Racial assumptions color the mental representation of social class

We investigated the racial content of perceivers’ mental images of different socioeconomic categories. We selected participants who were either high or low in prejudice toward the poor. These participants saw 400 pairs of visually noisy face images. Depending on condition, participants chose the face that looked like a poor person, a middle income person, or a rich person. We averaged the faces selected to create composite images of each social class. A second group of participants rated the stereotypical Blackness of these images. They also rated the face images on a variety of psychological traits. Participants high in economic prejudice produced strongly class-differentiated mental images. They imagined the poor to be Blacker than middle income and wealthy people. They also imagined them to have less positive psychological characteristics. Participants low in economic prejudice also possessed images of the wealthy that were relatively White, but they represented poor and middle class people in a less racially differentiated way. We discuss implications for understanding the intersections of race and class in social perception

Suppressing Unwanted Autobiographical Memories Reduces Their Automatic Influences: Evidence from Electrophysiology and an Implicit Autobiographical Memory Test

The present study investigated the extent to which people can suppress unwanted autobiographical memories in a mock crime memory detection context. Participants encoded sensorimotor-rich memories by enacting a lab crime (stealing a ring) and received direct suppression instructions so as to evade guilt detection in a brainwave-based concealed information test. Aftereffects of suppression on automatic memory processes were measured in an autobiographical implicit association test (aIAT). Results showed that suppression attenuated brainwave activity (P300) that is associated with crime-relevant memory retrieval, rendering innocent and guilty/suppression participants indistinguishable. However, guilty/suppression and innocent participants could nevertheless be discriminated via the late posterior negative slow wave, which may reflect the need to monitor response conflict arising between voluntary suppression and automatic recognition processes. Lastly, extending recent findings that suppression can impair implicit memory processes; we provide novel evidence that suppression reduces automatic cognitive biases that are otherwise associated with actual autobiographical memories

Cuing consumerism: Situational materialism undermines personal and social well-bein

Correlational evidence indicates that materialistic individuals experience relatively low levels of well-being. Across four experiments, we found that situational cuing can also trigger materialistic mind-sets, with similarly negative personal and social consequences. Merely viewing desirable consumer goods resulted in increases in materialistic concerns and led to heightened negative affect and reduced social involvement (Experiment 1). Framing a computer task as a “Consumer Reaction Study” led to a stronger automatic bias toward values reflecting self-enhancement, compared with framing the same task as a “Citizen Reaction Study” (Experiment 2). Consumer cues also increased competitiveness (Experiment 3) and selfishness in a water-conservation dilemma (Experiment 4). Thus, the costs of materialism are not localized only in particularly materialistic people, but can also be found in individuals who happen to be exposed to environmental cues that activate consumerism—cues that are commonplace in contemporary society. </jats:p

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND GROUP PROCESSES Putting the Brakes on Aggression Toward a Romantic Partner: The Inhibitory Influence of Relationship Commitment

Why do people behave aggressively toward romantic partners, and what can put the brakes on this aggression? Provocation robustly predicts aggression in both intimate and nonintimate relationships. Four methodologically diverse studies tested the hypothesis that provocation severity and relationship commitment interact to predict aggression toward one&apos;s romantic partner, with the aggression-promoting effects of provocation diminishing as relationship commitment increases. Across all four studies, commitment to one&apos;s romantic relationship inhibited aggression toward one&apos;s partner when individuals were severely (but not mildly) provoked. Study 4 tested the hypothesis that this Partner Provocation ϫ Commitment interaction effect would be strong among individuals high in dispositional tendencies toward retaliation but weak (perhaps even nonexistent) among individuals low in such tendencies. Discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding instigating, impelling, and inhibiting processes in the perpetration of aggression toward intimate partners. Keywords: romantic relationships, commitment, aggression, I 3 theory Although romantic relationships often begin with chocolates and roses, eventually thorns are sure to emerge. Indeed, precisely because of the deep interdependence that characterizes these relationships, romantic partners have a particularly pronounced capacity to be infuriating. Whether by flirting with others, criticizing our flaws, thoughtlessly neglecting our needs and desires, or by other omissions and commissions, romantic partners can sometimes provoke angry responses. Such provocation frequently triggers an urge toward retaliation, perhaps even toward aggression. When will provoked people aggress toward their romantic partner, and what might put the brakes on their aggression? In the current investigation, we test the hypothesis that partner provocation increases aggressive tendencies toward one&apos;s partner, especially among individuals who are weakly (vs. strongly) committed to their partner. The logic underlying this prediction is that partner provocation frequently triggers an urge toward aggressive retaliation but that relationship commitment helps individuals override this urge. Partner Provocation in Intimate Relationships Although people typically expect that romantic relationships will be rewarding, most individuals experience some amount of conflict with their romantic partner. Indeed, conflict is &quot;an inevitable-though often unanticipated-feature of close relationships. The strong, frequent, and diverse bonds between [romantic partners] set the stage for conflicting interests to surface&quot