Stereotyped Targets Research Articles

‘How Can a Dalit Student Write So Beautifully, So Nicely?’ Caste-Based Stereotyping and Its Implications for Dalit Students in Higher Education

This paper presents a social-psychological study of caste stereotyping in higher education in India. It is about the lives of dalit students and their experiences of navigating through educational spaces with the awareness of being targets of stereotyping associated with their caste identity in the academic domain. With the help of in-depth interviews, the study delves into how dalit students respond to negative caste stereotyping, and what facilitates these responses. Fourteen dalit students (male = 8, female = 6) studying at two central universities in Delhi (India) participated in the study. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis helped develop the following two themes: (1) The pervasiveness of caste stereotyping in the academic domain: ‘How can their handwriting be so good?’, (2) Institutional climate shapes responses to stereotyping: ‘this is not a personal issue, it is an entire group’s issue’. The analysis shows dalit students’ active efforts to navigate the negative caste stereotyping in educational contexts. Specifically, the analysis highlights the role of institutional climate in shaping these responses and transforming vulnerability (because of caste-based stereotyping and stigma) to empowerment and assertion. While the passivity and subordination of stigmatised groups such as dalits are taken for granted, this research demonstrates that given a conducive social environment such as a supportive institutional climate, dalit students’ experience of higher education may be positively impacted. The role of institutional climate in the empowerment of disadvantaged group identity and elements that promote such a climate are discussed.

Good Intentions Aside: Stereotype Threat in the Face of Media Strategies to Counter Age Bias.

The current study shifts the focus of research on media's role in facilitating and inhibiting self-stereotyping among the members of stigmatized groups. More specifically, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model explaining (un)intentional effects of a real-world anti-ageism social media campaign among stereotyped targets: Older workers. Drawing on an experiment among older Dutch adults (N = 649), we test the effects of two message strategies for reducing prejudice: the media-literacy and the counter stereotypical information strategy. The results show that exposure to content warnings as well as strong counter-stereotypical message (i.e., consisting of positive exemplars and the negation of generic age stereotypes) is powerful in inhibiting implicit stereotype endorsement, ultimately boosting favourable employability perceptions of older workers. By integrating insights from the parasocial content hypothesis and stereotype threat indications, we provide a nuanced understanding of how anti-bias campaigns impact stigmatized targets, and isolate reasons for the varied effectiveness of such interventions.

The Moral Duty Not to Confirm Negative Stereotypes

Abstract Social interaction is laden with stereotypes. Throughout history negative stereotypes have been immensely harmful, leading to hatred, vilification, and direct harm such as discrimination, and they continue to be so in almost all societies. It is widely accepted that we ought not to view members of other groups negatively in stereotypical ways, and also ought not to apply negative stereotypes to members of our own group (or even to ourselves). However, is there any special moral obligation on the targets of such negative stereotypes to take care not to confirm them? May one even be blameworthy for not doing so? The very thought seems outrageous. Yet I will argue that it is plausible to think that, in fact, the victims, too, have pro tanto obligations to prevent stereotype confirmation (henceforth sc), in many central contexts. I am not aware of any sustained philosophical discussion making this claim.

Discursive work in resisting stereotypic representations of the Chinese among Chinese students

Abstract The negative effects of stereotyping arising from a victim’s acceptance and internalisation of stereotype identities are well-known. As stereotypes are created and maintained in discourse, understanding how targets of stereotyping employ discursive resources to resist the constraining structures of stereotypic identities imposed upon them can provide insight into the process of stereotyping and contribute to efforts to reduce the threat of stereotyping. We examined the strategies used by targets of stereotyping in contesting stereotypic representations of their social group through the mobilisation of a range of discourse strategies when presented with stereotyping attacks on the group. The findings revealed that stereotypes are subtle in nature and may not be easily recognised and hence, difficult to resist. Participants employed a number of discourse strategies to repair their fragmented self and group identities. However, in their attempt to maintain identity coherence, they ended up using stereotyping discourses themselves to devalue the perceived outgroup as well as subgroups they created within their own social group. The study highlights the complexity of stereotyping and its self-perpetuating character, and sheds light on the difficulty faced by targets of stereotyping discourse in reconciling their identities through intense discursive and identity work.

