psychological reactions to perceived stigma maria del prado silvan ferrero, uned madrid, spain john...
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Psychological Reactions to Perceived Stigma
MARIA DEL PRADO SILVAN FERRERO,
UNED Madrid, Spain
JOHN B. PRYOR & GLENN D. REEDER,
Illinois State University, USA
European Association for Experimental Social Psychology June, 2005
Stigma
• “a person who is stigmatized is a person whose social identity, or membership in some social category calls into question his or her full humanity” (Crocker & Major, 1989).
Primary Research Questions for Today’s Presentation
What is the role of onset controllability in emotional reactions to stigmas?
How do different emotions relate to the approach/avoidance reactions to persons who are stigmatized that unfold over time?
Theoretical perspectives - people have both positive and negative
reactions to persons with stigmas
• Weiner’s (1993) attribution theory– Uncontrollable stigmas->pity->helping– Controllable stigmas->anger->not helping
• Katz’s (1977) ambivalence hypothesis– Stigmas simultaneously evoke both revulsion and
sympathy-emotional ambivalence.
Measuring Approach/Avoidance
Reactions over Time Using a Computer Analogue
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Personal Responsibility for Onset
legally blind
paralyzed by drunk driver
AIDS from a blood transfusion
breast cancer
obese due to glandular disorder
cancer
heart disease
depressed
AIDS
obese
obese & does not exercise
addicted to drugs
AIDS from unprotected gay sex
cancer & smoked for 20 years
abuses a child
Stigma
Mean Ratings of Personal Responsibility for the Onset of Stigmas
Mean Ratings of Personal Responsibility for the Onset of Stigmas
Personal Responsibility for Onset
Ratings of 15 stigmas selected using a pre-test: Ratings of 15 stigmas selected using a pre-test: 5 controllable, 5 neutral, & 5 uncontrollable onset5 controllable, 5 neutral, & 5 uncontrollable onset
Instructions to ParticipantsInstructions to Participants
Participants were instructed to imagine working Participants were instructed to imagine working with a variety of patients in a hospital setting.with a variety of patients in a hospital setting.
Transportation specialist Interviewing patients at intake
Legally Blind
Participants were asked to move a computer cursorParticipants were asked to move a computer cursortoward or away from each patient’s picture totoward or away from each patient’s picture toindicate how comfortable they felt in workingindicate how comfortable they felt in workingwith the patient. They were given 10 secondswith the patient. They were given 10 secondsto adjust the picture cursor distance. Distance wasto adjust the picture cursor distance. Distance wasrecorded in 500 ms intervals.recorded in 500 ms intervals.
Participants’ experimental taskParticipants’ experimental task
Approach/Avoidance Reactions to
uncontrollable, Neutral and Controllable Stigmas
over Time
Stigma Avoidance as a Function of Controllability and Time
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Time_01Time_02Time_03Time_04Time_05Time_06Time_07Time_08Time_09Time_10Time_11Time_12Time_13Time_14Time_15Time_16Time_17Time_18Time_19Time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Avoidance (distance in pixels)
Controllable
Neutral
Uncontrollable
Time X Controllability Interaction: F (38,7740) = 107.59, p < .01
How we measured specific emotional reactions to the 15
stigmas
To what degree did you feel each of these emotions when you thought about interacting with the people who had each of these conditions? Please rate your feeling of these emotions using this scale (i.e., write numbers in the boxes):
I did not feel this emotion 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I felt this emotion very strongly
EMOTIONS CONDITIONS anger pity compassion fear disgust obese cancer addicted to drugs AIDS from a blood transfusion abuses a child obese & does not exercise breast cancer depressed AIDS from unprotected gay sex legally blind obese due to glandular disorder cancer & smoked for 20 years AIDS heart disease paralyzed by drunk driver
Example of ratings participants made after the computer task
Condensing the emotional reaction measures
• Principal components analyses were performed on the average ratings of the 19 emotions for each type of stigma:Controllable, Neutral, & Uncontrollable Onset.• Three factors emerged consistently: positive emotions,uncertain emotions, and negative emotions. Specific emotions that did not load consistently on the samefactor across the stigma types were eliminated.• For example, pity was eliminated because sometimesit loaded on a positive factor, while other times, it loaded on a negative factor.
