The effect of self-affirmation on perception of racism

Internal and external self-affirmation resources: validation and assessment of psychometric properties of the spontaneous self-affirmation measure using structural equation modeling

Introduction

People use coping strategies such as self-affirmation to manage threats to their self-esteem. In empirical research, self-affirmation often involves recalling personal values, strengths, or relationships to restore moral integrity. Research shows it improves attitude adjustment, resolves cognitive dissonance, and enhances well-being. Some studies stress the importance of distinguishing between different aspects of self-affirmation, like strengths or social relations. These aspects align with concepts in psychotherapy that differentiate between internal and external resource activation, benefiting health, self-esteem, and resilience. The aim of the current study was twofold: first, to independently test the three-factor structure of the Spontaneous Self-affirmation Measure (SSAM), and second, to integrate self-affirmation strategies into a broader resource activation framework as resilience factors. It also examined associations with self-esteem and effects of age, gender, and education on spontaneous self-affirmation.

Methods

1,100 participants (72% female, age 18-65) were recruited online. The original three-factor structure of the SSAM (with the factors Strengths, Values and Social relations) was examined using structural equation modeling. Further, a theory driven two-factor structure applying an internal and external resources framework was examined, integrating the factors of the SSAM into the taxonomy of resource activation (Internal resources: Strengths and Values; External resources: Social relations).

Results

The results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that both the original three-factor structure and the complementary two-factor structure with an Internal resources and External resources factor fit the data appropriately. All three factors of the original factor model showed a high reliability (Strengths: ω t = 0.91, Values: ω t = 0.91, Social relations: ω t = 0.92). We also found measurement invariance across age, gender, and education. Furthermore, group differences regarding gender, education and ethnicity in the utilization of spontaneous self-affirmation strategies were apparent. Finally, it was demonstrated that the Internal resources factor of the complementary two-factor model is significantly more strongly correlated with self-esteem than the External Resources factor [z = 12.80, p < 0.001, 95%CIdiff (0.24, 0.33)].

Discussion

The study confirms the validity of both the three-factor and two-factor structures of the SSAM. Integrating self-affirmation into the resource activation framework may facilitate applying findings from self-affirmation studies to clinical contexts.

MANdatory - why men need (and are needed for) gender equality progress

While much progress has been made towards gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, education and society, recent years have also revealed continuing challenges that slow or halt this progress. To date, the majority of gender equality action has tended to approach gender equality from one side: being focused on the need to remove barriers for girls and women. We argue that this is only half the battle, and that a focus on men is MANdatory, highlighting three key areas: First, we review men's privileged status as being potentially threatened by progress in gender equality, and the effects of these threats for how men engage in gender-equality progress. Second, we highlight how men themselves are victims of restrictive gender roles, and the consequences of this for men's physical and mental health, and for their engagement at work and at home. Third, we review the role of men as allies in the fight for gender equality, and on the factors that impede and may aid in increasing men's involvement. We end with recommendations for work organizations, educational institutions and society at large to reach and involve men as positive agents of social change.

Effectiveness of Self-Affirmation Interventions in Educational Settings: A Meta-Analysis

School and university can be stressful contexts that can become an important source of identity threats when social prejudices or stereotypes come into play. Self-affirmation interventions are key strategies for mitigating the negative consequences of identity threat. This meta-analysis aims to provide an overview of the effectiveness of self-affirmation interventions in educational settings. A peer-reviewed article search was conducted in January 2023. A total of 144 experimental studies that tested the effect of self-affirmation interventions in educational contexts among high school and university students from different social and cultural backgrounds were considered. The average effect of self-affirmation interventions was of low magnitude (dIG+ = 0.41, z = 16.01, p < 0.00), with a 95% confidence interval whose values tended to lie between 0.36 and 0.45 (SE = 0.0253). In addition, moderators such as identity threat, participants' age, and intervention procedure were found. Through a meta-analysis of the impact of self-affirmation interventions in educational contexts, this study suggests that interventions are effective, resulting in a small mean effect size. Thus, self-affirmation interventions can be considered useful, brief, and inexpensive strategies to improve general well-being and performance in educational settings.

Motivated Categories: Social Structures Shape the Construction of Social Categories Through Attentional Mechanisms

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

Social categories like race and gender often give rise to stereotypes and prejudice, and a great deal of research has focused on how motivations influence these biased beliefs. Here, we focus on potential biases in how these categories are even formed in the first place, suggesting that motivations can influence the very categories people use to group others. We propose that motivations to share schemas with other people and to gain resources shape people's attention to dimensions like race, gender, and age in different contexts. Specifically, people will pay attention to dimensions to the degree that the conclusions produced from using those dimensions align with their motivations. Overall, we suggest that simply examining the downstream effects of social categorization like stereotyping and prejudice is not enough, and that research should look earlier in the process at how and when we form the categories on which those stereotypes are based.

