Journal of Applied Social Psychology最新文献

With three experimental studies, we used the imagined contact hypothesis to investigate the efficiency of tourist-host contacts in promoting positive interethnic attitudes in Türkiye. Participants (ethnic Turks) were asked to envision themselves as tourists, interacting with a local minority member (either a Kurd or an Armenian) in the imagined destination place. We manipulated three variables: contact type (standard vs. friendship-fostering contact), tourism form (domestic vs. international), and tourist-host hierarchy. Study 1 (N = 261) and Study 3 (N = 284) examined attitudes toward Kurds, whereas Study 2 (N = 324) focused on views toward Armenians. An imagined interethnic contact with friendship potential in the domestic tourism setting (compared to an imagined trip without contact) produced higher approach intentions toward Kurds and Armenians, greater support for multiculturalism, and more positive affect toward Armenians. Surprisingly, when tourism-related imagined interactions were hierarchical (i.e., tourist-service personnel interaction) rather than egalitarian (i.e., tourist–resident interaction), they elicited more support for multiculturalism and higher approach intentions toward Kurds. Based on our findings, we propose tourism-based imagined contact as a novel intervention technique for promoting more harmonious interethnic relations, particularly by incorporating friendship potential.

Occupational choices at the early stage of one's career path are influenced by the real and imagined input of mentors. This research focuses on PhD advisors and the graduate students that they mentor. Each participant in that dyadic mentoring relationship holds assumptions about the beliefs of the other regarding the students' career preferences. We propose that, in the absence of discussions surrounding career goals in such relationships, pluralistic ignorance surrounding career norms may develop. PhD students may assume that their advisors prefer that students seek academic research positions; while advisors may assume students prefer academic research positions and may not bring up alternative careers. Three studies adopt a mixed-method approach to investigate divergent experiences surrounding career discussions. Study 1A (N = 301 faculty members in STEM fields) features qualitative and quantitative data and found that PhD advisors have experience working with students whose career preferences did not align with their expectations, and report changing their mentorship approaches while maintaining rigorous training. Study 1B (N = 195 PhD students in STEM fields) features qualitative data and found that students, although generally comfortable discussing different career options with their advisors, report several concerns that deterred them from discussing nonacademic research positions. Study 2, an experiment designed to compare perceived with actual norms (N = 200 PhD students in STEM fields) revealed that such discomfort could be alleviated by making explicit advisors' support for diverse career options and actual career preferences. The present research provides insights about pluralistic ignorance with implications for having more holistic career discussions in dyadic mentor relationships.

Microaggressions are behaviours constituting indirect or unintentional discrimination, but little is known about how group identity affects perceptions of their harm. Canada and the United States have similar socio-cultural backgrounds, but different socio-political climates, with greater political polarisation and arguably stronger ties between politics and race in the United States (Pew research, 2020). Thus, the interplay between ethnic/racial identity (ERI), political identity, and perceived harm of microaggressions may differ across these countries. In a recent study of Canadians, perceived microaggression harm was associated with leftward political orientation rather than ERI. Here, we extend this work to a U.S. sample. In two experiments (N = 99; N = 210), White participants and Participants of Colour rated the severity of microaggressions and reported their political orientation and the strength of their ERI. Microaggression severity ratings were associated with left-leaning political orientation, regardless of ERI. In Experiment 2, vignettes in which the perpetrator of a microaggression sought reparation by signalling a “reparatory open-mindedness” reduced severity ratings compared to instances in which the source doubled down on the microaggression. Interestingly, the size of this reduction in perceived severity was smaller than for Canadian participants. Thus, perceived microaggression harm is governed by similar forces in Canada and the United States, but signalling mindset, while still effective, leads to smaller reductions in perceived harm in the United States. This could indicate differences in intergroup trust and polarization between these nations. This work underscores the role of political orientation in perceptions of microaggressions and highlights the efficacy of mindset signalling in mitigating their harm.

The present research investigated whether a target applicant's race and disclosure of their race in a personal diversity statement influenced White evaluators' perceptions of the applicant's egalitarian motivations and their likelihood of contributing to organizational diversity and inclusion outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 206), participants evaluated a diversity statement that was ostensibly written by a White or Black applicant who either referenced or did not reference his race within the statement. Participants judged Black applicants as more internally motivated to be egalitarian and White applicants as more externally motivated, regardless of whether they disclosed their race in the statement. Participants also judged Black applicants as more likely to contribute to diversity and inclusion outcomes than White applicants. Study 2 (N = 257) aimed to replicate Study 1 and tested a strengthened race disclosure condition. We again saw little evidence of race disclosure impacting evaluations of applicants: Black applicants were judged as more internally motivated, less externally motivated, and more likely to contribute to diversity and inclusion compared to White applicants. Study 3 (N = 297) aimed to further replicate and expand on these results by testing a disclosure manipulation wherein the applicant discussed the personal importance/centrality of his race. Once again, applicant race (and not disclosure) demonstrated consistent effects on applicant evaluations. Our results highlight flaws in the personal diversity statement evaluation process, such that factors beyond statement content (i.e., applicant race) influenced perceptions and outcomes of the applicants. Practical implications and solutions for applicant evaluation processes are discussed.

