Bootstrapping trust evaluations through stereotypes

Publisher PD

When Leaders Are Not Who They Appear: The Effects of Leader Disclosure of a Concealable Stigma on Follower Reactions

Two studies examined follower reactions to disclosure of concealable stigma (i.e., transgender identity) by a leader. Using 109 employed participants, Study 1 showed followers rated leaders disclosing a stigma less likable and effective. This effect was both direct and indirect through relational identification with the leader. Using 206 employed participants, Study 2 found when a leader\u27s stigma was involuntarily found out and disclosed later they received lower ratings of likability and effectiveness compared to leaders who voluntarily came out and disclosed earlier. Method (found out vs. came out) and timing of disclosure (later vs. earlier) had direct relationships with ratings of likability and effectiveness and method of disclosure had an indirect relationship with the outcomes via relational identification

Reasoning with Categories for Trusting Strangers: a Cognitive Architecture

A crucial issue for agents in open systems is the ability to filter out information sources in order to build an image of their counterparts, upon which a subjective evaluation of trust as a promoter of interactions can be assessed. While typical solutions discern relevant information sources by relying on previous experiences or reputational images, this work presents an alternative approach based on the cognitive ability to: (i) analyze heterogeneous information sources along different dimensions; (ii) ascribe qualities to unknown counterparts based on reasoning over abstract classes or categories; and, (iii) learn a series of emergent relationships between particular properties observable on other agents and their effective abilities to fulfill tasks. A computational architecture is presented allowing cognitive agents to dynamically assess trust based on a limited set of observable properties, namely explicitly readable signals (Manifesta) through which it is possible to infer hidden properties and capabilities (Krypta), which finally regulate agents' behavior in concrete work environments. Experimental evaluation discusses the effectiveness of trustor agents adopting different strategies to delegate tasks based on categorization

Leaders\u2019 competence and warmth: Their relationships with employees\u2019 well-being and organizational effectiveness

The aim of this work was to investigate competence and warmth \u2014 the two basic dimensions of social judgment \u2014 as dimensions employees use to evaluate their supervisors. A mediation model was tested in which supervisor\u2019s perceived competence and warmth were associated with relevant outcomes (lower burnout, weaker turnover intentions, more frequent citizenship behaviors) through the mediation of affective organizational commitment (AOC). In Study 1, data were collected from employees of a company in the water service sector. In Study 2, participants were financial promoters. In Study 3, the sample included employees from different organizations. As hypothesized, the perception of one\u2019s supervisor as competent (Studies 1-3) and warm (Study 3) was related to employees\u2019 lower burnout, weaker turnover intentions, more frequent prosocial behaviors through the mediation of AOC. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed

Facing Openness with Socio Cognitive Trust and Categories.

Typical solutions for agents assessing trust relies on the circulation of information on the individual level, i.e. reputational images, subjective experiences, statistical analysis, etc. This work presents an alternative approach, inspired to the cognitive heuristics enabling humans to reason at a categorial level. The approach is envisaged as a crucial ability for agents in order to: (1) estimate trustworthiness of unknown trustees based on an ascribed membership to categories; (2) learn a series of emergent relations between trustees observable properties and their effective abilities to fulfill tasks in situated conditions. On such a basis, categorization is provided to recognize signs (Manifesta) through which hidden capabilities (Kripta) can be inferred. Learning is provided to refine reasoning attitudes needed to ascribe tasks to categories. A series of architectures combining categorization abilities, individual experiences and context awareness are evaluated and compared in simulated experiments

Do Allyship and Motivation Influence Women’s Cognitive Functioning and Self-Regulation After Witnessing Sexism?

