Perceiver threat in social interactions with stigmatized others

Reporting Rape: Stigmatizing Reactions to Survivors Who Seek Accountability

Rape survivors face stigma when disclosing their experiences. We hypothesized that a rape survivor who formally reports their rape would experience more stigma than one who does not, and that this effect will be stronger when the perceiver is a man or low in support for sexual consent. Across two studies using self-report, observational, and psychophysiological measures, we found that a reporting survivor was seen more negatively than an identical survivor who did not report their rape. Men and those low in support for sexual consent also responded more negatively to the survivor. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Investigating low intelligence stereotype threat in adults with developmental dyslexia

Stereotype threat (ST) is a phenomenon that leads to decreased test performance and occurs when one deals with added pressure of being judged on the basis of stereotyped group membership. The ST effect has been previously investigated in many contexts but not in individuals with dyslexia who are often stereotyped as less intelligent. Prevalent use of intelligence tests in job selection processes and employment gap between people with dyslexia and those without warrants this investigation. Sixty-three participants (30 with dyslexia and 33 without dyslexia; mean age = 33.7; SD = 13.7; 47 F, 13 M, three non-binary) were asked to complete intelligence test typically used in selection processes. All participants were randomly assigned to one of three test instruction conditions: (1) they were told the test was diagnostic of their intelligence (ST triggering instruction); (2) test was a measure of their problem-solving skills (reduced threat); (3) or they were simply asked to take the test (control). Results showed that participants with dyslexia in ST condition performed poorer than those in other conditions and those in the same condition who did not have dyslexia. This study provides preliminary evidence for diminishing effects of ST in individuals with dyslexia.

When People Do Allyship: A Typology of Allyship Action

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

Despite increased popular and academic interest, there is conceptual ambiguity about what allyship is and the forms it takes. Viewing allyship as a practice, we introduce the typology of allyship action which organizes the diversity of ways that advantaged individuals seek to support those who are disadvantaged. We characterize allyship actions as reactive (addressing bias when it occurs) and proactive (fostering positive outcomes such as feelings of inclusion, respect, and capacity), both of which can vary in level of analysis (i.e., targeting oneself, one or a few other individuals, or institutions). We use this framework to profile six productive yet largely independent bodies of social psychological literature on social action and directly compare relative benefits and constraints of different actions. We suggest several future directions for empirical research, using the typology of allyship to understand when, where, and how different forms of allyship might succeed.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

Despite increased popular and academic interest in the word, people differ in what they believe allyship is and the forms it takes. Viewing allyship as a practice, we introduce a new way (the typology of allyship action) to describe how advantaged individuals seek to support those who are disadvantaged. We characterize allyship actions as reactive (addressing bias when it occurs) and proactive (increasing positive outcomes such as feelings of inclusion, respect, and capacity), both of which can vary in level (i.e., targeting oneself, one or a few other individuals, or institutions). We use this framework to profile six large yet mostly separate areas of social psychological research on social action and directly compare the relative benefits and limitations of different actions. We suggest several future directions for how the typology of allyship action can help us understand when, where, and how different forms of allyship might succeed.

A grassroots antiracist program: The motivation and perceived growth of participants in a community-based, intergroup dialogue program

In the United States, racial segregation still organizes the social lives of most people. This segregation of social life continues reinforcing attitudes and behaviors that sustain racial injustice in the United States. Given the longstanding structural forces sustaining the segregated status quo, why do certain individuals seek out opportunities for 'intentional integration'? And what happens when they do? This qualitative study interviewed racially diverse participants in a community-developed, sustained, and strategic intergroup dialogue program called Touchy Topics Tuesday (TTT), located in St. Louis, Missouri. Overall, participants (N = 30) described three interwoven motivations for involvement in the program-a catalytic moment, a long-term commitment mindset, and/or the influence of their social network. Of all these, participants' social network was the predominant motivating force for individuals across racial lines. Participants also reported three main categories of outcomes: intellectual growth, emotional growth, and relational growth. Each of these categories encompass both attitudinal and behavioral changes. The article interrogates these major findings in the context of the intergroup dialogue literature and studies of attitude change and psychotherapy.

An intervention approach to reducing threat appraisal and avoidance associated with intergroup interactions

Although intergroup contact is effective at reducing prejudice, avoidance of intergroup contact often creates a barrier to prejudice reduction. The present study aimed to reduce majority members' desire to avoid intergroup interactions by devising an intervention aimed at altering cognitive appraisals. Majority group participants (156 Anglo Australians) were assigned to either the intervention or one of two control conditions. The intervention educated majority members about evidence-based techniques to improve interactions with minority members. Participants were provided with two interaction scenarios, one involving an outgroup minority and one involving an ingroup majority member. As predicted, the intervention reduced threat appraisal for the scenario involving outgroup minority member, but not for one involving ingroup majority member. The intervention similarly reduced avoidance desire, but this reduction was not restricted to the minority partner scenario; it was independent of the partner group. The importance of cognitive appraisals in improving intergroup relations is discussed.

