Implicit Attitudes Toward Research Articles

Influence of Implicit Attitudes Toward Infants on the Perception of Infant Cuteness

AbstractIt has been reported that males in early adulthood may experience difficulty in perceiving infant cuteness. This phenomenon has been attributed to the evolutionary acquisition of parenting‐related responses; however, the factors that influence individual differences in cuteness perception remain unclear. The present study investigated the impact of implicit attitudes toward infants on the accuracy of infant cuteness perception among Japanese university students (N = 72). A novel Implicit Association Test was developed to assess implicit attitudes toward infants. The findings revealed that females had more accurate perceptions of infant cuteness and more positive implicit attitudes toward infants. Notably, among males, a more positive implicit attitude toward infants was associated with increased accuracy in perceiving infant cuteness. Finally, the mechanisms by which various responses to infants are acquired were discussed.

Disentangling Gender-Based Attitudes from Sexuality-Based Attitude: The Person-Based Approach to Measuring Implicit Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbian Women

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present the person-based approach to measuring implicit attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women—this approach uses face stimuli rather than traditionally used symbols, and creates salient social categories through contextual variation techniques. Across 5 experiments using the Go/No Go Association Task (n = 364), we present evidence that the person-based approach can disentangle implicit gender-based attitudes from implicit sexuality-based attitudes, that these attitudes vary as a function of participant gender and sexuality, and that they are different to attitudes elicited by typically used stimuli. We demonstrate that implicit person-based gender attitudes toward straight and gay people are similar and are consistent with the literature (i.e. attitudes toward [lesbian] women are more positive than attitudes toward [gay] men). However, we reveal a reversed pattern of findings for person-based implicit sexuality attitudes (i.e. attitudes toward gay men are more positive than attitudes toward lesbian women). These findings suggest that the person-based approach uniquely captures nuanced implicit attitudes toward gay men and lesbians, raising important questions regarding previous findings.

Less Negative Implicit Attitudes Toward Autism Spectrum Disorder in University Students: A Comparison with Physical Disabilities.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience stigmatization rooted in negative attitudes or prejudice toward them due to social awkwardness. However, little is known about implicit attitudes toward ASD, especially differences in attitudes compared to those of more visible conditions; physical disabilities. In this study, we implemented implicit association tests (IATs) to assess implicit attitudes. Sixty-three university students participated in IATs and answered questionnaires that measured explicit attitudes, social desirability, knowledge about-and familiarity with-disorders. The results demonstrated that implicit attitude toward ASD was significantly less negative than toward physical disabilities. Regarding the discrepancy, not socially awkward behavior but appearance of people with ASD can be evaluated as 'in-group' members and lead to less negative attitude compared with physical disabilities.

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Service Robots in the Hospitality Industry: Gender Differences

The current study applies implicit theory as a theoretical lens to explore gender differences in explicit and implicit measures of robot attitudes, which in turn facilitates behavioral intention. In total, 108 participants assessed the modified Robot Implicit Association Test (RIAT) to complete both implicit measures of attitudes and explicit self-reported measures in randomized order. Our findings demonstrated that (a) implicit attitudes (RIAT D-scores) were significantly correlated with self-reported measures (explicit attitude, perceived technology innovativeness, and behavioral intention), (b) different patterns of explicit and implicit attitudes exist, and (c) males may have a more favorable preference toward service robots than females. These results help build theoretical and methodological foundations for service management innovation into the role of implicit attitude in hospitality firms.

German Teachers’ Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Female and Male Muslim Students and Reactions to Social Exclusion

Abstract. Research has shown negative teachers’ attitudes toward ethnic minority students, who – in Germany – often belong to Islam which is stereotypically associated with traditional gender roles. So far, neither implicit attitudes nor the role of student gender have been investigated in this context. Among a sample of 136 teachers, we assessed implicit attitudes toward Muslim students in relation to Christian students using an Implicit Association Test. Implicit and explicit attitudes were less positive toward male than toward female Muslim students. After reading a social exclusion scenario, teachers were asked how they would react. Teachers’ reactions depended on the religion and the gender of the student. Our study implies that Islam might be part of the disadvantages ethnic minority students experience in school.

Comprehensive Sexuality Education Improves Primary Students’ Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is a curriculum-based process that is inclusive to gender and sexual orientation. We used the attitude toward homosexuality scale and the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT) to measure differences between explicit and implicit attitudes toward homosexuality between migrant children with 6 years CSE learning experience (experimental group, N = 70) and those without (control group, N = 80). We found that the experimental group had more positive explicit and implicit attitudes toward homosexuality than the control group. In conclusion, CSE is a useful process for improving the explicit and implicit attitudes of migrant children toward homosexuality.

