Recalibrating valence weighting biases to promote changes in rejection sensitivity and risk-taking

Past research has found that modifying individuals' valence weighting tendencies by recalibrating them to weight positive and negative valence in a more balanced manner influenced a variety of judgments. The current research examines the utility of the recalibration procedure as a targeted intervention. In Experiment 1, we recruited participants high in rejection sensitivity (who are known to exhibit a negative weighting bias) and in Experiment 2, we recruited participants with high risk tendencies (who are known to exhibit a positive weighting bias). In both experiments, participants first played BeanFest, in which they were presented with beans varying in shape and speckles and learned which increased or decreased points. They later classified the game beans, as well as novel ones varying in their resemblance to the known positives or known negatives, as good or bad. In the recalibration condition, participants were told if they classified each bean correctly, thus receiving feedback regarding the appropriate weighting of resemblance to a known positive versus a negative. The controls, who received no feedback, were less accurate at classifying the novel the beans than the recalibration participants. Furthermore, in Experiment 1, the recalibration condition subsequently exhibited lower sensitivity to rejection than the control condition, with this reduction being stronger for individuals initially higher in rejection sensitivity. This effect was still present a week later. In Experiment 2, the recalibration condition reported diminished risk-tendencies, again with this effect being stronger for individuals with initially higher riskiness, and persisting for a week. Even more importantly, recalibration participants also engaged in less risky behavior on a laboratory task

Gender Equity Workshops for STEMM Departments at IUPUI: Interim Report

The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate hybrid online + live department workshops to address issues regarding gender bias and gender equity in STEMM academic departments in an effort to create a welcoming campus climate for both female and male faculty and staff in these disciplines.IUPUI Welcoming Campus Initiativ

The weighting of positive vs. negative valence and its impact on the formation of social relationships

Forming social relationships is an integral aspect of our lives and a topic fundamental to social psychology. Using a performance-based measure of individual differences in valence weighting, we demonstrate that the extent to which first-year college students weight positive versus negative valence when engaged in attitude generalization predicts how many peer relationships they develop during the subsequent two months (Study 1). Furthermore, we show that individuals strategically recruited for their high sensitivity to interpersonal rejection benefit from an intervention that recalibrates their valence-weighting tendencies from an overweighting of negative valence to a more balanced weighting of positive and negative valence (Study 2). Recalibration led to extended decreases in participants' rejection sensitivity and, most importantly, led them to develop more social relationships over a subsequent two-week period. These findings demonstrate that the weighting of positive versus negative valence is a fundamental process that influences complex social outcomes and that such valence weighting tendencies can be recalibrated so as to benefit individuals

Maybe She Is Relatable Increasing Women’s Awareness of Gender Bias Encourages Their Identification With Women Scientists

In the current research, we explored whether informing women about gender bias in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) would enhance their identification with a female scientist and whether this increased identification would in turn protect women from any adverse effects of gender bias information. We found that, relative to a control information condition, gender bias information promoted beliefs that a successful woman (but not a man) scientist had encountered bias and encouraged identification with that woman scientist. Feelings of empathic concern was an important mechanism underlying this increased identification (Experiments 2 and 3). Moreover, when presented with a man scientist, information about gender bias in STEM decreased female participants’ anticipated belonging and trust in a STEM environment, compared to participants in a control information condition (Experiment 1a and 1b). However, identifying with a woman scientist after learning about sexism in STEM fields alleviated this harmful effect. Finally, compared to those in the control condition, women college students who learned about gender bias reported greater interest in interacting with a woman STEM professor at their university (Experiment 3). Our results suggest that interventions that teach women about gender bias in STEM will help women identify with women scientists. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684317752643

The relationship between racial discrimination and substance use: Does locus of control help explain risk?