Thinking Structurally: A Cognitive Framework for Understanding How People Attribute Inequality to Structural Causes

To make accurate causal inferences about social-group inequalities, people must consider structural causes. Structural causes are a distinct type of extrinsic cause-they are stable, interconnected societal forces that systematically advantage some social groups and disadvantage others. We propose a new cognitive framework to specify how people attribute inequality to structural causes. This framework is rooted in counterfactual theories of causal judgment and suggests that people will recognize structural factors as causal when they are perceived as "difference-making" for inequality above and beyond any intrinsic causes. Building on this foundation, our framework makes the following contributions. First, we propose specific types of evidence that support difference-making inferences about structural factors: within-group change (i.e., observing that disadvantaged groups' outcomes improve under better societal conditions) and well-matched between-group comparisons (i.e., observing that advantaged group members, who have similar baseline traits to the disadvantaged group, experience more favorable societal conditions and life outcomes). Second, we consider contextual, cognitive, and motivational barriers that may complicate the availability and acceptance of this evidence. We conclude by exploring how the framework might be applied in future research examining people's causal inferences about inequality.

Testing the effects of group-affirmation in active conflict: Ukrainians' trust toward Russia

How can states with a history of recent armed conflict trust one another? Political psychology offers two competing approaches to increase trust between the publics of different countries: appealing to an overarching, common identity above the national level vs. affirming a sense of national identity. This study aims to examine the scope conditions of group-affirmation effects on trust in active conflicts by testing which group-affirmation approach increases trust towards Russia among the Ukrainian public. Distrust between Ukraine and Russia aggravates security fears and limits hope for a meaningful resolution of the bloodiest armed conflict in Europe since 1994. Hostility levels have risen dramatically between the populations of Ukraine and Russia after the events of 2013-2015. The study employs a survey experiment (between-subjects design) to evaluate these competing approaches. The survey was fielded in late May-June 2020 by a reputable public opinion research firm, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), based in Ukraine. The results suggest that in areas where conflict is salient, national identity affirmation can increase trust in subsamples that hold preexisting baseline levels of affinity toward the outgroup. When combined with the more anti-Russian Ukrainians however, this positive effect was cancelled out. In contrast, emphasis on an overarching, common ingroup identity did not raise trust in any subgroups. Examining the disparate effects of national identity affirmation in anti-Russian and pro-Russian regional subsamples helps specify the scope conditions of which group-affirmation can be most effective.

Advancing support for intergroup equality via a self-affirmation campaign

Members of historically advantaged groups are often unwilling to support actions or policies aimed at reducing inequality between advantaged and disadvantaged groups, even if they generally support the principle of equality. Based on past research, we suggest a self-affirmation intervention (an intervention in which people reflect on a positive trait or value in order to affirm their positive self-image) may be effective for increasing the willingness of advantaged group members to address inequality. Importantly, while self-affirmation has been only operationalized as a written exercise in the past, in this project, we adapt it into video messages for use in public campaigns. In Study 1, we experimentally tested an initial video adaptation of self-affirmation and found that it was effective in increasing the willingness of advantaged group members to address inequality in the context of Jewish–Arab relations in Israel. Based on this study, two NGOs developed a real campaign video and used it in their public campaign, and we tested this applied intervention (in Study 2) and found it to be effective compared to a control condition that only presented information about inequality. Together, these studies represent the first implementation of self-affirmation in real-world campaigns and indicate that it can be an effective way to increase support for action to address inequality.

Chronic frames of social inequality: How mainstream media frame race, gender, and wealth inequality

How social inequality is described—as advantage or disadvantage—critically shapes individuals’ responses to it [e.g., B. S. Lowery, R. M. Chow, J. R. Crosby, J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 45, 375–378, 2009]. As such, it is important to document how people, in fact, choose to describe inequality. In a corpus of 18,349 newspaper articles (study 1), in 764 hand-coded news media publications (study 2), and in a preregistered experiment of 566 lay participants (study 3), we document the presence of chronic frames of race, gender, and wealth inequality. Specifically, race and gender inequalities are more likely to be framed as subordinate groups’ disadvantages than as dominant groups’ advantages, and wealth inequality is more likely to be described with no frame (followed by dominant group advantage, then subordinate group disadvantage). Supplemental lexicon-based text analyses in studies 1 and 2, survey results in study 3, and a preregistered experiment (study 4; N = 578) provide evidence that the differences in chronic frames are related to the perceived legitimacy of the inequality, with race and gender inequalities perceived as less legitimate than wealth inequality. The presence of such chronic frames and their association with perceived legitimacy may be mechanisms underlying the systematic inattention to White individuals’ and men’s advantages, and the disadvantages of the working class.