Uncertain threat is associated with greater impulsive actions and neural dissimilarity to Black versus White faces

Race is a social construct that contributes to group membership and heightens emotional arousal in intergroup contexts. Little is known about how emotional arousal, specifically uncertain threat, influences behavior and brain processes in response to race information. We investigated the effects of experimentally manipulated uncertain threat on impulsive actions to Black versus White faces in a community sample (n = 106) of Black and White adults. While undergoing fMRI, participants performed an emotional go/no-go task under three conditions of uncertainty: 1) anticipation of an uncertain threat (i.e., unpredictable loud aversive sound); 2) anticipation of an uncertain reward (i.e., unpredictable receipt of money); and 3) no anticipation of an uncertain event. Representational similarity analysis was used to examine the neural representations of race information across functional brain networks between conditions of uncertainty. Participants-regardless of their own race-showed greater impulsivity and neural dissimilarity in response to Black versus White faces across all functional brain networks in conditions of uncertain threat relative to other conditions. This pattern of greater neural dissimilarity under threat was enhanced in individuals with high implicit racial bias. Our results illustrate the distinct and important influence of uncertain threat on global differentiation in how race information is represented in the brain, which may contribute to racially biased behavior.

Ancestral Diversity: A Socioecological Account of Emotion Culture

Cultural differences in emotion expression, experience, and regulation can cause misunderstandings with lasting effects on interpersonal, intergroup, and international relations. A full account of the factors responsible for the emergence of different cultures of emotion is therefore urgent. Here we propose that the ancestral diversity of regions of the world, determined by colonization and sometimes forced migration of humans over centuries, explains significant variation in cultures of emotion. We review findings that relate the ancestral diversity of the world's countries to present-day differences in display rules for emotional expression, the clarity of expressions, and the use of specific facial expressions such as the smile. Results replicate at the level of the states of the United States, which also vary in ancestral diversity. Further, we suggest that historically diverse contexts provide opportunities for individuals to exercise physiological processes that support emotion regulation, resulting in average regional differences in cardiac vagal tone. We conclude that conditions created by the long-term commingling of the world's people have predictable effects on the evolution of emotion cultures and provide a roadmap for future research to analyze causation and isolate mechanisms linking ancestral diversity to emotion.

Planning, conducting, and analyzing a psychophysiological experiment on challenge and threat: A comprehensive tutorial

The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPS-CT) is a powerful framework linking psychological processes to reliable patterns of cardiovascular responses during motivated performance situations. Specifically, the BPS-CT poses challenge and threat as two motivational states that can emerge in response to a demanding, self-relevant task, where greater challenge arises when perceived resources are higher than demands, and greater threat arises when perceived resources are lower than demands. By identifying unique patterns of physiological responses associated with challenge and threat, respectively, the BPS-CT affords insight into subjective appraisals of resources and demands, and their determinants, during motivated performance situations. Despite its broad utility, lack of familiarity with physiological concepts and difficulty with identifying clear guidelines in the literature are barriers to wider uptake of this approach by behavioral researchers. Our goal is to remove these barriers by providing a comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial on conducting an experiment using the challenge and threat model, offering concrete recommendations for those who are new to the method, and serving as a centralized collection of resources for those looking to deepen their understanding. The tutorial spans five parts, covering theoretical introduction, lab setup, data collection, data analysis, and appendices offering additional details about data analysis and equipment. With this, we aim to make challenge and threat research, and the insights it offers, more accessible to researchers throughout the behavioral sciences.

Freely-chosen positive intergroup imagery causes improved outgroup emotions and encourages increased contact seeking immediately and at follow-up

In two ethnic contexts, we focus on volitional imagined contact as a potential method to increase individuals’ readiness to voluntarily initiate intergroup contact and engage in responses with implications for reconciliation. In Study 1, we used a quasi-experimental design to determine the causal role of volitional (vs. non-volitional) valenced imagined contact with a refugee on downstream processes. Irrespective of volition, positive visualizations led to more positive outgroup emotions, action tendencies, and contact seeking; however, manipulated volition amplified the differential impact of valenced contact on outgroup emotions: negative contact was more detrimental when freely chosen, than forced, whereas positive contact was equally beneficial irrespective of volition. Study 2 investigated factors driving individuals’ choices for positive (vs. negative) imagined contact in conflict-laden Cyprus and assessed immediate and longer-term consequences of such choices for interethnic contact seeking. In both studies, participants chose to engage in imagined contact of a valence that aligned with their prior contact histories consistent with an evaluative fit mechanism. Volitional valenced imagery predicted participants’ active and self-initiated contact seeking immediately and after a 2-week period. Hence, volitional intergroup imagery as a “mental contact script” prepares individuals for actual intergroup contact and behaviors with implications for intergroup reconciliation and cohesion.

