Application of the integrated threat theory to conservation law enforcement

Interactions between law enforcement agents in conservation (e.g., rangers) and illegal resource users (e.g., illegal hunters) can be violent and sometimes fatal, which negatively affects conservation efforts and people's well-being. Models from social psychology, such as integrated threat theory (ITT) (intergroup interactions shape intergroup emotions, prejudices and perceived threats leading to hostile attitudes or behaviors between groups), are useful in addressing such interactions. Conservation approaches relying mainly on law enforcement have never been investigated using this framework. Using a structured questionnaire, we collected data from 282 rangers in protected and unprotected areas (n = 50) in northern Iran. We applied Bayesian structural equation modeling in an assessment of rangers' affective attitudes (i.e., emotions or feelings that shape attitudes toward a person or object) toward illegal hunters in an ITT framework. Rangers' positive perceptions of illegal hunters were negatively associated with intergroup anxiety (emotional response to fear) and negative stereotypes about a hunter's personality, which mediated the relationship between negative contact and affective attitudes. This suggests that negative contact, such as verbal abuse, may lead rangers to perceive illegal hunters as arrogant or cruel, which likely forms a basis for perceived threats. Rangers' positive contact with illegal hunters, such as playing or working together, likely lowered their perceived realistic threats (i.e., fear of property damage). Perceived realistic threats of rangers were positively associated with negative contacts (e.g., physical harm). The associations we identified suggest that relationships based on positive interactions between rangers and illegal hunters can reduce fear and prejudice. Thus, we suggest that rangers and hunters be provided with safe spaces to have positive interactions, which may help lower tension and develop cooperative conservation mechanisms.

Augmenting Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Social and Intergroup Anxiety With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

OBJECTIVES

Exposure therapy is a cornerstone of social anxiety treatment, yet not all patients respond. Symptoms in certain social situations, including intergroup (ie, out-group) contexts, may be particularly resistant to treatment. Exposure therapy outcomes may be improved by stimulating neural areas associated with safety learning, such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The mPFC also plays an important role in identifying others as similar to oneself. We hypothesized that targeting the mPFC during exposure therapy would reduce intergroup anxiety and social anxiety.

METHODS

Participants (N = 31) with the public speaking subtype of social anxiety received active (anodal) or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the mPFC during exposure therapy. Exposure therapy consisted of giving speeches to audiences in virtual reality. To target intergroup anxiety, half of the public speaking exposure trials were conducted with out-group audiences, defined in this study as audiences of a different ethnicity.

RESULTS

Contrary to hypotheses, tDCS did not facilitate symptom reduction. Some evidence even suggested that tDCS temporarily increased in-group favoritism, although these effects dissipated at 1-month follow-up. In addition, collapsing across all participants, we found reductions across time for public speaking anxiety and intergroup anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

The data provide evidence that standard exposure therapy techniques for social anxiety can be adapted to target intergroup anxiety. Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the mPFC may boost safety signaling, but only in contexts previously conditioned to signal safety, such as an in-group context.

Imagine Being Humble: Integrating Imagined Intergroup Contact and Cultural Humility to Foster Inclusive Intergroup Relations

To reduce prejudice and to promote intergroup harmony and equality, the imagined intergroup contact technique, based on the mental simulation of an encounter with an outgroup member, has been proposed. Though a substantial body of research has provided support for the efficacy of imagined intergroup contact in prejudice reduction, an alternative strand of research has raised questions about its effectiveness. In this experiment, we combined imagined intergroup contact with cultural humility, that is, an other-oriented, humble approach toward people with different cultural backgrounds, recognizing status and power imbalances and privileges. Specifically, we tested whether instructions aimed at eliciting cultural humility during imagined contact boosted its effectiveness in reducing prejudice and promoting future contact intentions, compared to a standard imagined contact condition and to a control imagination task. Intergroup anxiety was tested as a mediator of the effects of culturally humble imagined contact on reduced prejudice and on future contact intentions. We found that culturally humble imagined contact, compared to the two other conditions, reduced intergroup anxiety and yielded indirect effects on reduced prejudice and increased future contact intentions. The findings will be discussed by focusing on the integration of cultural humility in prejudice reduction techniques based on intergroup contact.