Women's Lived Experiences with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): How TANF Can Better Support Women's Wellbeing and Reduce Intimate Partner Violence

Women experiencing poverty are more likely to face intimate partner violence (IPV), poor health, and stigma. IPV survivors are overrepresented among those who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a conditional cash program serving families experiencing poverty. More generous TANF policies may be protective against IPV, but a greater insight into TANF's effect could be gleaned through a contemporaneous study that examines intersecting determinants of wellbeing and engages community interpretation of findings. Using an adapted Family Stress Model framework and analyzing data through an intersectional and community-based lens, we explore the impact of TANF on women's wellbeing through in-depth, semi-structured interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic with 13 women who had TANF experience in three U.S. states. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis in MAXQDA and researchers facilitated three member-checking events to enhance validity of result interpretation. Four themes emerged: (1) Low cash and conditional benefits provided limited short-term "relief" but contributed to poverty and hard choices; (2) TANF benefit levels and conditions increased women's dependence on others, straining relationships; (3) Women undertook extraordinary measures to access TANF, largely to fulfill their roles as mothers; and (4) TANF stigma creates psychological stress, differentially experienced by African Americans. Increasing TANF cash benefits and other cash transfers for those experiencing poverty, adopting solely state funded TANF programs, increasing funding for TANF administration, addressing TANF stigma and racialized narratives, and allowing optional child support participation or a larger "pass-through" of child support are important steps toward making TANF more protective against IPV.

Group-Based Emotions and Support for Reparations: A Meta-analysis

In the aftermath of intergroup harm, victim groups often claim rights for restitution. Research has assessed how members of perpetrator groups respond to such claims, revealing that group-based guilt, shame, and anger can predict support for reparations. Though they have distinct foci, these group-based emotions are based on appraisals of ingroup harmdoing and victim group disadvantage as illegitimate. This meta-analysis investigates the relationship between these three group-based emotions and support for reparations, defined as symbolic or material policies that address historical injustices or the legacies thereof. An overall estimate based on 101 effect sizes from 58 samples, N = 10,305, showed a strong effect, r = .44, and revealed no significant difference between the three types of emotions. Moderator analyses revealed that the relationship between group-based guilt and reparations was weaker when the reparations required effort and stronger when the victims were Indigenous people; for shame, the relationship was weaker when the reparations required effort and stronger when the reparations contained symbolic elements; and for anger, the relationship was stronger when the victims were Indigenous people. Future research can further disentangle the conceptual overlap between these group-based emotions by explicitly testing heretofore under-examined yet important facets of intergroup contexts such as the timeframe of harm and the nature and meaning of the proposed reparations.

Ignorance of History and Political Differences in Perception of Racism in the United States

According to the Marley hypothesis, White Americans are more ignorant of historical racism than Black Americans, which explains their greater tendency to deny racism in the present. We extended the Marley hypothesis by testing whether it explains political differences in perception of racism among White Americans in the United States. Two preregistered studies measured participants’ knowledge of historical racism as well as their perception of present racism in individual cases and in society ( N = 463). White Republicans had less knowledge of historical racism and perceived less individual and systemic racism than White Democrats. Consistent with the Marley hypothesis, political differences in perception of individual racism were significantly mediated by knowledge of historical racism. These findings suggest that ignorance of historical racism may partly explain why White Republicans perceive less racism than White Democrats, and therefore extend the Marley hypothesis to the political realm.

Toward an understanding of structural racism: Implications for criminal justice

[Figure: see text].

Americans Misperceive Racial Disparities in Economic Mobility

What do people know about racial disparities in "The American Dream"? Across six studies (N = 1,761), we find that American participants consistently underestimate the Black-White disparity in economic mobility, believing that poor Black Americans are significantly more likely to move up the economic ladder than they actually are. We find that misperceptions about economic mobility are common among both White and Black respondents, and that this undue optimism about the prospect of mobility for Black Americans results from a narrow focus on the progress toward equality that has already been made. Consequently, making economic racial disparities salient, or merely reflecting on the unique hardships that Black Americans face in the United States, calibrates beliefs about economic mobility. We discuss the importance of these findings for understanding lay beliefs about the socioeconomic system, the denial of systemic racism in society, and support for policies aimed at reducing racial economic disparities.

Male allyship in institutional STEMM gender equity initiatives

This article examines men's involvement in an institutional gender equity award scheme and how their self-concept as allies develops over time. It draws specifically on a subset of qualitative data from the four men participating in a study involving in-depth interviews with university staff involved in the self-assessment team of one Australian institution's Science in Australia Gender Equality (SAGE) Athena SWAN pilot. Data related to the men's experiences is the article's focus. Key themes from the data include: 1) men's motivations for engagement; 2) men's self-understandings as 'champions for change' 3) the barriers/risks associated with male championship; and 4) men's evolving perceptions and critiques of the male champions model. Findings show that men demonstrated personal growth and increased awareness through their participation in the pilot. Yet, their frustration with how equity and diversity was managed in their organisational context highlights pitfalls in the concept of a male 'champion'. This article provides timely guidance for institutions seeking to engage allies in gender equity initiatives.