Social Movements as Parsimonious Explanations for Implicit and Explicit Attitude Change

Recently, interest in aggregate and population-level implicit and explicit attitudes has opened inquiry into how attitudes relate to sociopolitical phenomenon. This creates an opportunity to examine social movements as dynamic forces with the potential to generate widespread, lasting attitude change. Although collective action remains underexplored as a means of reducing bias, we advance historical and theoretical justifications for doing so. We review recent studies of aggregate attitudes through the lens of social movement theory, proposing movements as a parsimonious explanation for observed patterns. We outline a model for conceptualizing causal pathways between social movements and implicit and explicit attitudes among participants, supporters, bystanders, and opponents. We identify six categories of mechanisms through which movements may transform attitudes: changing society; media representations; intergroup contact and affiliation; empathy, perspective-taking, and reduced intergroup anxiety; social recategorization; and social identification and self-efficacy processes. Generative questions, testable hypotheses, and promising methods for future work are discussed.

Living in ancestrally diverse states of the United States is associated with greater vagal tone

Historically, exposure to dissimilar others ("strangers") was a physiologically arousing event-resulting in avoidance, distrust, and even conflict. Despite this, contemporary migration patterns are increasing intergroup contact. What gives rise to an individual's ability to regulate their arousal such that social engagement with outgroup members is possible? We propose that cultural practices that evolve in ancestrally diverse, compared to ancestrally homogeneous, societies provide more opportunities for society members to engage in emotion regulation. This regulatory exercise, in turn, promotes higher vagal tone-a physiological indicator of one's ability to effectively manage arousal in social interaction. In a secondary analysis of data from the MIDUS 2 Biomarker Project, we find that the ancestral diversity of the states of the United States significantly predicts the average vagal tone of the state's citizens. The findings suggest that social context is associated with predictable and significant adaptations of human physiology over individual lifetimes.

From Threat to Challenge: Understanding the Impact of Historical Collective Trauma on Contemporary Intergroup Conflict

Collective memories of trauma can have profound impact on the affected individuals and communities. In the context of intergroup conflict, in the present article, we propose a novel theoretical framework to understand the long-term impact of historical trauma on contemporary intergroup relations from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. Integrating past research on intergroup conflict and the biopsychosocial model of threat and challenge, we argue that people appraise their group's past victimization and perpetration differently, either as a threat or as a challenge. Shaped by contextual factors and individual differences, these differential appraisals will subsequently influence how group members respond to contemporary intergroup conflict, with both adaptive and maladaptive consequences. This model contributes to unifying the previous research that has shown diverse effects of historical trauma on present-day intergroup dynamics. We present preliminary empirical evidence in support of the framework and discuss its theoretical and practical implications.

Is stress colorblind? Exploring endocrine stress responses in intergroup contexts using a virtual reality-based Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR)

Are social stress reactions dependent on the group identities of interaction partners? This study explored the role of ethnic context in modulating endocrine stress responses using a virtual reality (VR)-based adaptation of a standardized stress induction protocol, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR). Previous research found no clear link between endocrine stress response and ethnic context in the TSST, but conclusions remain limited due to the quasi-experimental nature of manipulating ethnic context in real-life face-to-face interactions. The VR adaptation of the TSST circumvents quasi-experimental limitations and thus provides a first, randomized-controlled investigation of the effects of ethnic context on endocrine stress responses. Forty-three men participated in the study, facing either an ingroup ("White") or an outgroup ("Arab") panel of interviewers. As expected, the TSST-VR produced physiological and subjective stress reactions. However, endocrine stress reactions occurred independent of interviewer ethnicity and could not be predicted based on implicit bias, explicit prejudice, or prejudice-related appearance concerns. Other physiological and subjective stress reactivity parameters also remained comparable across intergroup conditions. Implications for stress research are discussed.

'Scars: How Our Wounds Make Us Who We Are': Improving appearance-based stigma, conceptualisation of beauty and body esteem through a documentary

Introduction

Those with an altered appearance as a result of injury, health condition or treatment can face stigma, which may contribute to adverse psychosocial outcomes. However, current research tends to focus on supporting individuals themselves to cope, rather than targeting societal stigma. This study aimed to reduce societal stigma towards this group, through the use of a documentary about people with scars.

Methods

146 adults completed questionnaires before and after viewing the documentary.

Results

After viewing, participants had reduced self-reported intentions to behave in a stigmatising way towards those with visible differences, broader conceptualisation of beauty, and more positive body-esteem. Qualitative data also suggested further positive impacts.

Conclusion

Those with visible differences (for example scars) are subject to societal stigmatisation which perpetuates psychological and social problems. Therefore, alleviating social stigma through the media, as demonstrated through the documentary in this study, may improve the lives of those living with visible differences.