Mental Fatigue Prior to Aerobic Exercise Reduces Exercise Pleasure and Negatively Affects Implicit Attitudes Toward Future Exercise.

We investigated the effects of mental fatigue (MF) on affective responses during an aerobic exercise session at moderate intensity. We submitted 12 insufficiently active adults (50% women; M age = 24.9years, SD = 3.0; M BMI = 24.3kg/m2; SD = 2.6) to two 30-minute pre-exercise conditions: an MF condition (Stroop Color-Word task) and a control condition (watching a documentary) prior to their performance of 20minutes of aerobic treadmill exercise at 40-59% of heart rate reserve. The minimum washout interval between conditions was twodays. Perceived MF and motivation to perform physical exercise were assessed before and after conditions with a visual analog scale of 100mm. We assessed participants' affective and exertion responses with the Feeling Scale, Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and heart rate during every twominutes of physical exercise. Implicit attitudes toward physical exercise were assessed by the Implicit Association Test before the MF and control conditions and after the physical exercise session. The participants in the MF condition reported lower pleasure (M difference = -1.57, 95% CI = -2.64 to -0.50, d = 0.93, p = .008) and higher exertion (RPE) (M difference = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.04 to 2.27, d = 0.66, p = .043) compared to those in the control condition. Participants who experienced MF also reported a more negative implicit attitude toward physical exercise than in the control condition (β = -0.47, 95% CI= -0.73 to -0.21, d = 1.41, p < .001). While these findings should be cross-validated in subsequent research with a larger and more diverse participant sample, there appears to be value in minimizing pre-exercise mental fatigue to avoid negative MF effects on the exercisers' affective experience.

Why Is Murat's Achievement So Low? Causal Attributions and Implicit Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minority Students Predict Preservice Teachers' Judgments About Achievement.

In many educational systems, ethnic minority students score lower in their academic achievement, and consequently, teachers develop low expectations regarding this student group. Relatedly, teachers’ implicit attitudes, explicit expectations, and causal attributions also differ between ethnic minority and ethnic majority students—all in a disadvantageous way for ethnic minority students. However, what is not known so far, is how attitudes and causal attributions contribute together to teachers’ judgments. In the current study, we explored how implicit attitudes and causal attributions contribute to preservice teachers’ judgments of the low educational success of an ethnic minority student. Results showed that both implicit attitudes and causal attributions predicted language proficiency and intelligence judgments. Negative implicit attitudes, assessed with the IRAP, and internal stable causal attributions led to lower judgments of language proficiency, whereas lower judgments of intelligence were predicted by positive implicit attitudes and higher judgments of intelligence by external stable attributions. Substantial differences in the prediction of judgments could be found between the IRAP and BIAT as measures of implicit attitudes.

Teachers' Implicit Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minority Students: A Systematic Review.

Although instruments to assess implicit attitudes were introduced more than 20 years ago, still there are few studies in the field of education that use them, despite the evidence that teachers with negative implicit attitudes can negatively affect the academic performance of their students. This review aims to summarize the results of studies that investigated the relationship between implicit ethnic attitudes of teachers and achievement of students. The review was conducted according to PRISMA-statement through searches in the scientific database PsychINFO, PsycARTICLES, and ERIC. Nineteen studies were included. Results show that overall teachers (from different school levels and different countries) hold negative implicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students, which play an important role in affecting the academic path of these groups of students. This review highlights the need to continue to use implicit attitudes procedures in future researches, in order to identify those factors that may contribute to the formation and expression of implicit attitudes of teachers; and the need to increase awareness of the implicit attitudes and multicultural practices of teachers in teaching programs.

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Antihypertensive Medications Explain Variation in Pharmacy Refill and Self-Reported Adherence Beyond Traditional Risk Factors: Potential Novel Mechanism Underlying Adherence.

