When failing feels good—Relative prototypicality for a high-status group can counteract ego-threat after individual failure

The Bicultural Phenomenon

Abstract. Cross-cultural research has indicated that bicultural individuals switch their behavioral patterns according to situational cultural frames. Based on self-categorization theory and evidence that being prototypical for an ingroup can increase ingroup identification, we investigated the idea that when being prototypical for a specific culture, bicultural individuals switch their cultural identification toward the culture for which they are prototypical. According to previous findings, we additionally investigated the moderating role of perceived cultural compatibility. In this study, we manipulated cultural group prototypicality by giving immigrant Polish-German participants test performance feedback. As hypothesized, participants either showed increased identification with the German culture when the feedback rendered them prototypically German, or with the Polish culture when the feedback rendered them prototypically Polish. This effect was moderated by perceived cultural compatibility. Implications for a self-enhancement motive are discussed.

Male Role Endorsement Explains Negative Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Among Students in Mexico More Than in Germany

Anti-gay attitudes vary across cultures because the larger social context plays a role in attitude formation. Psychological correlates of these attitudes have been investigated in the United States and Europe. Endorsement of traditional gender roles has emerged from that research as a central correlate, next to religiosity and personal contact with lesbians/gay men. In a cross-sectional study, we tested whether these correlates are relevant in Mexico, characterized as an androcentric culture in which both gender-role traditionalism and religiosity are high, using a college-age student sample (N = 63). Because we relied on self-reports, the motivation to appear nonprejudiced was also assessed. We found typical gender differences in attitudes toward gay men. In bivariate tests, anti-gay attitudes were related to male role endorsement, contact with lesbians/gay men, and religiosity. In a multivariate analysis, variance in attitudes was explained by male role endorsement; personal contact or religiosity did not explain additional variance. In a German comparison sample (N = 112), male role endorsement played a smaller role. Variance in anti-gay attitudes in the German sample was also related to personal contact, religiosity, and the motivation to appear nonprejudiced. We discuss the centrality of (male) gender-role endorsement in cultures with high gender-role traditionalism.

When Being a Bad Friend Doesn’t Hurt

Research on domain-specific sociometer theory suggests that individual mate value has a great influence on self-esteem. In this study (N = 124), we investigated the notion that perceived high gender typicality increases one’s perceived mate value and thus counteracts the usual decline in state self-esteem following negative feedback. The participants completed a fictitious personality test to assess their individual quality as a friend and received bogus negative feedback. Depending on the experimental condition, participants received a test score close to the mean test score attained by their own or the opposite gender and thus either gender-typical or gender-atypical. Additionally, we included a control condition in which no feedback was given. The results showed that participants in the gender-atypical condition reported lower state self-esteem than did participants in the gender-typical condition or the control condition. This buffer effect was mediated by perceived mate value.

The risk of male success and failure: How performance outcomes along with a high-status identity affect gender identification, risk behavior, and self-esteem

Previous research has demonstrated that failure on a task may at times increase self-esteem, known as the failure-as-an-asset effect. This effect is observed when high-status group members (e.g., referring to management positions: men) show poor performance in a domain that is seen as a low-status domain—one in which the low-status group (e.g., referring to management positions: women) typically outperforms the high-status group. In line with social identity theory, in this case the poor performance leads high-status group members to a strong identification with the high-status ingroup, resulting in higher state self-esteem. However, social identity theory originally refers not only to self-evaluation, but also to the influence on individual behavior. Building on that, we predicted that if high-status group members show higher ingroup identification after negative individual feedback in a low-status domain, they should also show stronger ingroup prototypical behavior. A great deal of research has indicated that women’s behavior is more risk-averse than is men’s behavior. Thus, men should show riskier behavior after a poor performance on a test in which women outperform men. Two studies support our hypothesis. Men with an alleged individual low performance on a fictitious test reported riskier behavioral intentions (Experiment 1), and actually showed riskier behavior in an investment game (Experiment 2), when men were outperformed by women rather than when women were outperformed by men. The opposite pattern was found for men with an individual positive performance. As predicted, these effects were mediated by men’s gender identification. Practical implications are discussed.