Prior research shows the effects of sexism can accumulate over time, resulting in severe negative, cognitive, affective, motivational, and physiological consequences for women; however, most research focuses on the consequences of being a direct target of sexism, and the cognitive and motivational consequences of being a witness of sexism have not yet been fully explored. Additionally, while it is thought that allyship can help mitigate the consequences of sexism, minimal research has tested this relationship. It was proposed that shifts in reactive approach motivation (RAM); aimed to protect against anxiety and negative affect, may direct attention away from goal-oriented behaviors, inhibiting performance and self-regulation on current cognitive tasks. The study also investigated whether allyship acts as a protective factor against these impairments. Participants watched a Zoom interaction during which sexism occurs and the presence of an ally is manipulated (i.e., with allyship, without allyship). Participants completed self-report measures of state anxiety and negative affect and then were asked to sit quietly for five minutes, during which alpha hemispheric activity was recorded. After the session, participants completed a self-report measure of state approach motivation (i.e., BAS) and completed a cognitive task assessing an electrophysiological index of self-regulation (i.e., ERN amplitudes), proportion of correct responses, and response times. Results indicated that witnessing sexism negatively impacts women’s cognitive functioning and self-regulation, similar to being a direct target of sexism. Results investigating the effects of allyship were inconclusive. These results do not support prior research suggesting that allyship positively impacts those who experience sexism

Using tags to bootstrap stereotypes and trust

Agents joining multi-agent systems (MAS) face two significant problems: they do not know who to trust and others do not know if they are trustworthy. Our contribution extends trust and stereotype approaches to use a comparison of agents’ observable features, called tags, as an initial indication of expected behaviour. The results show an improvement in agents’ rewards in the early stages of their lifetimes, prior to having sufficient information to use trust or stereotype methods

Stripped of illusions? Exploring system justification processes in Capitalist and post-Communist societies

Sociologists and political scientists have often observed that citizens of Central and Eastern Europe express high levels of disillusionment with their social, economic and political systems, in comparison with citizens of Western capitalist societies. In this review, we analyze system legitimation and delegitimation in post-Communist societies from a social psychological perspective. We draw on system justification theory, which seeks to understand how, when and why people do (and do not) defend, bolster and justify existing social systems. We review some of the major tenets and findings of the theory and compare research on system-justifying beliefs and ideologies in traditionally Capitalist and post-Communist countries to determine: (1) whether there are robust differences in the degree of system justification in post-Communist and Capitalist societies, and (2) the extent to which hypotheses derived from system justification theory receive support in the post-Communist context. To this end, we summarize research findings from over 20 countries and cite previously unpublished data from a public opinion survey conducted in Poland. Our analysis confirms that there are lower levels of system justification in post-Communist countries. At the same time, we find that system justification possesses similar social and psychological antecedents, manifestations and consequences in the two types of societies. We offer potential explanations for these somewhat complicated patterns of results and conclude by addressing implications for theory and research on system justification and system change (or transition)

“They’re All the Same!” Stereotypical Thinking and Systematic Errors in Users’ Privacy-Related Judgments About Online Services

Given the ever-increasing volume of online services, it has become impractical for Internet users to study every company’s handling of information privacy separately and in detail. This challenges a central assumption held by most information privacy research to date—that users engage in deliberate information processing when forming their privacy-related beliefs about online services. In this research, we complement previous studies that emphasize the role of mental shortcuts when individuals assess how a service will handle their personal information. We investigate how a particular mental shortcut—users’ stereotypical thinking about providers’ handling of user information—can cause systematic judgment errors when individuals form their beliefs about an online service. In addition, we explore the effectiveness of counter-stereotypic privacy statements in preventing such judgment errors. Drawing on data collected at two points in time from a representative sample of smartphone users, we studied systematic errors caused by stereotypical thinking in the context of a mobile news app. We found evidence for stereotype-induced errors in users’ judgments regarding this provider, despite the presence of counter-stereotypic privacy statements. Our results further suggest that the tone of these statements makes a significant difference in mitigating the judgment errors caused by stereotypical thinking. Our findings contribute to emerging knowledge about the role of cognitive biases and systematic errors in the context of information privacy