Lay Summary

People with an altered appearance or scars as a result of injury, health condition or treatment can face stigma, which may contribute to harmful psychological and social outcomes. However, current research tends to focus on supporting affected individuals themselves to cope, rather than targeting societal stigma. This study aimed to find out whether a documentary about people with scars was successful at reducing viewers' stigma towards this group. A group of 146 adults completed questionnaires before and after viewing the documentary. After viewing, questionnaires indicated that participants had reduced intentions to behave in a stigmatising way towards those with visible differences. Furthermore, they also viewed a broader range of appearances as beautiful and felt more positive about their own bodies. Comments and feedback from participants also suggested further positive impacts. Those with visible differences (for example scars) are subject to societal stigmatisation which can cause and worsen mental health problems. Therefore, alleviating social stigma through the media, as demonstrated through the documentary in this study, may improve the lives of those living with visible differences.

A Review on Mental Illness and Stigma

The concept of stigma is a universal problem that has been the subject of many studies. The phenomenon of stigmatization in psychiatric disorders is also an issue that should be particularly emphasized. Studies have reported that the diagnostic groups most exposed to stigmatization are psychotic disorders, bipolar disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders. The stigma process is shaped especially by the clinical features of psychiatric disorders and the society’s attributions to the causes of psychiatric disorders. IIn order for interventions to be developed to prevent stigmatization to be effective, the causes of stigmatization must first be understood.. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to review the stigmatization processes separately according to the types of psychiatric disorders.

The time is now: addressing implicit bias in obstetrics and gynecology education

Obstetrician-gynecologists can improve the learning environment and patient care by addressing implicit bias. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that racial and gender-based discrimination is woven into medical education, formal curricula, patient-provider-trainee interactions in the clinical workspace, and all aspects of learner assessment. Implicit bias negatively affects learners in every space. Strategies to address implicit bias at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, and structural level to improve the well-being of learners and patients are needed. The authors review an approach to addressing implicit bias in obstetrics and gynecology education, which includes: (1) curricular design using an educational framework of antiracism and social justice theories, (2) bias awareness and management pedagogy throughout the curriculum, (3) elimination of stereotypical patient descriptions from syllabi and examination questions, and (4) critical review of epidemiology and evidence-based medicine for underlying assumptions based on discriminatory practices or structural racism that unintentionally reinforce stereotypes and bias. The movement toward competency-based medical education and holistic evaluations may result in decreased bias in learner assessment. Educators may wish to monitor grades and narratives for bias as a form of continuous educational equity improvement. Given that practicing physicians may have little training in this area, faculty development efforts in bias awareness and mitigation strategies may have significant impact on learner well-being.

Racial discrimination and its impact on mental health

There is evidence that racial discrimination at different levels has a major impact on mental health over the whole life span. It is related generally to poor health, with the relationship being particularly strong for mental health. All forms of structural, institutionalised, interpersonal and internalised racism as well as the cumulative impact of intersectional discrimination appear to be linked to mental health and well-being. Studies also show links between effects of racial discrimination and neurophysiology especially on the brain volume. All forms of racism need to be addressed in inter- and transdisciplinary ways in order to dismantle racial discrimination. This review provides an overview of these interconnections.

Towards a better understanding of the social stigma of facial difference

Facial difference (FD) is not only an individual experience; it is inherently social, reflecting interactions between social norms and individual attitudes. Often FD is stigmatized. In this paper, we employ a widely used stigma framework, namely the social stigma framework put forth by Pryor and Reeder (2011), to unpack the stigma of FD. This framework posits that there are four forms of stigma: public stigma, self-stigma, stigma by association, and structural stigma. We first discuss the social and psychological literature on FD as it pertains to these various forms of stigma. We then describe coping approaches for FD stigma. Lastly, we delineate evidence-based methods for addressing the various forms of FD stigma, such that future efforts can more effectively tackle the stigma of facial difference.

The integration of subgroups at the supranational level: The relation between social identity, national threat, and perceived legitimacy of the EU

Previous research suggests that social identity influences public attitudes about the European Union, but little is known about the role of social identity for perceived legitimacy of the EU. This article explores the relation between different forms of identification (national, EU, dual) and EU legitimacy perceptions, and the moderation of this relationship by experienced threat to national power and sociocultural identity. A survey was conducted in six countries (N = 1136). A factor analysis of legitimacy items resulted in two subscales (institutional trust and duty to obey). Separate regression analyses were therefore run on these subscales. All forms of identification were positively related to perceived EU legitimacy, while threat was a strong and universal negative predictor. However, the results suggest that national identification only positively predicted legitimacy when participants experienced no threat to their nation by the EU, while dual identification positively predicted legitimacy even when participants experienced threat. Overall, respect for national identities and their values may offer opportunities to safeguard and improve the perceived legitimacy of the EU. Findings are discussed in terms of the literature on the ingroup projection model and the common ingroup model.

