the effects of self-esteem on implicit stereotypes katie fisher and jenny mcguinness
TRANSCRIPT
The Effects of Self-Esteem on Implicit Stereotypes
Katie Fisher and
Jenny McGuinness
“When an individual encounters another, he/she routinely categorizes that person in terms of salient features.” (Bertram et al., 2002)
Stereotyping
Automatic vs. Controlled Processes
•Automatic processes are mental processes that occur without conscious effort.
•Controlled processes are mental processes that we consciously control.
Automatic Processes vs. Personal Beliefs
Stereotypes can be learned in childhood and become automatic. In this way, stereotypes can affect us without our conscious involvement.
(Devine, 1989)
Implicit Association Test
This test assesses implicit attitudes people have by having them quickly categorize stimulus words using two response keys.
Formation of the IAT
Each block starts with short instructions for the specific task and requests the participant to respond as fast as possible.
(Bertram et.al, 2002)
Most IAT tests are made up of 5 blocks:
•Initial target-concept
•Attribute discrimination
•Initial combined task
•Reversed target-concept
•Reversed combined task
Initial Target-Concept
*Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face is African American and the right key if the face is European American
African American European American
Attribute Discrimination
*Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the word is “good” and the right key if the word is “bad”
Initial Combined Task (Critical Block 1!!)
European American
Bad
African American
Good
Face OR Word
*Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face or word is African American or “good” and the right key if the word or face is European American or “bad”
Reversed Target Concept
*Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face is European American and the right key if the face is African American
Reversed Combined Task (Critical block 2!!)
Face OR Word
European American
Good
African American
Bad
*Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face or word is European American or “good” and the right key if the word or face is African American or “bad”
It is presumed that a larger IAT effect – or larger gap between congruent and non-congruent reaction times - shows that the individual has a stronger association in memory between the specific concept pairings (i.e. European American-good or African American-bad) that make the judgment faster.
For example: White individuals typically categorize more quickly when the paired words are “white or good” or “black or bad” than with opposite pairings
(McConnell & Leibold, 2000)
IAT Effect
Self-Esteem
“An affective component of the self, consisting of a person’s positive and negative self-evaluations.” (Brem, Kassin, & Fein, 2002)
Personal: Self-esteem based on self perception
Collective: Self esteem based on group membership
Self-esteem & Stereotypes
Those who base their self-esteem on their own self perception tend to make up for low esteem by picking on others in order to raise self-esteem
Those who exhibit collective self-esteem make an attempt to remain positive about social identity, and therefore self-esteem
-(De Cremer, 2000)
Current Study
This study will look at the effects of an individual’s self-esteem (both personal and collective) on his/her unconscious tendency to stereotype.
Our Hypothesis
We believe that those with low self-esteem will have more
unconscious stereotypes than
those with high self-esteem.
Participants
Small Midwestern Liberal Arts College
41 total subjects 19 Male 22 Female
Between ages of 18-22 Freshman: 14 Sophomore: 14 Junior: 5 Senior: 9
Procedure
Informed Consent Demographics
SES status Age Number of siblings Major & Minor
Self-Esteem ScalesPersonal Self-Esteem (PSE) –
Using Rosenberg Self-Esteem InventoryExample question: “I am able to do things as well as most other people.”
Collective Self-Esteem (CSE) –
Example question: “I am a worthy member of the social groups I belong to.”
IAT Procedure
IAT Participants given specific
instructions in order to take the IAT: http://psychexps.olemiss.edu/Exps/IAT_Race/IATRace.htm
Before running subjects, set up project Placed assigned participant number in
as their “guest name.” Received another number/letter code To get our data ran selected our project
Debriefing
IAT Effect
IAT Main Effect
0
0.5
1
1.5
IAT Categories
Reac
tion
Tim
e
Congruent
Non-Congruent
IAT: F (1,39) = 75.99, p <.01 Gender: F (1,39) = .15, (n.s.) IAT x Gender: F (1,39) = .90, (n.s.)
IAT Scoring
IAT Difference Time = NC - C
-After obtaining the participants times offline, their congruent time was subtracted from their non-congruent time to obtain their IAT difference times.
Overall Results
r = -.119, (n.s.)
r =.036, (n.s.)
r = .495,p<.01
IAT Dif.
IAT Dif.
PSE
CSEPSE
Overall, we found no significant correlations with the IAT difference which means our hypothesis was not supported.
Results by Gender - Female
r = -.115, (n.s.)
r = -.409,p = .059
r = .710, p<.01
IAT Dif.
PSE
IAT Dif.
CSEPSE
Females show a trend towards a significant relationship between IAT and CSE
Results by Gender - Male
r = -.247, (n.s.)
r = .522, p<.05
r = .014, (n.s.)
IAT Dif.
IAT Dif.
PSE
PSE
CSE
Although with the men there is a significant correlation between IAT and CSE, it is a positive correlation which indicates the higher self-esteem men have, the more likely they are to implicitly stereotype.
Scatterplot
CSE
120110100908070
IAT
.8
.6
.4
.2
0.0
-.2
-.4
There is one outlier that could be driving the correlation, what would happen if it was taken out?
Let’s find out…
We Found Out
r = -.094, (n.s.)
r = .276, (n.s.)
r = .087, (n.s.)
IAT
IAT
CSEPSE
PSE
The correlation was no longer significant which leads us to believe that the correlation was not real.
CSE
1201101009080
IAT
.7
.6
.5
.4
.3
.2
.1
0.0
Discussion
Hypothesis not supported – why? IAT unconscious PSE and CSE are conscious
Discussion Continued
CSE and PSE highly correlated for women – but not for men What does this mean? Possible gender difference in
collective and personal self-esteem…women tend to base self-esteem more on group membership while men base their self-esteem on a more personal level.
Limitations
Small, Liberal Arts College Most males were from a single
fraternity Only had one non-Caucasian
participant (Pacific Islander)
Possible Future Directions
Develop an implicit measure of self-esteem Greenwald et. al (2002)
Look at the relationship between personal and collective self-esteem in men and women
More diversity in the sample
Questions