Caricatures
A Race-Based Size Bias for Black Adolescent Boys: Size, Innocence, and Threat
Erin Freiburger et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
We adopted an intersectional stereotyping lens to investigate whether race-based size bias -- the tendency to judge Black men as larger than White men -- extends to adolescents. Participants judged Black boys as taller than White boys, despite no real size differences (Studies 1A and 1B), and even when boys were matched in age (Study 1B). The size bias persisted when participants viewed computer-generated faces that varied only in apparent race (Study 2A) and extended to perceptions of physical strength, with Black boys judged as stronger than White boys (Study 2B). The size bias was associated with threat-related perceptions, including beliefs that Black boys were less innocent than White boys (Study 3). Finally, the size bias was moderated by a valid threat signal (i.e., anger expressions, Studies 4A and 4B). Thus, adult-like threat stereotypes are perpetrated upon Black boys, leading them to be erroneously perceived as more physically formidable than White boys.
Assessing the Role of Sexual Orientation in the U.S. Labor Market for Artists and Arts Majors
Richard Paulsen, Neil Alper & Gregory Wassall
American Behavioral Scientist, forthcoming
Abstract:
Using American Community Survey data, we describe the labor market experiences of sexual minority artists and arts majors and explore the differences in their earnings and employment. We identify workers in cohabiting relationships as being either in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships. We find that artists are more than twice as likely to be in same-sex relationships when compared to the overall workforce, largely driven by higher shares of males in same-sex relationships. A similar pattern is observed for arts majors when compared to all college graduates. We find significant heterogeneity in the share of workers in same-sex relationships across individual artist occupations and individual arts majors. In testing for differences in earnings and employment, we use regression analysis, finding an increased likelihood of unemployment for male and female artists in same-sex relationships, earnings penalties for males in same-sex relationships, and earnings premiums for females in same-sex relationships. However, like other studies using coupled data, we hesitate in using causal language in interpreting the earnings regression results due to data limitations.
Nature and/or Nurture: Causal Attributions of Mental Illness and Stigma
Marta Elliott & James Ragsdale
Social Psychology Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
Most medical researchers and social scientists concur that mental illness is caused by “nature” and “nurture,” yet efforts to reduce stigma tend to focus on biomedical causes. This study analyzed original survey data collected from 1,849 respondents in 2021–2022 who were randomly assigned to 16 experimental vignette conditions. Each vignette portrayed a man and varied according to which psychiatric diagnosis his situation resembled (alcohol dependence, depression, or schizophrenia) and what caused it: genetics (nature), environmental stress (nurture), or both. Control conditions included subclinical distress and no explanation. Exposure to the environmental explanation (vs. no explanation) predicted identifying mental illness, reduced expectation of violence toward others, increased willingness to socially interact, and optimism for recovery with treatment. Exposure to the nature and nurture explanation (vs. no explanation) predicted reduced desire for social distance. Implications of these findings for future research and for contact-based anti-stigma efforts are presented.
Early Prenatal Sex Steroids and Sex-Typed Play Behavior at 4 Years of Age
Swathi Sethuram et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, forthcoming
Abstract:
During pregnancy, estrogens and testosterone influence brain development, resulting in sex-typical behavioral phenotypes. Prenatal testosterone exposure is associated with more male-typical behaviors in rodents, monkeys, and humans; however, few studies have examined the relationship between maternal sex hormones within the normal range and sex-dimorphic behaviors. In this study, we examined associations between prenatal estrogens and testosterone and sex-typical play in The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES), a multicenter pregnancy cohort. We collected prenatal serum during the first trimester (mean=11.1±2.6 weeks) and assessed child play behavior using the maternally completed Pre-School Activities Inventory (PSAI) at a mean age of 4.5 ± 0.3 years. This analysis includes mother-child pairs with complete data on hormones, play behavior, and covariates (n=192 boys and 207 girls). No associations were seen between testosterone and PSAI scores in boys or girls or between estrogens and PSAI scores in boys. In girls, we observed an inverse relationship between feminine PSAI scores and both estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3) in multivariable linear regression analyses (E2: -0.11 [95% CI -0.20, -0.02]; E3: -0.44 [95% CI -0.83,-0.04]). Because the relationship between sex hormones and PSAI scores appeared nonlinear, we fit piecewise regression models to better fit the data and identify inflection points (point at which there is a significant change in slope). Piecewise regression analyses yielded inverse associations between masculine PSAI scores and estrone (E1) at values of E1 >1340 pg/mL and E2 at values of E2 >2870 pg/mL in girls. Further studies are needed to better understand the role of prenatal sex steroids on sexually dimorphic behavior.
