Automatic Attitudes Research Articles

Initial implicit association between whole grains and taste does not predict consumption of whole grains in low-whole grain consumers: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Health benefits of whole grain (WG) consumption are well documented. Current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend at least half of total grains consumed be WG; however, Americans consume less than one serving of WG per day. Inferior taste of whole grain products as compared with refined grain products has been reported as one of the main barriers to acceptability and consumption of whole grains. In this pilot study, we aimed to determine if mere exposure to WG foods in self-reported low WG consumers would improve their implicit associations between WG and pleasant taste. Healthy adults (n=45) were provided a variety of WG or refined grain (RG) products for home use for 6 weeks. Intake was measured by calculating disappearance and verified by a daily log. At the beginning and end of the intervention, we administered an Implicit Association Test (IAT), a computer test designed to measure indirectly the strength of association between pairs of concepts: (a) two contrasted target categories (WG and RG food images) and (b) two contrasted attribute categories (words relating to pleasant or unpleasant taste) via a classification task. Response time was used to calculate IAT D scores, indicating the strength of implicit associations between WG and RG and positive or negative taste. ANCOVA showed that average D scores at the end of the study shifted significantly toward a positive implicit association between WG and good taste (p<0.05) in participants whose baseline D scores indicated an initial preference for RG over WG. No significant differences were found between the WG and RG groups in overall consumption of provided grain products. These findings suggest that mere exposure to WG products over an extended period of time in a free-living situation can improve automatic attitudes toward WG, potentially leading to increased consumption of WG foods. Clinicaltrials.Gov, identifier NCT01403857.

Uncovering the roles of automatic attitudes and controlled processes in the regulation of physical activity behavior in children

Despite substantial research efforts to increase engagement in physical activity (PA), children are not sufficiently active. Dual-process theories suggest that PA behavior regulation occurs through both controlled (i.e., reflective, conscious) and automatic (i.e., non-reflective, less conscious) processes. Automatic processes depend on affective valuations and attitudes towards PA and have been shown to predict PA behavior. However, their role in PA behavior regulation in children remains unclear. Therefore, the current study investigated the unique association of automatic attitudes towards PA on self-reported seven-day PA recall, after accounting for the effects of known controlled precursors of PA (i.e., explicit attitudes, PA self-efficacy, and PA intentions). In a cross-sectional design, 69 children (age = 10.8 ± 0.6 years) completed the Single-Category Implicit Association Task (SC-IAT) and self-reported measures of PA and controlled precursors of PA. In a hierarchical regression analysis, controlled processes accounted for 28.3 % of the variance in PA behavior. Although the bivariate association between automatic attitudes and PA was not significant, the association between them became significant but negative in the fully adjusted model (b = −1.70; p = 0.025). The fully adjusted model accounted for 35.0 % of the variance in PA. In summary, the findings indicated that both controlled and automatic processes predicted PA in children, although the association with automatic attitudes was not in the expected direction in the adjusted model. Future studies are warranted to further understand the role of automatic processes in the regulation of PA behavior in children.

Improving physical activity using a single personalized consequence-based approach-avoidance training: Effects on self-reported behaviors, attitudes, and choices

ObjectiveDespite their potential in improving health behaviors, such as physical activity (PA), the effectiveness of interventions targeting automatic precursors remains contrasted. We examined the effects of a single session of ABC training – a personalized consequence-based approach-avoidance training – on PA, relative to an active control condition and a control condition. MethodsMiddle-aged US participants (N = 360, 53 % of women) either completed an ABC training (being instructed to approach PA to obtain self-relevant consequences), an approach-avoidance training (approaching PA in 90 % of trials), or a control training (approaching PA in 50 % of trials). Participants selected antecedents (e.g., “When I have little time”) in which personalized choices between PA and sedentary alternatives were likely to occur. In the ABC training only, after approaching PA, self-relevant consequences were displayed (e.g., increase in the health status of participant’s avatar). Primary outcome was self-reported PA seven days after the intervention. Secondary outcomes included choices for PA (vs sedentary) alternatives in a hypothetical free-choice task, intention, automatic and explicit attitudes toward PA. ResultsNo significant effect of the ABC intervention on PA was observed, so as on intention and explicit attitudes. However, the ABC intervention was associated with higher odds of choosing PA alternatives in the free-choice task and with more positive automatic attitudes toward PA. ConclusionsWhile the ABC training was not effective at improving PA, its effects on choices and automatic attitudes suggest that this intervention may still have potential. Future studies with intensive trainings and device-based measures of PA remains needed.

Automatic approach-avoidance tendency toward physical activity, sedentary, and neutral stimuli as a function of age, explicit affective attitude, and intention to be active

Using computerized reaction-time tasks assessing automatic attitudes, studies have shown that healthy young adults have faster reaction times when approaching physical activity stimuli than when avoiding them. The opposite has been observed for sedentary stimuli. However, it is unclear whether these results hold across the lifespan and when error rates and a possible generic approach-avoidance tendency are accounted for. Here, reaction times and errors in online approach-avoidance tasks of 130 participants aged 21 to 77 years were analyzed using mixed-effects models. Automatic approach-avoidance tendencies were tested using physical activity, sedentary, and neutral stimuli. Explicit attitudes toward physical activity and intention to be physically active were self-reported. Results accounting for age, sex, gender, level of physical activity, body mass index, and chronic health condition confirmed a main tendency to approach physical activity stimuli (i.e., faster reaction to approach vs. avoid; p = .001) and to avoid sedentary stimuli (i.e., faster reaction to avoid vs. approach; p < .001). Results based on neutral stimuli revealed a generic approach tendency in early adulthood (i.e., faster approach before age 53 and fewer errors before age 36) and a generic avoidance tendency in older adults (i.e., more errors after age 60). When accounting for these generic tendencies, results showed a greater tendency (i.e., fewer errors) to avoid than approach sedentary stimuli after aged 50, but not before (p = .026). Exploratory analyses showed that irrespective of age, participants were faster at approaching physical activity (p = .028) and avoiding sedentary stimuli (p = .041) when they considered physical activity as pleasant and enjoyable (explicit attitude). However, results showed no evidence of an association between approach-avoidance tendencies and the intention to be physically active. Taken together, these results suggest that both age and explicit attitudes can affect the general tendency to approach physical activity stimuli and to avoid sedentary stimuli.

Prevalence of Implicit Bias in Practicing Physical Therapists

Background: Implicit biases (IB) are unconscious or automatic attitudes and stereotypes that all people hold towards individuals or groups based on social group membership, categories, or traits. While implicit biases are unconscious or automatic, one is by definition more aware and conscious of their explicit biases. In the healthcare setting, implicit biases can and do impact perceptions, interactions, and clinical decision-making involving patients. Most research regarding the prevalence of implicit bias in healthcare, to date, focuses on physicians and nurses, but no evidence exists regarding implicit bias prevalence in physical therapists (PTs). Our objectives were to determine the difference, if any, between levels of race- and disability-related implicit biases using Implicit Association Test (IAT) score comparisons between PTs practicing in orthopedic and pediatric settings. Methods: A total of 59 licensed orthopedic and pediatric PTs completed the IAT race and disability subtests, self-reported levels of explicit racial and disability biases, and demographic characteristics. Results: On average, participants reported slight levels of IB favoring White over Black people despite reports of neutral explicit bias (EB). Similarly, participants reported moderate levels of IB favoring individuals without disabilities over those with disabilities despite reports of only neutral to slight EB on average. PTs practicing in pediatric settings reported significantly higher levels of race-related IB than those practicing in orthopedic settings (Wilcoxon S=623.5, p=0.014), but there was no significant difference between the levels of disability-related IB based on practices setting (Wilcoxon S= 850, p=0.245). Conclusions: This sample of PTs demonstrated rates of IB on the basis of race or disability status similar to other healthcare providers and the general population. Furthermore, participants generally rated their EBs towards racial minorities and individuals with disabilities more favorably than IAT test results indicated. The disconnect between IBs and EBs was confirmed in our study and highlights the continued need for IB awareness and subsequent bias reduction interventions for healthcare providers given the negative consequences.

The role of attitude features in the reliability of IAT scores

Researchers commonly use the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess the automatic attitudes of individuals and groups. Although contended by some, the IAT is used in large part due to its psychometric properties, which are generally superior relative to most other measures of automatic cognition. Much focus has therefore been dedicated to the IAT's psychometric properties (particularly its internal consistency). However, this work has focused near-exclusively on moderators based on the procedural features of the IAT itself, and little on the varying properties of the construct under investigation within the measure. This is despite the fact that attitude features have already been demonstrated to influence explicit attitude measures. Here, we intend to investigate whether different attitude features can effectively predict the internal consistency of IAT scores using a large-scale IAT dataset (lowest N = 30,161, highest N = 30,502). We find that five of six attitude features (personal importance, degree of thinking, certainty, self-concept, and most strongly polarity) are positively related to the reliability of the IAT. Our findings have significant implications for the way in which the IAT's reliability has been conceived.

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

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

Racism in Pain Medicine: We Can and Should Do More

Racism in Pain Medicine: We Can and Should Do More

Do people realize how their partners make them feel? Relationship enhancement motives and stress determine the link between implicitly assessed partner attitudes and relationship satisfaction.

Do people realize the evaluative feelings that are spontaneously activated by their partner? If so, do they use those evaluations when judging their romantic relationships? To answer these questions, we investigated the association between automatic partner attitudes and judgments of relationship satisfaction in 7 studies. Study 1 was a meta-analysis of 86 correlations that revealed a very weak association between implicitly and explicitly assessed relationship evaluations, and Studies 2a-2c revealed that people failed to accurately report their automatic partner attitudes even when specifically asked to do so. Consistent with the idea that such inaccuracy emerged in part because motivational factors led people to override their automatic attitudes, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that automatic partner attitudes better aligned with relationship judgments when people were incentivized with money (Study 3) and had dissolved their relationship (Study 4). Nevertheless, consistent with the idea that overriding automatic attitudes requires the opportunity to deliberate, Studies 4 and 5 demonstrated that automatic partner attitudes better aligned with relationship judgments when people experienced more stress at the daily level (Study 4) and yearly for two years (Study 5). In Study 5, the interaction between stress and automatic attitudes emerged controlling indicators of negativity and was further moderated by relationship enhancing motivations among wives. These studies (a) help explain why automatic partner attitudes predict self-reported relationship satisfaction over time and (b) provide support for theories of social cognition suggesting that people have access to implicitly assessed attitudes that is obscured by motivations and opportunities to deliberate. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Case for Studying Implicit Social Cognition in Close Relationships

This review offers close relationships as a fruitful avenue to address long-lasting questions and current controversies in implicit social cognition research. Close relationships provide a unique opportunity to study strong attitudes that are formed and updated through ongoing contact with significant others and appear to have important downstream consequences. Therefore, close relationship contexts enable researchers to apply fine-grained, dyadic, longitudinal methodologies to provide unique insights regarding whether and how automatic attitudes relate to personal experience, change meaningfully and reliably over time, and predict consequential judgments and behaviors. Further, given that close relationships are critical to people's well-being and health, applying implicit social cognition theories to close relationships may also offer practical benefits regarding real-world issues related to relationship decay. In this regard, we provide guidance for future research by highlighting how continuing to refine our understanding of implicit social cognition in close relationships can inform interventions and reliably benefit society

Standardisation: bolstering positive attitudes towards endangered language varieties? Evidence from implicit attitudes

ABSTRACT Language maintenance research generally argues that providing endangered varieties with a standard impacts positively their vitality by e.g. increasing positive attitudes. This paper investigates whether different degrees of linguistic proximity between vernacular varieties and the standard may lead to different speakers’ attitudes towards the vernacular varieties. Following sociopsychological models of implicit automatic attitudes, e.g. dual attitude models, we hypothesised that varieties that have a more linguistically close standard would elicit more positive attitudes. We then used an online Auditory Implicit Association Test to investigate attitudes towards vernacular Moselle Franconian varieties in two speech communities, the Belgische Eifel in Belgium and the Éislek in Luxembourg. Moselle Franconian is considered generally vulnerable (UNESCO), and the two speech communities have opted for different methods of introducing a standard variety. While the speech community of Luxembourg created an ‘own’ linguistically close standard (Standard Luxembourgish), the Belgian speech community relies on a more linguistically distant standard, namely Standard German. Results show that linguistic distance between the standard and its vernaculars can impact on speakers’ attitudes. Our findings have important implications for the role of standardisation processes in language maintenance efforts.

