Negative Implicit Associations Research Articles

Can I still eat this? Using implicit and explicit measures to explore consumer behavior toward food products with date labels

This study investigates implicit and explicit attitudes toward products before and beyond the best-before date (BBD) using an Implicit Association Test and an online questionnaire. Moreover, we test whether consumer perception of and behavior toward products beyond the BBD can be manipulated using a priming task. We use a three-group between-subjects design where respondents had to recall either a frugal, a wasteful, or an unrelated behavior. Results show that consumers have negative implicit associations with products beyond the BBD. Reduced health and safety perceptions, consumers’ strategies to determine edibility, and general risk perception of products beyond the BBD predict consumption of these products. While recalling a frugal behavior does not have significant effects, recalling a wasteful behavior prior to evaluating products beyond the BBD leads to a decrease in the perceived safety and healthfulness of these products.

Objective assessment criteria reduce the influence of judgmental bias on grading

Past research has indicated that students with a migration background are graded worse than those without a migration background, despite them showing the same level of academic performance. Negative implicit associations of teachers associated with these student characteristics could explain these findings. Objective assessment criteria, such as error tables, provide user-independent rules for the interpretation of results and could therefore help to ensure that the influence of student characteristics on assessment is reduced. To test this hypothesis, 157 pre-service teachers assessed a dictation. Two aspects were varied: the presentation of an error table for assessment and the name of the student who had written the dictation (with vs. without a supposed Turkish migration background). An implicit association test measured implicit associations of the pre-service teachers toward the performance of Turkish and German people. When no error table was used and the pre-service teachers had negative implicit associations toward the performance of people with a Turkish migration background, they graded students with a migration background worse than students without a migration background. No grading disparities were found when the error table was used. To reduce judgmental bias, the use of objective assessment criteria can therefore be recommended.

Positive implicit association to human babies’ vocalization

Cuteness in infants has mainly been associated with their morphological facial features. Infant cuteness promotes social interaction, empathy, and caregiving behaviors. It has been suggested that cuteness could go beyond the visual aspect to infants’ auditory and olfactory characteristics. The current research examines whether there is a positive valence toward babies’ neutral vowel vocalizations. Adult participants completed four Single Category Implicit Association Tasks (SC-IAT) using baby, adult, kitten, and cat vocalizations. Baby and adult vocalizations were vowels synthesized using VLAM. In this task, adults had to sort positive and negative written words and the vocalizations in the correct category; response times were measured. Preliminary results (response time) show that infant voices were associated with positive dimensions (M = 0.27), whereas adult (M = 0.06), cat (M = 0.07), and kitten (M = 0.08) showed neither a positive nor negative implicit association. A similar study testing facial features obtained comparable results (Senese et al., 2013). These findings point to a positive implicit association to babies’ vocalizations, suggesting that there is an auditory cuteness component specific to human infants. We will also discuss ongoing work focused on elucidating the acoustic characteristics that specify auditory cuteness, the role it plays in infant development, and the underlying neural mechanisms.

Perceived linguistic marginalization and speech intelligibility in a racially diverse cohort of talkers

Studies suggest that the listeners’ social categorizations of talkers may mediate how intelligible those talkers’ speech is perceived to be (Babel & Russel, 2015; McGowan, 2015; Kutlu et al., 2021; Kutlu et al., 2022; McLaughlin et al., 2022; Yi et al., 2013). One interpretation of these findings is that talkers’ attitudes toward different racialized groups affects intelligibility. Studies have used implicit association tests (Greenwald et al., 1998) to test this hypothesis. Some studies have found that negative implicit associations with specific groups (i.e., Asian Americans) predict intelligibility (Yi et al.) while others have found no association (McLaughlin et al.). In this presentation, we present a new tool to examine listeners’ attitudes toward different racialized groups. The Perceived Linguistic Marginalization Scale (PLMS, based on the Perceived Societal Marginalization Scale, Bulwerk et al., 2022) directly examines individuals’ beliefs about the significance of language variation in marking groups of people as marginalized. In this poster, we present the results of 242 participants’ performance on the PLMS. We examine whether performance on the PLMS predicts audio-only and audio-visual intelligibility of 28 racially diverse talkers in a speech intelligibility experiment. Data collection is complete and analysis is ongoing. [Funded by NIH grant R21 DC018070]

Is there evidence of age bias in breast cancer health care professionals’ treatment of older patients?