Vegan stereotypes and person perception in a job application situation – differences depending on the type of job and the gender of the candidate

ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to examine the influence of vegan stereotypes on person perception in the context of a job application. The study was conducted online on a representative sample of Polish adults (N = 838). Participants evaluated a fictitious CV of a candidate applying for a job. The CV varied in three dimensions: (a) diet of the candidate (vegan or not); (b) gender of the candidate; and (c) job position (stereotypically male or female). The candidate was evaluated on the dimensions of warmth and competence (based on the stereotype content model). A three-way analysis of variance (2x2x2) showed that in the case of a male candidate applying for a stereotypically male job (financial analyst), information about veganism lowered his perception on the competence dimension (stereotype inconsistency). These results indicate that vegans are targets of ambivalent stereotypes and that bias toward this group depends on the gender of the person following a vegan diet.

Establishing the content of gender stereotypes across development.

Gender stereotypes shape individuals' behaviors, expectations, and perceptions of others. However, little is known about the content of gender stereotypes about people of different ages (e.g., do gender stereotypes about 1-year-olds differ from those about older individuals?). In our pre-registered study, 4,598 adults rated either the typicality of characteristics (to assess descriptive stereotypes), or the desirability of characteristics (to assess prescriptive and proscriptive stereotypes) for targets who differed in gender and age. Between-subjects, we manipulated target gender (boy/man vs. girl/woman) and target age (1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, or 35). From this, we generated a normed list of descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive gender-stereotyped characteristics about people across the early developmental timespan. We make this archive, as well as our raw data, available to other researchers. We also present preliminary findings, demonstrating that some characteristics are consistently ungendered (e.g., challenges authority), others are gender-stereotypic across the early developmental timespan (e.g., males from age 1 to 35 tend to be dirty), and still others change over development (e.g., girls should be submissive, but only around age 10). Implications for gender stereotyping theory-as well as targets of gender stereotyping, across the lifespan-are discussed.

Fighting for abortion rights: Strategies aimed at managing stigma in a group of Italian pro-choice activists

Despite societal changes in Western countries, abortion continues to be morally stigmatized. While research on abortion stigma targeted both at people who seek or voluntarily terminate their pregnancy and abortion providers has been conducted, stigma directed at those who advocate abortion rights has remained under-researched. The purpose of this study was to deepen understandings of abortion stigma in relation to Italian cisgender female pro-choice activists. Accordingly, a qualitative study was conducted to examine how participants experienced, perceived, and internalized stigma, as well as the strategies they employed to manage it. The sample included 34 Italian cisgender female pro-choice activists who were actively engaged in movements at the time of the study, including organizations or unions that publicly defend the right to abort. The findings revealed that participants perceive they are targets of negative stereotyping and behaviors. Nevertheless, they do not internalize the stigma and use different strategies to manage it, such as speaking openly about their activism.

A brief report examining the stereotype content model with blind Americans.

The stereotype content model is a unifying theory of the makeup of stereotypes and their consequences on emotions and behaviors. There is a need to study this theory from the perspectives of those most affected by them-targets of stereotypes. Blind adults (n = 264) living in the United States completed the stereotype content measure asking participants to rate the extent to which they believed members of wider society held certain beliefs about Blind persons. Confirmatory factor analyses showed good fit for the four-factor model of stereotype content: warmth, competence, status, and competition. This study confirms the stereotype content model and begins to extend the stereotype content model to be inclusive of the perspectives of those who are the targets of stereotypes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Testing the Shielding Effect of Intergenerational Contact against Ageism in the Workplace: A Canadian Study.