The mediating role of outgroup perspective-taking in the relationship of the sense of global social responsibility with negative stereotypes and intergroup anxiety

Existing literature has extensively explored attitudes toward refugees; however, to the best of our knowledge, no study has specifically examined the relationship between the sense of global social responsibility and attitudes toward refugees. Therefore, this study investigated the mediating role of outgroup perspective-taking in the relationship of the sense of global social responsibility with negative stereotypes and intergroup anxiety. The data for this study were collected from a sample of 325 participants, with 53.5% males, aged between 18 and 47 years (Mage = 28.90 ± 7.08). The findings revealed that the sense of global social responsibility was positively related to outgroup perspective-taking and inversely related to negative stereotypes and intergroup anxiety. Also, perspective-taking exhibited negative relationships with negative stereotypes and intergroup anxiety. Mediation analyses showed that the sense of global social responsibility not only directly influenced the reduction of negative stereotypes and intergroup anxiety but also indirectly affected these attitudes through increased outgroup perspective-taking. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms that can effectively mitigate negative attitudes toward refugees. Findings also highlighted the potential of the sense of global social responsibility and outgroup perspective-taking in designing intervention programs aimed at reducing negative attitudes toward outgroup members, including refugees.

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.

Effects of intergroup contact on explicit and implicit outgroup attitudes: A longitudinal field study with majority and minority group members

A longitudinal field study tested the long-term effects (three years) of intergroup contact on both explicit and implicit outgroup attitudes. Participants were majority (Italian) and minority (immigrant) high-school students, who were tested at four waves from the beginning of their first year in high-school to the end of the third school year. Results revealed, first, a longitudinal association of quantity (but not quality) of contact with lower intergroup anxiety and more positive explicit attitudes, as well as bidirectional effects over time between explicit attitudes and intergroup anxiety, on the one hand, and quantity and quality of contact, on the other. Second, reduced intergroup anxiety mediated the association between quantity of contact and improved explicit attitudes over time. Third, the product of quantity and quality of contact longitudinally predicted more positive implicit outgroup attitudes over school years. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of findings.

You Are Old, but Are You Out? Intergenerational Contact Impacts on Out-Group Perspective-Taking and on the Roles of Stereotyping and Intergroup Anxiety

Perspective-taking (PT) is an important ability to imagine the world from another's point of view. Prior studies have shown that younger adults are more likely to consider the opinions of age-based in-group members relative to out-group members. However, the cause of this priority is still unknown. We conducted three independent studies to explore the effect of intergenerational contact on younger adults' PT toward older adults and the possible roles of stereotyping and intergroup anxiety. A total of 192 college students completed the Perspective taking Scale in Study 1 after being primed with age-based intergroup relationships. The results indicated that younger adults found it more difficult to take the perspective of older adults than that of their peers. 200 college students completed the Prior Contact Scale, Intergroup Anxiety Scale, Negative Stereotype Scale, and PT Scale in Study 2. The results demonstrated that intergenerational contact improved PT toward older adults by disrupting negative stereotypes, and intergroup anxiety moderated this mediating relationship. A total of 215 college students completed the PT Scale in the context of imagining intergenerational contact in Study 3. Interestingly, imagined contact effectively increased younger adults' ability to take older adults' perspectives. The present research verifies that contact is important for influencing younger adults' emotional (intergroup anxiety) and attitudinal (stereotyping) factors that are critical to improving younger adults' ability to take older people's perspectives. This is of great significance for developing harmonious intergenerational relationships.

Factors Influencing Transcultural Self-Efficacy Among Nurses With Foreign Patient Care Experience

INTRODUCTION

As the cultural diversity among patients increases, it becomes important for nurses to be prepared and efficient in providing culturally congruent care. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing transcultural self-efficacy (TSE) among Korean nurses.

METHODOLOGY

A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used, and 131 nurses with foreign patient-care experience were recruited from a university tertiary hospital.

RESULTS

The mean TSE score of participants was 5.27 out of 10 (SD = 1.50). The practical subscale of TSE was the lowest, while the affective subscale was the highest. A regression analysis revealed that education level, cultural competence, and intergroup anxiety are predictors explaining 58.8% of its variance (F = 27.5, p < .001).

DISCUSSION

A low level of TSE causes avoidant behavior and ineffective communication in foreign patient care, resulting in unsatisfactory clinical performance. Effective education programs and administration guidelines may be critical for nurses to improve their TSE.

Subjective Identity Concealability and the Consequences of Fearing Identity-Based Judgment

In intergroup contexts, people may fear being judged negatively because of an identity they hold. For some, the prospect of concealment offers an opportunity to attenuate this fear. Therefore, believing an identity is concealable may minimize people’s fears of identity-based judgment. Here, we explore the construct of subjective identity concealability: the belief that an identity one holds is concealable from others. Across four pre-registered studies and a set of internal meta-analyses, we develop and validate a scale to measure individual differences in subjective identity concealability and provide evidence that it is associated with lower levels of the psychological costs of fearing judgment in intergroup contexts. Open materials, data, and code for all studies, pre-registrations for Studies 1–4, and online supplementary materials can be found at the following link: https://osf.io/pzcf9/.