Introduction Exposure to racial discrimination has been consistently linked with risk for substance use. However, outside of externalizing and affect-based factors, few other mechanisms have been examined. One potential candidate is locus of control, a learning processes that involves the degree to which one attributes rewards as resulting from their own control (internal locus of control) versus outside control (external locus of control). There is evidence that exposure to stressors is associated with locus of control, with a separate body of literature linking locus of control with substance use. Thus, it is plausible that locus of control may be a mechanism underlying the relationship between racial discrimination and substance use. Methods The current study investigated this pathway among 503 racial/ethnic minority adults aged 18&ndash;35 who completed an online questionnaire including measures on racial discrimination related stress, locus of control, and substance use. Results Results indicated a significant indirect effect between racial discrimination related stress, two external domains of locus of control (i.e., powerful others and chance), and substance use. A significant indirect effect was not found for internal locus of control. Conclusion These findings expand our understanding on potential mechanisms that underlie the racial discrimination-substance use risk pathway among racial/ethnic minority adults, which may in turn provide important targets for substance use intervention programming. &nbsp;</p

Does the future look bright? Processing style determines the impact of valence weighting biases and self-beliefs on expectations

People regularly form expectations about their future, and whether those expectations are positive or negative can have important consequences. So, what determines the valence of people’s expectations? Research seeking to answer this question by using an individual-differences approach has established that trait biases in optimistic/pessimistic self-beliefs and, more recently, trait biases in behavioral tendencies to weight one’s past positive versus negative experiences more heavily each predict the valence of people’s typical expectations. However, these two biases do not correlate, suggesting limits on a purely individual-differences approach to predicting people’s expectations. We hypothesize that, because these two biases appear to operate via distinct processes (with self-beliefs operating top-down and valence weighting bias operating bottom-up), to predict a person’s expectations on a given occasion, it is also critical to consider situational factors influencing processing style. To test this hypothesis, we investigated how an integral part of future thinking that influences processing style—mental imagery—determines each bias’s influence. Two experiments measured valence weighting biases and optimistic/pessimistic self-beliefs, then manipulated whether participants formed expectations using their own first-person visual perspective (which facilitates bottom-up processes) or an external third-person visual perspective (which facilitates top-down processes). Expectations corresponded more with valence weighting biases from the first-person (vs. third-person) but more with self-beliefs from the third-person (vs. first-person). Two additional experiments manipulated valence weighting bias, demonstrating its causal role in shaping expectations (and behaviors) with first-person, but not third-person, imagery. These results suggest the two biases operate via distinct processes, holding implications for interventions to increase optimism

Reducing STEM gender bias with VIDS (video interventions for diversity in STEM)

Gender biases contribute to the underrepresentation of women in STEM. In response, the scientific community has called for methods to reduce bias, but few validated interventions exist. Thus, an interdisciplinary group of researchers and filmmakers partnered to create VIDS (Video Interventions for Diversity in STEM), which are short videos that expose participants to empirical findings from published gender bias research in 1 of 3 conditions. One condition illustrated findings using narratives (compelling stories), and the second condition presented the same results using expert interviews (straightforward facts). A hybrid condition included both narrative and expert interview videos. Results of two experiments revealed that relative to controls, VIDS successfully reduced gender bias and increased awareness of gender bias, positive attitudes toward women in STEM, anger, empathy, and intentions to engage in behaviors that promote gender parity in STEM. The narratives were particularly impactful for emotions, while the expert interviews most strongly impacted awareness and attitudes. The hybrid condition reflected the strengths of both the narratives and expert interviews (though effects were sometimes slightly weaker than the other conditions). VIDS produced substantial immediate effects among both men and women in the general population and STEM faculty, and effects largely persisted at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved

Reducing STEM gender bias with VIDS (video interventions for diversity in STEM)

Gender biases contribute to the underrepresentation of women in STEM. In response, the scientific community has called for methods to reduce bias, but few validated interventions exist. Thus, an interdisciplinary group of researchers and filmmakers partnered to create VIDS (Video Interventions for Diversity in STEM), which are short videos that expose participants to empirical findings from published gender bias research in 1 of 3 conditions. One condition illustrated findings using narratives (compelling stories), and the second condition presented the same results using expert interviews (straightforward facts). A hybrid condition included both narrative and expert interview videos. Results of two experiments revealed that relative to controls, VIDS successfully reduced gender bias and increased awareness of gender bias, positive attitudes toward women in STEM, anger, empathy, and intentions to engage in behaviors that promote gender parity in STEM. The narratives were particularly impactful for emotions, while the expert interviews most strongly impacted awareness and attitudes. The hybrid condition reflected the strengths of both the narratives and expert interviews (though effects were sometimes slightly weaker than the other conditions). VIDS produced substantial immediate effects among both men and women in the general population and STEM faculty, and effects largely persisted at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved