Impulsive facial threat perceptions after exposure to stereotypic crime news

Tests were performed to learn whether exposure to news about crimes committed by dark-skinned criminals increases impulsive facial-threat perceptions of meeting dark-skinned strangers in a subsequent situation (media-priming hypothesis), but only when the facial displays are ambiguous (ambiguity hypothesis). The assumption is that news stereotypes prime the “dark-skinned criminal” stereotype, which, in turn, influences subsequent face processing. An experiment with two groups was used to test this prediction. Participants allocated to the treatment group (n = 53) read about crimes committed by dark-skinned criminals. In contrast, for the control group (n = 52), cues indicating skin color were not mentioned at all. As predicted, the treatment increased the perceived facial threat of dark-skinned strangers, but only when the facial displays were ambiguous. Given the importance of the face in social interaction, I discuss important, real-world implications for recipients as well as for journalists and media organizations

A Meta-Analysis of Procedures to Change Implicit Measures

Using a novel technique known as network meta-analysis, we synthesized evidence from 492 studies (87,418 participants) to investigate the effectiveness of procedures in changing implicit measures, which we define as response biases on implicit tasks. We also evaluated these procedures’ effects on explicit and behavioral measures. We found that implicit measures can be changed, but effects are often relatively weak (|ds| \u3c .30). Most studies focused on producing short-term changes with brief, single-session manipulations. Procedures that associate sets of concepts, invoke goals or motivations, or tax mental resources changed implicit measures the most, whereas procedures that induced threat, affirmation, or specific moods/emotions changed implicit measures the least. Bias tests suggested that implicit effects could be inflated relative to their true population values. Procedures changed explicit measures less consistently and to a smaller degree than implicit measures and generally produced trivial changes in behavior. Finally, changes in implicit measures did not mediate changes in explicit measures or behavior. Our findings suggest that changes in implicit measures are possible, but those changes do not necessarily translate into changes in explicit measures or behavior

Case Judgments And Juror Perceptions Of The Stereotypical Defendant

Stereotypes and prejudice have been shown to bias information processing and decision making. There are physical traits that are stereotypically associated with criminals, i.e. tattoos, dark skin-tone, facial untrustworthiness, Afrocentric facial features. These features have been shown to influence verdict decisions and sentencing outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the additive effects of these features while also considering individual levels of prejudice and egalitarian views. The current research aimed to investigate the effects of several combinations of features on defendant verdict, sentencing, and criminal appearance ratings, rather than assessing the features in isolation, while controlling for prejudice and motivation to respond without prejudice. Study 1 examined the effects of tattoos, facial trustworthiness, and skin tone, and Study 2 examined the effects of tattoos, Afrocentric features, and skin tone. While controlling for the effects of prejudice and egalitarian views, physical traits did not have direct effects on case judgments but did affect perceived criminal appearance which in turn predicted verdict, suggesting criminal stereotype activation mediates the relationship between physical traits and case judgments. Additionally, prejudice and motivation to be non-prejudiced had several individual and interactive effects with physical traits, suggesting that the effects of physical traits may depend on individual attitudes. Implications and future directions are discussed

The evil, poor, disliked and punished: criminal stereotypes and the effects of their cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes on punitiveness toward crime

Why does the public so staunchly support harsh criminal justice policies when the social, fiscal and political costs are so great? Individuals in countries such as Canada, the UK and USA continue to want criminal offenders to receive stiffer sentences despite growing prison populations and some indication of lower crime rates (Cullen, Fisher & Applegate, 2000; Donohue, 2007; King, 2008; Raphael, 2009; Tseloni et al., 2010; Useem et al., 2003; Walmsley, 2009). Criminological research has identified cognitive and affective pathways that predict punitiveness toward crime, such as the judged wrongfulness and harmfulness of crime, and moral outrage (Carlsmith & Darley, 2008). The overall contribution of the five papers presented in this thesis is to identify the cognitive, affective and behavioural pathways that link social perception of criminals to punitiveness toward crime. Working at the intersection of social psychology and criminology, the thesis applies theoretical frameworks such as the Stereotype Content Model (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002) and Behaviour from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes map (Cuddy, Fiske & Glick, 2007) to identify the functional relation between social perception and punitiveness. Using different methodologies and at different levels of analysis, this thesis provides strong evidence that the content of criminal stereotypes is associated with specific cognitive (e.g., perceiving crime as being more serious), affective (e.g., feeling anger and a lack of compassion) and behavioural (e.g., wanting to exclude and attack) responses. In turn, criminal stereotypes and their outcomes engender punitive intuitions, decisions and attitudes. These findings reconcile extant criminological research on punitiveness with social psychological research on the function of social stereotypes. This thesis also speaks more broadly to the association between punitiveness toward crime and basic social psychological processes related to interpersonal perception and relations. In this respect, this thesis makes a significant contribution to the study of punitiveness toward crime and has important social policy implications

Evolutionary and Social Manifestations of Misled Fear: How Fear Motivates and Manipulates

This thesis emphasizes the negative outcomes associated with misled fear. It begins by examining the evolutionary basis of human and animal fear, and then applies the fear learning process as well as evolutionarily innate fears to maladaptive cognitive and behavioral outcomes that manifest today. One example of such a maladaptive manifestation is a behavior based in racial prejudice, occurring from an act based in the evolutionary fear of an out-group. Finally, this paper presents how human fear is further misled and manipulated by the media--intentionally and unintentionally. Overall, the present argument is that humans must increase their conscious awareness of how fear processing systems function in order to resist problematic behavioral outcomes of misled fear. Particularly for media consumers, this knowledge combined with critical media literacy education will be useful in combating fear tactics utilized by the media

