The person-based approach to measuring attitudes toward gay men and lesbians

Implicit anti-gay attitudes are relatively unconscious, automatic evaluations of gay men and lesbians which are measured by assessing the strength of associations in a speeded classification task. In contrast to other implicit prejudices (e.g., racism, sexism) there are unique challenges to overcome when measuring implicit attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. For example, there is no visible characteristic that can be reliably used to identify sexual orientation, nor are there any names, and only a few nouns (e.g., gay) which are uniquely associated with this social category. As the measurement of implicit anti-gay attitudes relies on the presentation of at least six stimuli to represent the social category, continued discussion on stimuli selection is needed. To date, researchers have relied on the use of stimuli that are conceptually related to the category of GAY (e.g., the rainbow flag, same-sex wedding cake toppers), and therefore these measures may be eliciting related attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward the amorphous category GAY, rather than to GAY PEOPLE). The main aim of this thesis was to present a new approach which addresses this shortcoming. I provided evidence for the person-based approach to implicit antigay attitudes in two initial studies. Study 1 demonstrated that presenting faces of straight male, straight female, gay male, and lesbian target stimuli (who are known for their sexual orientation) with opposite gender distracter stimuli elicits implicit gender attitudes consistent with previous research (Rudman & Goodwin, 2004). However, the same set of gay target stimuli presented with straight distracter stimuli of the same gender (e.g., lesbian targets, and straight female distracters), substantially reduced and reversed the pattern of results, such that gay men are weakly implicitly associated with positive and lesbians are weakly implicitly associated with negative. Moreover, these patterns are affected by participant’s own gender and sexual orientation (Study 2). These findings are interpreted as evidence that the person-based approach is assessing constructs of implicit gender attitudes and implicit sexual orientation-based attitudes that are distinct. Furthermore, Study 3 replicated the results of previous implicit prejudice research (using stimuli that have typically represented gay men and lesbians in implicit measures; e.g., Nosek, 2005) and the findings of Study 1 (i.e., using the person-based approach) providing evidence of the meaningful differences between implicit attitudes towards the category GAY and to GAY PEOPLE. Finally, studies 4 and 5 explored the role of religion and religiosity, known predictors of anti-gay attitudes, on implicit person-based antigay attitudes. Study 4 revealed that only religious fundamentalism was a strong predictor of explicit gay attitudes, and that no significant regression model was found that predicted implicit person-based anti-gay attitudes. In contrast, Study 5 used contextual variation to prime the construct of religion (i.e., distracter stimuli were faces of religious individuals, such as nuns and priests) and revealed that relevant religious stimuli led to a subsequent increase in positive implicit person-based attitudes towards gay people for Atheist, but not Christian participants. Taken together, these findings provide strong evidence for the person-based approach to anti-gay attitudes, suggest that implicit prejudice towards gay people differs from in important ways from implicit attitudes towards the category gay, and demonstrated that implicit person-based anti-gay attitudes have a meaningful, but complex relationship with religiosity. As a result, the proposed measure of implicit person-based anti-gay attitudes makes a novel and important contribution to the current anti-gay literature and provides researchers with a much needed and well validated alternative to the typical approach

How clinicians make (or avoid) moral judgments of patients: implications of the evidence for relationships and research

Physicians, nurses, and other clinicians readily acknowledge being troubled by encounters with patients who trigger moral judgments. For decades social scientists have noted that moral judgment of patients is pervasive, occurring not only in egregious and criminal cases but also in everyday situations in which appraisals of patients' social worth and culpability are routine. There is scant literature, however, on the actual prevalence and dynamics of moral judgment in healthcare. The indirect evidence available suggests that moral appraisals function via a complex calculus that reflects variation in patient characteristics, clinician characteristics, task, and organizational factors. The full impact of moral judgment on healthcare relationships, patient outcomes, and clinicians' own well-being is yet unknown. The paucity of attention to moral judgment, despite its significance for patient-centered care, communication, empathy, professionalism, healthcare education, stereotyping, and outcome disparities, represents a blind spot that merits explanation and repair. New methodologies in social psychology and neuroscience have yielded models for how moral judgment operates in healthcare and how research in this area should proceed. Clinicians, educators, and researchers would do well to recognize both the legitimate and illegitimate moral appraisals that are apt to occur in healthcare settings