Group-affirmation and trust in international relations: Evidence from Ukraine

How can states with a history of recent armed conflict trust one another? Distrust between Ukraine and Russia aggravates security fears and limits hopes for a meaningful resolution of the bloodiest armed conflict in Europe since 1994. Hostility levels have risen dramatically between the populations of Ukraine and Russia after the events of 2013–2015. Political psychology offers two competing approaches to increase trust between the publics of different countries: appealing to an overarching, common identity above the national level vs. affirming a sense of national identity. This project asks which of these approaches increases trust towards Russia among the Ukrainian public. The study employs a survey experiment (between-subjects design) to evaluate these competing claims. The survey is to be fielded by a reputable public opinion research firm, the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, based in Ukraine.

Can Psychological Interventions Improve Intergroup Attitudes Post Terror Attacks?

This research concurrently investigated the effectiveness of three established bias-reducing interventions (i.e., positive affirmation, secure attachment, and cognitive dissonance) in the wake of the Paris and Brussels terror attacks. Using frequentist and Bayesian analyses, Study 1 ( N = 1,676), launched within days of the attacks, found that compared to a control condition, the interventions did not significantly improve intergroup attitudes. Instead, the data showed strong support of the null hypotheses that there were no intervention effects. Proximity to the attacks did not moderate the effect. Study 2 ( N = 285) reexamined the effects of the three interventions 2.5 years after the attacks, generally replicating the pattern of findings in Study 1. Together, this research highlights the challenge of intergroup bias reduction following terror attacks. We conclude by discussing several recommendations for how psychological interventions could play a more impactful role in contexts of heightened conflict.

Smith Sockbeson C. Caste at work: study of factors influencing attitudes toward affirmative action in India

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of caste identity in applied settings. The authors do this within the larger framework of affirmative action programs (AAPs) or “reservations” in India. The paper explores the interplay of a primordial identity like caste with the modern institutions representing equality – a context unique to India.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports the findings of two experimental studies collecting data using Mechanical Turk.

Findings

The first study finds that an individual hired under the AAP is perceived poorly on his/her competence and reward worthiness. The second study finds support for the influence of an individual’s conception of modern casteism and his/her caste identity as factors in shaping attitudes toward AAP.

Research limitations/implications

The paper lays the groundwork but does not explore the contours of casteism in contemporary India. Understanding of this construct as well as the impact of factors as region, education, urbanization, religion, nature of employment, etc. on caste dynamics should be considered by future research.

Practical implications

The paper uncovers some similarities between Indian and Western findings, but it also demonstrates key differences between findings related to race-based AAPs in the West and the caste-based AAP in India. This understanding will guide discourses on diversity management in under-researched countries like India. The findings can sensitize organizations to the need for addressing unconscious biases related to caste.

Social implications

The paper underscores the continuing relevance of caste in modern India and the negative perceptions of lower castes. The paper finds that individuals with an appreciation of the subtle forms of casteism are sympathetic to programs that promote social equality. In modern social contexts this nuanced operationalization of casteism can be a relevant indicator of caste dynamics.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study to examine caste-based AAP in India in an applied study and unpacks the psychological underpinnings of the attitudes toward AAP.

Self-Affirmation and Prejudice Reduction: When and Why?

The question of the antecedents of prejudicial responses has a long history that includes contributions of historical, structural, cultural, and psychological factors. Social-psychological research on prejudice as self-image maintenance provides evidence that manifestations of prejudice stem, in part, from the motivation to maintain a feeling of self-worth and self-integrity. Here, we review studies that indicate when and why prejudice toward out-groups in response to self-threats is weakened by affirmations of self-worth. A distinction emerges between in-group threats (e.g., negative acts committed by the in-group) and out-group threats (e.g., immigrants) to social identity, on the one hand, and the defensive reactions people make in response to each kind of threat (i.e., denying in-group responsibility vs. displaying prejudice), on the other. Such negative intergroup interactions can be attenuated by affirming the self. We present theorized moderators (i.e., individual differences and cultural norms) and proposed mechanisms underlying affirmation effects in the domain of prejudice. We discuss potential applications of self-affirmation in prejudice-reduction efforts.

Ignorance of History and Perceptions of Racism: Another Look at the Marley Hypothesis

Why do White Americans perceive less racism than Black Americans? Two provocative studies on the Marley hypothesis suggest that White Americans are more ignorant of historical instances of racism than Black Americans and that ignorance of history mediates racial differences in perceptions of racism. We conducted two replications of the Marley hypothesis in a different institutional and regional context than prior studies. In contrast with prior findings, the difference between White and Black Americans knowledge of historical racism was not significant in either of our replications and was dramatically smaller than that obtained in prior studies. Thus, the present research failed to replicate the mediation effect found in prior studies. We discuss potential explanations for these discrepant findings (e.g., differences in institution and region) and call for additional research examining whether the Marley hypothesis is moderated by cultural contexts.