ObjectivesDespite NICE (2009; 2018) guidelines to treat breast cancer patients ‘irrespective of age’, older women experience differential treatment and worse outcomes beyond that which can be explained by patient health or patient choice. Research has evidenced the prevalence of ageism and identified the role of implicit bias in reflecting and perhaps perpetuating disparities across society, including in healthcare. Yet age bias has rarely been considered as an explanatory factor in poorer outcomes for older breast cancer patients. MethodsThis mixed methods study explored age bias amongst breast cancer HCPs through four components: 1) An implicit associations test (31 HCPs)2) A treatment recommendations questionnaire (46 HCPs).3) An attitudes about older patients questionnaire (31 HCPs).4) A treatment recommendations interview (20 HCPs). ResultsThis study showed that breast cancer HCPs held negative implicit associations towards older women; HCPs were less likely to recommend surgery for older patients; some HCPs held assumptions that older patients are more afraid, less willing and able to be involved in decision-making, and are less willing and able to cope with being informed of a poor treatment prognosis; and conditions which disproportionately affect older patients, such as dementia, are not always well understood by breast cancer HCPs. ConclusionsThese results indicate that there are elements of age bias present amongst breast cancer HCPs. The study's findings of age-based assumptions and a poorer understanding of conditions which disproportionately affect older patients align with patterns of differential treatment towards older breast cancer patients suggesting that age bias may be, at least in part, driving differential treatment.

\u201cHe was the one with the gun!\u201d Associative memory for white and black faces seen with weapons

Much research has found that implicit associations between Black male faces and aggression affect dispositional judgments and decision-making, but there have been few investigations into downstream effects on explicit episodic memory. The current experiment tested whether such implicit associations interact with explicit recognition memory using an associative memory paradigm in younger and older adults. Participants studied image pairs featuring faces (of Black or White males) alongside handheld objects (uncategorized, kitchenware, or weapons) and later were tested on their recognition memory for faces, objects, and face/object pairings. Younger adults were further divided into full and divided attention encoding groups. All participants then took the race faces implicit association test. Memory for image pairs was poorer than memory for individual face or object images, particularly among older adults, extending the empirical support for the age-related associative memory deficit hypothesis (Naveh-Benjamin in J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cognit 26:1170–1187, 2000) to associations between racial faces and objects. Our primary hypothesis—that older adults’ associative memory deficit would be reduced under Black/weapon pairings due to their being schematically related stimuli—was not confirmed. Younger adults and especially older ones, who were predominantly White, exhibited an own-race recognition bias. In addition, older adults showed more negative implicit bias toward Black faces. Importantly, mixed linear analyses revealed that negative implicit associations for Black faces predicted increased explicit associative memory false alarm rates among older adults. Such a pattern may have implications for the criminal justice system, particularly when weighting eyewitness testimony from older adults.

An investigation of emotional and evaluative implicit associations with police using four versions of the Implicit Association Test

ABSTRACT In two studies (total N = 829), we assessed civilian implicit associations with police using four modified Implicit Association Tests (IAT). Across studies and IATs, individuals harbored stronger negative implicit associations (associating police with fear/bad) than positive implicit associations (associating police with safety/good). The predictive validity of the implicit associations and magnitude of D scores varied across IAT. In Study 1, the IATs involving categorization of police-related (vs. everyday) symbols were most sensitive, but the versions involving categorization of police (vs. civilian) models provided more evidence for predictive validity. In Study 2, the IAT involving categorization of emotional words (safety/fear) was most sensitive, but the version involving categorization of evaluative words (good/bad) provided more evidence for predictive validity. In both studies, we also assessed individual differences (race, political affiliation) in implicit associations. The findings prompt the need to further examine the underlying cognitive components of civilian attitudes toward police and emphasize the importance of developing several IATs when assessing implicit attitudes.