Acceptance of Diversity as a Building Block of Social Cohesion: Individual and Structural Determinants

High levels of social cohesion have been shown to be beneficial both for social entities and for their residents. It is therefore not surprising that scholars from several disciplines investigate which factors contribute to or hamper social cohesion at various societal levels. In recent years, the question of how individuals deal with the increasing diversity of their neighborhoods and society as a whole has become of particular interest when examining cohesion. The present study takes this a step further by combining sociological and psychological approaches in investigating whether the group-level acceptance of diversity, a core feature of cohesive societies, is related to prevailing mentalities of individuals once the social structure of a community is accounted for. We hypothesize that after controlling for individual sociodemographic and for structural variables, three individual characteristics play an important role for the level of acceptance of diversity in a given entity. We propose that individual intergroup anxiety (IGA) acts as a motor of the rejection of diversity whereas individual empathy should act as a safeguard. Furthermore, we propose that right-leaning political orientation (PO) has a negative influence on the acceptance of diversity. This study is based on a large, representative sample of the German general population (N₁ = 2,869). To draw comparisons among different social entities, the sample was divided by federal states (N₂ = 16). Data were analyzed by using a two-step approach for analyzing group-level outcomes in multilevel models. The analyses confirmed our hypothesis that intergroup anxiety at the individual level hampers the acceptance of diversity in a given sociopolitical entity. Furthermore, we found that intergroup anxiety is impacted by the economic situation in a federal state (measured per capita gross domestic product), as economic weakness intensified the fear of others. Surprisingly, neither empathy nor political orientation played a role for the acceptance of diversity. Implications for future research on social cohesion as well as for the work of policy makers are discussed.

Associative Learning Processes in the Formation of Intergroup Anxiety and Avoidance in Society

Laboratory-based aversive conditioning studies have reliably induced fear toward an image of an outgroup member by pairing the image with a fear-inducing, aversive stimulus. However, laboratory-based studies have been criticized for being simplistic in comparison to the complexities of the real world. The current study is the first to apply an aversive conditioning framework to explain the formation of intergroup fear and subsequent anxiety toward, and avoidance of, the outgroup outside the laboratory. Two samples recalled details of their first negative encounter with an African American (N = 554) or Muslim (N = 613) individual, respectively. Congruent with learning theory, participants who reported an unpleasant event with an outgroup member reported more fear during the encounter than did those who did not report experiencing an unpleasant event. Additionally, the intensity of unpleasantness during the first encounter indirectly predicted outgroup avoidance, via retrospectively recalled fear and current levels of intergroup anxiety.

How to reduce stigmatization of people with mental illness in medical education: READ intervention

Stigmatization of people with mental illness in health care is a serious problem contributing to poor provision of health care and preventive medicine, it decreases their willingness to seek help and reduces quality of their life and life expectancy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the anti-stigma training READ on medical students during their psychiatric module. The training was held by a psychiatrist and a peer lecturer. This study is a part of the international project INDIGO. A total of 53 medical students participated in this study (32 in intervention group, 21 in control group). Participants completed questionnaire at baseline and at immediate follow-up. It contained scales measuring attitudes, knowledge, empathy and intergroup anxiety. The intervention group demonstrated reductions in stigma-related attitudes, improvements in mental illness knowledge and reductions in intergroup anxiety. At immediate follow-up the control group demonstrated improvements in mental illness knowledge and reductions in intergroup anxiety. Based on the results of this study common psychiatric module at the medical school (including theoretical and practical education) does not contribute to the sufficient reduction of stigma. The training READ with an involvement of peer lecturers appears to be a convenient instrument how to reduce stigmatization of people with mental illness at medical schools. The contact with people who are not in the acute state of the illness is crucial for destigmatization.

