Using the implicit association test to measure self-esteem and self-concept

Balancing Stereotypically Compatible and Incompatible Identities

Social stereotypes have been linked with gender and racial disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Developing a domain identity in a STEM field is linked with persistence and success among students from negatively stereotyped groups. However, these students often report a conflict between their group and domain identities. Across two studies we apply balanced identity design theory and latent profile analysis (LPA) to understand how individuals navigate stereotypically incompatible identities. In Study 1, we find that novice STEM majors from negatively stereotyped groups are less likely to hold identity balance than their positively stereotyped counterparts. However, in a separate sample of students approaching graduation in Study 2, the groups converge; both predominantly achieving identity balance. LPA identified three predominant clusters of identity balanced students which differentially predicted academic achievement and well-being for negatively compared with positively stereotyped students. This underscores the importance of understanding balanced identities for addressing underrepresentation in STEM.

Oxytocin modulation of explicit pandemic stigma in men with varying social anxiety levels

OBJECTIVE

Stigma can create divisions within societies, hindering social cohesion and cooperation. Notably, it has significant public health implications, especially during infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19. However, little is known about the neural and molecular basis of disease-related stigma and their association with individual differences.

METHODS

To address this gap, we performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject design study with 70 males, to investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin (OT) administration on the explicit and implicit processing of disease-related stigma (i.e., COVID-19 stigma). After self-administrated 24 IU of OT or placebo, participants completed a stigma evaluation task and an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess the explicit and implicit processes of stigma evaluation, respectively.

RESULTS

The results showed that oxytocin amplified the differences between participants with high and low social anxiety in explicit COVID-19 stigma, with a higher inclination to attribute the stigmatized status of the stigmatized targets (i.e., COVID-19 related group) to personal causes in high social anxiety individuals, but reduced blame towards the stigmatized targets in low social anxiety individuals under oxytocin compared to placebo treatment. Furthermore, oxytocin strengthened the connections between responsibility attribution and the other processes (i.e., emotional, approach motivation, social deviance). While no modulation of oxytocin on implicit stigma emerged, oxytocin did modulate the associations between specific dimensions of explicit stigma (i.e., social deviance and approach motivation) and implicit stigma.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that intranasal oxytocin administration could temporally impact the explicit cognitive judgment in disease-related stigma but not the implicit aspect; furthermore, it modulated in distinct ways in individuals with different levels of social anxiety. These findings highlight the trait-dependent oxytocin modulation on disease-related stigma, implying that oxytocin is partly involved in the endocrine system of disease-related stigma. By unraveling the molecular basis of stigma and its association with individual traits, such as social anxiety, we can tailor interventions to meet specific needs of different individuals in the future.

Beautiful Strangers: Physical Evaluation of Strangers Is Influenced by Friendship Expectation

People tend to evaluate themselves as better than they actually are. Such enhanced positive evaluation occurs not only for the self but also for close others. We extend the exploration of enhanced evaluation of close others to that of strangers. We predict that when individuals consider becoming friends with a stranger, their preference for a pleasant physical experience will drive an enhanced evaluation of that person. In two experiments, participants who considered friendship with a stranger evaluated the stranger as looking, sounding, and smelling better than how control participants evaluated them. The amount of time participants expected to spend with the stranger predicted their evaluation (Studies 1-2). In a large-scale third study, using various target stimuli, we found that when participants have an interest in a friendship but then are unable to physically spend time together, the enhanced-evaluation effect is weaker compared with when they could spend time together.

How Does Our Voice Reflect Who We Are? Connecting the Voice and the Self Using Implicit Association Tests

PURPOSE

This study examined the contribution of voice to the self via implicit associations.

METHOD

An implicit association test (IAT) of the voice and the self was created and presented to vocal performers and community controls. One-hundred eleven participants completed this voice-self IAT, the Vocal Congruence Scale (VCS), and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) via an in-person, monitored, and timed Qualtrics survey. Student t tests comparing timing differences between congruent and incongruent conditions revealed the presence of an implicit relationship.

RESULTS

The findings demonstrated an implicit relationship between the voice and the self as measured using the IAT. Strength of implicit relationships between self and voice was significantly greater for community controls than vocal performers. Additionally, this IAT revealed divergent validity with the VCS, and the VHI using Spearman's correlation.

CONCLUSION

Implications suggest that even if overt declarations are absent, individuals with an implicit voice-self relationship rely on their voice to contribute to their sense of self. This implicit relationship is greater for community members than vocal performers.

Relationships between self-esteem-related dream content and explicit and implicit measures of self-esteem

While there is evidence of continuity between waking life and dream content, findings with regard to personality are questionable due to methodological issues. In addition, previous studies have used explicit measures, although one could assume that dream content, which is formed implicitly, should have a closer relationship with implicit measures of personality. We investigated how explicit and implicit measures of self-esteem are related to two possibly pertinent variables of dream content. We analyzed 1359 dreams collected from 85 participants. We found that one dream content variable, the proportion of self-esteem-relevant dreams, was significantly related to self-esteem, corroborating the idea of a continuity between waking life and dreaming. Interestingly, the relationship was present only for dreams relevant to social self-esteem. This finding can be considered an example of the well-known sociality bias of dreams. Contrary to our expectations, these results were obtained only for explicit measures but not for implicit ones.