The Dynamics of Implicit Intergroup Biases of Victims and Ex-combatants in Post-conflict Scenarios

Strong group identities arise in intergroup conflict scenarios and perpetuate sectarian violence even in post-conflict scenarios. In particular, out-group negative implicit associations are predictors of decreased intergroup forgiveness, as well as increased distrust and aggression against the out-group. Thus, the presence of implicit intergroup (i.e., ex-combatants and victims) biases seems to be a relevant factor in post-conflict scenarios. Here, we aimed to explore whether negative biases toward the out-group are boosted by (a) previous exposure to conflict violence or (b) identification with an armed violent group. One hundred and twenty-eight participants, 65 ex-combatants from Colombian guerrillas and 63 victims of the armed conflict, were assessed with a modified version of the implicit association test (IAT). Our results revealed that the victim group showed a significant negative bias against ex-combatants. However, no bias toward the out-group (i.e., victims) or in-group favoritism was observed in the ex-combatant group. Similarly, we found that IAT scores were not associated with sociodemographical variables (i.e., sex, years of education, or type of dwelling), the levels of combat exposure, victimization armed-conflict-related experiences, or child abuse antecedents. Our results showed an unexpected lack of in-group bias in ex-combatants, potentially triggered by the effect of current demobilization and reintegration processes. Thus, negative associations with the out-group will persist in the framework of societal condemnation of the out-group. In contrast, these negative biases will tend to be abolished when entering in conflict with larger societal reintegration processes. The results reinforce the idea that reintegration may benefit from interventions at the societal level, including all actors of the conflict. In addition, our findings highlight the importance of implementing victim interventions aimed at reducing stigma and revengeful actions in spaces of collective disarmament.

Assessing Implicit Associations with Consensual Non-monogamy Among U.S. Early Emerging Adults: An Application of the Single-Target Implicit Association Test.

Research has demonstrated that implicit and explicit attitudes toward consensual nonmonogamy (CNM; sexually and/or emotionally nonexclusive romantic relationships) are less favorable than those toward monogamy. Although this general pattern of results is often reported, it is not clear to what extent this implicit difference reflects negative associations with CNM. To investigate this issue, the current study assessed 355 U.S. early emerging adults' (89 men, 265 women, one gender nonconforming) implicit associations with CNM and monogamy using the Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT). In addition, the convergent (using explicit measures), postdictive, and concurrent validity of the CNM ST-IAT was also investigated. The results revealed that although early emerging adults demonstrated a positive implicit association with monogamy (mean D score = 0.38), a neutral implicit association emerged for CNM (mean D score = 0.00). Additionally, young women and those without previous CNM experience demonstrated more negative implicit associations with CNM as compared to men and those with previous CNM experience. Finally, implicit associations with CNM predicted willingness to allow one's partner to participate in CNM, but not one's own interest in CNM. These results support previous research suggesting that a disparity in attitudes toward CNM and monogamy exists and provides further clarification reflecting positive implicit associations with monogamy and neutral associations with CNM. These results also confirm that monogamous relationships continue to be upheld as the ideal relationship structure in the U.S. and that educators/practitioners should work to reduce negative implicit bias toward CNM in an attempt to promote relationship equity.

The perception of crop protection: Explicit vs. implicit association of the public and in agriculture

In the public discourse as well as in the agricultural sector itself, crop protection is a controversial discussion topic. So far, no study investigates the implicit association of crop protection methods. Therefore, this study aims to create a better understanding of the attitudes of both the public and agricultural sector by investigating implicit associations towards chemical, genetically modified, and mechanical crop protection. The implicit association was measured in an online survey using a single-target implicit association test. The test was conducted by a total of 658 participants: 284 public participants, 233 conventional agricultural students and 141 students of organic agriculture, representing future farmers and decision makers in the agricultural sector. Explicit attitudes are captured through survey techniques. Results reveal opposing explicit attitudes towards chemical and genetically modified crop protection for our sub-samples. Furthermore, the results demonstrate opposing associations. For example, a positive explicit and negative implicit association is prominent between the public and mechanical crop protection, as well as for conventional agricultural students towards chemical, genetically modified and mechanical crop protection. The explicit-implicit conflict of the conventional agricultural students could be due to their strategic answering behavior, in which explicit statements are adjusted to present conventional agricultural production practices in a positive light. Thus, attitudes on controversial topics, which are based solely on surveys, should be critically scrutinized.