A recognition advantage for members of higher-status racial groups

The other-race effect (ORE) is a recognition memory advantage afforded to one's racial ingroup versus outgroup. The motivational relevance of the ingroup-because of relationships, belonging and self-esteem-is central to many theoretical explanations for the ORE. However, to date, the motivational relevance of outgroups has received considerably less attention in the ORE literature. Across six experiments, Black, White, Asian and Latinx American participants consistently demonstrated better recognition memory for the faces of relatively higher-status racial/ethnic group members than those of lower-status groups. This higher-status recognition advantage even appeared to override the ORE, such that participants better recognized members of higher-status outgroups-but not an outgroup of equivalent status-compared to members of their own ingroup. However, across a variety of self-reported perceived status measures, status differences between the high- and low-status groups generally did not moderate the documented recognition advantage. These findings provide initial evidence for the potential role of group status in the ORE and in recognition memory more broadly, but future work is needed to rule out alternative explanations.

“Everybody’s doing it”: Exploring the consequences of intergroup contact norms

Newcomers to a country can strongly benefit from having positive intergroup contact with host country residents. Often, however, such contact does not occur. Norms surrounding intergroup contact between newcomers and host country residents were explored over three studies. Correlational relationships among positive perceived contact norms, positive attitudes, and behavioural intentions supporting contact were demonstrated over multiple studies. Further, an experimental manipulation indicating higher (vs. lower and control) contact between host country residents and newcomers predicted behavioural intentions toward future intergroup contact through heightened intergroup contact norms and more positive attitudes toward newcomers. Implications of using norms as a means to impact intergroup relations are discussed.

The Role of Teachers' Constructivist Beliefs in Classroom Observations: A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective

Previous studies have focused on individuals learning from observing a model to be able to produce the modeled behavior. However, there is a lack of studies emphasizing the perspective of being observed to understand the role of perceived value and stress when teachers act as a teaching model. To address this gap, the present study explored the correlates between teachers' teaching beliefs, perceived value, psychosocial stress, and continuous intention to be the observed teaching model in classroom observations. Data of 349 respondents were usefully collected, and confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modeling was performed. Results showed that teachers' constructivist belief in teaching was positively related to perceived value of being observed and getting feedback, but was negatively related to psychosocial stress. Perceived value was positively related to continuous intention to be observed in future classroom observations, but perceived psychosocial stress was not significantly related to continuous intention. The results of this study can be applied to encourage those who are resistant to presenting their teaching experience in classroom observations.

In the Shadow of the Casinos: The Relationship between Religion and Health in Macau

Considerable research has shown that religion operates as a protective factor for one's health. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the mechanisms by which religion is linked to individual health and wellbeing, especially in predominantly secular societies. This study tried to address this gap by developing a theoretical model to examine how religiosity is related to life satisfaction and health perception in a non-Western culture. Macau, a Portuguese colony until 1999, remains a diversified culture because of its intermixed historical background from the East and the West. Through structural equation modeling, the analysis of data collected from a representative sample of Macau residents, using a multistage stratified sampling procedure, indicated a positive link between religiosity and health. Moreover, altruism and prejudice mediated a portion of the relationship between religiosity and health. Additionally, our results demonstrated that Macau residents who were more religious had a higher level of altruism and a lower level of prejudice. The link between religion and prejudice in Macau differs from that of many other cultures, indicating that the effect of religion on prejudice varies by cultural context. In sum, our study showed that even in the shadow of glittering casinos, religion is positively related to health.

OLD IDEAS, NEW DIRECTIONS: RE-EXAMINING THE PREDICTIVE UTILITY OF THE HEMODYNAMIC PROFILE OF THE STRESS RESPONSE IN HEALTHY POPULATIONS

The 'reactivity hypothesis' has a long and fruitful history in health psychology and behavioural medicine, with elements of its thesis taken as core and others lost in the plethora of research on its utility as a theory of psychosomatic disease. One such thesis is that the underlying hemodynamic profile of the stress response may be particularly revealing when detailing the impact of psychological stress on the development of cardiovascular disease. This paper re-examines old ideas surrounding the hemodynamic profile of the stress response, asking why its health-predictive properties were never fully explored. Further, this paper reviews the evidence that a vascular profile of stress responding may be especially predictive of disease development, particularly in the case of hypertension. In addition, measurement of hemodynamic profile as well as its known psychosocial moderators are reviewed including how examination of patterns of cardiovascular-stress response adaptation may extend the field. This paper highlights that the extension of the reactivity hypothesis to include both hemodynamic profile and patterns of cardiovascular stress-response adaptation may hold much explanatory power in detailing the impact of how stress responding and stress tolerance promotes disease development.