Negative outcomes of ageism in the context of the Canadian labor market are well documented. Older workers remain the target of age-based stereotypes and attitudes on the part of employers. This study aims at assessing (1) the extent to which quality and quantity intergroup contacts between younger and older workers as well as knowledge-sharing practices reduce ageist attitudes, in turn (2) how a decrease in ageist attitudes increase the level of workers’ engagement and intentions to remain in the organization. Data were collected from 603 Canadian workers (aged 18 to 68 years old) from private and public organizations using an online survey measuring concepts under study. Results of a path analysis suggest that intergroup contacts and knowledge-sharing practices are associated with positive attitudes about older workers. More so, positive attitudes about older workers generate higher levels of work engagement, which in turn are associated with stronger intentions to remain with the organization. However, positive attitudes about older workers had no effect on intentions to remain in the workplace. Results are discussed in light of the intergroup contact theory.

Paving the Way for Ageist Attitudes through Children’s Books

Older adults are underrepresented and rarely appear in major roles in children’s literature. According to developmental intergroup theory, numerically smaller groups are likely to become targets of stereotypes and prejudice. Because parental ageist attitudes are related to those of their children, and parents typically choose their children’s literature, we investigated parental preferences for books featuring older and younger adults and what factors might predict this preference. In an online survey, 176 parents of children aged 12 or younger rated children’s book covers featuring a child and a prominent younger or older adult. There were two identical versions of each book cover on which only the age of the adult varied. Each respondent viewed covers featuring older and younger adults, but only saw one version of each cover (i.e., counterbalanced design). Parents indicated their preference for the books by stating how much they and their children would like the book and how likely they would be to buy it. Stereotypical expectations regarding the books’ storylines were rated on a semantic differential scale (e.g., modern vs. old-fashioned). Results revealed that there were no significant differences in preferences for books featuring younger, compared to older adults. However, a stronger difference in preference for books featuring younger, over older adults was predicted by the extent of stereotypical expectations regarding the storylines. In particular, this preference was stronger in parents who expected stories with older adults to conform to prevailing ageist stereotypes, suggesting that ageist expectations may deter some parents from books featuring older adults.

Mi china juventud: Childhood and Hybrid acts in Cuéntame cómo pasó

Abstract Since 1990, Spain has taken in over 200,000 Chinese immigrants. With these citizens often the targets of racist attacks and stereotypes, several filmic and televisual texts offer stereotypical representations of Chinese immigrants either as violent or as a model minority. Nevertheless, texts are emerging that offer more nuanced representations of this migrant body and construct complex characters whose identity struggles form part of Spain’s socio-cultural fabric. Cuéntame cómo pasó (La1, 2001 – present) is one of the first Spanish television programmes to represent a Spanish-Chinese immigrant child this way. This article analyses the Spanish-Chinese immigrant child’s construction within public service broadcasting, arguing that her character’s representation is informed by the channel’s public service responsibility. The analysis considers the notion that her character is the generator of ‘hybrid acts’ and is an agent of cross-cultural contact in her friendship group.

Authoritarians and social dominators view career women markedly different (but only if they fail)

AbstractIn three studies (N1 = 160, N2 = 100, N3 = 135), the effects of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) on the social judgment of working women (i.e., perceived warmth and competence) were examined. In each study, type of job (traditional vs. nontraditional job background) as well as the job‐related success (Studies 1a and 1b) or political success (Study 2) of women was manipulated. Across studies, we found that RWA and SDO affected liking for a target who violated shared expectations (woman with a nontraditional job background without job‐related/political success) in contrasting ways—with RWA predicting increased liking and SDO predicting decreased liking. Perceptions of stereotypic targets (e.g., the woman with a traditional job background without success, the woman with a nontraditional job background with success) were not consistently related to ideological attitudes. Theoretic implications as well as consequences for working women are discussed.