Blaming the refugees? Experimental evidence on responsibility attribution

Do people blame refugees for negative events? We propose a novel experimental paradigm to measure discrimination in responsibility attribution towards Arabic refugees in Germany. Participants in the laboratory experience a positive or negative income shock, which is with equal probability caused by a random draw or another participant’s performance in a real effort task. Responsibility attribution is measured by beliefs about whether the shock is due to the other participant’s performance or the random draw. We find evidence for reverse discrimination: Natives attribute responsibility more favorably to refugees than to other natives. In particular, refugees are less often held responsible for negative income shocks. Moreover, natives with negative implicit associations towards Arabic names attribute responsibility less favorably to refugees than natives with positive associations. Since neither actual performance differences nor beliefs about natives’ and refugees’ performance can explain our finding of reverse discrimination, we rule out statistical discrimination as the driving force. We discuss explanations based on theories of self-image and social image.

Implicit attitudes toward dieting and thinness distinguish fat-phobic and non-fat-phobic anorexia nervosa from avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder in adolescents.

The majority of individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) have a fat-phobic (FP-AN) presentation in which they explicitly endorse fear of weight gain, but a minority present as non-fat-phobic (NFP-AN). Diagnostic criteria for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) specifically exclude fear of weight gain. Differential diagnosis between NFP-AN and ARFID can be challenging and explicit endorsements do not necessarily match internal beliefs. Ninety-four adolescent females (39 FP-AN, 13 NFP-AN, 10 low-weight ARFID, 32 healthy controls [HC]) completed implicit association tests (IATs) categorizing statements as pro-dieting or non-dieting and true or false (questionnaire-based IAT), and images of female models as underweight or normal-weight and words as positive or negative (picture-based IAT). We used the Eating Disorder Examination to categorize FP- versus NFP-AN presentations. Individuals with FP-AN and NFP-AN demonstrated a stronger association between pro-dieting and true statements, whereas those with ARFID and HCs demonstrated a stronger association between pro-dieting and false statements. Furthermore, while all groups demonstrated a negative implicit association with underweight models, HC participants had a significantly stronger negative association than individuals with FP-AN and NFP-AN. Individuals with NFP-AN exhibited a mixed pattern in which some of their implicit associations were consistent with their explicit endorsements, whereas others were not, possibly reflecting a minimizing response style on explicit measures. In contrast, individuals with ARFID demonstrated implicit associations consistent with explicit endorsements. Replication studies are needed to confirm whether the questionnaire-based IAT is a promising method of differentiating between restrictive eating disorders that share similar clinical characteristics.

Implicit and Explicit Associations with Erotic Stimuli in Women with and Without Sexual Problems

Conceptual models of sexual functioning have suggested a major role for implicit cognitive processing in sexual functioning. The present study aimed to investigate implicit and explicit cognition in sexual functioning in women. Gynecological patients with (N = 38) and without self-reported sexual problems (N = 41) were compared. Participants performed two Single-Target Implicit Association Tests (ST-IAT), measuring the implicit association of visual erotic stimuli with attributes representing, respectively, valence and motivation. Participants also rated the erotic pictures that were shown in the ST-IATs on the dimensions of valence, attractiveness, and sexual excitement, to assess their explicit associations with these erotic stimuli. Participants completed the Female Sexual Functioning Index and the Female Sexual Distress Scale for continuous measures of sexual functioning, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess depressive symptoms. Compared to nonsymptomatic women, women with sexual problems were found to show more negative implicit associations of erotic stimuli with wanting (implicit sexual motivation). Across both groups, stronger implicit associations of erotic stimuli with wanting predicted higher level of sexual functioning. More positive explicit ratings of erotic stimuli predicted lower level of sexual distress across both groups.