The social-cognitive clinician: On the implications of social cognitive theory for psychotherapy and assessment

We review Bandura's contributions to cognitive-behavioural theory, research and practice. His basic research on the causal role of cognitive processes in social learning was a major factor in the emergence of cognitive-behavioural therapies in the 1970s. His investigations on observational learning and self-efficacy beliefs led to the development of guided mastery therapy, a specific cognitive-behavioural intervention for anxiety disorders. His research on self-regulatory processes provided an empirical basis for the emergence of numerous therapies targeting self-regulation. We conclude by discussing how Bandura's social cognitive theory, as well as more recent advances in social cognitive theorising, might be further applied to innovative approaches to therapeutic interventions, assessment and clinical case conceptualization.

Family economic deprivation and self-esteem among preschoolers

Previous studies have established a negative correlation between economic deprivation and self-esteem; however, limited insights exist regarding the onset of children linking self-esteem to economic status. To investigate this, we examined 198 preschoolers (96 girls and 102 boys) and their parents (170 mothers and 28 fathers). We assessed children's implicit and explicit self-esteem, whereas parents' reported on both personal relative deprivation and the family's economic objective deprivation. In addition, we explored children's money knowledge as a moderator. Our findings reveal that preschoolers may connect their implicit self-esteem with family economic status; however, such connections require basic knowledge about money. We discuss potential explanations for the influence of family economic deprivation, specifically on the implicit-not explicit-self-esteem of preschoolers.

Explicit and indirect, latency-based measure of aggression in striking combat sports

Introduction

Aggression in sports is often perceived as a necessary trait for success, especially in martial arts. Aggression can be assessed both explicitly and implicitly, taking into account the dual processing model. The purpose of the research was to examine explicit and indirect, latency-based measure of aggression in competitive athletes practicing striking combat sports, according to gender and sports performance. At the same time, we verified whether aggression (implicit/unconscious and explicit) predicts sports performance in martial artists.

Materials and methods

A total of 85 athletes practicing striking combat sports took part in the research. For implicit, latency-based measure of aggression, an Implicit Associations Test (IAT) was used, while explicit aggression was assessed with the Romanian adaptation of the Makarowski's Aggression Questionnaire for martial arts athletes.

Results

Data analysis revealed (using multivariate analysis of variance) that athletes from striking combat sports having international sports performances registered significantly higher D-scores (IAT, p = 0.014) and lower values for Go-ahead factor (p = 0.006), compared to athletes without outstanding results. Goodman and Kruskal tau association test was used to check the existing associations between athletes' gender and martial arts athletes' level of explicit and implicit aggression. In addition, binomial logistic regression procedures were performed, predicting martial artists' likelihood to obtain higher sports results, based on explicit and indirect aggression.

Conclusion

A stronger association between Aggression and Others (at implicit/unconscious level) and a moderate level (generally) for Go-ahead factor of explicit aggression are associated with an increased likelihood of sports performances in athletes. In addition, male martial arts athletes are more persistent despite obstacles, remaining more on the offensive (no gender-related association were found in terms of indirect/unconscious aggression, and for Foul Play and Assertiveness factors of explicit aggression). The study underlines the importance of addressing athletes' subconscious level to promote more constructive behaviors in competitions.

Using reaction time procedures to assess implicit attitudes toward violence in a nonconvicted male sample

In this study, we sought to capture implicit attitudes toward violence by administering response latency measures. We then examined their associations with explicit (e.g., assessed with self-report) attitudes toward violence and self-reported violent behavior in a combined sample of males from a Canadian university and males from the general community (N = 251; 156 students and 95 community members). To date, there have been mixed findings regarding these associations; some of this inconsistency may be due to the difficulty in accurately conceptualizing and assessing implicit attitudes toward violence. Therefore, we administered three response latency measures to assess this construct: a violence evaluation implicit association test (VE-IAT), a personalized VE-IAT (P-VE-IAT), and a violence evaluation relational responding task, along with three self-report measures of explicit attitudes toward violence and three self-report measures of violent behavior. More positive implicit attitudes toward violence were related to more positive explicit attitudes toward violence (for VE-IAT and P-VE-IAT; r = 0.18 to 0.22), greater likelihood of violence (for VE-IAT; r = 0.18 and for P-VE-IAT; r = 0.16), and greater propensity for violence (for the VE-IAT; r = 0.16). All measures of explicit attitudes toward violence and violent behavior were moderately to strongly associated with one another (r = 0.42 to 0.81). Furthermore, implicit attitudes toward violence explained additional variance in some violent outcomes above explicit attitudes alone. Our findings suggest that scores on certain reaction time measures are important for understanding likelihood and propensity for violence, especially when combined with explicit attitude measures.

The shame of implicit racial bias

This study provides support for the theory that individual shame prevents individuals from recognizing their implicit racial biases. Participants across two studies in multiple conditions took the Race IAT, received feedback about their implicit racial bias, and then completed the Shame IAT. We created various conditions either to attribute their implicit racial bias to the self or to create an alternative explanation. The results demonstrated that when individuals attributed their implicit racial bias to themselves vs. an alternative attribution, they subsequently expressed higher levels of interpersonal shame, through increased associations between self-referential and shameful words. The need for positive self-esteem or the avoidance of a negative emotion such as shame may lead participants to avoid examining their own implicit racial biases.