Physiological correlates of support for self-expansion and links to goal pursuit in retirement

Partner support for self-expansion has been associated with long-term health and retirement satisfaction, yet the underlying physiological correlates are unknown. We predicted that partner support for self-expansion would be associated with short-term physiology and behavior as well as long-term goal pursuit. And 100 couples with at least one retiree within 2 years of retirement visited the laboratory and had a discussion of the retirees' future goals for retirement. We recorded behaviors and physiological responses during the discussion, assessed immediate feelings of capability afterwards, and then assessed goal pursuit one year later. Laboratory results indicated that partner support for self-expansion was linked to increased stroke volume reactivity in the support-recipient (suggesting a greater challenge response), which in turn predicted greater feelings of capability of accomplishing the goal, particularly for males. In addition, decreases in the support-provider's pre-ejection period reactivity (greater sympathetic arousal) during the discussion were associated with greater partner support for self-expansion in the lab, suggesting that support providers offer greater levels of support when they exhibit greater physiological signs of task engagement. Longitudinal follow-up results indicated that immediate feelings of capability of accomplishing the goal following a discussion about that goal predicted goal pursuit 1 year later. This research leverages a dyadic design and a multi-method approach (involving physiology, observed behavior, and perceptions) to show that couple members' physiology during goal discussions has long-term implications for a support-recipient's ability to accomplish goals.

Look me in the eyes! A pre-registered eye-tracking study investigating visual attention and affective reactions to faces with a visible difference

This research aims to determine how disfigurement alters visual attention paid to faces and to examine whether such a potential modified pattern of visual attention to faces with visible difference was associated, in turn, with perceiver's stigmatizing affective reactions. A pilot study (N = 38) and a pre-registered experimental eye-tracking study (N = 89) were conducted. First, the visual explorations of faces with and without disfigurement were compared. The association of these visual explorations with affective reactions were investigated next. Findings suggest that disfigurement impacts visual attention toward faces; attention is not merely attracted to the disfigured area but it is also diverted particularly from the eye area. Disfigurement also eases disgust-related, surprise-related, anxiety-related, and, to a lesser extent, hostility-related affective states. Exploratory interaction effects between attention to the eyes and to the disfigured part of the face revealed a hybrid effect on disgust-related affect and an increase in surprise-related affect when participants fixated more upon the disfigured area and fixated less upon the eyes. Thus, perceiver's attention is captured by disfigurement and also diverted from face internal features which seems to play a role in the affective reactions elicited.

Intergroup Contact and Prejudice Reduction: Prospects and Challenges in Changing Youth Attitudes

Intergroup contact has long been lauded as a key intervention to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup attitudes among youth. In this review, we summarize classic perspectives and new developments in the intergroup contact literature, highlighting both prospects and challenges associated with achieving desired youth outcomes through contact. First, we review literature showing how positive intergroup outcomes can be facilitated through cultivating optimal conditions for contact, as well as by attending to youth’s emotional responses to contact. We then discuss how desired contact outcomes may be inhibited by limited understanding of ways in which contact strategies may affect youth across developmental stages, as well as by limited focus on societal inequalities and intergroup conflict, which require examination of outcomes beyond prejudice reduction. We also review growing bodies of research on indirect contact strategies—such as extended contact, vicarious contact, and online contact—showing many options that can be used to promote positive relations among youth from diverse backgrounds, beyond the contact literature’s traditional focus on face-to-face interaction. We conclude this review by acknowledging how understanding both prospects and challenges associated with implementing contact strategies can enhance our capacity to prepare youth to embrace group differences and build more inclusive societies.

Social support and depressive symptoms: exploring stigma and self-efficacy in a moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

Although some psychological processes, such as stigma and self-efficacy, affect the complicated relationship between social support and depressive symptoms, few studies explored a similar psychological mechanism among individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs). Hence, this research investigates the mediating effects of stigma and the moderating effects of self-efficacy among the psychological mechanism that social support affects depressive symptoms.

METHODS

The study included 1040 Chinese participants with SUDs and completed a series of self-report questionnaires. R software was used to organize and clean up data sets and analyze mediation and moderation effects.

RESULTS

The result showed that stigma partially mediated depressive symptoms, while self-efficacy moderated this relationship. More specifically, less social support increased depression symptoms by bringing about higher stigma. Besides, subjects with higher self-efficacy are less susceptible to stigma and therefore have mild depressive symptoms. Furthermore, clinical and theoretical implications are discussed in our study.

CONCLUSIONS

Chinese SUDs patients' depressive symptoms were indirectly affected by perceived social support via stigma and less affected by stigma with improved self-efficacy. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Social evaluation under stress: Does acute stress affect social attributions and eye gaze?