Do puzzle pieces and autism puzzle piece logos evoke negative associations?

Puzzle pieces have become ubiquitous symbols for autism. However, puzzle-piece imagery stirs debate between those who support and those who object to its use because they believe puzzle-piece imagery evokes negative associations. Our study empirically investigated whether puzzle pieces evoke negative associations in the general public. Participants' ( N = 400) implicit negative associations were measured with an Implicit Association Task, which is a speeded categorization task, and participants' explicit associations were measured with an Explicit Association Task, which is a standard task for assessing consumers' explicit associations with brands (and images of those brands). Puzzle pieces, both those used as autism logos and those used more generically, evoked negative implicit associations ( t(399) = -5.357, p < 0.001) and negative explicit associations ( z = 4.693, p < 0.001, d = 0.491). Participants explicitly associated puzzle pieces, even generic puzzle pieces, with incompleteness, imperfection, and oddity. Our results bear public policy implications. If an organization's intention for using puzzle-piece imagery is to evoke negative associations, our results suggest the organization's use of puzzle-piece imagery is apt. However, if the organization's intention is to evoke positive associations, our results suggest that puzzle-piece imagery should probably be avoided.

Scary symptoms? Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for symptom interpretation bias in pathological health anxiety.

Patients with pathological health anxiety (PHA) tend to automatically interpret bodily sensations as sign of a severe illness. To elucidate the neural correlates of this cognitive bias, we applied an functional magnetic resonance imaging adaption of a body-symptom implicit association test with symptom words in patients with PHA (n=32) in comparison to patients with depression (n=29) and healthy participants (n=35). On the behavioral level, patients with PHA did not significantly differ from the control groups. However, on the neural-level patients with PHA in comparison to the control groups showed hyperactivation independent of condition in bilateral amygdala, right parietal lobe, and left nucleus accumbens. Moreover, patients with PHA, again in comparison to the control groups, showed hyperactivation in bilateral posterior parietal cortex and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during incongruent (i.e., harmless) versus congruent (i.e., dangerous) categorizations of body symptoms. Thus, body-symptom cues seem to trigger hyperactivity in salience and emotion processing brain regions in PHA. In addition, hyperactivity in brain regions involved in cognitive control and conflict resolution during incongruent categorization emphasizes enhanced neural effort to cope with negative implicit associations to body-symptom-related information in PHA. These results suggest increased neural responding in key structures for the processing of both emotional and cognitive aspects of body-symptom information in PHA, reflecting potential neural correlates of a negative somatic symptom interpretation bias.

Early alcohol use with parental permission: Psychosocial characteristics and drinking in late adolescence

The earliest experiences with alcohol for many children occur in the family context with parental supervision. The current study examined individual and sociocultural characteristics associated with early (prior to age 13years) sipping and tasting alcohol with parental permission in two longitudinal community samples. Early sipping/tasting was also tested as a predictor of frequency and quantity of alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems seven years later in late adolescence. Early sipping/tasting with parental permission was associated with a sociocultural context supportive of alcohol use (e.g., parental alcohol use, permissive rules about alcohol use in the home, parental attitudes about underage drinking, perceived peer norms), adolescent sensation seeking and disinhibition (e.g., surgency, externalizing behavior) and appraisals of alcohol (negative outcome expectancies and negative implicit alcohol associations). Early sipping/tasting predicted increased frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, and increased alcohol-related problems in late adolescence, even after controlling sociocultural and individual difference variables. Findings suggest that early sipping/tasting with parental permission is not benign and is a viable target for preventive interventions.

The role of implicit associations and explicit expectancies related to alcohol use: a comparison of Lithuanian and US college samples

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the current study was to (1) explore for cultural differences in harmful alcohol use and (2) examine whether explicit alcohol expectancies and implicit alcohol associations predict use. University students from Lithuania (n = 63) and the USA (n = 81) completed explicit and implicit measures regarding alcohol use. We found that compared to Lithuanian college students, US college students reported higher harmful alcohol use, endorsed more positive alcohol expectancies and had significantly fewer negative implicit alcohol associations. For both samples, both positive expectancies and implicit associations predicted harmful use.