The Psychology of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Creative Maladjustment" at Societal Injustice and Oppression

Many theoretical frameworks in psychology are premised on the notion that people are hedonistic in nature-drawn to pleasure and avoidant of discomfort. In this essay, we argue that psychology's hedonism contrasts with Martin Luther King Jr's conception of creative maladjustment, wherein a feeling of "cosmic discontent" is focused on the ugly truth of societal injustice. After reviewing hedonistic assumptions in the psychology of coping, well-being, and views of societal inequality, we discuss MLK's conception of creative maladjustment and tie it to critical consciousness and the present-day idea of being "woke." We then use MLK's ideas as a lens on contemporary psychological research of views of societal injustice "from above" and "from below." We suggest that MLK's analysis continues to challenge psychology to develop an approach to cognition, emotion, and motivation at societal injustice that identifies the ethical value of a sustained discontent that illuminates truth and animates opposition.

The Numbers Don’t Speak for Themselves: Racial Disparities and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Justice System

Many scholars and activists assume the public would be motivated to fight inequality if only they knew the full extent of existing disparities. Ironically, exposure to extreme disparities can cause people to become more, not less, supportive of the very policies that create those disparities (Hetey & Eberhardt, 2014). Here, we focus on the criminal justice system—policing and incarceration in particular. We argue that bringing to mind racial disparities in this domain can trigger fear and stereotypic associations linking Blacks with crime. Therefore, rather than extending an invitation to reexamine the criminal justice system, the statistics about disparities may instead provide an opportunity to justify and rationalize the disparities found within that system. With the goals of spurring future research and mitigating this paradoxical and unintended effect, we propose three potential strategies for more effectively presenting information about racial disparities: (a) offer context, (b) challenge associations, and (c) highlight institutions.

Motivated Collective Defensiveness: Group Members Prioritize Counterarguing Out-Group Criticism Over Getting Their Work Done

Group members defensively reject out-group criticism in self-reports because they perceive it as more threatening than the same criticism from the in-group ( intergroup sensitivity effect). But does this effect motivate action? In five experiments, group members exhibited behavior patterns characteristic of motivated goal pursuit: They prioritized defending their group over completing their individual work (Experiments 1–5), even when work was intrinsically rewarding (Experiment 2) or incentivized (Experiment 3). Lastly, this effect disappeared when group members had attained their goal of protecting their group by other means (i.e., group affirmation; Experiments 4 and 5). Together, the experiments suggest that intergroup sensitivity motivates goal-directed action. We discuss how motivated collective defensiveness may undermine constructive debate and heighten acrimony between groups.

Ignoring History, Denying Racism: Mounting Evidence for the Marley Hypothesis and Epistemologies of Ignorance

In demonstration of the Marley hypothesis, Nelson, Adams, and Salter showed that differences in critical historical knowledge (i.e., knowledge of past racism) and motivation to protect group esteem predicted present-day racism perceptions among Whites and Blacks attending different, racially homogenous universities. The present Study 1 conceptually replicates these findings among Whites and Blacks attending the same racially diverse university. Consistent with previous findings, Whites (vs. Blacks) displayed less critical historical knowledge, explaining their greater denial of systemic racism. Moreover, stronger racial identity among Whites predicted greater systemic racism denial. A brief Study 2 intervention boosts Whites’ racism perceptions. People who learned the critical history of U.S. housing policy (vs. a control group) acknowledged more systemic racism. The present work interrupts seemingly normal and neutral dominant perspectives, provides mounting evidence for an epistemologies of ignorance framework, and suggests that learning critical history can help propel anti-racist understandings of the present.

A cultural psychological analysis of collective memory as mediated action: Constructions of Indian history

The present research applies a cultural psychological perspective on collective memory as mediated action to examine how constructions of a national past serve as tools that both reflect and shape national identity concerns. We employ a situation-sampling method to investigate collective memory in a series of studies concerning intergroup relations in the Indian context. In Study 1, participants (N = 55) generated three historical events that they considered important/relevant for Indian history. In Study 2, participants (N = 95) rated the importance and relevance of these events in a within-participant design. Illuminating the psychological constitution of cultural reality, frequency of recall (Study 1) and ratings of importance/relevance (Study 2) were greater for nation-glorifying events celebrating ingroup triumph than for typically silenced, critical events acknowledging ingroup wrongdoing. Moreover, these patterns were stronger among participants who scored higher in national identification. In Studies 3 (N = 65) and 4 (N = 160), we exposed participants to different categories of events in a between-participants design. Illuminating the cultural constitution of psychological experience, participants exposed to typically silenced, critical events reported lower national identification and greater perception of injustice against marginalized groups than did participants exposed to nation-glorifying events. Together, results illuminate a conception of collective memory as mediated action. Producers invest memory products with an identity-interested charge that directs subsequent intergroup relations toward identity-consistent ends.