The Consequences of Hate Crime Victimization: Considering Prejudicial Attitudes as an Outcome of Interracial Bias-Motivated Conflict
Brendan Lantz, Zachary Malcom & Marin Wenger
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, forthcoming
Methods: Using survey data from 3,183 respondents across the United States, this research employs a series of regression models to examine the relationship between hate crime victimization and three different types of prejudicial attitudes: anti-Asian xenophobia, anti-Hispanic xenophobia, and anti-Black prejudice.
Results: Results indicate that hate crime victimization is significantly and positively associated with all three prejudicial attitudes, such that those who experienced a hate crime are more likely to report higher levels of anti-Asian xenophobia (b = .455; p < .001), anti-Hispanic xenophobia (b = .408; p < .001), and anti-Black prejudice (b = .360; p < .001). Results also indicate that these patterns are both offender race-specific and stronger for more recent victimization, compared to less recent victimization.
Are orcs racist? Dungeons and Dragons, ethnocentrism, anxiety, and the depiction of “evil” monsters
Christopher Ferguson
Current Psychology, May 2023, Pages 12400–12408
Abstract:
Recent years have seen debate about whether depictions of inherently evil monster races such as orcs in role playing games or literature/movies such as Lord of the Rings could be considered racist. Although such decisions may be subjective, little data has been produced to inform the debate regarding how critical an issue this is. In particular, does consuming such material relate to racism in the real world, or do a majority of individuals, particularly people of color, consider such depictions racist? The current study sought to address these issues in a sample of 308 adults (38.2% non-White) a subset of whom (17%) were players of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was not associated with greater ethnocentrism (one facet of racism) attitudes. Only 10.2% found a depiction of orc monsters as inherently evil to be offensive. However, when later asked the blunter question of whether the same depiction was racist, the number jumped to 34.0%, with women particularly inclined to endorse this position. This suggests asking people about racism may prime them to see racism in material they hadn’t previously found to be offensive. Neither participant race nor history playing the D&D game was associated with perceptions of offensiveness or racism.
Valence biases and emergence in the stereotype content of intersecting social categories
Gandalf Nicolas & Susan Fiske
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, forthcoming
Abstract:
People belong to multiple social groups simultaneously. However, much remains to be learned about the rich semantic perceptions of multiply-categorized targets. Two pretests and three main studies (n = 1,116) compare perceptions of single social categories to perceptions of two intersecting social categories. Unlike previous research focusing on specific social categories (e.g., race and age), our studies involve intersections from a large sample of salient societal groups. Study 1 provides evidence for biased information integration (vs. averaging), such that ratings of intersecting categories were more similar to the constituent with more negative and more extreme (either very positive or very negative) stereotypes. Study 2 indicates that negativity and extremity also bias spontaneous perceptions of intersectional targets, including dimensions beyond Warmth and Competence. Study 3 shows that the prevalence of emergent properties (i.e., traits attributed to intersecting categories but not the constituents) is greater for novel targets and targets with incongruent constituent stereotypes (e.g., one constituent is stereotyped as high Status and the other as low Status). Finally, Study 3 suggests that emergent (vs. present in constituents) perceptions are more negative and tend to be more about Morality and idiosyncratic content and less about Competence or Sociability. Our findings advance understanding about perceptions of multiply-categorized targets, information integration, and the connection between theories of process (e.g., individuation) and content.
Sensory perception relies on fitness-maximizing codes
Jonathan Schaffner et al.
Nature Human Behaviour, forthcoming
Abstract:
Sensory information encoded by humans and other organisms is generally presumed to be as accurate as their biological limitations allow. However, perhaps counterintuitively, accurate sensory representations may not necessarily maximize the organism’s chances of survival. To test this hypothesis, we developed a unified normative framework for fitness-maximizing encoding by combining theoretical insights from neuroscience, computer science, and economics. Behavioural experiments in humans revealed that sensory encoding strategies are flexibly adapted to promote fitness maximization, a result confirmed by deep neural networks with information capacity constraints trained to solve the same task as humans. Moreover, human functional MRI data revealed that novel behavioural goals that rely on object perception induce efficient stimulus representations in early sensory structures. These results suggest that fitness-maximizing rules imposed by the environment are applied at early stages of sensory processing in humans and machines.