Emotional Reactions to Stigma
• Negative Emotions:Negative Emotions: disgust, fear, disgust, fear, anger, unsafe, irritationanger, unsafe, irritation
• Uncertain Emotions:Uncertain Emotions: uncertainty, uncertainty, anxiety, surpriseanxiety, surprise
• Positive Emotions:Positive Emotions: empathy, empathy, compassion, sympathy, care, compassion, sympathy, care, tenderness, kindnesstenderness, kindness
Emotional Reactions to Stigma as a Function of Controllability
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Negative Uncertain Positive
Emotions
Degree Emotion was Felt
UncontrollableNeutral
Controllable
Correlations of distance measured at 500 ms.
intervals (greater distance means more stigma avoidance)
to self-reported emotions concerning neutral
onset stigmas
Relationship of Emotions to Avoidance of Neutral Stigmas over Time
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
time_01time_02time_03time_04time_05time_06time_07time_08time_09time_10time_11time_12time_13time_14time_15time_16time_17time_18time_19time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Partial Correlations with Stigma Avoidance
Negative
Uncertain
Positive
Relationship of Emotions to Avoidance of Neutral Stigmas over Time
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
time_01time_02time_03time_04time_05time_06time_07time_08time_09time_10time_11time_12time_13time_14time_15time_16time_17time_18time_19time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Partial Correlations with Stigma Avoidance
Negative
Uncertain
Positive
Uncertain statistically significant in the first 1.5 seconds
Degree of positive emotion Degree of positive emotion is significantly correlated to is significantly correlated to stigma movement after only 500 ms.stigma movement after only 500 ms.
Correlations of distance measured at 500 ms.
intervals (greater distance means more stigma avoidance)
to self-reported emotions concerning
uncontrollable onset stigmas
Relationship of Emotions to Avoidance of Uncontrollable Stigmas over Time
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
time_01time_02time_03time_04time_05time_06time_07time_08time_09time_10time_11time_12time_13time_14time_15time_16time_17time_18time_19time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Partial Correlations with Stigma Avoidance
Negative
Uncertain
Positive
Relationship of Emotions to Avoidance of Uncontrollable Stigmas over Time
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
time_01time_02time_03time_04time_05time_06time_07time_08time_09time_10time_11time_12time_13time_14time_15time_16time_17time_18time_19time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Partial Correlations with Stigma Avoidance
Negative
Uncertain
Positive
Statistically significant in the first 3.5 seconds
Only significant after 5 seconds
Degree of positive emotion Degree of positive emotion is significantly correlated to is significantly correlated to stigma movement after only 500 ms.stigma movement after only 500 ms.
Correlations of distance measured at 500 ms.
intervals (greater distance means more stigma avoidance)
to self-reported emotions concerning
controllable onset stigmas
Relationship of Emotions to Avoidance of Controllable Stigmas over Time
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
time_01time_02time_03time_04time_05time_06time_07time_08time_09time_10time_11time_12time_13time_14time_15time_16time_17time_18time_19time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Partial Correlations with Stigma Avoidance
Negative
Uncertain
Positive
Relationship of Emotions to Avoidance of Controllable Stigmas over Time
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
time_01time_02time_03time_04time_05time_06time_07time_08time_09time_10time_11time_12time_13time_14time_15time_16time_17time_18time_19time_20
Time (in 500 ms intervals)
Partial Correlations with Stigma Avoidance
Negative
Uncertain
Positive
UncertainNeverStatistically significant
Degree of positive emotion Degree of positive emotion is significantly correlated to is significantly correlated to stigma movement after only 500 ms.stigma movement after only 500 ms.
•Significant after 2.5 seconds•Much stronger connectionsto negative emotions overall
Summary of Study 2: Approach/avoidance reactions to perceived stigmas were correlated with a mixture of positive, uncertain, and negative emotions.
•Onset Neutral (ambiguous): An initial relationship of avoidance to uncertain emotions followed by stronger connections to positive emotions. Also, negative emotions were progressively more correlated.•Onset Uncontrollable: An initial significant relationship of avoidance to uncertain emotions followed by stronger connections to positive emotions. Correlations to negative emotions were significant after a time, but much lower.•Onset Controllable: After a pause, positive emotions were correlated to avoidance and then progressively negative emotions were correlated as well. Connections to uncertain emotions were not significant.
Research Questions for the Future
• What is ambivalence? Is it a mixture of positive and negative emotions? Is it a feeling of uncertainty? Is it both?
• What is the difference between a negative emotion and the absence of a positive emotion when you examine self-reports? Is "I did not feel compassion” a negative emotion?
• Is there a better measure of emotions than retrospective self-reports?