Acute stress has been found to elicit pro-social, anti-social or null responses in humans. The causes for these contradicting findings are currently poorly understood, and may rise from subjects' characteristics, such as sex or hormonal status, as well as stimuli-based traits, such as group membership. In the current study, 120 subjects performed either the Trier Social Stress Test or a control (non-stress inducing) condition, followed by ranking displayed faces according to several attributes (e.g., trustworthiness, attractiveness, dominance). Participants' eye gaze was also tracked while viewing facial stimuli. We examined how acute stress interacts with participants' sex, female participants' hormonal status (hormonal contraceptives, early-follicular phase and mid-luteal phase), and the observed faces’ social group (ethnicity-based in-group or out-groups). In general, frequentist and Bayesian analyses showed that acute stress exposure did not affect social attributions or gaze behavior, nor did it interact with subjects' sex or the group membership of the observed faces. Interestingly, sub-group analyses showed that in females, acute stress interacted with hormonal status to yield heterogenous anti-social effects, such as post-stress reductions in perceived trustworthiness in the early-follicular phase, and lower perceived attractiveness in the mid-luteal phase. Given the small sample sizes for the sub-groups, these results should be viewed as preliminary until further replicated. Our results highlight the necessity for large-scale studies, particularly in females, to further refine existing theories regarding the nature and contexts by which acute stress elicits changes in social cognition and behavior.

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Bayesian analysis showed that stress did not broadly affect social attributions.

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However, females' hormonal status may interact with stress to modulate attributions.

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Attributions were highly biased against out-group members, regardless of stress.

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Stress also did not influence patterns of eye gaze to faces.

On the Importance of Listening and Intercultural Communication for Actions against Racism

In a period where racial inequities in the United States have garnered more attention and discussion as a result of social media (e.g., increased use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag; Anderson et al., 2020) and newer generations (Tatum, 2017b), it is important to ensure that communication between cultural groups is effective and produces systemic change. This article will review the failures of a "postracial" society, with emphasis on ineffective communication among Black, Indigenous People of Color and non-Black, Indigenous People of Color. The role of the listener during intercultural verbal exchanges will be examined, while highlighting the barriers and harmful results of ineffective communication. A behavioral conceptualization of effective listener behavior will be presented, which if implemented, may maintain and sustain social equity, inclusion, and justice. A call to action will be made to further investigate intercultural communication using behavior-analytic research methodologies and how such research might inform on how to functionally and precisely mediate reinforcement in the fight against racism.

Facing Racism and Sexism in Science by Fighting Against Social Implicit Bias: A Latina and Black Woman's Perspective

The editors of several major journals have recently asserted the importance of combating racism and sexism in science. This is especially relevant now, as the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a widening of the gender and racial/ethnicity gaps. Implicit bias is a crucial component in this fight. Negative stereotypes that are socially constructed in a given culture are frequently associated with implicit bias (which is unconscious or not perceived). In the present article, we point to scientific evidence that shows the presence of implicit bias in the academic community, contributing to strongly damaging unconscious evaluations and judgments of individuals or groups. Additionally, we suggest several actions aimed at (1) editors and reviewers of scientific journals (2) people in positions of power within funding agencies and research institutions, and (3) members of selection committees to mitigate this effect. These recommendations are based on the experience of a group of Latinx American scientists comprising Black and Latina women, teachers, and undergraduate students who participate in women in science working group at universities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With this article, we hope to contribute to reflections, actions, and the development of institutional policies that enable and consolidate diversity in science and reduce disparities based on gender and race/ethnicity.

Defensive functions provoke similar psychophysiological reactions in reaching and comfort spaces

The space around the body crucially serves a variety of functions, first and foremost, preserving one's own safety and avoiding injury. Recent research has shown that emotional information, in particular threatening facial expressions, affects the regulation of peripersonal-reaching space (PPS, for action with objects) and interpersonal-comfort space (IPS, for social interaction). Here we explored if emotional facial expressions may similarly or differently affect both spaces in terms of psychophysiological reactions (cardiac inter-beat intervals: IBIs, i.e. inverse of heart rate; Skin Conductance Response amplitude: SCR amplitude) and spatial distance. Through Immersive Virtual Reality technology, participants determined reaching-distance (PPS) and comfort-distance (IPS) from virtual confederates exhibiting happy/angry/neutral facial expressions while being approached by them. During these interactions, spatial distance and psychophysiological reactions were recorded. Results revealed that when interacting with angry virtual confederates the distance increased similarly in both comfort-social and reaching-action spaces. Moreover, interacting with virtual confederates exhibiting angry rather than happy or neutral expressions provoked similar psychophysiological activations (SCR amplitude, IBIs) in both spaces. Regression analyses showed that psychophysiological activations, particularly SCR amplitude in response to virtual confederates approaching with angry expressions, were able to predict the increase of PPS and IPS. These findings suggest that self-protection functions could be the expression of a common defensive mechanism shared by social and action spaces.

Physiological responses to a school task: The role of student-teacher relationships and students' emotional appraisal

BACKGROUND

To be successful, students must learn to deal with socially and cognitively demanding tasks. Much remains unknown about the effects of previous classroom experiences and of students' emotional appraisal of a task on their physiological adaptive responses to it.

