Denial of Uniquely Human Characteristics for Voluntarily Childfree Individuals: Does Violating Social Norms Lead to Dehumanization?

poster abstractNationally representative data consistently show that an increasing number of individuals are choosing not to have children (Time, 2013). Despite this trend, people who opt out of parenthood experience negativity (Berdahl & Moon, 2013). A recent study furthermore revealed that this negativity was driven by moral outrage (AshburnNardo, in press). Research on dehumanization includes moral sensibility as a characteristic of being human (Haslam, 2006). If those who forgo parenthood elicit moral outrage, it is possible that they are also seen as being less than human. The present research investigates the potential for dehumanization to occur in the form of denying uniquely human characteristics to voluntarily childfree individuals. In a between-subjects experiment, N participants were randomly assigned to evaluate a male vs. female married target who had chosen to have 0 vs. 2 children. They were then asked to rate the likelihood that the target was capable of experiencing uniquely human emotions (e.g., admiration, despair), as well as the likelihood that essential human traits (e.g., warm, irresponsible) and characteristics (e.g., rational, culturally refined) described the target. Statistical analyses are currently underway and are expected to reveal that, relative to targets who have children, targets that chose not to have children will be rated significantly less likely to experience uniquely human secondary emotions, to have complex cognitions and to have uniquely human traits. Target gender will be explored as a potential moderator of these effects. Historically, dehumanization has led to dangerous outcomes for targets. The present findings could suggest that a significant and growing portion of the population could be subject to discrimination in social and workplace situations

Testing the “Black Code”: does having white close friends elicit identity denial and decreased empathy from black ingroup members?

The present experiment examined identity denial and reduced empathy for ingroup (vs. outgroup) targets as a function of the racial composition of their social networks. Black participants rated ingroup (Black) targets as more weakly racially identified and expressed less empathy for ingroup targets with cross-race close friends vs. same-race close friends or no friends. Furthermore, the effect of social network composition on empathy was mediated by perceived racial identity. These findings were limited to the ingroup target. Although the outgroup (White) target was rated as more weakly identified when shown with cross-race close friends vs. same-race close friends or no friends, neither social network composition nor perceived racial identity predicted empathy for the outgroup target. These findings extend previous research on identity denial and suggest that, for Blacks, closely associating with Whites undermines the usually robust pattern of ingroup empathy

MULTCICULTURAL TEACHING PRACTICES: STUDENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MULTICULTURAL TEACHING PRACTICES

poster abstractAs the world makes strides toward globalization, the demand for improved methods of multicultural teaching (MT) at the university level has dramatically increased. With growing diversity on campus, the demand for more multicultural teaching is at an all time high. Although the demands for MT practices are high, a recent survey at IUPUI revealed that many faculties continue to refrain from multicultural teaching due to a fear of backlash from both the students and other faculty members (Khaja, Springer, Bigatti, Gibau, Whiteland, & Grove, 2011). In an effort to evaluate IUPUI’s goal to incorporate more diversity, a survey on the university’s MT practices was distributed online to students that attend various schools on campus (N=4000, primarily juniors and seniors). The 466 respondents that took the survey were asked to respond to open-ended questions about their perception of multicultural teaching practices on campus. They were also provided with an opportunity to offer ideas on how the university could advance in the area of teaching diversity. The open-ended questions were quantified by creating coding categories which were pulled from common themes from the responses. Preliminary analyses suggest that the overall reactions to partaking in multicultural teaching practices are being viewed as being beneficial to student’s future endeavors. The analyses could alleviate some of the current concerns of the faculty and increase the percent of faculty that choose to participate in Multicultural Teaching

Dimensions of Black Identity Predict System Justification

What explains variability in African Americans’ sociopolitical attitudes? System justification theory implicates both high- and low-status groups in the maintenance of the socioeconomic and political system, postulating that individuals are motivated to justify the system. Self-interest offers a simple explanation for system justification among high-status groups. However, system justification among African Americans is less well-understood. Using a socioeconomically diverse sample of 275 Black undergraduates, including traditional as well as older students, the current survey and quantitative analyses further understanding of attitudes toward the system and institutions by linking attitudes with Black identity. Findings revealed that highly identifying as Black negatively predicted system justification but not if one rejects a Black nationalist ideology. Endorsing an assimilation ideology positively predicted system justification. An oppressed minority ideology did not predict system justification but positively predicted trust across institutions (police and local and national government). Finally, the Black nationalist ideology negatively predicted trust in police. These findings reveal the utility of a multidimensional model of Black identity in shedding light on attitudes toward the system and institutions