RESEARCH OF IMPLICIT ATTITUDES TOWARDS GAMBLING FOR GAMBLERS AND NON-GAMBLERS

The importance of studying attitudes towards gambling has been recently recognized in the field of gambling. Research aim is to examine whether non-gamblers and gamblers exhibit both positive and negative implicit attitudes towards gambling-related stimuli. Research questions: (I) What is the valence of implicit associations with gambling among gamblers and non-gamblers? (II) Are the differences in attitudes towards gambling revealed by explicit and implicit methods among gamblers and non–gamblers? (III) Is there a consistency between results obtained by implicit measures and explicit measures of attitude towards gambling? Methods: Participants - 98, age 18-58, Mdn=34 years. Groups: Social Gamblers – 24, Problem Gamblers – 25, Non-Gamblers – 49. Implicit measures: Modified version of Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT). Explicit measures: “Gambling Attitudes and Beliefs (GABS)” and “Gamblers anonymous twenty questions (GA-20)”. Results and Conclusions. (I) Both positive and negative implicit gambling associations were found in each of the groups. (II) Explicit attitudes towards gambling are most pronounced in social gamblers and most not pronounced in non-gamblers. Differences in implicit associations with gambling among the groups were not found. (III) In case of positive implicit associations, a negative correlation between the results of explicit and implicit measurements was found. It is possible that the use of negative implicit associations will contribute to the classification of gamblers with low, moderate and high risk.

Cough Is Dangerous: Neural Correlates of Implicit Body Symptoms Associations.

The negative interpretation of body sensations (e.g., as sign of a severe illness) is a crucial cognitive process in pathological health anxiety (HA). However, little is known about the nature and the degree of automaticity of this interpretation bias. We applied an implicit association test (IAT) in 20 subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate behavioral and neural correlates of implicit attitudes toward symptom words. On the behavioral level, body symptom words elicited strong negative implicit association effects, as indexed by slowed reaction times, when symptom words were paired with the attribute “harmless” (incongruent condition). fMRI revealed increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and posterior parietal cortex for the comparison of incongruent words with control words, as well as with a lower significance threshold also in comparison to congruent words. Moreover, activation in the DLPFC, posterior parietal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and cerebellum varied with individual levels of HA (again, in comparison to control words, as well as with a lower significance threshold also in comparison to congruent words). Slowed reaction times as well as increased activation in dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex point to increased inhibitory demands during the incongruent IAT condition. The positive association between HA severity and neural activity in nucleus accumbens, dorsolateral prefrontal, and posterior parietal cortex suggests that HA is characterized by both intensified negative implicit attitudes and hampered cognitive control mechanisms when confronted with body symptoms.

The effect of acute alcohol on motor-related EEG asymmetries during preparation of approach or avoid alcohol responses

Alcohol-approach tendencies have been associated with heavy drinking and play a role in the transition to alcohol abuse. Such cognitive biases might predict future alcohol use better under a low dose of alcohol. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate both the magnitude and the predictive power of alcohol-induced changes on approach-avoidance bias and bias-related cortical asymmetries during response preparation across heavy and light drinking adolescents. In heavy drinking adolescents greater approach-related asymmetry index in the beta-band was observed for soft-drink cues compared to alcohol ones and this increase was associated with increase in difficulty to regulate alcohol intake. Earlier findings demonstrated that young heavy drinkers hold both positive and negative implicit alcohol associations, reflecting an ambiguity towards alcohol. The increase in approach related beta-lateralization for soft-drink cues measured in this study may represent a compensatory effort for the weaker S–R mapping (approaching soft drink). The MRAA findings in this study may highlight a mechanism related to overcompensation due to ambivalent attitudes towards drinking in our heavy drinking sample who had greater problems to limit their alcohol intake compared to light drinkers. Moreover, a relatively strong approach soft-drink and weak approach alcohol reaction-time bias after alcohol predicted decreasing drinking; suggesting that the capacity to control the bias under alcohol could be a protective factor.