Is there prejudice from thin air? Replicating the effect of emotion on automatic intergroup attitudes

BackgroundPrevious studies showed that anger, rather than sadness, created automatic intergroup bias in a minimal group context.MethodsThe current research reports a single study (N = 99) aiming to replicate this finding and further to test whether the intergroup bias manifests as ingroup favoritism, outgroup derogation, or both.ResultsOur results failed to replicate the effect of anger on automatic bias. Intriguingly, participants across all emotion conditions exhibited high level of ingroup favoritism, but there was little evidence of outgroup derogation.ConclusionThese results suggest that, when there is no competition or conflict between groups, individuals, even in a bad emotional state such as anger, generally show ingroup love rather than outgroup hate.

Supplemental Material for Automatic Partner Attitudes and Daily Experiences of Mood and Relationship Satisfaction

Supplemental Material for Automatic Partner Attitudes and Daily Experiences of Mood and Relationship Satisfaction

(306) The Unique and Interactive Effects of Patient Race, Patient Weight, and Provider Implicit Attitudes on Chronic Pain Treatment Decisions

Prior work suggests that providers are influenced by patient race and weight when making pain-related decisions. Providers with stronger implicit (automatic) attitudes about race and weight may be more likely to be influenced by these patient-level characteristics when making treatment decisions. In this multi-part study, we (a) examined the influence of patient race and weight on providers’ pain treatment decisions, (b) measured providers’ implicit attitudes about race and weight with two separate Implicit Association Tests, and (c) explored the extent to which providers’ attitudes predicted their treatment decisions. Ninety medical students (“providers”) viewed four videos of women with chronic low back pain completing a standardized sit-to-stand task who varied by race (Black/White) and weight (overweight/obese). Text vignettes with additional patient information accompanied the videos. For each patient, providers rated their likelihood of recommending opioids, a psychology referral, and disability compensation. Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated no main effects of patient race or weight on providers’ opioid decisions; however, providers were more likely to recommend a psychology referral for patients with obesity versus overweight [F(1,89)=9.79, p

Implicitly imprinting the past on the present: Automatic partner attitudes and the transition to parenthood.

A new model is proposed to explain how automatic partner attitudes affect how couples cope with major life transitions. The automatic partner attitudes in transition (APAT) model assumes that people simultaneously possess contextualized automatic attitudes toward their partner that can differ substantively in valence pre- and posttransition. It further assumes that evaluatively inconsistent pre- and posttransition automatic partner attitudes elicit heightened behavioral angst or uncertainty, self-protective behavior in response to risk, and relationship distress. A longitudinal study of the transition to first parenthood supported the model. People with evaluatively inconsistent automatic partner attitudes, whether more negative pretransition and positive posttransition, or more positive pretransition and negative posttransition, exhibited heightened evidence of cardiovascular threat discussing conflicts, increased self-protective behavior in response to parenting-related transgressions in daily interaction, and steeper declines in relationship well-being in the year following the transition to parenthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

“Abusing Addiction”: Our Language Still Isn’t Good Enough

ABSTRACTPrevious research has found initial evidence that word choice affects the perception and treatment of those with behavioral health disorders. These previous studies have relied on vignette-based methodologies, however, and a more quantifiable index of the stigma words can produce is needed. The current study uses the Go/No-Go Association Task to calculate a d-prime (sensitivity) indexed score of automatic attitudes to two terms, substance abuser and person with substance use disorder. Participants have significantly more negative automatic attitudes toward the term substance abuser, as compared to person with a substance use disorder. Consistent with previous research, implicit bias does exist for terms commonly used in the behavioral health field. Substance abuser and its derivatives should not be used in professional or lay settings.