An experimental investigation of the relationships among race, prayer, and pain

Background and aims Compared to White individuals, Black individuals demonstrate a lower pain tolerance. Research suggests that differences in pain coping strategies, such as prayer, may mediate this race difference. However, previous research has been cross-sectional and has not determined whether prayer in and of itself or rather the passive nature of prayer is driving the effects on pain tolerance. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among race, prayer (both active and passive), and pain tolerance. Methods We randomly assigned 208 pain-free participants (47% Black, 53% White) to one of three groups: active prayer (“God, help me endure the pain”), passive prayer (“God, take the pain away”), or no prayer (“The sky is blue”). Participants first completed a series of questionnaires including the Duke University Religion Index, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire-Revised (CSQ-R), and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Participants were then instructed to repeat a specified prayer or distractor coping statement while undergoing a cold pressor task. Cold pain tolerance was measured by the number of seconds that had elapsed while the participant’s hand remained in the cold water bath (maximum 180 s). Results Results of independent samples t-tests indicated that Black participants scored higher on the CSQ-R prayer/hoping subscale. However, there were no race differences among other coping strategies, religiosity, or catastrophizing. Results of a 2 (Race: White vs. Black)×3 (Prayer: active vs. passive vs. no prayer) ANCOVA controlling for a general tendency to pray and catastrophizing in response to prayer indicated a main effect of prayer that approached significance (p=0.06). Pairwise comparisons indicated that those in the active prayer condition demonstrated greater pain tolerance than those in the passive (p=0.06) and no prayer (p=0.03) conditions. Those in the passive and no prayer distractor conditions did not significantly differ (p=0.70). There was also a trending main effect of race [p=0.08], with White participants demonstrating greater pain tolerance than Black participants. Conclusions Taken together, these results indicate that Black participants demonstrated a lower pain tolerance than White participants, and those in the active prayer condition demonstrated greater tolerance than those in the passive and no prayer conditions. Furthermore, Black participants in the passive prayer group demonstrated the lowest pain tolerance, while White participants in the active prayer group exhibited the greatest tolerance. Results of this study suggest that passive prayer, like other passive coping strategies, may be related to lower pain tolerance and thus poorer pain outcomes, perhaps especially for Black individuals. On the other hand, results suggest active prayer is associated with greater pain tolerance, especially for White individuals. Implications These results suggest that understanding the influence of prayer on pain may require differentiation between active versus passive prayer strategies. Like other active coping strategies for pain, active prayer may facilitate self-management of pain and thus enhance pain outcomes independent of race. Psychosocial interventions may help religiously-oriented individuals, regardless of race, cultivate a more active style of prayer to improve their quality of life

IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TEST VS POLICE OFFICER’S DILEMMA , WHICH IS BETTER FOR INCREASED PREJUDICIAL AWARENESS?

poster abstractIn the quest for reducing prejudicial thinking and biases the question has become how can that be done best? A possible avenue lies within the applications of two tests designed to activate the processes necessary to learn from their outputs. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) examines participants’ unconscious race-related biases, through dual-categorization task that allows participants to assign stimuli to racial and evaluative categories. The Police Officer’s Dilemma(POD) task submerses participants in a quick reaction video-game like setting. Participants have to respond shoot vs. don’t shoot to White vs. Black men holding guns vs. benign objects (Correll, Judd, Park, & Wittenbrink, 2002). 200 introductory psychology students will be randomly assigned to complete either the IAT or the POD .Recent findings have shown that those that had been administered the IAT exhibited guilt(which is important for reducing one’s own prejudice) when their inner racial biases were brought to their attention(Monteith, Voils, & Ashburn-Nardo, 2001) and reported increased awareness of their own and others’ implicit bias (Morris & Asburn-Nardo, 2010). Given the stress of the consequences associated with, theoretically shooting in the POD “shoot” or “don’t shoot” scenarios however, we hypothesize that there is a greater potential to raise prejudice awareness among participants not found in the IAT

