Gender-specific models of homosexual prejudice: Religiosity, authoritarianism, and gender roles.

Utilizing moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses, the researchers examined the relative roles of right wing authoritarianism (RWA), religious fundamentalism (RF), general religiosity, sex, gender role traits, and self-discrepancy along gender role traits in predicting multiple dimensions of prejudice toward homosexuals. The goal was to identify gender-specific correlates of homosexual prejudice. Findings revealed that RWA exhibited a consistently positive relationship with prejudice, which along the Condemnation-Tolerance dimension of prejudice was stronger for men. Also, RF's and general religiosity's relationship with prejudice was consistently fully mediated by the presence of RWA. Gender roles were inconsistently correlated with dimensions of prejudice, and the interaction of masculine gender roles and perceived self-discrepancy from gender roles was only significant in predicting the Condemnation-Tolerance homosexual prejudice scale. Lastly, for females, general religiosity was a significant positive predictor for only the Condemnation-Tolerance and Neutral Contact Apprehension homosexual prejudice scales. Implications are reviewed related to authoritarianism as a universal correlate of homosexual prejudice, RF's and RWA's distinctiveness, perceived self-discrepancy from masculine gender roles as a male-specific correlate of homosexual prejudice, and general religiosity as a female-specific correlate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations among religiousness, social attitudes, and prejudice in a national random sample of American adults.

Psychologists have devoted considerable theoretical and empirical attention to the scientific study of social attitudes and prejudice. Most of these studies were conducted with relatively small, nonrepresentative samples of college students. In this study, the authors analyzed self-report data from a random probability sample with over 1500 American adults. Participants answered questions about their religiousness, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), political ideology, demographic characteristics, and attitudes toward persons in historically disadvantaged social groups (i.e., ethnic minorities and homosexual individuals). In support of the selective intolerance hypothesis, general religiousness was associated with less accepting attitudes toward homosexuals and negligibly with general racial prejudice. These associations remained when controlling for some other known individual differences in prejudice. The authors tentatively conclude that general religiousness is not associated with universal acceptance of others. Rather, general religiousness appears to be linked with selective self-reported intolerance toward persons perceived to behave in a manner inconsistent with some traditional religious teachings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

“Predicting student attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity”: Correction to Cokley et al. (2010).

Reports an error in "Predicting student attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity" by Kevin O. Cokley, Kimberly Tran, Brittany Hall-Clark, Collette Chapman, Luana Bessa, Angela Finley and Michael Martinez (Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 2010[Sep], Vol 3[3], 187-199). There are two errors in Table 2 under the RWA heading and the Cog-gender heading. The necessary changes are provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-18201-006.) Factors related to attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of 432 college students (167 European Americans, 83 African Americans, 81 Asian Americans, and 82 Hispanic Americans). In addition to variables of self-interest (i.e., ethnicity, gender, and political views), social ideology (i.e., social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism) and personality traits (openness to experience) were uniquely predictive of attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity. Hierarchical regressions revealed that social dominance orientation most strongly predicted racial attitudes, while right-wing authoritarianism most strongly predicted gender attitudes. Implications for diversity education efforts related to prejudice reduction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting student attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 4(3) of Journal of Diversity in Higher Education (see record 2011-16523-001). There are two errors in Table 2 under the RWA heading and the Cog-gender heading. The necessary changes are provided in the erratum.] [Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Journal of Diversity in Higher Education on August 1 2011 (see record 2011-16523-001). There are two errors in Table 2. Under the RWA heading, the SDO row should have indicated a positive correlation of .266**, not -.266**. Under the Cog-gender heading, the SDO row should have indicated a negative correlation of -.438**, not .438**.] Factors related to attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of 432 college students (167 European Americans, 83 African Americans, 81 Asian Americans, and 82 Hispanic Americans). In addition to variables of self-interest (i.e., ethnicity, gender, and political views), social ideology (i.e., social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism) and personality traits (openness to experience) were uniquely predictive of attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity. Hierarchical regressions revealed that social dominance orientation most strongly predicted racial attitudes, while right-wing authoritarianism most strongly predicted gender attitudes. Implications for diversity education efforts related to prejudice reduction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the structure of prejudicial attitudes: The case of attitudes toward homosexuals.

Two studies assessed the structure of attitudes toward homosexuals. In Study 1, Ss completed measures of stereotypes, symbolic beliefs, and affective associates as well as attitudes toward homosexuals. They also completed the right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) scale. The results reveal that (1) stereotypes did not provide a complete representation of attitudes, (2) RWA was negatively correlated with attitudes toward homosexuals, (3) the relative importance of the predictor variables differed for high and low RWA Ss, and (4) the 3 predictors accounted for more variance in the attitudes of low RWA than of high RWA Ss. Study 2 also included measures of past experiences and perceived value dissimilarity. Results revealed that past experiences significantly added to the prediction of attitudes only for high RWA Ss and that much of the RWA–attitude relation was accounted for by the consideration of symbolic beliefs and perceived value dissimilarity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Homosexual threat, negative attitudes toward masturbation, sex guilt, and males' sexual and affective reactions to explicit sexual films.