BackgroundIn pursuit of novel mechanisms underlying persistent low medication adherence rates, we assessed contributions of implicit and explicit attitudes, beyond traditional risk factors, in explaining variation in objective and subjective antihypertensive medication adherence.Methods and ResultsImplicit and explicit attitudes were assessed using the difference scores from the computer‐based Single Category Implicit Association Test and the Necessity and Concerns subscales of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire, respectively. Antihypertensive medication adherence was measured using pharmacy refill proportion of days covered (PDC: mean PDC, low PDC <0.8) and the self‐report 4‐item Krousel‐Wood Medication Adherence Scale (K‐Wood‐MAS‐4: mean K‐Wood‐MAS‐4, low adherence via K‐Wood‐MAS‐4 ≥1). Hierarchical logistic and linear regression models controlled for traditional risk factors including social determinants of health, explicit, and implicit attitudes in a stepwise fashion. Community‐dwelling insured participants (n=85: 44.7% female; 20.0% Black; mean age, 62.3 years; 43.5% low PDC, and 31.8% low adherence via K‐Wood‐MAS‐4) had mean (SD) explicit and implicit attitude scores of 7.188 (5.683) and 0.035 (0.334), respectively. Low PDC was inversely associated with more positive explicit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.78–0.98; P=0.022) and implicit (aOR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.02–0.80; P=0.029) attitudes, which accounted for an additional 8.6% (P=0.016) and 6.5% (P=0.029) of variation in low PDC, respectively. Lower mean K‐Wood‐MAS‐4 scores (better adherence) were associated only with more positive explicit attitudes (adjusted β, −0.04; 95% CI, −0.07 to −0.01; P=0.026); explicit attitudes explained an additional 5.6% (P=0.023) of K‐Wood‐MAS‐4 variance.ConclusionsImplicit and explicit attitudes explained significantly more variation in medication adherence beyond traditional risk factors, including social determinants of health, and should be explored as potential mechanisms underlying adherence behavior.

Are Health Care Professionals' Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Conventional Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Associated With Those of Their Patients?

It is generally unknown how the attitudes and beliefs of health care professionals (HCPs) might affect the attitudes, beliefs, and medication-taking behavior of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aims 1) to examine the attitudes, health-related associations (both implicit and explicit), and beliefs of HCPs about conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, and 2) to assess whether these attitudes, health-related associations, and beliefs of HCPs are associated with those of their patients, with their patients' medication-taking behavior, and disease activity. HCPs were recruited from 2 centers that specialized in rheumatology across The Netherlands, and patient recruitment followed. In this observational study, implicit outcomes were measured with single-category implicit association tests, whereas explicit outcomes were measured with a bipolar evaluative adjective scale and the Beliefs About Medicines Questionnaire-Specific. Spearman's rank correlations were used to describe correlations between implicit and explicit measures of the attitudes of HCPs. Multilevel, mixed-effects linear models were used to examine the association of HCP-related characteristics, including the implicit and explicit outcomes of HCPs, with those of their patients, their medication-taking behaviors, and disease activity. Of the 1,659 initially invited patients, 254 patients with RA (mean age 62.8 years, mean disease duration 11.8 years, and 68.1% of the patients were female) who were treated by 26 different HCPs agreed to participate in this study. The characteristics, attitudes, health-related associations, and beliefs about medicines of HCPs were not significantly associated with those of their patients, nor with their medication-taking behaviors or disease activity scores. This study demonstrated that the attitudes, health-related associations (as measured both implicitly and explicitly), and beliefs of HCPs were not significantly associated with the attitudes, beliefs, medication-taking behavior, and disease activity of patients with RA.

Self-Affirmation Does Not Change Smokers’ Explicit or Implicit Attitudes Toward Smoking Following Exposure to Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels

ABSTRACT Self-affirmation has shown promise in promoting prohealth attitudes following exposure to threatening health messages by reducing defensive processing of such messages. We examine the impact of self-affirmation prior to viewing graphic cigarette warning labels on implicit and explicit attitudes toward smoking in a sample of African American smokers (N = 151). Participants held negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward smoking. We found no direct effect of self-affirmation on either implicit or explicit attitudes. Self-affirmation and risk level did not interact to predict either attitude type. We discuss findings in terms of self-affirmation theory, attitude measurement, and the meta-cognitive model of attitude change.

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys

Research consistently finds that jurors bring preexisting attitudes and opinions, which can influence trial outcomes, into the courtroom. This research seeks to understand if juror decision-making is influenced by implicit and explicit perceptions of legal actor trustworthiness. Participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk online platform and were randomly assigned to read a summarized trial scenario and render a guilty or not guilty verdict. Two of the three trials differed according to presentation of “compromising” evidence by either the prosecution or the defense, with the third serving as a control condition. To establish if participants had trustworthy or untrustworthy implicit attitudes toward prosecutors or defense attorneys, participants completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT). Participants then reported their explicit attitudes toward prosecutors and defense attorneys, in addition to providing their demographic information and attitudes toward the criminal legal system. Results indicate that implicit and explicit biases, as well as certain socio-demographics, are associated with verdicts in the trial scenarios. However, in particularly ambiguous cases (control condition), preexisting implicit biases of legal actor trustworthiness appear to inform verdicts more than explicit attitudes. These results suggest that attorney reliance on explicit attitudes during voir dire may be more informative, except in cases in which the evidence for both the prosecution and defense is particularly ambiguous.

Supplemental Material for Racial/Ethnic Group Differences and Sociocultural Factors Associated With Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Undocumented Latino Immigrants

Supplemental Material for Racial/Ethnic Group Differences and Sociocultural Factors Associated With Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Undocumented Latino Immigrants

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Autistic Adults.

Research examining attitudes toward autistic adults has relied on explicit self-report measures, which may be susceptible to socially desirable responding. Because implicit attitudes predict behavioral rejection, understanding both implicit and explicit attitudes toward autistic adults is important. Furthermore, previous research has almost exclusively examined attitudes toward autistic children and has not investigated attitudes toward autistic adults who may also experience prejudice from their peers. We created an implicit association test (IAT) to examine implicit attitudes toward autistic adults. In Study 1, we examined 94 neurotypical adults' (mean [M]age = 31.37 years) implicit attitudes and explicit attitudes toward autistic adults as well as autistic behaviors. In Study 2 (n = 137; M age = 33.43 years), we assessed the same variables using an IAT with descriptive rather than stereotypical words. Participants from both studies demonstrated negative implicit attitudes but positive explicit attitudes toward autistic adults. In Study 2, analyses examining self-reported traits related to autism revealed that more autistic behaviors were associated with less implicit bias. These findings may help explain why autistic adults report discrimination from their peers. The results suggest that there may be benefits in modifying interventions that reduce implicit bias toward other marginalized groups for use with implicit bias against autistic adults. Why was this study done?: The goal of this study was to understand how neurotypical adults in the United States feel and think about autistic adults. Negative attitudes can lead to discrimination against autistic adults or to harmful interactions between autistic and neurotypical adults. Although research has previously examined the attitudes that neurotypical adults have toward autistic adults, most of this work has directly asked people about their attitudes, assessing their explicit, or conscious, attitudes. Neurotypical adults, however, may not be able or willing to admit that they have negative attitudes toward autistic adults. Therefore, it is important to evaluate implicit attitudes, which are underlying attitudes at the unconscious level of awareness.What was the purpose of this study?: This study investigated the implicit and explicit attitudes that neurotypical adults in the general U.S. population have about autistic adults. Assessing both kinds of attitudes is important because each type of attitude predicts different sorts of behaviors toward and judgments of individuals.What did the researchers do?: We conducted this study online using a crowdsourcing method of data collection (Amazon's Mechanical Turk) that gave us access to adults throughout the United States. We developed and administered a reaction-time task to examine implicit attitudes toward autistic adults. In this task, participants rapidly categorized words associated with autism and words not associated with autism as being "good" or "bad." We assessed explicit attitudes with questions about people's knowledge of autism and their liking for autistic adults. Study 1 measured 94 neurotypical adults' (average age = 31.37 years) implicit and explicit attitudes toward autistic adults; Study 2 measured 137 neurotypical adults' (average age = 33.43 years) implicit and explicit attitudes. Whereas Study 1's implicit task used words associated with stereotypes about autistic adults (e.g., extraverted, independent), Study 2 used nonstereotypical words associated with autism (e.g., autistic, spectrum).What were the results of the studies?: Participants in both studies reported positive explicit attitudes but negative implicit attitudes toward autistic adults. In one study, we also found that neurotypical adults with more autistic traits themselves had more positive implicit attitudes toward autistic adults.What do these findings add to what was already known?: Although previous research examined neurotypical adults' explicit attitudes toward autistic adults, the current study demonstrated that neurotypical adults hold negative implicit attitudes toward autistic adults. These findings may help explain why autistic adults experience discrimination from neurotypical adults. Furthermore, our findings suggest that having more autistic traits can lead to a better understanding of the behaviors associated with autism.What are the potential weaknesses in the study?: Limitations of the study were that we collected the data online rather than in person and we only included neurotypical adults as participants.How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?: These results shed light on underlying reasons for the potential negative judgments and discrimination that autistic adults face from neurotypical adults. These findings should encourage policy makers to design and implement training programs to reduce neurotypical adults' negative attitudes toward autistic adults.