Self-esteem in children and adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review

Meta-analytic methods were used to examine global and domain-specific (i.e., academic, social, behavioral) self-esteem in children and adolescents with and without ADHD. Potential moderators of effect size heterogeneity were also examined via meta-regressions within a three-level approach. Findings from 49 aggregated global self-esteem effect sizes (ADHDN = 2500, TDN = 9448), 12 academic self-esteem effect sizes (ADHDN = 386, TDN = 315), 11 social self-esteem effect sizes (ADHDN = 258, TDN = 254), and 8 behavioral self-esteem effect sizes (ADHDN = 231, TDN = 211) suggest that children and adolescents with ADHD experience moderate global (ES = 0.46, p < .001), academic (ES = 0.60, p = .009), and social (ES = 0.67, p = .001) self-esteem impairments compared to children and adolescents without the disorder. The aggregated behavioral self-esteem effect size (ES = 0.20, p = .54), however, was not significant, and the global self-esteem effect size was markedly smaller compared to effect sizes for the academic and social domains. Further, examination of potential moderators of effect size heterogeneity indicated null effects for medication status, diagnostic complexity, informant, age, sex, comorbid psychopathology, and self-esteem dimension. Collectively, findings suggest that children and adolescents with ADHD do not hold a ubiquitous negative self-perception of difficulties across academic, social, and behavioral domains of functioning, and unexamined domains that are distal to ADHD may serve to bolster global self-esteem.

"Death and Love Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic": Effects of Pathogen Threats on Online Dating and Social Distancing From Life-History Strategy Perspectives

Drawing from the terror management theory (TMT) and evolutionary perspectives of Life-History Strategy, a between-subject online experiment examined the interaction effects of pre-existing death anxiety, fear-inducing media content (coronavirus threat vs. gun violence threat vs. low threat mental disorder), and intrasexual competition for mates on online dating intentions and social distancing intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicate the interaction effects of participants' pre-experimental death anxiety and different types of fear-inducing media content on perceived fear and intention to use online dating websites/apps as well as the interaction effects of pre-experimental intrasexual competitiveness and fear-inducing media content on social distancing intention in the context of online dating. Theoretical contributions to the terror management literature and practical implications for the online dating industry are discussed.

A new performance-based measure of personality functioning impairment: development and preliminary evaluation of reliability and validity

Personality functioning impairment is at the center of many dimensional models of personality. Available measures of personality functioning impairment are limited to self-report, clinician-/informant-rated, and interview methods. Although researchers have begun investigating established performance-based instruments' potential for assessing personality functioning impairment, administration and scoring of these instruments is complex and the latent variables they measure diverge from personality functioning impairment as described in the ICD-11 and the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) of the DSM. We address this absence by developing and psychometrically evaluating the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (LPFS-qIAT). The LPFS-qIAT's psychometric properties were evaluated across four studies, producing initial evidence supporting the new instrument's reliability as well as its convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity. As the first performance-based measure of personality functioning impairment that aligns with the AMPD and, to a degree the ICD-11, that is easily administered, scored, and interpreted, the LPFS-qIAT shows potential to become a valuable tool in both research and clinical practice.

Games, hormones, and "dark" personalities: Dark tetrad and the effects of violent gaming on aggression, cortisol, and testosterone

We investigated how playing a violent versus non-violent video game affects cortisol and testosterone levels, whether these hormonal changes increase implicit aggressive cognition, and whether so-called Dark Tetrad personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, everyday sadism) moderate these effects. Fifty-four men played either a violent or a non-violent video game for 25 min. Participants provided salivary samples at the beginning of the experiment (T1), after 25 min of gameplay (T2), and 20 min after gameplay ended (T3). In the violent condition, participants showed a significant decrease in cortisol levels (T1 to T2) and a significant negative trend in cortisol levels from T1 to T3. Moreover, higher Machiavellianism scores were related to a significantly stronger decrease in cortisol (T1 to T2) in this condition. In the non-violent condition, however, participants with higher scores in Machiavellianism had a higher increase in cortisol (T1 to T2). In contrast to changes in hormonal levels, there were no significant effects on implicit aggressive cognition. The present findings illustrate the complex interplay between personality, hormones, and game content, thus further specifying current notions on the effects of violent video games. Playing a violent video game can have a stress-reducing calming effect depending on personality traits such as Machiavellianism and the psychological need satisfaction associated with it. Also, the fact that VVG exposure was not automatically accompanied by an aggression-increasing effect proves that simple cause-effect models are not sufficiently specified without taking the underlying mechanisms into account.

When a Negative Experience Sticks With You: Does the Revised Outcome Debriefing Counteract the Consequences of Experimental Ostracism in Psychological Research?

For research purposes, it is generally accepted that experimental ostracism manipulations can lead to a reduction of participants' well-being. To eventually restore participants' well-being, researchers rely on post-experimental debriefings that discredit prior deception. However, evidence suggests that discredited beliefs can persevere. The present research investigates whether a potent debriefing procedure restores participants' well-being after an experimentally induced ostracism experience. In two studies, participants were either excluded or included in a Cyberball game, indicated their well-being, and were debriefed. In two additional conditions, participants were debriefed before indicating their well-being. Ostracism compared to inclusion led to decreased positive and increased negative mood. The debriefing did not counteract this effect (Studies 1 & 2). Unwanted aftereffects of the manipulation persevered for more than one day after the experimental session (Study 2). These findings question the effectiveness of debriefings and raise issues about research ethics.

Surgeon Implicit Association of Women With Supportive Roles in Medicine

BACKGROUND

In a previous study, we documented patient implicit bias that surgeons are men. As a next step, we tested the implicit bias of surgeons that women in medicine have leading (chair, surgeon) or supporting roles (medical assistant, physician assistant).

QUESTIONS/PURPOSE

(1) What is the relationship between the implicit associations and expressed beliefs of surgeons regarding women as leaders in medicine? (2) Are there factors associated with surgeon implicit association and explicit preference regarding the roles of women in medicine?

METHODS

A total of 102 musculoskeletal surgeon members of the Science of Variation Group (88 men and 12 women) completed an implicit association test (IAT) of implicit bias regarding sex and lead/support roles in medicine and a questionnaire that addressed respondent demographics and explicit preference regarding women's roles. The IAT consisted of seven rounds with five rounds used for teaching and two rounds for evaluation.