Subjective sexual arousal and affective responses of 215 undergraduate males to films of masturbatory, homosexual, and heterosexual behavior were studied as a function of personality differences in negative attitudes toward masturbation, homosexual threat, and sex guilt. The film of heterosexual behavior elicited more subjective sexual arousal and less disgust, anger, shame, depression, and guilt than did the films of male masturbation and homosexuality. The film of homosexuality elicited both more sexual arousal and more disgust, anger, shame, and guilt than did the film of masturbation. The personality inventories (e.g., Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory, Negative Attitudes Toward Masturbation Inventory) predicted sexual arousal and affective reactions, but the evidence was better for convergent than for discriminant validity. A promising new measure of homosexual threat (Homosexual Threat Inventory) was constructed that was predictive of heterosexual–homosexual orientation and reactions to the films. The concept of homosexual threat is differentiated from the concepts of fear of homosexuals, homosexual panic, and homosexual prejudice. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotyping and evaluation in implicit race bias: Evidence for independent constructs and unique effects on behavior.

Implicit stereotyping and prejudice often appear as a single process in behavior, yet functional neuroanatomy suggests that they arise from fundamentally distinct substrates associated with semantic versus affective memory systems. On the basis of this research, the authors propose that implicit stereotyping reflects cognitive processes and should predict instrumental behaviors such as judgments and impression formation, whereas implicit evaluation reflects affective processes and should predict consummatory behaviors, such as interpersonal preferences and social distance. Study 1 showed the independence of participants' levels of implicit stereotyping and evaluation. Studies 2 and 3 showed the unique effects of implicit stereotyping and evaluation on self-reported and behavioral responses to African Americans using double-dissociation designs. Implications for construct validity, theory development, and research design are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychological bases of ideology and prejudice: Testing a dual process model.

The issue of personality and prejudice has been largely investigated in terms of authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, these seem more appropriately conceptualized as ideological attitudes than as personality dimensions. The authors describe a causal model linking dual dimensions of personality, social world view, ideological attitudes, and intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling with data from American and White Afrikaner students supported the model, suggesting that social conformity and belief in a dangerous world influence authoritarian attitudes, whereas toughmindedness and belief in a competitive jungle world influence social dominance attitudes, and these two ideological attitude dimensions influence intergroup attitudes. The model implies that dual motivational and cognitive processes, which may be activated by different kinds of situational and intergroup dynamics, may underlie 2 distinct dimensions of prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collective narcissism and its social consequences.

This article introduces the concept of collective narcissism—an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the in group’s greatness—aiming to explain how feelings about an ingroup shape a tendency to aggress against outgroups. The results of 5 studies indicate that collective, but not individual, narcissism predicts intergroup aggressiveness. Collective narcissism is related to high private and low public collective self-esteem and low implicit group esteem. It predicts perceived threat from outgroups, unwillingness to forgive outgroups, preference for military aggression over and above social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and blind patriotism. The relationship between collective narcissism and aggressiveness is mediated by perceived threat from outgroups and perceived insult to the ingroup. In sum, the results indicate that collective narcissism is a form of high but ambivalent group esteem related to sensitivity to threats to the ingroup’s image and retaliatory aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subordinate's assigned level of discretion as a function of leader's personality and situational variables.

Investigated relationships between leader's dominance, attitude toward delegation, authoritarianism, subordinate's capacity (as a situational variable), and the level of discretion the leader assigns to the subordinate. 101 undergraduates in a personnel management course were given items from the Personality Research Form, California F Scale, and Leadership Opinion Questionnaire. S's dominance and the hypothetical subordinate's capacity were found to have significant relationships to the level of discretion assigned. S's attitude toward delegation and his authoritarianism were not significant factors. In contrast to recent leadership models, the interaction effects were not significant. Findings suggest that the interaction hypothesis proposed by these models cannot be generalized to all personality and situational variables without limitation. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Special relationships instead of female dominance for redfronted lemurs, Eulemur fulvus rufus

Most lemurs yet studied in detail exhibit some mode of adult female social dominance over males. The known exception, a brown lemur subspecies known as rufous or redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus), forms multimale-multifemale social groups within which unambiguous dominance relations are not observed among adults. Resting groups of redfronted lemurs consistently include huddling adult male-female pairs whose males selectively scentmark and rub their heads in the scentmarks of their female huddling partners. Quantitative observations confirmed that some of these male-female pairs maintain special relationships satisfying all criteria originally developed in research on cercopithecine monkeys. Observations before, during, and after mating season, intergroup encounters, male transfers, and changes in male-female affiliations illuminated developmental and functional aspects of male-female partnerships. Each adult female in two semi-free-ranging study groups shared high rates of association, grooming, and agonistic support and low rates of agonistic interaction with one unrelated or distantly related adult male partner. Such affinity characterized small proportions of adult male-female relationships. Several males directed not only support but also aggression toward adult females with whom they sought to affiliate. All bonded males sought to copulate with their partners, and some appeared to ignore estrus in nonpartners. All females accepted copulation attempts from partners and some seemed to prefer their partners as mates. Partial synchronization of brief estrus periods together with concealed ovulation appeared to minimize chances for polygynous mating. Results support the view that the male-female pair is the fundamental social unit of E. fulvus and suggest that female partnership with individual males obviates dominance behavior, including female dominance, in this lemurid primate.     

Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes.

Social dominance orientation (SDO), one's degree of preference for inequality among social groups, is introduced. On the basis of social dominance theory, it is shown that (1) men are more social dominance-oriented than women, (2) high-SDO people seek hierarchy-enhancing professional roles and low-SDO people seek hierarchy-attenuating roles, (3) SDO was related to beliefs in a large number of social and political ideologies that support group-based hierarchy (e.g., meritocracy and racism) and to support for policies that have implications for intergroup relations (e.g., war, civil rights, and social programs), including new policies. SDO was distinguished from interpersonal dominance, conservatism, and authoritarianism. SDO was negatively correlated with empathy, tolerance, communality, and altruism. The ramifications of SDO in social context are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Hodson, Rush, and MacInnis (2010).

Reports an error in "A joke is just a joke (except when it isn't): Cavalier humor beliefs facilitate the expression of group dominance motives" by Gordon Hodson, Jonathan Rush and Cara C. MacInnis (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2010[Oct], Vol 99[4], 660-682). In the article there was an error in Table 6. The last row of data should have read “Obese”, not “Mexican”. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-20570-003.) Past research reveals preferences for disparaging humor directed toward disliked others. The group-dominance model of humor appreciation introduces the hypothesis that beyond initial outgroup attitudes, social dominance motives predict favorable reactions toward jokes targeting low-status outgroups through a subtle hierarchy-enhancing legitimizing myth: cavalier humor beliefs (CHB). CHB characterizes a lighthearted, less serious, uncritical, and nonchalant approach toward humor that dismisses potential harm to others. As expected, CHB incorporates both positive (affiliative) and negative (aggressive) humor functions that together mask biases, correlating positively with prejudices and prejudice-correlates (including social dominance orientation [SDO]; Study 1). Across 3 studies in Canada, SDO and CHB predicted favorable reactions toward jokes disparaging Mexicans (low-status outgroup). Neither individual difference predicted neutral (nonintergroup) joke reactions, despite the jokes being equally amusing and more inoffensive overall. In Study 2, joke content targeting Mexicans, Americans (high-status outgroup), and Canadians (high-status ingroup) was systematically controlled. Although Canadians preferred jokes labeled as anti-American overall, an underlying subtle pattern emerged at the individual-difference level: Only those higher in SDO appreciated those jokes labeled as anti-Mexican (reflecting social dominance motives). In all studies, SDO predicted favorable reactions toward low-status outgroup jokes almost entirely through heightened CHB, a subtle yet potent legitimatizing myth that “justifies” expressions of group dominance motives. In Study 3, a pretest–posttest design revealed the implications of this justification process: CHB contributes to trivializing outgroup jokes as inoffensive (harmless), subsequently contributing to postjoke prejudice. The implications for humor in intergroup contexts are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism and attitudes toward high achievers.

In 2 studies 204 Ss completed scales measuring right-wing authoritarianism, general attitudes toward high achievers, global self-esteem, and items concerned with voting preference, causal attributions, personality characteristics, deservingness, responsibility, and affective reactions to the rise and fall of 3 political leaders. Study 1 distinguished between components of right-wing authoritarianism and showed that the nonaggressive rule-follower with high global self-esteem was more likely to favor the fall of high achievers. Study 2 showed that right-wing voting preference moderated relations between authoritarianism and Ss' affective reactions and that prediction of these variables was significantly enhanced when personality, attribution, and derservingness were added to the regression equation after controlling for the effects of age and gender, right-wing political preference, and authoritarianism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping, stress, and social resources among adults with unipolar depression.