Differences in Internalized Weight Stigma and the Treatment of Clients in Larger Bodies Among Mental Health and Medical Professionals

Weight is a complex interaction of several factors, including genetics, environment, adverse childhood experiences, culture, physiology, and emotional circumstances (Hale, 2019). By solely considering the categories of food consumption and individual activity, the belief of personal responsibility and controllability is perpetuated, which may lead to intentional or unintentional harm within interpersonal interactions and throughout medical services (Nutter et al., 2020). Weight bias refers to “stereotypes, negative attitudes, and discriminatory behavior toward individuals with larger bodies” (Nutter et al., 2020). Weight bias can be displayed as discomfort around those in larger bodies, holding beliefs that fat people are lazy or unattractive, teasing or physically assaulting those in larger bodies, or not having an accommodating physical environment, such as narrow hallways or small furniture (Carels & Latner, 2016). Unfortunately, weight stigma is also present within the medical and mental health professions, impacting how fat patients experience health care. This study compared the implicit and explicit weight bias present in mental health and medical professionals and observed whether this bias (a) impacted their treatment decision-making and (b) whether the amount of training in weight-related care impacted one’s bias. The findings of this study did not show any differences in implicit or explicit weight bias between medical and mental health professionals, decision-making for treatment was different for thin patients compared to fat patients, and training amount did not impact weight bias. However, it should also be noted that the amount of training participants received was not a significant part of their training program, and it is possible that more intensive training would show additional benefits in addressing weight bias. Future research should investigate ways to include weight bias in social-justice-based coursework throughout training programs

Implicit moral evaluations: A multinomial modeling approach

Implicit moral evaluations-i.e., immediate, unintentional assessments of the wrongness of actions or persons-play a central role in supporting moral behavior in everyday life. Yet little research has employed methods that rigorously measure individual differences in implicit moral evaluations. In five experiments, we develop a new sequential priming measure-the Moral Categorization Task-and a multinomial model that decomposes judgment on this task into multiple component processes. These include implicit moral evaluations of moral transgression primes (Unintentional Judgment), accurate moral judgments about target actions (Intentional Judgment), and a directional tendency to judge actions as morally wrong (Response Bias). Speeded response deadlines reduced Intentional Judgment but not Unintentional Judgment (Experiment 1). Unintentional Judgment was stronger toward moral transgression primes than non-moral negative primes (Experiments 2-4). Intentional Judgment was associated with increased error-related negativity, a neurophysiological indicator of behavioral control (Experiment 4). Finally, people who voted for an anti-gay marriage amendment had stronger Unintentional Judgment toward gay marriage primes (Experiment 5). Across Experiments 1-4, implicit moral evaluations converged with moral personality: Unintentional Judgment about wrong primes, but not negative primes, was negatively associated with psychopathic tendencies and positively associated with moral identity and guilt proneness. Theoretical and practical applications of formal modeling for moral psychology are discussed

Influences of Social Power and Normative Support on Condom Use Decisions: A Research Synthesis

A meta-analysis of 58 studies involving 30,270 participants examined how study population and methodological characteristics influence the associations among norms, control perceptions, attitudes, intentions and behaviour in the area of condom use. Findings indicated that control perceptions generally correlated more strongly among members of societal groups that lack power, including female, younger individuals, ethnic-minorities and people with lower educational levels. Furthermore, norms generally had stronger influences among younger individuals and among people who have greater access to informational social support, including males, ethnic majorities and people with higher levels of education. These findings are discussed in the context of HIV prevention efforts

Interventions to Reduce Prejudice Towards, and Avoidance of, People with Mental Illness

