Do people remember what is prototypical?:The role of accent-religion intersectionality for individual and category memory

Evidence suggests that accents can be typically more powerful in activating ethnicity categorization than appearance. Concurrently, some social categories, such as ethnicity, can be linked with other categories, such as religion. We investigate how people categorize those who belong to a (mis)matching pair of categories? In the present study we investigated Germans’ categorization of women either wearing a headscarf (Muslim religious symbol), or not, and speaking either standard German or German with an Arabic accent. The “Who Said What?” paradigm and multinomial modelling yielded that category memory, indicative of subtyping, was best for non-prototypical targets (i.e., headscarf and standard German accent, no headscarf and Arabic accent). In contrast, ingroup targets (no headscarf and standard German accent) were individually remembered better than all other targets, whereas non-prototypical targets (no-headscarf and Arabic accent) were not remembered individually at all. These findings are discussed in terms of intersectionality and category prototypicality

Positionsartikel zum Forschungsprogramm 'Explizite und implizite geschlechterbezogene Kognitionen heute'

"'Frauen kümmern sich gern um andere.' 'Männer streben nach Wettbewerb mit anderen.' 'Frauen sind emotional.' 'Männer sind rational.' - Geschlechterklischees prägen oft Denken und Handeln. Doch wie ist es tatsächlich um unser Denken in Bezug auf Frauen und Männer bestellt? Wie hat sich dieses Denken über die letzten Jahrzehnte hinweg entwickelt und worauf ist zurückzuführen, dass manche stereotypen Vorstellungen im Wandel begriffen sind, andere hingegen in unveränderter Weise vorherrschen? Und: Wie hängt unser Denken über die Geschlechter mit den in einer Gesellschaft geltenden Geschlechterrollenstrukturen zusammen? Unter Berücksichtigung einschlägiger psychologischer Modelle sowie aktueller Erkenntnisse aus eigenen Forschungsarbeiten werden Antworten gegeben und mit Blick auf theoretische und praktische Implikationen diskutiert." (Autorenreferat)"Explicit and implicit gender-related cognitions today 'Women like caring for other people.' 'Men like engaging in competition with other people.' 'Women are emotional.' 'Men are rational.' - Gender stereotypes often determine our thinking and acting. But which explicit and implicit stereotypes of men and women still exist today? How has such thinking about gender changed over the last decades and how can we explain the fact that some stereotypical content is in a state of flux while some prevails unaltered? And, how do cognitions of gender relate to genderrole structures in a given society? These questions are addressed below. By considering relevant psychological models and latest findings from the authors' research, answers will be provided and discussed with respect to theoretical and practical implications." (author's abstract

How to like yourself better, or chocolate less: changing implicit attitudes with one IAT task

The current paper introduces a novel feature of Implicit Association Tests (IATs) by demonstrating their potential to change implicit attitudes. We assume that such changes are driven by associative learning mechanisms caused by carrying out an IAT task. Currently, evaluative conditioning appears to be the only widespread paradigm for changing implicit attitudes. An IAT task could provide an alternative. In two experiments, participants initially reacted to only one IAT task. Implicit preferences subsequently assessed with different implicit measures depended on the initial IAT task. This was shown for implicit self-esteem and for attitudes towards well-known candy brands. Findings are discussed in relation to task-order effects in IATs

Competent and warm?:how mismatching appearance and accent influence first impressions

Most research on ethnicity has focused on visual cues. However, accents are strong social cues that can match or contradict visual cues. We examined understudied reactions to people whose one cue suggests one ethnicity, whereas the other cue contradicts it. In an experiment conducted in Germany, job candidates spoke with an accent either congruent or incongruent with their (German or Turkish) appearance. Based on ethnolinguistic identity theory, we predicted that accents would be strong cues for categorization and evaluation. Based on expectancy violations theory we expected that incongruent targets would be evaluated more extremely than congruent targets. Both predictions were confirmed: Accents strongly influenced perceptions and Turkish-looking German-accented targets were perceived as most competent of all targets (and additionally most warm). The findings show that bringing together visual and auditory information yields a more complete picture of the processes underlying impression formation

Male Majority, Female Majority, or Gender Diversity in Organizations: How Do Proportions Affect Gender Stereotyping and Women Leaders’ Well-Being?

Whereas popular wisdom often centers on character differences between women and men when explaining work-related behavior, Kanter (1977) predicted that the proportion of women and men present in organizations is the crucial factor: With unequal proportions, women (similar to other minority persons) are singled out as “tokens” and gender becomes salient, which has been theorized to have a range of negative consequences. In contrast, if proportions of women and men are similar (i.e., in the presence of gender diversity), gender is not salient, and the work environment becomes much more positive for women. These considerations imply that not only a male majority, but also a female majority at work has negative consequences, because gender becomes salient in both cases. However, empirical research on work environments with female majorities at the top of organizations is scarce. The present study tested the perception of a range of negative consequences, including work-related well-being, among women in leadership positions in Spain who reported a male majority, a female majority, or similar proportions of both genders at the top level of their organization. The online convenience sample consisted of a total of N = 649 women leaders. In addition to work-related well-being, we measured perceived work–family conflict and perceived feelings of guilt associated with work–family conflict, traditional gender stereotypes regarding warmth and competence, women-leadership stereotypes, negative work-related stereotypes of mothers, gender harassment, and stigma consciousness. Almost all of our findings support Kanter’s theorizing that equal proportions of both genders go along with more positive perceptions as compared to a male majority. However, a female majority went along with as negative perceptions as a male majority regarding several of the outcome variables, but was associated with the most positive perceptions for other outcomes. We discuss implications and possible reasons for the latter mixed findings

When appearance does not match accent: neural correlates of ethnicity-related expectancy violations

Most research on ethnicity in neuroscience and social psychology has focused on visual cues. However, accents are central social markers of ethnicity and strongly influence evaluations of others. Here, we examine how varying auditory (vocal accent) and visual (facial appearance) information about others affects neural correlates of ethnicity-related expectancy violations. Participants listened to standard German and Turkish-accented speakers and were subsequently presented with faces whose ethnic appearance was either congruent or incongruent to these voices. We expected that incongruent targets (e.g. German accent/Turkish face) would be paralleled by a more negative N2 event-related brain potential (ERP) component. Results confirmed this, suggesting that incongruence was related to more effortful processing of both Turkish and German target faces. These targets were also subjectively judged as surprising. Additionally, varying lateralization of ERP responses for Turkish and German faces suggests that the underlying neural generators differ, potentially reflecting different emotional reactions to these targets. Behavioral responses showed an effect of violated expectations: German-accented Turkish-looking targets were evaluated as most competent of all targets. We suggest that bringing together neural and behavioral measures of expectancy violations, and using both visual and auditory information, yields a more complete picture of the processes underlying impression formation

What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood

Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children

What do I want to be? Predictors of communal occupational aspirations in early to middle childhood

Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], Mage = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; Mage = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children.publishedVersio