The Language of Substance Use and Recovery: Novel Use of the Go/No–Go Association Task to Measure Implicit Bias

ABSTRACTPrevious research has found initial evidence that word choice impacts the perception and treatment of those with behavioral health disorders through explicit bias (i.e., stigma). A more robust picture of behavioral health disorder stigma should incorporate both explicit and implicit bias, rather than relying on only one form.The current study uses the Go/No–Go Association Task to calculate a d′ (sensitivity) indexed score of automatic attitudes (i.e., implicit associations) to two terms, “addict” and “person with substance use disorder.”Participants have significantly more negative automatic attitudes (i.e., implicit bias) toward the term “addict” in isolation as well as when compared to “person with a substance use disorder.”Consistent with previous research on explicit bias, implicit bias does exist for terms commonly used in the behavioral health field. “Addict” should not be used in professional or lay settings. Additionally, these results constitute the second pilot study employed the Go/No–Go Association Task in this manner, suggesting it is a viable option for continued linguistic stigma related research.

Race, Cognitive Biases, and the Power of Law Student Teaching Evaluations

Decades of research shows that students' professor evaluations are influenced by factors well-beyond how knowledgeable the professor was or how effectively they taught. Among those factors is race. While some students' evaluative judgments of professors of color may be motivated by express racial animus, it is doubtful that such is the dominant narrative. Rather, what likely takes place are systematic deviations from rational judgment, whereby inferences about other people and situations are illogically drawn. In short, students' cognitive biases skew how they evaluate professors of color. In this Article, I explore how cognitive biases among law students influence how they perceive and evaluate law faculty of color. In addition, I contend that a handful of automatic associations and attitudes about faculty of color predict how law students evaluate them. Moreover, senior, especially white, colleagues often resist considering the role of race in law students' evaluations because of their own inability to be mindful of their own cognitive biases. Lastly, given research largely from social and cognitive psychology, I suggest a handful of interventions for law faculty of color to better navigate classroom dynamics.

News Media Depictions of Obama Influence Automatic Attitudes: Implications for the Obama Effect

Positive media depictions of Obama likely contribute to the so-called “Obama effect.” However, like any attitude-object, effects of those depictions can depend on contextually positive or negative portrayals. We hypothesized that politically conservative news web sites (e.g., FoxNews.com) visually depict Obama more negatively than moderate sites (e.g., CNN.com), and that incidental exposure to such dissimilar depictions can differentially impact perceivers' attitudes toward Obama, particularly when pre-existing attitudes are weak. In Study 1 (n = 111), images of Obama from FoxNews.com were rated more negatively than images of him from CNN.com. In Study 2 (n = 215), participants with weaker attitudes exposed to FoxNews.com images (versus all other images) evinced the most negative SC-IAT bias toward Obama. Thus, incidental exposure to valenced media portrayals can impact attitudes toward public figures. Implications for the Obama effect are discussed.

Automatic attitudes and health information avoidance.

Early detection of disease is often crucially important for positive health outcomes, yet people sometimes decline opportunities for early detection (e.g., opting not to screen). Although some health-information avoidance reflects a deliberative decision, we propose that information avoidance can also reflect an automatic, nondeliberative reaction. In the present research, we investigated whether people's automatic attitude toward learning health information predicted their avoidance of risk feedback. In 3 studies, we gave adults the opportunity to learn their risk for a fictitious disease (Study 1), melanoma skin cancer (Study 2), or heart disease (Study 3), and examined whether they opted to learn their risk. The primary predictors were participants' attitudes about learning health information measured using a traditional (controlled) self-report instrument and using speeded (automatic) self-report measure. In addition, we prompted participants in Study 3 to contemplate their motives for seeking or avoiding information prior to making their decision. Across the 3 studies, self-reported (controlled) and implicitly measured (automatic) attitudes about learning health information independently predicted avoidance of the risk feedback, suggesting that automatic attitudes explain unique variance in the decision to avoid health information. In Study 3, prompting participants to contemplate their reasons for seeking versus avoiding health information reduced information avoidance. Surprisingly, it did so by inducing reliance on automatic, rather than controlled, attitudes. The data suggests that automatic processes play an important role in predicting health information avoidance and suggest that interventionists aiming to increase information seeking might fruitfully target automatic processes. (PsycINFO Database Record