RESULTS

On average, there was an implicit association of women with supportive roles (D-score: -48; SD 4.7; P < 0.001). The mean explicit preference was for women in leadership roles (median: 73; interquartile ranges: 23 to 128; P < 0.001). There was a correlation between greater explicit preference for women in a leading role and greater implicit bias toward women in a supporting role (ρ = 0.40; P < 0.001). Women surgeons and shoulder and elbow specialists had less implicit bias that women have supporting roles.

CONCLUSION

The observation that musculoskeletal surgeons have an explicit preference for women in leading roles in medicine but an implicit bias that they have supporting roles-more so among men surgeons-documents the gap between expressed opinions and ingrained mental processing that is the legacy of the traditional "roles" of women in medicine and surgery. To resolve this gap, we will need to be intentional about promotion of and emersion in experiences where the leader is a woman.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

III.

Assessment of implicit COVID-19 attitudes using affective priming for pro-vaccine and vaccine-hesitant individuals

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the introduction of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions such as precautionary behaviours. The current study used affective priming to evaluate COVID-19 attitudes in vaccine-hesitant and pro-vaccine participants. Explicitly, both groups rated their overall perception of risk associated with contracting COVID-19 significantly lower compared to their perception of necessary precautions and overall adherence to public health measures. Pro-vaccine participants rated their perception of necessary precautions higher compared to vaccine-hesitant participants. During baseline measures, both groups classified COVID-19 affiliated words as unpleasant. Affective priming was observed for congruent prime-target pleasant and unpleasant word pairs but was not observed for COVID-19 related word pairs. Differences between groups in the perception of necessary public health precautions points to different underlying pathways for reduced perceived risk and lack of affective priming. These results refine previous findings indicating that implicit attitudes towards COVID-19 can be measured using the affective priming paradigm.

Behavioral and neurophysiological indices of the racial bias modulation after virtual embodiment in other-race body

Racial bias-nonconscious behavioral inclinations against people of other ethnic groups-heavily contributes to inequality and discrimination. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) can reduce implicit racial bias through the feeling of owning (embodying) a virtual body of a different "race"; however, it has been demonstrated only behaviorally for the implicit attitudes. Here, we investigated the implicit (racial IAT) and the neurophysiological (the N400 component of the event-related potentials for verbal stimuli that violated negative racial stereotypes) correlates of the embodiment-induced reduction of the implicit racial bias. After embodying a Black avatar, Caucasian participants had reduced implicit racial bias (IAT) but both groups showed the typical N400. This is the first evidence to suggest that virtual embodiment affects the evaluative component of the implicit biases but not the neurophysiological index of their cognitive component (i.e., stereotyping). This can inform interventions that promote inclusivity through the implicit/indirect procedures, such as embodiment.

The relationship between explicit and implicit personality: Evidence from the Big Five and trait emotional intelligence

The main aim of this study is to introduce an implicit personality assessment method (e.g., implicit association test) to Kuwait. We adapted an existing personality-related implicit association test (IAT; Big Five IAT), while also constructed the first trait EI IAT based on Petrides' four-factor model. We investigated the psychometric properties of the implicit association test through assessing the reliability of scores and also their relationship with their corresponding explicit measures. The measures were administered to 1458 university students in Kuwait. The zero-order correlations showed that the explicit and implicit measurement approaches led to non-converging constructs in the case of both trait EI and the Big Five. Lastly, we believe that we were successfully able to introduce the concept of personality-related implicit association tests to the Kuwaiti sample. Subsequently, the IATs presented in our study will allow researchers to study a relatively new personality field, that is the implicit personality.

Experimental evidence that browsing for activewear lowers explicit body image attitudes and implicit self-esteem in women

Online apparel shopping is popular amongst women and offers salient visual information for making body image and self-worth judgements. Apparel segments which emphasize the value of women's bodies are particularly effective for eliciting low body image and self-worth. Across two studies, we investigated the association between self-reported and experimental online activewear exposure on women's self-worth, body image, appearance attitudes, mood and gaze behavior. In Study 1, participants (N = 399) completed a survey collecting their online apparel shopping habits, body appreciation, self-esteem, appearance comparison tendencies and self-objectification attitudes. Activewear was the second-most popular apparel segment amongst women (after casualwear) and weekly activewear browse time was positively correlated with appearance comparison tendencies, desires to be muscular/athletic and body shame. In Study 2, participants (N = 126) were randomly allocated to browse an activewear, casualwear or homewares website and completed pre and post measures of mood, body image, implicit self-esteem and body gaze behavior. In the activewear condition, there was a significant reduction in positive body image and implicit self-esteem scores. There were no experimental effects for body gaze behavior. These findings illustrate that apparel choices have value for understanding the aetiology of maladaptive body image attitudes and low self-esteem in women.

Self at Risk: Self-Esteem and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients Undergoing Surgical Treatment and Experiencing Bodily Deformities

Self-esteem is an important factor determining QoL after surgical procedures leading to bodily deformities associated with cancer treatment. However, there are few data on which components of self-esteem are most closely related to QoL. The article presents two studies that aim to fill this gap. Study 1 concerns changes in global self-esteem and QoL in patients treated surgically for oral cancer (n = 35); Study 2 concerns changes in explicit and implicit self-esteem and QoL in women with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy (n = 96). The study was longitudinal with two measurements: before and after surgery. Both studies used the EORTC QLQ-C30 and Rosenberg's SES questionnaires. In Study 2, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was additionally performed. The patients' global QoL and self-esteem deteriorated after surgery. In Study 1, patients with higher initial self-esteem showed a greater range of decreased self-esteem and QoL than patients with initially low self-esteem. In Study 2, the largest decreases in various dimensions of QoL and explicit self-esteem were observed in women with fragile self-esteem. A group of women with high explicit and implicit self-esteem showed the best QoL after mastectomy. Cancer patients with high, fragile self-esteem are at risk of the greatest deterioration in QoL and self-image after cancer surgery. These people should be given special psycho-oncological care.