Used a stress and coping paradigm to guide the development of indices of coping responses and to explore the roles of stress, social resources, and coping among 424 men and women (mean age 40.7 yrs) entering treatment for depression. An expanded concept of multiple domains of life stress was used to develop several indices of ongoing life strains. A variety of measures were obtained from Ss, family members, and treatment staff. Two questionnaires completed by Ss included the Health and Daily Living Form and the Work Environment Scale. Although most prior studies have focused on acute life events, results of the present study show that chronic strains were somewhat more strongly and consistently related to the severity of dysfunction. The coping indices generally showed acceptable conceptual and psychometric characteristics and only moderate relationships to Ss' sociodemographic characteristics or to the severity of the stressful event for which coping was sampled. Coping responses directed toward problem solving and affective regulation were associated with less severe dysfunction, whereas emotional-discharge responses, more frequently used by women, were linked to greater dysfunction. Stressors, social resources, and coping were additively predictive of an S's functioning, but coping and social resources did not have stress-attenuation or buffering effects. (72 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does social dominance generate prejudice? Integrating individual and contextual determinants of intergroup cognitions.

Social dominance orientation (SDO) has been proposed as an important variable in the explanation of prejudice. We distinguish between three conceptualizations of SDO: SDO as a personality trait (personality model), SDO as a moderator of the effects of situational variables (Person X Situation model), and SDO as a mediator of the effect of social position on prejudice (group socialization model [GSM]). Four studies (N = 1,657) looking at the relations between social positions, SDO, and prejudice in a natural setting and in a laboratory setting provide strong support for the GSM. In contrast to previous correlational findings, there is evidence of a cause (dominant social position), an effect (prejudice increases), and a mediator (SDO). These results suggest new perspectives on the integration of individual and contextual determinants of prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

AIDS/HIV and university students in Delhi, India: knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors

Eight hundred eighty-seven students in social work, nursing, and humanities from two major universities in Delhi were compared regarding their knowledge about AIDS/HIV and attitudes toward PWAs and homosexuals. Their scores on the 20-item knowledge test indicate fair degree of knowledge; however, they lacked information in crucial areas of AIDS prevention and human sexual anatomy. Unmarried, female and older students and those in social work and nursing disciplines scored significantly higher on correct answers. Social work students were likely to be more positive in their attitudes toward AIDS victims than those in nursing or humanities. Knowledge was positively related to attitudes and perception of risk. Despite their awareness of personal risks only four in ten used condoms sometimes during intercourse. Educational strategies to increase cognitive and affective understanding of AIDS and its victims are discussed.     

Strategies for Social Inference: A Similarity Contingency Model of Projection and Stereotyping in Attribute Prevalence Estimates.

Most models of how perceivers infer the widespread attitudes and qualities of social groups revolve around either the self (social projection, false consensus) or stereotypes (stereotyping). The author suggests people rely on both of these inferential strategies, with perceived general similarity moderating their use, leading to increased levels of projection and decreased levels of stereotyping. Three studies featuring existing individual differences in perceived similarity as well as manipulated perceptions supported the predictions, with similarity yielding increased projection to, and decreased stereotyping of, various in-groups and out-groups. Evidence that projection and stereotyping may serve as inferential alternatives also emerged. The model and accompanying results have implications for research on social comparison and projection, stereotyping and prejudice, and social inference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social influence effects on automatic racial prejudice.

Although most research on the control of automatic prejudice has focused on the efficacy of deliberate attempts to suppress or correct for stereotyping, the reported experiments tested the hypothesis that automatic racial prejudice is subject to common social influence. In experiments involving actual interethnic contact, both tacit and expressed social influence reduced the expression of automatic prejudice, as assessed by two different measures of automatic attitudes. Moreover, the automatic social tuning effect depended on participant ethnicity. European Americans (but not Asian Americans) exhibited less automatic prejudice in the presence of a Black experimenter than a White experimenter (Experiments 2 and 4), although both groups exhibited reduced automatic prejudice when instructed to avoid prejudice (Experiment 3). Results are consistent with shared reality theory, which postulates that social regulation is central to social cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Categorization of Admired and Disliked Exemplars of Admired and Disliked Racial Groups.

The present work examined the influence of affective fit in the racial categorization process. Study 1 tested whether famous exemplars of stigmatized and nonstigmatized racial groups are categorized by race at differential rates, depending on whether they are admired or disliked. Using an inverted-face paradigm, Study 2 examined whether racial categorization accuracy differs for admired and disliked exemplars of these groups. Study 3 examined the influence of collective self-esteem on Whites' tendency to differentially categorize admired and disliked Black and White exemplars. Last, Study 4 replicated the pattern of results found in the previous studies for White participants, making use of unknown exemplars about whom participants learned either positive or negative information prior to categorizing them. Taken together, the results suggested that phenotypically irrelevant affective information regarding exemplars and their social group memberships influences the racial categorization process. Implications for prejudice and stereotyping are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)