HP-7-4 Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Gene-Edited Babies in Taiwan

HP-7-4 Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Gene-Edited Babies in Taiwan

Teachers' Emotional Exhaustion: Associations With Their Typical Use of and Implicit Attitudes Toward Emotion Regulation Strategies.

Teaching is an emotionally challenging profession, sometimes resulting in high levels of teacher stress, burnout, and attrition. It has often been claimed that certain emotion regulation strategies can lower teachers’ feelings of burnout. The use of cognitive reappraisal (i.e., cognitively changing the emotional impact of a situation) has generally been associated with positive outcomes, whereas using expressive suppression (i.e., inhibiting emotional responses) usually has negative consequences. The present study investigated the association between teachers’ typical use of these two emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and their feelings of emotional exhaustion. Because there is evidence that regulating emotions could involve higher costs when regulation goes against individual preferences, we also explored the potentially moderating effect of teachers’ implicit attitudes toward emotion regulation versus emotion expression on the association between typical use of emotion regulation strategies and teachers’ emotional exhaustion with an Implicit Association Test (IAT). We included the interpersonal teacher–student relationship (in terms of teacher agency and communion), teacher experience, and teacher gender as covariates in our analyses. Participants were 94 teachers in secondary education, vocational education, and teacher training for secondary education. Replicating findings from prior studies, hierarchical regression analyses showed that typical use of cognitive reappraisal, but not expressive suppression, was significantly related to lower levels of teachers’ emotional exhaustion. Teachers’ implicit attitudes toward emotion regulation versus emotion expression moderated the relationship between the use of emotion regulation strategies and emotional exhaustion, but only in a subsample with more experienced teachers. Teachers who showed more interpersonal agency in class and had more years of teaching experience reported lower levels of emotional exhaustion. Interpersonal communion and gender were not directly associated with feelings of exhaustion. Implications for teacher training and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A 14-Week Intervention Study on Changing Preservice Teachers’ Psychological Perspectives on Inclusion: Explicit and Implicit Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Stress Perception Toward Inclusion

Research has indicated the importance of preservice teacher education programs that focus on fostering positive psychological aspects relevant to teaching in inclusive settings such as attitudes or self-efficacy. Previous research lacks theoretical underpinning and is limited due to methodological characteristics of the studies (e.g., no control group). Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the effects of different theoretically derived interventions (IG1: information-based cognitive intervention group; IG2: information-based and practical field experience intervention group) in comparison to a control group (CG) on changes in preservice teachers’ perspective on teaching inclusively, i.e., explicit, implicit attitudes; self-efficacy, stress perception, relevant to teach in inclusive settings. Results showed no differences in the development (pre to post intervention) between CG and IG1 as well as CG and IG2. Even though, significant differences in changes in explicit attitudes and stress perception were found between IG1 and IG2 in favor of IG2. Results will be discussed considering confounding variables that future research should further investigate.

Impact of an Inclusive Postsecondary Education Program on Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability.

People with intellectual disability (ID) experience negative consequences as a result of stigmas held by the public. Students with ID involved in inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs demonstrate positive outcomes. This study examines the impact of an IPSE program on typically matriculating student attitudes toward ID. Explicit and implicit attitudes were measured at the start and end of a semester among IPSE volunteer peer mentors (n = 17) and an uninvolved student group (n = 14). Findings indicate that volunteers demonstrated lower discomfort after their volunteer experience, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability Questionnaire (ATTID). Volunteers also demonstrated higher knowledge of causes and preference for interaction with people with ID than nonvolunteers. This demonstrates that volunteer involvement in IPSE positively impacts attitudes toward people with ID among typically matriculating college students.

An Investigation of Civilian Implicit Attitudes Toward Police Officers

This research investigated civilian implicit attitudes toward police. Previous research has solely used explicit measures (or examined police officers’ implicit reactions to civilians). Two studies assessed the implicit activation of safety and fear when participants were primed with police using a Word Fragment Completion Task (e.g., Johnson and Lord 2010). In a college sample, police primes led to increased safety and decreased fear construct activation, whereas in an online sample, both safety and fear became more accessible. Overall, results indicated that a wide range of individual differences in implicit attitudes toward police exist, that implicit reactions to police officers might be distinct from explicit global evaluations, and that, despite the existence of negative police-civilian interactions, the appearance of police officers might still tend to activate safety-related thoughts. The findings prompt the need to further assess the underlying cognitive components of civilian attitudes toward police officers.