Rationale and design of the Staying Positive with Arthritis (SPA) Study: A randomized controlled trial testing the impact of a positive psychology intervention on racial disparities in pain

Knee osteoarthritis is a painful, disabling condition that disproportionately affects African Americans. Existing arthritis treatments yield small to moderate improvements in pain and have not been effective at reducing racial disparities in the management of pain. The biopsychosocial model of pain and evidence from the positive psychology literature suggest that increasing positive psychological skills (e.g., gratitude, kindness) could improve pain and functioning and reduce disparities in osteoarthritis pain management. Activities to cultivate positive psychological skills have been developed and validated; however, they have not been tested in patients with osteoarthritis, their effects on racial differences in health outcomes have not been examined, and evidence of their effects on health outcomes in patients with other chronic illnesses is of limited quality. In this article we describe the rationale and design of Staying Positive with Arthritis (SPA) study, a randomized controlled trial in which 180 African American and 180 White primary care patients with chronic pain from knee osteoarthritis will be randomized to a 6-week program of either positive skill-building activities or neutral control activities. The primary outcomes will be self-reported pain and functioning as measured by the WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index. We will assess these primary outcomes and potential, exploratory psychosocial mediating variables at an in-person baseline visit and by telephone at 1, 3, and 6months following completion of the assigned program. If effective, the SPA program would be a novel, theoretically-informed psychosocial intervention to improve quality and equity of care in the management of chronic pain from osteoarthritis.

You Should Know Better: Can Self-Affirmation Facilitate Information-Seeking Behavior and Interpersonal Discussion?

This study explores whether self-affirmation has the capacity not merely to reduce the perceived threat associated with health-related information but also to facilitate interpersonal discussion and affect health information-seeking behavior. The context for the study is the ongoing California drought, which serves as suitable context to examine the intersection of self-affirmation and information-seeking behavior because it involves a threatening message (the destructive consequences of the drought) and highlights discrepancies between actual (water waste) and prosocial (water conservation) behavior. Results of a month-long longitudinal panel study demonstrate significant effects of self-affirmation on interpersonal discussion, information seeking, knowledge, and water-conserving behavior across time. Implications for theorizing longer term effects of self-affirmation and practical implications for promoting behavioral change through the enhancement of knowledge and self-esteem are considered.

On the Intentionality of Cultural Products: Representations of Black History As Psychological Affordances

A cultural-psychological analysis emphasizes the intentionality of everyday worlds: the idea that material products not only bear psychological traces of culturally constituted beliefs and desires, but also subsequently afford and promote culturally consistent understandings and actions. We applied this conceptual framework of mutual constitution in a research project using quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the dynamic resonance between sociocultural variance in Black History Month (BHM) representations and the reproduction of racial inequality in the U.S. In studies 1 and 2, we considered whether mainstream BHM artifacts reflect the preferences and understandings of White Americans (i.e., psychological constitution of cultural worlds). Consistent with the psychological constitution hypothesis, White American participants reported more positive affect, better recognition, and greater liking for BHM representations from the schools where White Americans were the majority than BHM representations from the schools where Black students and other students of color were the majority. Moreover, as an indication of the identity relevance of BHM representations, White identification was more positively associated with judgments of positive affect and preference in response to BHM representations from White schools than BHM representations from the schools where Black students were in the majority. In studies 3 and 4, we considered whether BHM representations from different settings differentially afford support or opposition to anti-racism policies (i.e., cultural constitution of psychological experience). In support of the cultural constitution hypothesis, BHM representations typical of schools where Black students were in the majority were more effective at promoting support for anti-racism policies compared to BHM representations typical of predominately White schools and a control condition. This effect was mediated by the effect of (different) BHM representations on perception of racism. Together, these studies suggest that representations of Black History constitute cultural affordances that, depending on their source, can promote (or impede) perception of racism and anti-racism efforts. This research contributes to an emerging body of work examining the bidirectional, psychological importance of cultural products. We discuss implications for theorizing collective manifestations of mind.

Health Psychology in African Settings

African settings provide an important context in which to examine the relationship between cultural beliefs and health. First, research in African settings helps illuminate the sociocultural grounding of health and illness: the idea that beliefs play a constitutive role in the experience of distress. Second, research in African settings helps to illuminate the cultural grounding of health sciences: the idea that theory and practice reflect particular constructions of reality. We examine these ideas in the context of three research examples: the prominent experience of personal enemies; epidemic outbreaks of genital-shrinking panic; and fears about sabotage of vaccines in immunization campaigns.