Shirtless and Dangerous: Quantifying Linguistic Signals of Gender Bias in an Online Fiction Writing Community

Imagine a princess asleep in a castle, waiting for her prince to slay the dragon and rescue her. Tales like the famous Sleeping Beauty clearly divide up gender roles. But what about more modern stories, borne of a generation increasingly aware of social constructs like sexism and racism? Do these stories tend to reinforce gender stereotypes, or counter them? In this paper, we present a technique that combines natural language processing with a crowdsourced lexicon of stereotypes to capture gender biases in fiction. We apply this technique across 1.8 billion words of fiction from the Wattpad online writing community, investigating gender representation in stories, how male and female characters behave and are described, and how authors' use of gender stereotypes is associated with the community's ratings. We find that male over-representation and traditional gender stereotypes (e.g., dominant men and submissive women) are common throughout nearly every genre in our corpus. However, only some of these stereotypes, like sexual or violent men, are associated with highly rated stories. Finally, despite women often being the target of negative stereotypes, female authors are equally likely to write such stereotypes as men.

Questioning stereotypes disrupts the effects of stereotype threat.

Given that mentally activating negative stereotypes about our social groups impairs our performance, can questioning the stereotype effectively disrupt this phenomenon? We experimentally tested an intervention of this type in several samples of athletes. Performance was consistently much improved, both in statistical and in practical terms, when participants were encouraged to question the stereotype than when they were merely reminded of the stereotype. These effects held regardless of the content of the stereotype and the group targeted. Process evidence suggests that questioning the stereotype buffers performance primarily via affect: the intervention stops athletes from worrying. Taken together, these findings indicate that adopting a simple yet powerful questioning stance protects targets of stereotypes against the performance impairments that they would otherwise typically experience.

Novos olhares e diferentes abordagens sobre a história indígena

O presente artigo tem como tema central os trabalhos desenvolvidos pelos pesquisadores indígenas de Mato Grosso do Sul, inseridos nos diferentes programas de pós-graduação das universidades brasileiras. Trata-se de uma pesquisa em fase inicial que está em desenvolvimento, tendo por objetivo identificar e analisar as produções acadêmicas realizadas pelos pesquisadores indígenas de Mato Grosso do Sul. Nessa perspectiva, foram selecionados os estudos culturais como campo teórico para compreender as diferentes ações desenvolvidas pelos povos indígenas marcados pela diferença e alteridade, possibilitando, assim, a desconstrução de discursos coloniais que inferiorizam os povos indígenas alvos de estereótipos como se houvesse, de fato, sociedades com saberes superiores. Portanto, as informações ora apresentadas são de caráter inicial, cujo principal objetivo é o de compartilhar os conhecimentos sobre o tema.

A threat in the network: STEM women in less powerful network positions avoid integrating stereotypically feminine peers.

Integrating social identity threat and structural hole theories, this work examines how social network positions affect group-based identity threats. For individuals less well positioned to bridge (or “broker”) relations between unconnected friends, stigma-by-association concerns may constrain affiliation with stereotypic targets. Three experiments (Ns = 280, 232, 553) test whether women (vs. men) in male-dominated STEM (vs. female-dominated) majors avoid befriending a female target with feminine-stereotypic (vs. STEM-stereotypic) interests. Only STEM women with less brokerage (i.e., less ability to manage introductions to unconnected friends) in their existing friendship networks avoided befriending (pilot experiment) and socially integrating (Experiments 1 and 2) feminine- (vs. STEM-) stereotypic targets, despite standardized target similarity and competence. STEM women in particular anticipated steeper reputational penalties for befriending stereotypically feminine peers (Experiment 2). Social identity threat may lead women in STEM—especially those lacking brokerage—to exclude stereotypically feminine women from social networks, reinforcing stereotypes of women and STEM fields.

Spatiotemporal encoding of search strategies by prefrontal neurons

Working memory is capacity-limited. In everyday life we rarely notice this limitation, in part because we develop behavioral strategies that help mitigate the capacity limitation. How behavioral strategies are mediated at the neural level is unclear, but a likely locus is lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). Neurons in LPFC play a prominent role in working memory and have been shown to encode behavioral strategies. To examine the role of LPFC in overcoming working-memory limitations, we recorded the activity of LPFC neurons in animals trained to perform a serial self-ordered search task. This task measured the ability to prospectively plan the selection of unchosen spatial search targets while retrospectively tracking which targets were previously visited. We found that individual LPFC neurons encoded the spatial location of the current search target but also encoded the spatial location of targets up to several steps away in the search sequence. Neurons were more likely to encode prospective than retrospective targets. When subjects used a behavioral strategy of stereotyped target selection, mitigating the working-memory requirements of the task, not only did the number of selection errors decrease but there was a significant reduction in the strength of spatial encoding in LFPC. These results show that LPFC neurons have spatiotemporal mnemonic fields, in that their firing rates are modulated both by the spatial location of future selection behaviors and the temporal organization of that behavior. Furthermore, the strength of this tuning can be dynamically modulated by the demands of the task.