The interaction of patient race, provider bias, and clinical ambiguity on pain management decisions

Although racial disparities in pain care are widely reported, much remains to be known about the role of provider and contextual factors. We used computer-simulated patients to examine the influence of patient race, provider racial bias, and clinical ambiguity on pain decisions. One hundred twenty-nine medical residents/fellows made assessment (pain intensity) and treatment (opioid and nonopioid analgesics) decisions for 12 virtual patients with acute pain. Race (black/white) and clinical ambiguity (high/low) were manipulated across vignettes. Participants completed the Implicit Association Test and feeling thermometers, which assess implicit and explicit racial biases, respectively. Individual- and group-level analyses indicated that race and ambiguity had an interactive effect on providers' decisions, such that decisions varied as a function of ambiguity for white but not for black patients. Individual differences across providers were observed for the effect of race and ambiguity on decisions; however, providers' implicit and explicit biases did not account for this variability. These data highlight the complexity of racial disparities and suggest that differences in care between white and black patients are, in part, attributable to the nature (ie, ambiguity) of the clinical scenario. The current study suggests that interventions to reduce disparities should differentially target patient, provider, and contextual factors. PERSPECTIVE: This study examined the unique and collective influence of patient race, provider racial bias, and clinical ambiguity on providers' pain management decisions. These results could inform the development of interventions aimed at reducing disparities and improving pain care

Race and the Psychological Health of African Americans

This study examined an array of race-related factors pertaining to psychological well-being and distress among 300 African American participants. Findings obtained via structural equation modeling pointed to the importance of having positive implicit ingroup attitudes for psychological health and underscored the significance of Black cultural immersion, particularly in shaping implicit attitudes. Support was obtained for three models: ingroup identity as an antecedent to perceived prejudice, which, in turn, was negatively associated with psychological health; ingroup identity as a consequence of perceived prejudice with positive implications for psychological health; and ingroup identity as a moderator of perceived prejudice, with stronger identity providing a buffer from prejudice. Findings illustrate the consequential and complex role of racial variables in African Americans' psychological health

The pain experience of Hispanic Americans: A critical literature review and conceptual model

Although the Hispanic population is a burgeoning ethnic group in the United States, little is known about their pain-related experience. To address this gap, we critically reviewed the existing literature on pain experience and management among Hispanic Americans (HAs). We focused our review on the literature on nonmalignant pain, pain behaviors, and pain treatment seeking among HAs. Pain management experiences were examined from HA patients' and health care providers' perspectives. Our literature search included variations of the term "Hispanic" with "AND pain" in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and PsycINFO databases. A total of 117 studies met our inclusion criteria. We organized the results into a conceptual model with separate categories for biological and/or psychological and sociocultural and/or systems-level influences on HAs' pain experience, response to pain, and seeking and receiving pain care. We also included information on health care providers' experience of treating HA patients with pain. For each category, we identified future areas of research. We conclude with a discussion of limitations and clinical implications. PERSPECTIVE: In this critical review of the literature we examined the pain and management experiences of the HA population. We propose a conceptual model, which highlights findings from the existing literature and future areas of research

Implicit and Explicit Stigma of Mental Illness: Attitudes in an Evidence-Based Practice

The extent to which explicit and implicit stigma are endorsed by mental health practitioners using evidence-based practices is unknown. The purposes of the current study were to a) examine implicit and explicit biases among Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) staff and b) explore the extent to which biases predicted the use of treatment control mechanisms. Participants were 154 ACT staff from nine states. Overall, the participants exhibited positive explicit and implicit attitudes toward people with mental illness. When modeled using latent factors, greater implicit, but not explicit, bias significantly predicted greater endorsement of restrictive or controlling clinical interventions. Thus, despite overall positive attitudes toward those with mental illness for the sample as a whole, individual differences in provider stigma were related to clinical care. Mental health professionals, and specifically ACT clinicians, should be educated on types of bias and ways in which biases influence clinical interventions