How to Measure Propensity to Take Risks in the Italian Context: The Italian Validation of the Risk Propensity Scale

Risk propensity is a multifaced construct that influences many aspects of life, such as decision making. In the present study, the psychometric characteristics of the Risk Propensity Scale (RPS) have been explored for the first time in an Italian sample. The RPS is a 7 item self-report questionnaire measuring people's tendency to take risks. The English RPS has been translated following the forward-backwards translation method, and it was filled out by 199 participants. Since its dimensionality has never been explored before, its factor structure has been analysed with exploratory factor analysis that confirmed the one-factor structure of the questionnaire and the retention of all the items. The Italian version of the RPS has high internal consistency (Cronbach alphas .78), and almost all the items were positively and significantly correlated. The convergent and discriminant validity, analysed by considering the associations with decision-making styles and an implicit measure of risk propensity, were satisfactory. Overall, the Italian version of the RPS is a valid and quick questionnaire useful to measure propensity to take risks in the Italian context.

Influence of bodily states on cognition: A web-based study in individuals with body integrity dysphoria

There is a constant reciprocal flow of information between the malleable sensorimotor states of the body and cognitive functions, and some embodied cognition approaches argue that many cognitive-affective mechanisms depend on the physical characteristics of the body. To examine such influences of bodily state, the current study compared patients with body integrity dysphoria (BID) with an amputation desire of the lower limb to a healthy control group on an Implicit Association Test for self-identity and self-esteem, and a pain evaluation task. Patients with BID completed the tasks once while emulating their desired bodily state and once while simulating their undesired bodily state, while healthy controls were split into two groups: one control group completed the experiment once while either sitting on one leg and once while sitting in a normal position, whereas the other control group completed both experiments while sitting in a normal position. Results demonstrate that patients with BID implicitly identify more strongly with an amputated body, whereas healthy controls demonstrate stronger identification with a complete body, independent of bodily state. Furthermore, implicit self-esteem did not differ between the groups and was also not modulated by bodily state manipulation in any of the groups. Pain evaluation ratings were not influenced by bodily state manipulation, perspective, or consistency. Pain forced choice response times, however, revealed that individuals with BID were faster to judge whether the stimulus depicted was painful when simulating their desired bodily state. These results provide insightful information to how both the subjective sense of body, as well as more transient alterations of objective sensorimotor states of the physical body may exert selective pressure on certain cognitive tasks.

Lying on the Dissection Table: Anatomizing Faked Responses

Research has shown that even experts cannot detect faking above chance, but recent studies have suggested that machine learning may help in this endeavor. However, faking differs between faking conditions, previous efforts have not taken these differences into account, and faking indices have yet to be integrated into such approaches. We reanalyzed seven data sets (N = 1,039) with various faking conditions (high and low scores, different constructs, naïve and informed faking, faking with and without practice, different measures [self-reports vs. implicit association tests; IATs]). We investigated the extent to which and how machine learning classifiers could detect faking under these conditions and compared different input data (response patterns, scores, faking indices) and different classifiers (logistic regression, random forest, XGBoost). We also explored the features that classifiers used for detection. Our results show that machine learning has the potential to detect faking, but detection success varies between conditions from chance levels to 100%. There were differences in detection (e.g., detecting low-score faking was better than detecting high-score faking). For self-reports, response patterns and scores were comparable with regard to faking detection, whereas for IATs, faking indices and response patterns were superior to scores. Logistic regression and random forest worked about equally well and outperformed XGBoost. In most cases, classifiers used more than one feature (faking occurred over different pathways), and the features varied in their relevance. Our research supports the assumption of different faking processes and explains why detecting faking is a complex endeavor.

Implicit and Explicit Gender-Related Cognition, Gender Dysphoria, Autistic-Like Traits, and Mentalizing: Differences Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Cisgender and Transgender Adults

Evidence indicates a link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and gender diversity, yet this intersection remains insufficiently understood. Here, we investigated whether (1) ASD affects gender-related cognition (i.e., mental processes of perceiving and interpreting one's own gender self-concept), (2) autistic people have increased gender dysphoria and recall limited gender-typed behavior from childhood, and (3) transgender individuals have increased ASD-like traits and difficulties in mentalizing. A total of 106 non-autistic cisgender (51 birth-assigned female), 107 autistic cisgender (57 birth-assigned female), 78 non-autistic transgender (41 birth-assigned female), and 56 autistic transgender adults (27 birth-assigned female) participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 31.01 years (range = 18 to 70). Using an explicit as well as an implicit measure, for the first time, we found that ASD affected gender-related cognition only in autistic cisgender people. Sex differences were also observed in this group. Whereas autistic cisgender birth-assigned males showed a stronger implicit gender-group identification than non-autistic cisgender birth-assigned males, autistic cisgender birth-assigned females showed a weaker gender-group identification than non-autistic cisgender birth-assigned females. Furthermore, autistic cisgender people reported significantly more gender dysphoric feelings and recalled significantly less gender-typed behavior from childhood than non-autistic cisgender individuals. No difference was observed between non-autistic and autistic transgender people. We also found that relative to non-autistic cisgender individuals, both non-autistic transgender and autistic transgender people reported significantly more ASD-like traits. However, mentalizing difficulties were observed only in the latter group. This research enhances our understanding of the link between ASD and gender diversity.