Stereotype Threat in U.S. Students Abroad: Negotiating American Identity in the Age of Trump

An underinvestigated and significant source of stress for U.S. student sojourners across racial/ethnic groups is exposure to stereotypes that target their American identity. This study built on the extensive research literature on stereotype threat to investigate U.S. students’ vulnerability and reactions to being the target of stereotypes. Stereotype threat occurs when one expects to be judged negatively based on stereotypes of one’s social group and feels at risk of confirming these stereotypes. An online questionnaire administered to 95 students studying abroad just prior to and following the 2016 U.S. presidential election assessed predictors of, and common responses to, stereotype threat. Multiple regression analysis identified participant gender, CQ-Motivation, and exposure to Trump-related stereotypes as significant predictors of stereotype threat. Exploratory analyses indicated possible responses to stereotype threat, including distancing from a U.S. American identity and altering one’s appearance and behavior to look less American. Implications for sojourner support and for future research are discussed.

Open-Minded Midwifes, Literate Butchers, and Greedy Hooligans-The Independent Contributions of Stereotype Valence and Consistency on Evaluative Judgments.

Do people evaluate an open-minded midwife less positively than a caring midwife? Both open-minded and caring are generally seen as positive attributes. However, consistency varies—the attribute caring is consistent with the midwife stereotype while open-minded is not. In general, both stimulus valence and consistency can influence evaluations. Six experiments investigated the respective influence of valence and consistency on evaluative judgments in the domain of stereotyping. In an impression formation paradigm, valence and consistency of stereotypic information about target persons were manipulated orthogonally and spontaneous evaluations of these target persons were measured. Valence reliably influenced evaluations. However, for strongly valenced stereotypes, no effect of consistency was observed. Parameters possibly preventing the occurrence of consistency effects were ruled out, specifically, valence of inconsistent attributes, processing priority of category information, and impression formation instructions. However, consistency had subtle effects on evaluative judgments if the information about a target person was not strongly valenced and experimental conditions were optimal. Concluding, in principle, both stereotype valence and consistency can play a role in evaluative judgments of stereotypic target persons. However, the more subtle influence of consistency does not seem to substantially influence evaluations of stereotyped target persons. Implications for fluency research and stereotype disconfirmation are discussed.

A single identified glomerulus in the zebrafish olfactory bulb carries the high-affinity response to death-associated odor cadaverine

The death-associated odor cadaverine, generated by bacteria-mediated decarboxylation of lysine, has been described as the principal activator of a particular olfactory receptor in zebrafish, TAAR13c. Low concentrations of cadaverine activated mainly TAAR13c-expressing olfactory sensory neurons, suggesting TAAR13c as an important element of the neuronal processing pathway linking cadaverine stimulation to a strongly aversive innate behavioral response. Here, we characterized the initial steps of this neuronal pathway. First we identified TAAR13c-expressing cells as ciliated neurons, equivalent to the situation for mammalian taar genes, which shows a high degree of conservation despite the large evolutionary distance between teleost fishes and mammals. Next we identified the target area of cadaverine-responsive OSNs in the olfactory bulb. We report that cadaverine dose-dependently activates a group of dorsolateral glomeruli, at the lowest concentration down to a single invariant glomerulus, situated at the medial border of the dorsolateral cluster. This is the first demonstration of a single stereotyped target glomerulus in the fish olfactory system for a non-pheromone odor. A mix of different amines activates many glomeruli within the same dorsolateral cluster, suggesting this area to function as a general amine response region.