Beyond Adaptation: Decolonizing Approaches to Coping With Oppression

How should one respond to racial oppression? Conventional prescriptions of mainstream social psychological science emphasize the idea ofcopingwith oppression—whether via emotional management strategies that emphasize denial or disengagement; problem-focused strategies that emphasize compensation, self-efficacy, or skills training; or collective strategies that emphasize emotional support—in ways that promote adaptation to, rather than transformation of, oppressive social structures. Following a brief review of the literature on coping with racism and oppression, we present an alternative model rooted in perspectives of liberation psychology (Martín-Baró, 1994). This decolonial approach emphasizes critical consciousness (rather than cultivated ignorance) of racial oppression, a focus on de-ideologization (rather than legitimation) of status quo realities, and illumination of models of identification conducive to collective action. Whereas the standard approach to coping with oppression may ultimately both reinforce and reproduce systems of domination, we propose a decolonial approach to racism perception as a more effective strategy for enduring prosperity and well-being.

Decolonizing Psychological Science: Introduction to the Special Thematic Section

Despite unprecedented access to information and diffusion of knowledge across the globe, the bulk of work in mainstream psychological science still reflects and promotes the interests of a privileged minority of people in affluent centers of the modern global order. Compared to other social science disciplines, there are few critical voices who reflect on the Euro-American colonial character of psychological science, particularly its relationship to ongoing processes of domination that facilitate growth for a privileged minority but undermine sustainability for the global majority. Moved by mounting concerns about ongoing forms of multiple oppression (including racialized violence, economic injustice, unsustainable over-development, and ecological damage), we proposed a special thematic section and issued a call for papers devoted to the topic of "decolonizing psychological science". In this introduction to the special section, we first discuss two perspectives—liberation psychology and cultural psychology—that have informed our approach to the topic. We then discuss manifestations of coloniality in psychological science and describe three approaches to decolonization—indigenization, accompaniment, and denaturalization—that emerge from contributions to the special section. We conclude with an invitation to readers to submit their own original contributions to an ongoing effort to create an online collection of digitally linked articles on the topic of decolonizing psychological science.

Museum spaces as psychological affordances: representations of immigration history and national identity

The present research draws upon a cultural psychological perspective to consider how psychological phenomena are grounded in socio-cultural contexts. Specifically, we examine the association between representations of history at Ellis Island Immigration Museum and identity-relevant concerns. Pilot study participants (N = 13) took a total of 114 photographs of exhibits that they considered as most important in the museum. Results indicate that a majority of the photographs reflected neutral themes (n = 81), followed by nation-glorifying images (n = 24), and then critical themes that highlight injustices and barriers faced by immigrants (n = 9). Study 1 examines whether there is a preference for glorifying images, and if that preference is related to cultural-assimilationist conceptions of national identity (i.e., defining American identity in dominant group standards). We exposed a new sample of participants (N = 119) to photographs reflecting all three themes. Results indicate that participants expressed greater liking for glorifying images, followed by neutral images, and critical images. National identity moderated within-subject variation in liking scores. Study 2 included 35 visitors who completed a survey before engaging with the museum or after their visit. Results indicate that participants who had completed their visit, compared to participants who had not entered the museum, reported (i) higher endorsement of cultural-assimilationist identity, and (ii) increased support for exclusive immigration policies. Study 3 exposed participants (N = 257) to glorifying, critical, or neutral images. Results indicate that participants who were exposed to glorifying images, especially those endorsing cultural-assimilationist identity, demonstrate decreased perception of current-day racial injustice, and increased ethnocentric enforcement bias. We discuss how engagement with privileged narratives may serve dominant group ends and reproduce systems of privilege.

The Politics of Affirmation Theory

It has been well established in the literature that affirming the individual self reduces the tendency to exhibit group-favoring biases. The limited research examining group-affirmation and bias, however, is inconclusive. We argue that group-affirmation can exacerbate group-serving biases in certain contexts, and in the current set of studies, we document this phenomenon directly. Unlike self-affirmation, group-affirmation led to greater ingroup-favoring evaluative judgments among political partisans (Experiment 1). This increase in evaluative bias following group-affirmation was moderated by political party identification and was not found among those who affirmed a non-political ingroup (Experiment 2). In addition, the mechanism underlying these findings is explored and interpreted within the theoretical frameworks of self-categorization theory and the multiple self-aspects model (Experiments 2 and 3). The broader implications of our findings for the understanding of social identity and affirmation theory are discussed.