Lower implicit self-esteem as a pathway linking childhood abuse to depression and suicidal ideation

Identifying the potential pathways linking childhood abuse to depression and suicidal ideation is critical for developing effective interventions. This study investigated implicit self-esteem-unconscious valenced self-evaluation-as a potential pathway linking childhood abuse with depression and suicidal ideation. A sample of youth aged 8-16 years (N = 240) completed a self-esteem Implicit Association Test (IAT) and assessments of abuse exposure, and psychopathology symptoms, including depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms. Psychopathology symptoms were re-assessed 1-3 years later. Childhood abuse was positively associated with baseline and follow-up depression symptoms and suicidal ideation severity, and negatively associated with implicit self-esteem. Lower implicit self-esteem was associated with both depression and suicidal ideation assessed concurrently and predicted significant increases in depression and suicidal ideation over the longitudinal follow-up period. Lower implicit self-esteem was also associated with baseline anxiety, externalizing symptoms, and a general psychopathology factor (i.e. p-factor). We found an indirect effect of childhood abuse on baseline and follow-up depression symptoms and baseline suicidal ideation through implicit self-esteem. These findings point to implicit self-esteem as a potential mechanism linking childhood abuse to depression and suicidal ideation.

Implicit gender-science stereotypes and college-major intentions of italian adolescents

Gender stereotypes are often viewed as one of the root causes of the gender gap in STEM. According to Eccles’ model, they would indirectly influence major choices by shaping expectations of success and values attached to the viable options. However, empirical findings on the link between implicit gender-science stereotypes and college major intentions are limited. To fill this gap, the current study examines this association in a mixed-gender sample of 302 Italian high-school students. Logistic regression analysis revealed that implicit gender stereotypes were directly associated with females’ intention of majoring in STEM. Unlike previous findings, the mediation analysis could not confirm that other relevant factors, i.e., interest in the subject, performance at school, identification with the subject, and value attributed to the job’s salary and social utility, moderated this association.

Using Implicit Measures of Discrimination: White, Black, and Hispanic Participants Respond Differently to Group-Specific Racial/Ethnic Categories vs. the General Category "People of Color" in the USA

Recent studies showed that implicit measures are valuable instruments for assessing exposure to discrimination and predicting negative physical conditions. Between March 10, 2020, and April 1, 2020, we conducted three experiments (577 participants) in the USA to evaluate the use of group-specific vs. general race/ethnicity categories in implicit measures of discrimination. We measured implicit discrimination and attitudes towards the general race/ethnicity category "people of color" (POC) and two specific race/ethnicity categories (i.e., "Black people" and "Hispanic people"). Implicit discrimination and attitudes were assessed using the Brief Implicit Association Test (B-IAT). Among participants (mean age = 37, standard deviation = 10.5), 50% identified as White non-Hispanic (NH), 33.3% as Black NH, and 16.7% as Hispanic; 71.7% were female and 72.2% had a bachelor's degree or higher. We found an implicit discrimination towards target groups and an in-group preference among all participant groups only when specific race/ethnicity categories were used in the B-IAT. When the general category POC was used, we observed a discrimination towards POC only for Black NH participants, while White NH participants showed no discrimination. Similarly, Black NH participants showed no in-group preference for POC, but did show an in-group preference for Black people. These results suggest that using the category POC in implicit measures may be inappropriate when evaluating discrimination and attitudes towards Black and Hispanic individuals as it may not capture specific experiences of discrimination and identity in these groups.

Understanding Zhongyong Using a Zhongyong Approach: Re-examining the Non-linear Relationship Between Creativity and the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean

Zhongyong, a central theme of Confucian thought, refers to the “doctrine of the mean,” or the idea that moderation in all things is the optimal path. Despite considerable interest in the relationship between zhongyong and creativity, especially in China, studies of this relationship have not yielded consistent results. Based on a review of the literature, we hypothesized that this inconsistency arises from the dual nature of zhongyong itself, which has both a positive side, promoting creativity, and a negative side, inhibiting creativity. We also hypothesized that the negative side of zhongyong takes the form of excessive zhongyong. Indeed, the observations that every coin has two sides and that too much of a good thing is as bad as too little are core principles of zhongyong in traditional Chinese culture. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two empirical studies (measuring explicit and implicit zhongyong personality, respectively) to examine the relationships between positive and negative zhongyong and creativity (measured in terms of creative personality, divergent thinking, and convergent thinking). The results of both studies revealed an interaction between positive zhongyong and negative zhongyong, indicating that only a moderate level of zhongyong is conducive to creativity; both deficiency and excess are harmful. We discuss the implications of these results, suggesting that a zhongyong approach can help to clarify non-linear relationships between things, and recommending to re-assess the creativity of Chinese culture from a neutral and objective outlook. This paper deepens understanding of zhongyong and offers clear insights into creativity from an in-depth cultural perspective.

Explicit and Implicit Self-esteem and Aggression: Differential Effects of Agency and Communion

Previous work has shown that self-esteem is related to aggression and violence. However, self-esteem is a multidimensional construct, and so we isolated self-esteem related to agency (e.g., competence and assertiveness) and self-esteem related to communion (e.g., warmth and morality) using both explicit and implicit techniques and examined their relationship to two forms of aggression (proactive and reactive aggression) in two samples. In an undergraduate sample (N = 130), high levels of explicit agency were associated with increased aggression but only for those with low implicit agency. On the other hand, high levels of either explicit or implicit communion showed reduced proactive aggression, while high levels of explicit communion were also associated with low levels of reactive aggression. In a community sample of people with problems due to homelessness (N = 101), we found that high levels of explicit communion were also associated with lower levels of both forms of aggression. The results show that different aspects of self-esteem, namely agency and communion, have quite different relationships to aggression and that implicit measures of these self-evaluations are also important constructs in the prediction of aggression. Implicit measures of self-esteem could be used by clinicians to understand the motivations behind an individual's aggression and its management.