Research has identified education and contact as two effective strategies for reducing prejudice, discrimination and avoidance of people with a mental illness. This thesis explores ways in which these strategies can be effectively employed. Section 1 Experimental literature testing the differential impact of biogenetic and psychosocial explanations of mental illness on stigma was systematically reviewed. The review found that whilst biogenetic explanations tended to engender less blame, psychosocial explanations tended to engender lower perceptions of risk and a more optimistic outlook on prognosis. Desire for social distance tended not to be affected by causal explanation. Mental health professionals should be aware of the potential impact of different causal explanations on stigma when talking to patients, carers and colleagues. The review noted the need for more stigma research using behavioural outcome measures. Section 2 An empirical report investigated the effect of forming implementation intentions on a key discriminatory behaviour: avoidance. An undergraduate sample (N = 148) was invited to a purported meeting with a person with schizophrenia. Participants who had previously had contact with a person with this diagnosis were less avoidant than participants who lacked experience, and forming an implementation intention did not influence their behaviour. However, for participants who had no previous contact with a person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, forming an implementation intention made it significantly more likely that they would attend the meeting. Implementation intentions aimed at reducing avoidance of people with mental illness could augment anti-stigma interventions, promote contact and thus reduce prejudice

Implicit Attitudes Toward Children’S Gender Nonconforming Behavior: The Mediating Role Of Stigma By Association When Blaming Mothers

This study was designed to examine the possible connection between a child’s gender nonconformity and attitudes toward both the child and the mother of the gender nonconforming child. Specifically, this study explored the impact of gender nonconforming behavior on undergraduate student perceptions of the child and the parenting competence of the mother. Following social psychology theories examining stigma and stigma by association, this study represents an attempt to determine whether gender nonconforming behavior is a stigmatizing factor, and if that stigma is carried over to the mother. Findings from this study suggested that gender nonconforming behavior is indeed a stigma for children, and mothers of those children are at risk for stigma by association

Do Psychologists Demonstrate Bias Based on Female Client Weight and Ethnicity? ;An Analogue Study

Although anti-fat bias and discrimination have been widely documented (see Puhl, Andreyeva, & Brownell, 2008), few studies have examined whether psychologists exhibit biases toward clients who are fat. Only one study (Locker, 2011) examined whether client characteristics of ethnicity and weight influenced therapists\u27 bias no studies have exclusively examined psychologists. This analogue study investigated psychologists\u27 biases toward a hypothetical client (vignette adapted from Zadroga, 2009) when the client characteristics of weight (average/obese) and ethnicity (African American/European American) were manipulated. Participants in this study included a national sample of 194 licensed, currently practicing psychologists. A 2 (client weight) x 2 (client ethnicity) randomized experimental design was utilized. Participants\u27 biases were determined by Global Assessment of Functioning scores, prognosis scores, and scores from an adapted version of the Working Alliance Inventory (see Burkard, 1997) Therapist form (WAI-TA Horvath & Greenberg, 1989). A 2 x 2 factorial MANOVA indicated no statistically significant differences according to according to vignette client weight [F(1, 192) = 1.46, p = 0.23], vignette client ethnicity [F(1, 192) = 0.77, p = 0.51], or weight by ethnicity interaction [F(1, 192) = 0.28, p = 0.85]. Results, implications, and limitations were discussed, along with suggestions for further researc

Do Psychologists Demonstrate Bias Based on Female Client Weight and Ethnicity? ;An Analogue Study

Although anti-fat bias and discrimination have been widely documented (see Puhl, Andreyeva, & Brownell, 2008), few studies have examined whether psychologists exhibit biases toward clients who are fat. Only one study (Locker, 2011) examined whether client characteristics of ethnicity and weight influenced therapists\u27 bias no studies have exclusively examined psychologists. This analogue study investigated psychologists\u27 biases toward a hypothetical client (vignette adapted from Zadroga, 2009) when the client characteristics of weight (average/obese) and ethnicity (African American/European American) were manipulated. Participants in this study included a national sample of 194 licensed, currently practicing psychologists. A 2 (client weight) x 2 (client ethnicity) randomized experimental design was utilized. Participants\u27 biases were determined by Global Assessment of Functioning scores, prognosis scores, and scores from an adapted version of the Working Alliance Inventory (see Burkard, 1997) Therapist form (WAI-TA Horvath & Greenberg, 1989). A 2 x 2 factorial MANOVA indicated no statistically significant differences according to according to vignette client weight [F(1, 192) = 1.46, p = 0.23], vignette client ethnicity [F(1, 192) = 0.77, p = 0.51], or weight by ethnicity interaction [F(1, 192) = 0.28, p = 0.85]. Results, implications, and limitations were discussed, along with suggestions for further researc