Zoe Kinias

The Group as a Resource: Reducing Biased Attributions for Group Success and Failure via Group Affirmation

Self-affirmation theory proposes that people can respond to threats to the self by affirming alternative sources of self-integrity, resulting in greater openness to self-threatening information. The present research examines this at a group level by investigating whether a group affirmation (affirming an important group value) increases acceptance of threatening group information among sports teams and fans. In Study 1, athletes exhibited a group-serving attributional bias, which was eliminated by the group affirmation. In Study 2, the most highly identified fans exhibited the most bias in terms of their attributions, and this bias was eliminated by the group affirmation. These studies suggest that groups can serve as resources from which people can draw in response to threatening group events.

Debiasing the Mind Through Meditation Mindfulness and the Sunk-Cost Bias

In the research reported here, we investigated the debiasing effect of mindfulness meditation on the sunk-cost bias. We conducted four studies (one correlational and three experimental); the results suggest that increased mindfulness reduces the tendency to allow unrecoverable prior costs to influence current decisions. Study 1 served as an initial correlational demonstration of the positive relationship between trait mindfulness and resistance to the sunk-cost bias. Studies 2a and 2b were laboratory experiments examining the effect of a mindfulness-meditation induction on increased resistance to the sunk-cost bias. In Study 3, we examined the mediating mechanisms of temporal focus and negative affect, and we found that the sunk-cost bias was attenuated by drawing one’s temporal focus away from the future and past and by reducing state negative affect, both of which were accomplished through mindfulness meditation.

Culture and gender inequality Psychological consequences of perceiving gender inequality

Previous research linking perceptions of gender inequality and psychological well-being were considered in light of the proposition that people from different cultures differ in their beliefs about how justifiable gender inequality is, and this research investigated these differences and their psychological consequences using cross-cultural comparisons. The results show that Hong Kong Chinese women saw gender inequality as less unjust (Study 1) and less unfair (Study 2) and valued gender equality less (Study 2) than European American women did. Gender inequality caused anger (Study 1) and predicted reduced life satisfaction (Study 2) more among European American women than among Hong Kong Chinese women. Implications for cross-cultural tolerance are discussed.

Prototypes of Discrimination: How Status Asymmetry and Stereotype Asymmetry Affect Judgments of Racial Discrimination

This research investigated status asymmetry and stereotype asymmetry features of the racial discrimination prototype. Consistent with status asymmetry predictions, Black observers made greater attributions to discrimination when the victim was Black and the perpetrator was White than when the roles were reversed. In contrast, White observers made similar attributions to discrimination, regardless of status asymmetry. In partial support of the stereotype asymmetry hypothesis, Black and White observers made greater attributions to discrimination for Black victims in a domain where Blacks are negatively stereotyped than positively stereotyped. However, attributions to discrimination for White victims were unaffected by the domain.

Women’s Disempowerment and Preference for Skin Whitening Products: Experimental Evidence

Free market advocates consider consumer choice unambiguously welfare-enhancing. But opponents argue that consumers are often unable to make choices aligned with their well-being, and that being dis...

Women's Disempowerment and the Market for Skin Whitening Products: Experimental Evidence from India

Free market advocates consider consumer choice unambiguously welfare-enhancing, but critics argue that availability of certain products can be detrimental for society. Contributing to this debate, we study the case of controversial skin whitening products sold widely in emerging markets. Although positioned as empowering female consumers by providing more choice, these have been scrutinized for perpetuating women’s disempowerment by reinforcing sociocultural biases. To test these claims, we experimentally examine a possible relationship between women’s disempowerment and preference for skin whitening products in India, and find some evidence of a positive relationship. Participants primed temporarily to feel more disempowered show greater preference for the stronger (and medically risky) products, but not for the milder ones. Implications from our findings for corporate social responsibility and policy are discussed.