A Systematic Review of Multilevel Influenced Risk-Taking in Helicopter and Small Airplane Normal Operations

The violation of aviation rules, particularly meteorological flight rules, can have fatal outcomes. Violation can sometimes be explained by intentional risk-taking, alternatively it can be the manifestation of a strategy to enhance performance and influence outcomes, such as saving time or fulfilling customer expectations. The aim of this study was to determine the types of risk-taking behavior within extant empirical research and identify multilevel antecedents related to risk-taking in the context of aviation operations, via a systematic literature review. 4,742 records were identified, which after screening resulted in the detailed consideration of 10 studies, three qualitative and seven quantitative studies, which met the eligibility criteria. Only published works were included in the review, thus the results may have been subject to publication bias, however, the types of risk taking within the research were consistent with that observed in Australian and New Zealand accident reports. The predominate risk-taking behavior was that of continuing Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight into deteriorating conditions / Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). Multilevel influences could be categorized under two overarching themes, being "continuation influence" and "acceptance of risk / normalization of deviance." One or both themes was consistently observed across the finding in all studies, although precaution should be given to the relative frequency of the reported associations. This review indicates the value of considering the social and organizational influences on risk-taking, and suggests avenues for future research, in particular exploring the influences through a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) lens.

The verb-self link: An implicit association test study

Agency is defined as the ability to assign and pursue goals. Given people’s focus on achieving their own goals, agency has been found to be strongly linked to the self. In two studies (N = 168), we examined whether this self–agency link is visible from a linguistic perspective. As the preferred grammatical category to convey agency is verbs, we hypothesize that, in the Implicit Association Test (IAT), verbs (vs. nouns) would be associated more strongly with the self (vs. others). Our results confirmed this hypothesis. Participants exhibited particularly fast responses when reading self-related stimuli (e.g., “me” or “my”) and verb stimuli (e.g., “deflect” or “contemplate”) both necessitated pressing an identical rather than different response keys in the IAT (d = .25). The finding connects two streams of literature—on the link between agency and verbs and on the link between self and agency—suggesting a triad between self, agency, and verbs. We argue that this verb–self link (1) opens up new perspectives for understanding linguistic expressions of agency and (2) expands our understanding of how word choice impacts socio-cognitive processing.

Psychometric properties of a Japanese version of the Modest Behavior Scale and its relationship to explicit and implicit self-esteem

This investigation aimed to validate a Japanese version of the Modest Behavior Scale (MBS-J) to measure the behavioral aspects of modesty as a self-presentation tactic. Two preliminary surveys and three studies were conducted. Study 1 examined the factorial validity, construct validity, and internal consistency of the MBS, adding emic items generated from the Japanese sample in the preliminary surveys. The results confirmed a three-factor structure of Self-Effacement, Other-Enhancement, and Avoidance of Attention-Seeking, with good internal consistency for each subscale. Studies 1 and 3 also evinced appropriate correlations between the MBS-J subscales and theoretically related constructs, namely, trait modesty, independent and interdependent self-construal, self-efficacy, self-esteem, approval motivation, and dialectical self, suggesting good construct validity. Using a two-wave survey, Study 2 showed good test–retest reliability for the MBS-J. In Study 3, it was hypothesized that those with higher Self-Effacement tend to report lower explicit self-esteem owing to a self-presentation strategy instead of actual lower self-regard. The results showed that Self-Effacement was strongly negatively correlated with explicit self-esteem but not correlated with implicit self-esteem, supporting the hypothesis. These findings confirm the construct validity of this scale for modest behavior performed as self-presentation.

Unconscious associations between stressor type and ability to cope: An experimental approach using ancient and modern sources of stress

Objectives

Work has emerged that suggests it is salient and feasible to include a chronological approach to the taxonomy of stress. The ability to make an explicit distinction between ancient stressors (AS) and modern stressors (MS) has been reported in young and older adults; AS have been associated with greater ability to cope and MS with poorer health outcomes. Whether these explicit distinctions exist at an implicit, unconscious level, has yet to be determined.

Design

A quantitative design employed a computer‐based Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine implicit associations between AS/MS and coping appraisal.

Methods

One hundred adults (75 females) aged 18–58 years (M = 28.27 years, SD = 10.02) completed the AS/MS IAT, to compare reaction time (RT) and accuracy between consistent pairs (AS/ability to cope; MS/inability to cope) and inconsistent pair responses (AS/inability to cope; MS/ability to cope); followed by an explicit self‐report questionnaire.

Results

Repeated measures ANCOVAs, controlling for sex and age, revealed significant main effects of faster RT and higher accuracy in responses for consistent than inconsistent pairs. Adult participants made implicit associations indicating an unconscious AS and MS distinction. Using the D algorithm, a univariate ANCOVA and independent t‐tests found that males, compared to females, showed a stronger implicit preference for consistent than inconsistent pairs.

Conclusions

Findings suggest an implicit association between ancient and modern stressors and perceived coping ability. Utilizing a chronological taxonomy for understanding evolutionary origins that drive individual’s responses to stress has implications for developing effective coping strategies to improve health outcomes.