AIMS

To investigate how children's physiological response to a social and cognitive task would be directly and interactively influenced by the perceived student-teacher relationship and by children's emotional appraisal of what reaction they expect to have while completing the task.

METHODS

One hundred and sixteen second and third graders took part in the study. Children completed a cognitive and social stress task. Before the task, they were interviewed on their emotional appraisal of the task and on student-teacher relationships. Children's cardiac activity was registered at rest and during the task to measure physiological activation (heart rate) and self-regulation (heart rate variability).

RESULTS

Heart rate variability during the task was positively correlated with the appraised emotional valence of the task and of being observed while doing it. Regression analyses showed that children's physiological self-regulation during the task was affected by the interaction between student-teacher relationships and appraised emotional valence of being observed. Only among children who had experienced negative student-teacher relationships, an active physiological self-regulation was observed in response to the task when they expected it to be positive compared to when they perceived it as negative.

CONCLUSIONS

Children's emotional appraisal of tasks and the quality of student-teacher relationships are important to promote a functional physiological response of self-regulation that underlies academic functioning and well-being at school.

"When I Sleep Poorly, It Impacts Everything": An Exploratory Qualitative Investigation of Stress and Sleep in Junior Endurance Athletes

On their journeys toward senior athletic status, junior endurance athletes are faced with a multitude of stressors. How athletes react to stressors plays a vital part in effective adaptation to the demanding, ever-changing athletic environment. Sleep, the most valued recovery strategy available to athletes, has the potential to influence and balance athletic stress, and enable optimal functioning. However, sleep is sensitive to disturbances by stress, which is described by the concept of sleep reactivity. Among athletes, poor sleep quality is frequently reported, but our understanding of the associations between stress and sleep in junior athletes is currently incomplete. The present study therefore investigated the themes of stress and sleep, and the associations between these variables with the use of in-depth semi-structured interviews in six junior endurance athletes (three men and three women, mean age 17.7 ± 0.5 years). Data was analyzed qualitatively based on the Grounded Theory. The qualitative material was supplemented with quantitative data on subjective sleep quality (Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index), sleep reactivity (Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test), and mental strain (visual analog scale). The main results showed that stress could be differentiated into relevant stressors (encompassing poor performance, uncertainty in relation to training, school, daily hassles, and sleep) and reactions to stress (with sub-categories facilitative and maladaptive). Sleep could be differentiated into sleep benefits (encompassing energy levels and athletic functioning) and sleep quality (with sub-categories satisfactory and inadequate). All athletes identified relevant stressors, and all athletes were aware of the benefits of sleep for athletic functioning. However, athletes formed two distinctive categories based on the interactions between stress and sleep: three exhibited facilitative reactions to stress and good sleep quality, as well as low sleep reactivity, and low mental strain. The remaining participants exhibited maladaptive reactions to stress and poor sleep quality, as well as high sleep reactivity and high mental strain. Conceptualizing sleep quality based on the evaluation of stressors, reactions to stress, degree of mental strain, and the propensity to stress-related sleep disturbance may offer a plausible explanation for why the occurrence of stressors leads to poor sleep quality in some athletes, but not others.

Comparing the effect of cross-group friendship on generalized trust to its effect on prejudice: The mediating role of threat perceptions and negative affect

Intergroup relations theory posits that cross-group friendship reduces threat perceptions and negative emotions about outgroups. This has been argued to mitigate the negative effects of ethnic diversity on generalized trust. Yet, direct tests of this friendship-trust relation, especially including perceptions of threat and negative affect as mediators, have remained rare at the individual level. In this article, we bridge this research gap using representative data from eight European countries (Group-Focused Enmity). We employ structural equation modelling (SEM) to model mediated paths of cross-group friendship on generalized trust via perceptions of threat and negative affect. We find that both the total effect as well as the (mediated) total indirect effect of cross-group friendship on generalized trust are weak when compared with similar paths estimated for prejudice.

Changing Social Contexts to Foster Equity in College Science Courses: An Ecological-Belonging Intervention

In diverse classrooms, stereotypes are often "in the air," which can interfere with learning and performance among stigmatized students. Two studies designed to foster equity in college science classrooms (Ns = 1,215 and 607) tested an intervention to establish social norms that make stereotypes irrelevant in the classroom. At the beginning of the term, classrooms assigned to an ecological-belonging intervention engaged in discussion with peers around the message that social and academic adversity is normative and that students generally overcome such adversity. Compared with business-as-usual controls, intervention students had higher attendance, course grades, and 1-year college persistence. The intervention was especially impactful among historically underperforming students, as it improved course grades for ethnic minorities in introductory biology and for women in introductory physics. Regardless of demographics, attendance in the intervention classroom predicted higher cumulative grade point averages 2 to 4 years later. The results illustrate the viability of an ecological approach to fostering equity and unlocking student potential.