Unmasking racial avoidance: Experimental evidence on parental school choice and public health policies during the Covid-19 pandemic
Chantal Hailey et al.
Social Science & Medicine, June 2023
Methods: We conducted an original school choice survey experiment with U.S. White parents in August 2021. Parents indicated their willingness to enroll their student in hypothetical schools with experimentally randomized school quality ratings, racial and socioeconomic demographics, and COVID mitigation strategies (i.e. instructional modalities, mask and vaccination mandates).
Results: We find novel causal evidence that White parents' preferences for schools’ racial demographics and public health policies are interdependent. Among otherwise similar schools, parents expressed stronger preferences to avoid Black, Latinx, and Asian schools when there were fewer COVID mitigation policies. Relatedly, parents required more stringent COVID protocols for their children to attend predominantly Black, Latinx, and Asian schools while showing no preferences for COVID policies among predominantly White schools. The interdependence of preferred racial demographics and public health polices was amplified among White parents who held stigmatizing beliefs about Asian populations carrying the COVID virus and pro-White sentiments. Although Democrats expressed stronger preferences for schools with more COVID mitigation strategies than Republicans, for White parents across the political spectrum school racial composition and COVID mitigation preferences interdepended.
Restricted access: Real estate agent response to client race, ethnicity, gender, and side of market
Andrew Hanson & Zackary Hawley
Real Estate Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We design and implement a correspondence experiment to test for differences in real estate agent response across client race, ethnicity, gender, and side of market. Real estate agents are more likely to respond to White clients than Black or Hispanic clients -- Whites have a 32.18% higher response rate than Hispanics and an 8.48% higher response rate than Black clients. We also find that real estate agents are more responsive to sellers (23.81% premium over buyers) and female clients (13.57% premium over males).
Effects of Race-Specific Prevalence and Racial Disparity Information About Obesity and Diabetes
Jiawei Liu & Jeff Niederdeppe
Health Communication, forthcoming
Abstract:
There are significant racial disparities in obesity and diabetes such that prevalence rates are higher among Black Americans than White Americans. This study examined effects of communicating the prevalence of obesity/diabetes and comparing race-specific prevalence rates between White and Black Americans to highlight racial health disparities. We conducted two preregistered, between-subjects randomized online experiments with an analytic sample of 1,232 U.S. adults (n = 609 for the obesity study and n = 623 for the diabetes study) stratified by race. In each experiment, we randomly assigned respondents to read an obesity/diabetes message 1) without disease prevalence information, 2) with the national obesity/diabetes prevalence rate, 3) with the race-specific obesity/diabetes prevalence rate among White Americans, 4) with the race-specific prevalence rate among Black Americans, or 5) comparing the race-specific prevalence rates between White and Black Americans, or 6) to a no-message condition. Results showed that diabetes prevalence information reduced the overestimation of race-specific diabetes prevalence. Comparing the obesity prevalence rate among White Americans to that of Black Americans increased support for policies to reduce racial health disparities, but also made Black respondents less likely to cut calories. Race-specific disease prevalence information and intergroup disease prevalence comparisons may have both positive and unintended consequences on message recipients. Health educators should be more cautious when communicating disease prevalence information.
When Appearance Social Comparison Benefits Women’s Body Satisfaction: Examining the Effects of Viewing Lean Sports
Yin Yang & Zizhuo Yin
Mass Communication and Society, forthcoming
Abstract:
While media representations of female athletes in lean sports often lead to negative body image perceptions in female audiences, media images depicting athletes playing sports may generate positive responses with respect to body image. Derived from the two lines of scholarship in sports media effects, this between-subjects, online experiment tests the effects of viewing images of female athletes playing lean sports (gymnastics, diving, artistic swimming, figure skating, and cheerleading). Results showed that female viewers (N = 625) engaged in greater appearance social comparison after viewing the images of female athletes playing lean sports (versus the control images), which in turn, was positively associated with their body satisfaction. Different levels of thinness and muscularity of female athletes in the media images did not significantly affect female viewers’ appearance social comparison or body satisfaction. Notably, post hoc analyses revealed several different findings across three age groups of women audiences (young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults). Overall, this study sheds light on the positive impact of appearance social comparison after viewing lean sports. Furthermore, the findings indicate the importance of focusing on athlete performance in media practice in relation to lean sports.