Cross-cultural evidence for the influence of positive self-evaluation on cross-cultural differences in well-being

Poster Session F - Well-Being: abstract F197We propose that cultural norms about realism and hedonism contribute to the cross-cultural differences in well-being over and above differences in objective living conditions. To test this hypothesis, we used samples from China and the United States. Results supported the mediating role of positive evaluative bias in cross-cultural differences in well-being.postprin

Values and need satisfaction across 20 world regions

Poster Session F - Motivation/Goals: abstract F78Intrinsic valuing predicts the satisfaction of psychological needs (Niemiec, Ryan, & Deci, 2009). We conceptually replicate and extend this finding across 20 world regions. In multi-level models, Schwartz’s (1992) self-transcendence value was positively related to autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction, even when controlling for the Big Five.postprin

Hatred and harm: the influence of digital pimps and the miseducation of the hyper-masculine man

Master's Project (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021The purpose of this research project is to measure the effects of a correlation between exposure to violent, hardcore sexually-explicit Internet materials, or SEIM (also known as pornography), and behaviors and attitudes that demean, degrade, subjugate, and abuse women and girls resulting in systemic gender inequality. Research is based on peer-reviewed journal articles, subject-matter publications, crime statistics, personal interviews with experts, and meta-analyses of previous research on related topics. The research has demonstrated a very strong correlation between exposure to SEIM and hyper-masculine attitudes and behaviors of gender-inequality toward women, beginning at one end of the spectrum with verbal micro-aggressions or misogynistic cultural biases and ending at the other end with sexual assault or sexual abuse, depending on external factors of the user including environmental, social, family of origin, and psychological. The conclusion is that any exposure to SEIM relates to negative attitudes and behaviors toward women, but that specific types of individuals are more effected by such exposure. All exposure to these materials should be limited to avoid continued gender-inequality in our society

Applying psychological science to the CCTV review process: a review of cognitive and ergonomic literature

As CCTV cameras are used more and more often to increase security in communities, police are spending a larger proportion of their resources, including time, in processing CCTV images when investigating crimes that have occurred (Levesley & Martin, 2005; Nichols, 2001). As with all tasks, there are ways to approach this task that will facilitate performance and other approaches that will degrade performance, either by increasing errors or by unnecessarily prolonging the process. A clearer understanding of psychological factors influencing the effectiveness of footage review will facilitate future training in best practice with respect to the review of CCTV footage. The goal of this report is to provide such understanding by reviewing research on footage review, research on related tasks that require similar skills, and experimental laboratory research about the cognitive skills underpinning the task. The report is organised to address five challenges to effectiveness of CCTV review: the effects of the degraded nature of CCTV footage, distractions and interrupts, the length of the task, inappropriate mindset, and variability in people’s abilities and experience. Recommendations for optimising CCTV footage review include (1) doing a cognitive task analysis to increase understanding of the ways in which performance might be limited, (2) exploiting technology advances to maximise the perceptual quality of the footage (3) training people to improve the flexibility of their mindset as they perceive and interpret the images seen, (4) monitoring performance either on an ongoing basis, by using psychophysiological measures of alertness, or periodically, by testing screeners’ ability to find evidence in footage developed for such testing, and (5) evaluating the relevance of possible selection tests to screen effective from ineffective screener

Essays on the Impact of Presidential and Media-Based Usage of Anxiety-Producing Rhetoric on Dynamic Issue Attention

The intention of the project is to determine whether political elites have to discuss an issue using a specific emotional tone before the public and other political elites consider that issue a problem. Research has not yet demonstrated under what conditions elite rhetorical cues can heighten issue attention. Past studies have suggested that an increase in the absolute intensity of elite issue discussion can heighten perceptions of an issue as a problem. The problem with this notion is that within that absolute issue discussion, elites might simply be repeatedly saying conditions related to an issue are stable. They might also be presenting basic factual background information about an issue, a type of discussion unlikely to capture the interest of many in the political system. There has to be a specific type of cue that elites can offer to compel others in the political system to reconsider their outlook on issue salience. Derived from dual systems theories of emotion, the dissertation predicts that issue discussion that heightens feelings of anxiety increases the likelihood of an altered outlook on issue salience. To evaluate this prediction, time series statistical techniques are employed. The time series models evaluate whether prior change in the level of anxietybased cues by the president and the media predict changes in the level of attention the public offers to that issue. The same types of models evaluate whether this form of issue discussion by the president predicts issue dynamics of the media, and vice-versa. The several issues studied are crime, health care, poverty, and the environment. Information spanning thirty years is collected from presidential papers, general and ideological media newspaper coverage, and multiple public survey organizations. The findings suggest anxiety-based issue discussion does have the potential to guide issue attention. Prior changes in anxiety-based cues do predict future levels of attention the public provides to issues. A positive shift in anxiety cues by elites appears to have the capacity to increase public attention to issues. This increase though appears to be very small and abbreviated, suggesting limited effects. Elites do not appear to influence each other through anxiety cues