The effect of gender stereotype activation on entrepreneurial intentions.

In this study, the impact of implicit and explicit activation of gender stereotypes on men's and women's intentions to pursue a traditionally masculine career, such as entrepreneurship, was examined. On the basis of stereotype activation theory, it was hypothesized that men and women would confirm the gender stereotype about entrepreneurship when it was presented implicitly but disconfirm it when it was presented explicitly. Hypotheses were tested by randomly assigning 469 business students to one of 6 experimental conditions and then measuring their entrepreneurial intentions. Results supported the hypothesis when entrepreneurship was associated with stereotypically masculine characteristics but not when it was associated with traditionally feminine characteristics. Men also had higher entrepreneurial intention scores compared with women when no stereotypical information about entrepreneurship was presented, suggesting that underlying societal stereotypes associating entrepreneurship with masculine characteristics may influence people's intentions. However, men and women reported similar intentions when entrepreneurship was presented as gender neutral, suggesting that widely held gender stereotypes can be nullified. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of chronic achievement motivation and achievement primes on the activation of achievement and fun goals.

This research examined the hypothesis that situational achievement cues can elicit achievement or fun goals depending on chronic differences in achievement motivation. In 4 studies, chronic differences in achievement motivation were measured, and achievement-denoting words were used to influence behavior. The effects of these variables were assessed on self-report inventories, task performance, task resumption following an interruption, and the pursuit of means relevant to achieving or having fun. Findings indicated that achievement priming (vs. control priming) activated a goal to achieve and inhibited a goal to have fun in individuals with chronically high-achievement motivation but activated a goal to have fun and inhibited a goal to achieve in individuals with chronically low-achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of stereotype activation on behavior: A review of possible mechanisms.

Considerable recent research has examined the effects that activated stereotypes have on behavior. Research on both self-stereotype activation and other-stereotype activation has tended to show that people behave in ways consistent with the stereotype (e.g., walking more slowly if the elderly stereotype is activated). Interestingly, however, the dominant account for the behavioral effects of self-stereotype activation involves a hot motivational factor (i.e., stereotype threat), whereas the dominant account for the behavioral effects of other-sterotype activation focuses on a rather cold cognitive explanation (i.e., ideomotor processes). The current review compares and contrasts the behavioral research on self- and other-stereotype activation and concludes that both motivational and cognitive explanations might account for effects in each domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotype performance boosts: The impact of self-relevance and the manner of stereotype activation.

The activation of positive stereotypes has been shown to produce academic performance boosts. Evidence regarding the role of self-relevance in producing such effects has been mixed. The authors propose that the subtlety of stereotype activation plays a key role in creating performance boosts among targets and nontargets of stereotypes. Study 1 found that subtle stereotype activation boosted performance in targets, but blatant activation did not. Study 2 was conducted on both targets and nontargets using different methods of stereotype activation. Again, targets showed performance boosts when stereotypes were subtly activated but not when they were blatantly activated. Nontargets, however, showed boosts in performance only when stereotypes were blatantly activated. The role of self-relevance in mediating sensitivity to stimuli is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamic time course of stereotype activation: Activation, dissipation, and resurrection.

Stereotypes activated upon initial exposure to a stereotyped individual may dissipate as the exposure continues. Participants observing a videotaped interview with a Black person showed activation of the stereotype of Black people following 15 s of observation but not following 12 min of observation. However, the discovery of a disagreement with the stereotyped individual may bring the dissipated stereotype back to mind. Participants who discovered, at the end of a 12-min videotaped interview with a Black person, that this person disagreed with them about the verdict in a court case showed activation of the stereotype of Black people, whereas participants who discovered instead that the Black person agreed with them did not. Participants who disagreed with a Black person also applied the Black stereotype to him, but this stereotype application was detected only on an implicit measure of application, not on an explicit measure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preconscious perception: A re-examination of the Poetzel phenomenon.

Based on the format of a previous investigation (see 33: 9534) this study investigated the Poetzel phenomenon, but with certain features of the original design, felt to contribute artifacts to the results, altered. Ss were exposed to tachistoscopically-presented stimuli which were then evaluated as to their presence in daydream associations the following day. To check whether the content of the associations were related to the experimentally-presented stimuli or not, this study added a control group, not exposed to the experimental stimuli, but asked to day dream and associate freely. To be validly related to the experimental stimuli, the associations of the group exposed to the stimuli should be significantly different from that in the control group; they were not. The Poetzel hypothesis was not felt to be supported. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HL97J. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action.

Previous research has shown that trait concepts and stereotypes become active automatically in the presence of relevant behavior or stereotyped-group features. Through the use of the same priming procedures as in previous impression formation research, Experiment 1 showed that participants whose concept of rudeness was primed interrupted the experimenter more quickly and frequently than did participants primed with polite-related stimuli. In Experiment 2, participants for whom an elderly stereotype was primed walked more slowly down the hallway when leaving the experiment than did control participants, consistent with the content of that stereotype. In Experiment 3, participants for whom the African American stereotype was primed subliminally reacted with more hostility to a vexatious request of the experimenter. Implications of this automatic behavior priming effect for self-fulfilling prophecies are discussed, as is whether social behavior is necessarily mediated by conscious choice processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals.

It is proposed that goals can be activated outside of awareness and then operate nonconsciously to guide self-regulation effectively (J. A. Bargh, 1990). Five experiments are reported in which the goal either to perform well or to cooperate was activated, without the awareness of participants, through a priming manipulation. In Experiment 1 priming of the goal to perform well caused participants to perform comparatively better on an intellectual task. In Experiment 2 priming of the goal to cooperate caused participants to replenish a commonly held resource more readily. Experiment 3 used a dissociation paradigm to rule out perceptual-construal alternative explanations. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated that action guided by nonconsciously activated goals manifests two classic content-free features of the pursuit of consciously held goals. Nonconsciously activated goals effectively guide action, enabling adaptation to ongoing situational demands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stereotype of the computer scientist.

Explored the extent and nature of the characterizations applied uniquely to computer scientists by 436 undergraduate psychology students (aged 17–60 yrs) and 74 undergraduate computer science students (aged 20–24 yrs) within the stereotyped paradigm. The Adjective Checklist was used for assessing stereotypes. It was found that Ss tended to stereotype computer scientists along 2 dimensions: technological dedication and sociability. Characterizations by computer science students did not differ greatly from those of the general population; however, they did not typify themselves, as prospective computer scientists, as personally fulfilling an unsociability stereotype. Computer science respondents described themselves as more outgoing and interested in the people around them than they perceived most of the other computer scientists to be. (French abstract) (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Model-based feedback control of deformation processing with microstructure goals

A closed-loop feedback scheme for obtaining a goal microstructure during hot isostatic pressing (“hipping”) of powders is described. The control scheme relies on previously developed process models describing the process dynamics during a HIP run and sensors which can measure density and grain size. We use constantly updated linearization and coprime factorization and thus implement the control by convex programming. Simulation results showing the performance of the control scheme are presented. Formerly Assistant Professor with the University of Virginia An increase in temperature or pressure is accomplished by commanding a positive slew; a decrease is accomplished with a negative slew command.     

Age differences in adults' control beliefs related to life goals and concerns.

Control beliefs play an important role in how people direct their own development during their life span. However, research into age differences in control beliefs has produced inconsistent results. In this study, 381 Ss (aged 19–71 yrs) completed a questionnaire in which they were asked to write down their goals and concerns. They were then asked to rate each on a 4-point bipolar rating scale measuring internality–externality. The results showed that Ss' control beliefs became more external with age. However, part of the increase in externality was found to be caused by increasing interest in domains that are generally considered uncontrollable. Ss' beliefs about health-, self-, offspring-, and property-related goals became more external with age, unlike goals concerning future education, occupation, family, and travel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of previously assigned goals on self-set goals and performance.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 70(2) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2008-10965-001). The third line was left out on p. 696, top right column. The entire section should read as follows: "Figure 1 compares the goals on T-1 with the mean goals chosen on T-2 by the same groups of subjects (i.e., grouped according to T-1 goals). On T-2 the mean goal levels of the seven original groups ranged from 4.8 to 12.9, in contrast with the T-1 range of 2 to 26."] 231 undergraduates were asked to list from 2–26 uses for common objects depending on the level of difficulty of the section (1 of 7) to which they were assigned. Ss were given a 1-min practice trial after task explanations and were then administered 2 experimental trials. Ss were told they were free to change their goals to a higher or lower level for the 2nd trial if they did not like the goal they had been assigned. Results show that Ss chose more difficult goals, if the assigned goals had been easy, and easier goals, if the assigned goals had been difficult. Ss were heavily influenced in their self-set goals by their previously assigned goals. The performance of Ss with impossible goals did not drop on the 2nd trial. A goal–expectancy interaction was found on the 2nd trial that was due to expectancy being positively related to performance at the higher but not the lower goal levels. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addressees of performance goals.

As performance goals aim to both procure acknowledgment of one's abilities and to avoid revealing a lack of one's abilities, the authors hypothesized that students hold specific performance goals for different addressees and that there are specific correlational patterns with other motivational constructs. They analyzed a data set of 2,675 pupils (1,248 boys and 1,426 girls) attending Grades 8 and 9 (mean age=15.0, SD=0.97). The students completed a questionnaire consisting of 12 items measuring performance approach goals and 12 items measuring performance avoidance goals. In each subset, 4 groups of addressees were differentiated: parents, teachers, peers, and the acting individual him/herself. Additionally, several external criteria were measured. The authors concurrently tested theory-driven, structural equation models. Incorporating all 24 items, the best-fitting model was a multitrait-multimethod model, which posited 2 factors for approach and avoidance goals and 4 addressee factors. While performance goals addressing parents showed relationships to maladaptive motivational and learning patterns, performance goals addressing classmates and self showed relationships to adaptive motivational and learning patterns. The relationships between performance goals addressing teachers and external criteria were rather weak and unsystematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Just say no (to stereotyping): Effects of training in the negation of stereotypic associations on stereotype activation.

The primary aim of the present research was to examine the effect of training in negating stereotype associations on stereotype activation. Across 3 studies, participants received practice in negating stereotypes related to skinhead and racial categories. The subsequent automatic activation of stereotypes was measured using either a primed Stroop task (Studies 1 and 2) or a person categorization task (Study 3). The results demonstrate that when receiving no training or training in a nontarget category stereotype, participants exhibited spontaneous stereotype activation. After receiving an extensive amount of training related to a specific category, however, participants demonstrated reduced stereotype activation. The results from the training task provide further evidence for the impact of practice on participants' proficiency in negating stereotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-percepts of control in middle and later adulthood: Buffering losses by rescaling goals.

Proposes a model of how a sense of control is maintained in later adulthood through shifts in the subjective importance of developmental goals. Developmental goals and control beliefs were repeatedly assessed over an 8-yr interval on a core sample of 735 participants (aged 30–59 yrs). The findings reveal a high degree of stability in generalized perceptions of control even in the transition to later adulthood. In line with predictions, moderated multiple regressions indicated (1) that the degree to which self-percepts of control within a particular goal domain affect an individual's general sense of control depends on the personal importance of that domain and (2) that losses of control within a goal domain affect general perceptions of control to a lesser degree if the importance of the respective domain is downscaled within the same longitudinal interval. Implications for theories of depression as well as for successful aging are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the independence of stereotype and attitude.

Presented 43 attitude statements and 14 evaluative and 10 stereotypic bipolar trait-adjectives concerning French-Canadians to 67 male and 94 female Manitoba undergraduates. The 1st-order factor analysis produced a separation of the 3 measures, resulting in 3 attitude factors, an evaluative trait-adjective factor, and a stereotype factor. A 2nd-order factor analysis of the relations among primary factors resulted in 2 factors: (a) a general evaluative factor comprising the evaluative trait-adjective dimension and the 3 attitude dimensions from the 1st-order analysis, and (b) a factor clearly defined by the stereotype dimension. Implications of the present findings of relative independence of stereotype and attitude are discussed in relation to traditional methods of defining and assessing stereotypes. (French summary) (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Striving to be known by significant others: Automatic activation of self-verification goals in relationship contexts.

Extending research on the automatic activation of goals associated with significant others, the authors hypothesized that self-verification goals typically pursued with significant others are automatically elicited when a significant-other representation is activated. Supporting this hypothesis, the activation of a significant-other representation through priming (Experiments 1 and 3) or through a transference encounter (Experiment 2) led participants to seek feedback that verifies their preexisting self-views. Specifically, significant-other primed participants desired self-verifying feedback, in general (Experiment 1), from an upcoming interaction partner (Experiment 2), and relative to acquaintance-primed participants and favorable feedback (Experiment 3). Finally, self-verification goals were activated, especially for relational self-views deemed high in importance to participants’ self-concepts (Experiment 2) and held with high certainty (Experiment 3). Implications for research on self-evaluative goals, the relational self, and the automatic goal activation literature are discussed, as are consequences for close relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altered motor control in chronic alcoholics.

Compared the performance of 48 male chronic alcoholic patients and 48 nonalcoholic medical patients on a test of motor control (turning a knob as slowly as possible) and other tasks (e.g., time estimation). Results show that alcoholics turned the knob significantly faster than nonalcoholics. The differences between groups were greatest when Ss performed with eyes closed. The difference in knob-turning can not be accounted for by performance on the other tasks; alcoholics showed visual-spatial difficulties, muscle weakness, hand tremor, and subjective-time overestimation. In addition, impaired control was found in both hands and on a slow line-drawing test. 2 possible neuropsychological explanations are advanced to account for the alcoholics' performance: (a) damage to the frontal-limbic diencephalic circuit resulted in disrupted inhibitory motor control, and (b) right hemisphere damage interfered with utilization of kinesthetic-proprioceptive information in the feedback control of motor behavior. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)