Assessing sleep-related attitudes with the implicit association test: A prospective study in young adults

The measurement of automatic attitudes towards sleep, in addition to reflective self-reports, might improve our ability to predict and explain sleep-hindering practices. Two types of implicit association tests (IATs), a sleep-related evaluations IAT and a sleep-related self-identity IAT, were developed to evaluate their efficacy for assessing automatic sleep-related attitudes. In addition, a speeded self-report measure of sleep evaluations was explored as a means to assess automatic sleep-related attitudes. The study included 136 young adults (age = 21.70 ± 2.22, 43% female). At baseline, the two IATs, the speeded self-report, and standard self-reports of sleep determinants (reflective attitudes, self-efficacy, intention and action planning for sleep-promoting behaviour), sleep hygiene practices, sleep quality, and sleep duration were assessed. All variables except for the sleep determinants were assessed again at 2-week follow-up. The results demonstrated good reliability of the two IAT versions, but both IATs were unrelated to the speeded self-report, the sleep determinants, sleep practices, sleep quality or sleep duration. The speeded self-report correlated significantly with the standard self-reports of sleep determinants. Baseline scores on the IATs or speeded self-report did not predict sleep hygiene practices, sleep duration or sleep quality at follow-up. The findings indicate that sleep-related IATs might not be suited to assess automatic sleep-related attitudes. Further investigation is needed to determine whether speeded self-reports are valid measures of automatic attitudes. Moreover, more empirical research is required to clarify the role of automatic processes for sleep hygiene behaviours.

The Influence of Implicit Math Anxiety on Math Achievement

Previous work has noted that math anxiety may have a profound effect on math performance; however extant research has relied on measures that explicitly assess math anxiety. This study examined the effects of implicit math anxiety on the performance of a math achievement task. We hypothesized that combined measure of implicit anxiety and explicit anxiety would better predict math achievement than measures of explicit math anxiety alone. In addition, we hypothesized that an individuals' measured implicit anxiety and measured explicit anxiety would share only a modest correlation. To test these hypotheses, 175 participants completed measures of explicit anxiety, an implicit associations test designed to measure implicit anxiety, and a measure of math achievement. As expected, math achievement was better predicted when implicit anxiety was combined with explicit anxiety. Furthermore, scores on the implicit and explicit anxiety measures were not significantly correlated. These results suggest that implicit and explicit math anxiety are two distinct constructs, thus traditional methods for helping students deal with math anxiety may not be entirely successful if the implicit component is ignored.

Lack of affective priming indicates attitude-behaviour discrepancy for COVID-19 affiliated words

The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the enforcement of national public health safety measures including precautionary behaviours such as border closures, movement restrictions, total or partial lockdowns, social distancing, and face mask mandates in order to reduce the spread of this disease. The current study uses affective priming, an indirect behavioural measure of implicit attitude, to evaluate COVID-19 attitudes. Explicitly, participants rated their overall risk perception associated with contracting COVID-19 significantly lower compared to their perception of necessary precautions and overall adherence to public health measures. During baseline trials, participants explicitly rated COVID-19 affiliated words as unpleasant, similar to traditional unpleasant word stimuli. Despite rating the COVID-19 affiliated words as unpleasant, affective priming was not observed for congruent prime-target COVID-19 affiliated word pairs when compared to congruent prime-target pleasant and unpleasant words. Overall, these results provide quantitative evidence that COVID-19 affiliated words do not invoke the same implicit attitude response as traditional pleasant and unpleasant word stimuli, despite conscious explicit rating of the COVID-19 words as unpleasant. This reduction in unpleasant attitude towards COVID-19 related words may contribute towards decreased fear-related behaviours and increased incidences of risky-behaviour facilitating the movement of the virus.

An investigation of emotional and evaluative implicit associations with police using four versions of the Implicit Association Test

In two studies (total N = 829), we assessed civilian implicit associations with police using four modified Implicit Association Tests (IAT). Across studies and IATs, individuals harbored stronger negative implicit associations (associating police with fear/bad) than positive implicit associations (associating police with safety/good). The predictive validity of the implicit associations and magnitude of D scores varied across IAT. In Study 1, the IATs involving categorization of police-related (vs. everyday) symbols were most sensitive, but the versions involving categorization of police (vs. civilian) models provided more evidence for predictive validity. In Study 2, the IAT involving categorization of emotional words (safety/fear) was most sensitive, but the version involving categorization of evaluative words (good/bad) provided more evidence for predictive validity. In both studies, we also assessed individual differences (race, political affiliation) in implicit associations. The findings prompt the need to further examine the underlying cognitive components of civilian attitudes toward police and emphasize the importance of developing several IATs when assessing implicit attitudes.

Do implicit measures improve suicide risk prediction? An 18-month prospective study using different tasks

BACKGROUND

There is accumulating evidence that implicit measures improve the prediction of suicidality within a 6-month follow-up period in psychiatric populations. Building upon these results, we set out to expand the follow-up period and to investigate various implicit methods.

METHODS

Seventy-nine inpatients completed the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS) and a range of implicit measures: three implicit association tests (IATs: Death; Self-harm-Me/Others; Self-Harm-Good/Bad) and a subliminal priming task (with separate scores for negative and positive adjectives, each indicating the association between the primes "dying" and "growing"). After 18 months, we reached n = 52 patients and reassessed suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts.

RESULTS

In a hierarchical regression, the five implicit task indices were entered after the patient's age, gender, and BSS score at baseline. The implicit scores improved prediction of BSS scores after 18 months compared to prediction based on age, gender, and BSS score at baseline alone. However, none of the implicit measures was associated with suicide plans or attempts during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that implicit measures can be a useful assessment tool for the prediction of suicidal ideation, even beyond the BSS. However, long-term prediction of suicide plans or attempts using implicit measures seems limited.