Prejudice toward people with a disability remains an unchallenged global problem. This cross-sectional study investigated online intergroup contact involving university students without disability (N = 107), participating within a social program aimed at fostering the social inclusion of people with a disability. We tested two separate path models, where positive and negative online contact were the predictors (controlling for positive and negative offline contact), sense of community was the mediator, while social distance from, and attitudes toward people with disability, were the outcome variables. Results showed that greater positive (but not negative) online contact was associated with more positive evaluations and lower social distance toward people with a disability, via heightened sense of community.

We investigate whether people's regulatory mode (assessment and locomotion) and social comparison motives (self-evaluation vs. self-enhancement) jointly influence with whom—either a peer or their leader—individuals prefer to compare. In three preregistered studies (N = 839), we measured participants' chronic regulatory mode and assessed their comparison target preference separately for different social comparison motives. For each motive, participants indicated with whom they would prefer to compare, using choice (Study 1) and rating (Studies 2 and 3) measures. Supporting our predictions, assessment interacted with social comparison motives such that assessment was positively associated with preferring to compare to peers for self-enhancement motives, but unrelated to comparison target preference regarding self-evaluation motives. In addition, and as predicted, locomotion was consistently positively associated with preferring leaders as comparison target, independently of social comparison motives. These results contribute to emerging research highlighting the key role of individuals' regulatory mode in understanding interpersonal dynamics at work.

Social norms are important predictors of youth attitudes and behaviours. There is substantial evidence that positive and meaningful intergroup contact supported by inclusive norms can have a range of benefits beyond prejudice reduction. The present research explores whether perceived peer inclusion norms and perceived norms of equality in school are associated with better quality and more frequent intergroup contact and in turn, whether these are associated with better academic self-efficacy. To test these assertions, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with ethnic majority and ethnic minority youth aged 11–12 (n = 629, 48% female, 43% minority ethnic) attending one of four ethnically diverse secondary schools in England. In support of our hypotheses, we found that both perceived inclusive peer norms and perceived school equality norms were associated with higher quantity and quality of contact for both ethnic majority and minority group youth. An indirect effect was observed whereby perceived peer norms of inclusion and school norms of equality were associated with higher academic self-efficacy through higher quality outgroup contact for both groups. No indirect effect was observed for contact quantity. Findings evidence the importance of perceived peer and school equality norms as well as intergroup contact effects for outcomes that go beyond prejudice reduction, in this case academic self-efficacy.

In a multiethnic country like China, ethnic membership is an important dimension of social construction, and interethnic contact is a necessary component of social interactions. Family is the context where ethnic socialization takes place and where parents play a relevant role. The present study focused on the Hui-Han interethnic context. Measures of perceived parent's ethnic socialization, interethnic contact, and essentialism were administrated to Hui minority (N = 560) and Han majority (N = 954) secondary students. Results indicated that parents' positive ethnic socialization (cultural socialization/pluralism, promotion of harmony) was associated with greater positive and lower negative contact, while negative ethnic socialization (preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust) had opposite effects. Essentialist views of ethnicity moderated the associations of perceived parents' positive ethnic socialization with positive contact: the association between positive ethnic socialization and positive contact was stronger among individuals with lower (vs. higher) essentialist views. Results did not differ across the majority and the minority group. Implications for prompting positive interethnic interactions and preventing negative contact are discussed.

In this research, we aim to develop a better understanding of the different ways in which employees can advance or resist the diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies implemented by their organization. To this end, we complement prior work by distinguishing between employees' attitudinal and behavioral opposition versus support for D&I policies. We combine these to distinguish different combinations of attitudinal and behavioral responses that characterize specific groups of employees, which we label opponents, bystanders, reluctants, and champions. In a large-scale survey study conducted among employees from seven organizations located in the Netherlands (n = 2913), we find empirical support for the validity of this taxonomy and its value in understanding the likelihood that employees advance or resist D&I policies. Furthermore, we find more convergence between attitudinal and behavioral support when employees perceive a more positive climate for inclusion. Together, these results advance existing scholarly work by providing both a theoretical account of and empirical evidence for the different ways in which D&I policies may find support or resistance from employees. In addition, our work offer practitioners a practical tool to examine the likelihood that D&I policies meet support or opposition from their employees and therefore enables them to design and implement more effective D&I interventions.

The current research investigated whether mothers of transgender youth experience stigma-by-association. Mturk participants (N = 489) were randomly assigned to read a vignette about a family in which the social identity (transgender, gay/lesbian, cisgender/heterosexual control) and gender (girl, boy) of a child was manipulated, while all other information was held constant. Results revealed stigma targeting mothers as a function of children's social identity (but not gender), such that mothers of transgender girls and boys were viewed substantially more negatively than identical mothers of cisgender/heterosexual youth. Moreover, this stigma was particularly robust among politically conservative participants. In contrast, mothers of gay/lesbian youth did not encounter systematic stigma, though they were sometimes perceived more negatively than mothers of cisgender/heterosexual youth. Results provide novel experimental evidence of stigma-by-association targeting mothers of transgender youth and raise serious concerns about the treatment of parents who seek to affirm their transgender children.