Collectively coping with contact: The role of intragroup support in dealing with the challenges of intergroup mixing in residential contexts

The social identity approach to stress has shown how intragroup support processes shape individuals' responses to stress across health care, workplace, and community settings. However, the issue of how these 'social cure' processes can help cope with the stress of intergroup contact has yet to be explored. This is particularly important given the pivotal role of intergroup threat and anxiety in the experience of contact as well as the effect of contact on extending the boundaries of group inclusion. This study applies this perspective to a real-life instance of residential contact in a divided society. Semi-structured interviews with 14 Catholic and 13 Protestant new residents of increasingly mixed areas of Belfast city, Northern Ireland, were thematically analysed. Results highlight that transitioning to mixed communities was fraught with intergroup anxiety, especially for those coming from 'single identity' areas. Help from existing residents, especially when offered by members of other religious denominations, signalled a 'mixed community ethos' to new residents, which facilitated adopting and sharing this identity. This shared identity then enabled them to deal with unexpected intergroup threats and provided resilience to future sectarian division. New residents who did not adopt this shared identity remained isolated, fearful, and prone to negative contact.

Direct and extended intergenerational contact and young people's attitudes towards older adults

Research suggests that positive intergenerational contact can improve young people's attitudes towards older adults. However, today's age‐segregated society may not provide ample opportunities for positive contact between younger and older adults to occur on a regular basis. In three studies, we investigated whether the positive attitudinal outcomes associated with direct contact might also stem from a more indirect form of intergenerational relationship: extended contact. In Study 1 (N = 70), extended contact was associated with more positive attitudes towards older adults even when controlling for direct intergenerational contact (contact frequency and contact quality). In Study 2 (N = 110), the positive effects of direct and extended contact on young people's age‐related attitudes were mediated by reductions in intergroup anxiety and ageing anxiety. The mediational effects of intergroup anxiety were replicated in Study 3 (N = 95) and ingroup norms additionally emerged as a mediator of the positive effects of extended contact on young people's attitudes towards older adults. Discussion focuses on the implications for strategies aimed at tackling ageism.

The joint effect of bias awareness and self-reported prejudice on intergroup anxiety and intentions for intergroup contact

Two correlational studies investigated the joint effect of bias awareness-a new individual difference measure that assesses Whites' awareness and concern about their propensity to be biased-and prejudice on Whites' intergroup anxiety and intended intergroup contact. Using a community sample (Study 1), we found the predicted Bias Awareness × Prejudice interaction. Prejudice was more strongly related to interracial anxiety among those high (vs. low) in bias awareness. Study 2 investigated potential behavioral consequences in an important real world context: medical students' intentions for working primarily with minority patients. Study 2 replicated the Bias Awareness × Prejudice interaction and further demonstrated that interracial anxiety mediated medical students' intentions to work with minority populations.

A little similarity goes a long way: the effects of peripheral but self-revealing similarities on improving and sustaining interracial relationships

Integrating theory on close relationships and intergroup relations, we construct a manipulation of similarity that we demonstrate can improve interracial interactions across different settings. We find that manipulating perceptions of similarity on self-revealing attributes that are peripheral to the interaction improves interactions in cross-race dyads and racially diverse task groups. In a getting-acquainted context, we demonstrate that the belief that one's different-race partner is similar to oneself on self-revealing, peripheral attributes leads to less anticipatory anxiety than the belief that one's partner is similar on peripheral, nonself-revealing attributes. In another dyadic context, we explore the range of benefits that perceptions of peripheral, self-revealing similarity can bring to different-race interaction partners and find (a) less anxiety during interaction, (b) greater interest in sustained contact with one's partner, and (c) stronger accuracy in perceptions of one's partners' relationship intentions. By contrast, participants in same-race interactions were largely unaffected by these manipulations of perceived similarity. Our final experiment shows that among small task groups composed of racially diverse individuals, those whose members perceive peripheral, self-revealing similarity perform superior to those who perceive dissimilarity. Implications for using this approach to improve interracial interactions across different goal-driven contexts are discussed.

Let's Talk About Race, Baby! When Whites' and Blacks' Interracial Contact Experiences Diverge

The present study investigated whether the conditions that make interracial contact anxiety-provoking for Whites differ from those that make it anxiety-provoking for Blacks. Specifically, the present work examined interracial anxiety as a function of discussant race (i.e., White or Black) and discussion topic (i.e., race-related or race-neutral). To that end, we examined the non-verbal behavior of White and Black participants during brief interpersonal interactions. Consistent with previous research, White participants behaved more anxiously during interracial than same-race interactions. Additionally, White participants of interracial interaction behaved more anxiously than their Black interaction partners. Furthermore, whereas White participants of interracial interactions found race-related discussions no more stressful than race-neutral discussions, Black participants of interracial interactions found race-related discussions less stressful than race-neutral discussions. The implications of these racial and contextual differences in interracial anxiety for improving interracial contact and race relations, more broadly, are discussed.