When do high and low status group members support confrontation? The role of perceived pervasiveness of prejudice

This paper examines how perceived pervasiveness of prejudice differentially affects high and low status group members' support for a low status group member who confronts. In Experiment 1 (N = 228), men and women read a text describing sexism as rare or as pervasive and subsequently indicated their support for a woman who confronted or did not confront a sexist remark. Experiment 2 (N = 324) specified the underlying process using a self-affirmation manipulation. Results show that men were more supportive of confrontation when sexism was perceived to be rare than when it was pervasive. By contrast, women tended to prefer confrontation when sexism was pervasive relative to when it was rare. Personal self-affirmation decreased men's and increased women's support for confrontation when prejudice was rare, suggesting that men's and women's support for confrontation when prejudice is rare is driven by personal impression management considerations. Implications for understanding how members of low and high status groups respond to prejudice are discussed.

Evidence That a Brief Meditation Exercise Can Reduce Prejudice Toward Homeless People

Recent research has shown that integrating social and clinical psychological perspectives can be effective when designing prejudice-interventions, with psychotherapeutic techniques successful at tackling anxiety in intergroup contexts. This research tests whether a single, brief loving-kindness meditation intervention, without containing any reference to the intergroup context, could reduce prejudice. This exercise was selected for its proven positive effects on mental and physical health. We observed that participants who took part in two variations of this meditation exercise (one involving a stranger, the other a homeless person) reported reduced intergroup anxiety, as well as more positive explicit attitudes, and enhanced future contact intentions. We conclude that combining approaches in intergroup relations and psychotherapy could be beneficial to design new interventions to combat prejudice and discrimination.

The relationship between perceived discrimination and psychotherapeutic and illicit drug misuse in Chicago, IL, USA

Based on several stress-coping frameworks, recent studies have suggested that perceived experiences of discrimination, a psychosocial stressor, may be associated with various risky health behaviors. The 2001 Chicago Community Adult Health Study (n = 3,101), a face-to-face representative probability sample of adults in Chicago, IL, USA, was used to examine the relationship among lifetime everyday discrimination, major discrimination, and the use of illicit and psychotherapeutic drugs for nonmedical reasons. We used negative binomial logistic and multinomial regression analyses controlling for potential confounders. Approximately 17 % of the respondents reported using one or more illicit drugs and/or misusing one or more psychotherapeutic drug. Adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, other stressors and various personality-related characteristics, results from negative binomial regression suggest that respondents who experienced moderate to high levels of everyday discrimination misused on average 1.5 different kinds of drugs more than respondents that experienced relatively low levels of everyday discrimination (p < 0.05). Similarly, an increase in one lifetime major discrimination event was associated with an increase of misusing 1.3 different drugs on average regardless of experiences of everyday discrimination (p < 0.001). When examining the types of drugs misused, results from multinomial logistic regression suggest that everyday discrimination was only associated with illicit drug use alone; however, lifetime major discrimination was associated with increased odds of using any illicit and both illicit/psychotherapeutic drugs. Mental health and substance use clinical providers should be aware of these potential relationships and consider addressing the harmful effects of perceived discrimination, in all patients not only among racial/ethnic minority patients.

A brief self-affirmation study to improve the experience of minority patients

BACKGROUND

There is evidence that Black patients may experience stereotype threat--apprehension about being negatively stereotyped--in healthcare settings, which might adversely affect their behavior in clinical encounters. Recent studies conducted outside of healthcare have shown that a brief self-affirmation intervention, in which individuals are asked to focus on and affirm their valued characteristics and sources of personal pride, can reduce the negative effects of stereotype threat on academic performance and on interpersonal communication.

METHODS

This randomised controlled trial examined whether a self-affirmation (SA) intervention would decrease the negative effects of stereotype threat (negative mood, lower state self-esteem, greater perceptions of racial discrimination) and increase communication self-efficacy among Black primary care patients. Self-affirmation was induced by having patients complete a 32-item values affirmation questionnaire.

RESULTS

Patients in the SA condition had lower levels of performance self-esteem and social self-esteem than patients in the control. There were no differences between the SA and the control groups on negative mood, communication self-efficacy, and perceptions of discrimination.

CONCLUSIONS

Our SA intervention lowered state self-esteem among Black patients. Future research is needed to determine the type of SA task that is most effective for this population.

The Marley Hypothesis

This study used a signal detection paradigm to explore the Marley hypothesis—that group differences in perception of racism reflect dominant-group denial of and ignorance about the extent of past racism. White American students from a midwestern university and Black American students from two historically Black universities completed surveys about their historical knowledge and perception of racism. Relative to Black participants, White participants perceived less racism in both isolated incidents and systemic manifestations of racism. They also performed worse on a measure of historical knowledge (i.e., they did not discriminate historical fact from fiction), and this group difference in historical knowledge mediated the differences in perception of racism. Racial identity relevance moderated group differences in perception of systemic manifestations of racism (but not isolated incidents), such that group differences were stronger among participants who scored higher on a measure of racial identity relevance. The results help illuminate the importance of epistemologies of ignorance: cultural-psychological tools that afford denial of and inaction about injustice.