecy and the expectancy value model. The final sections of the chapter concern areas of application in which stereotype threat may account for performance gaps between social groups, and how to prevent it.

Risk Factors for Ethnic Prejudice During Early Adolescence

This study examines risk factors for ethnic prejudice during early adolescence in a sample of Italian middle school students (N = 187). It was predicted that low peer status would be associated with negative ratings of ethnic out-groups, but that this relation would be moderated by self-esteem. It was further hypothesized that individuals and their self-nominated groups would be similar with regard to ethnic prejudice, and that antisocial behavior would be positively related to ethnic prejudice. Consistent with our prediction, results revealed that when self-esteem was low, low peer status was associated with high prejudice against out-groups. On the contrary, when self-esteem was high, this relation was non-existent. Moreover, individuals and their self-nominated groups were similar with regard to ethnic prejudice, but only for stigmatized out-groups. A relation was found between antisocial behavior and ethnic prejudice, but only for non-stigmatized out-groups. The present study emphasizes the importance (1) of studying individual differences in risk factors and levels of prejudice and (2) of investigating the influence that peers may have on the development of ethnic prejudice.

Objectifying Media Their Effect on Gender Role Norms and Sexual Harassment of Women

Across two studies, we investigated the hypothesis that exposure to objectifying television in which women are shown as sexual objects increases the likelihood of harassing conduct. In both studies (Ns = 141; 120), male participants were exposed to one of the three TV clips in which women were portrayed (a) as sexual objects (objectifying TV), (b) in professional roles, or (c) excluded (a nature documentary). Study 1 showed that men exposed to objectifying TV reported greater proclivity to engage in sexual coercion and manifested more gender-harassing behavior than participants in the other conditions. Study 2 further demonstrated that exposure to objectifying TV increased participants’ conformity to masculine gender role norms, which, in turn, mediated the relation between experimental condition and gender harassment. Together, the two studies suggest that media content plays a central role in activating harassment-related social norms, which in turn encourage or inhibit harassing conduct.

Self-Stereotyping: The Central Role of an Ingroup Threatening Identity

ABSTRACT Self-stereotyping is a process by which people belonging to a stigmatized social group tend to describe themselves more with stereotypical traits as compared with traits irrelevant to the ingroup stereotype. The present work analyzes why especially members of low-status groups are more inclined to self-stereotype compared to members of high-status groups. We tested the hypothesis that belonging to a low-, rather than a high-status group, makes low-status members feel more threatened and motivates them to protect their self-perception by increasing their similarity with the ingroup. Specifically, we investigated the effects of an experimental manipulation that was conceived to either threaten or protect the natural group membership of participants from either a low- or a high-status group on the level of self-stereotyping. The findings supported the idea that only low-status group members protected themselves when their group identity was threatened through increased self-stereotyping.

The best way to tell you to use a condom: The interplay between message format and individuals' level of need for cognition

Abstract The present study addressed how individuals in high versus low need for cognition react to a persuasive message (concerning safer sexual conduct) presented either in a written format or in a comic-strip format. A control group that did not receive any persuasive message was also included. With reference to the Theory of Reasoned Action, we analyzed participants’ instrumental attitude and instrumental norm toward the use of condoms. Results indicated that, compared to participants in the control group, providing participants with the persuasive message bolstered their instrumental attitude and norm. More importantly, participants high in need for cognition displayed higher levels of both instrumental attitude and norm when the message was in a written, as compared to a comic-strip, format. In contrast, participants low in need for cognition reported a stronger level of both instrumental attitude and norm in reaction to a comic-strip than a written message. Results are discussed with respect to their theoretical and practical implications.

Second Language Competence in the Italian-Speaking Population of Alto Adige/Südtirol Evidence for Linguistic Stereotype Threat

Stereotype threat theory suggests that a negative stereotype about a social group can undermine the performance of group members in a stereotype-relevant domain. The present research examines this in the domain of second language (L2) competence. Two studies were conducted to test the effects of stereotype threat on L2 performance in a group of Italian-speaking people living in Alto Adige/Südtirol (AA/ST), a bilingual region of Italy. Participants were members of the Italian-speaking community who are generally not very proficient in L2 (i.e., German). When reminded of the negative stereotype, participants who highly identified with the domain (i.e., German language; Study 1) and those who believed that their linguistic group was in a disadvantaged position in AA/ST (Study 2) underperformed in a German language test. These findings are discussed in relation with peoples mastery of L2 in bilingual contexts and their consequences for the study of stereotype threat.