Stereotypes Focus Defensive Projection
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10.1177/0146167205285556PERSONALITYGovorun et al. / AND DEFENSIVE SOCIAL PROJECTION PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Stereotypes Focus Defensive Projection Olesya Govorun Kathleen Fuegen The Ohio State University B. Keith Payne University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Defensive projection is the process of perceiving one’s undesirable with the notion of unconscious denial, many psychoana- qualities in others. The present research shows how stereotypes lytic treatments of projection assumed the individual was guide and justify the projection of specific traits onto specific unaware of possessing the traits he or she projected onto group members. In four studies, the authors demonstrated that others (Campbell, Miller, Lubetsky, & O’Connell, 1964; people who experienced a threat to a specific dimension of their Murstein & Pryer, 1959; Singer, 1963; cf. Horney, 1939). self-concept selectively activated this dimension in a stereotype However, in a review of the contemporary literature on and derogated stereotyped others on this dimension. They further projection, Holmes (1968) found no empirical evidence showed that stereotyped individuals are more likely to serve as for these assumptions. Rather, evidence for projection targets of projection than are nonstereotyped individuals. These was found only when persons were aware of the trait in results demonstrate the functional role of stereotypes in guiding themselves (e.g., Feshbach & Singer, 1957). and constraining motivated self-enhancement. A second controversy has concerned the defensive properties of projection. Although some research points to the benefits of projection for the self (Burish & Hous- Keywords: projection; stereotyping; accessibility; self-threat; compen- ton, 1979; Schimel et al., 2003), other studies failed to satory self-enhancement find similar effects (Halpern, 1977; Holmes & Houston, 1971). The controversies regarding awareness and Can stereotypes reveal more about a perceiver than a defensive consequences can be seen more clearly by con- person perceived? According to theories of defensive sidering a modern theory of defensive projection that projection, stereotypes may do just that (Allport, 1954; reinterprets the classic effect in terms of basic social-cog- Newman & Caldwell, 2005). Projection is the process of nitive principles (Newman, Duff, & Baumeister, 1997). perceiving one’s undesirable qualities in others as a way This theory shares with psychodynamic theories the to protect one’s self-image (A. Freud, 1936; S. Freud, motivational origin of projection: A threat to the self 1924/1956; Holmes, 1968, 1978). Similar to other instigates a motivation to avoid recognizing negative psychodynamic concepts, projection has recently experi- qualities in the self. But unlike psychodynamic theories, enced a resurgence in interest from social and cognitive Newman and colleagues argue that the next step in the perspectives (e.g., Kawada, Oettingen, Gollwitzer, & process is not an expelling of personality traits by the Bargh, 2004; Newman, Caldwell, Chamberlin, & Griffin, unconscious to deceive the ego but it is instead thought 2005; Schimel, Greenberg, & Martens, 2003). The goal suppression. A substantial body of research has shown of this article is to examine the role of stereotypes in that when people attempt to suppress a thought it often guiding and justifying projection. becomes hyperaccessible (for a review, see Wegner, 1992). By this model, the heightened accessibility of Defensive Projection: Psychodynamic thoughts related to the undesired trait then affects the and Social-Cognitive Interpretations Authors’ Note: Please direct correspondence to Olesya Govorun, 1885 Projection was initially conceptualized as a defense Neil Avenue Mall, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 1 against the conscious recognition of a negative trait (S. Columbus, OH 43210; e-mail: [email protected]. Freud, 1924/1956). Several controversies have sur- PSPB, Vol. XX No. X, Month 2006 1- rounded the concept throughout the years. One such DOI: 10.1177/0146167205285556 controversy was over conscious awareness. Consistent © 2006 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. 1 2 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN way new impressions of other people are formed. For example, a man who is insecure about his own masculin- Threat to Self ity may try to avoid thinking about his own unmasculine thoughts and behaviors. This will render those thoughts more accessible and make him more likely to construe other men’s ambiguous behaviors as effeminate. In contrast to psychoanalytic notions of projection, Motivation to Avoid the model of Newman and colleagues does not predict implications for Self that seeing one’s unwanted traits in others will necessar- ily make a person feel better about the self. Because the effects on impression formation are simply a side effect of accessibility, they may or may not have causal effects Activation of Thoughts for the self. Having construed another person’s behav- about Undesired Traits iors in terms of unwanted traits, a person is likely to reap self-esteem benefits to the extent that he or she engages in social comparison with that person. Therefore self- enhancement is a possible consequence of projection, Stereotype: but not a necessary one. Still, Newman and colleagues Guides and consider the phenomenon to be defensive projection Justifies Projection because the process is motivated by attempts to defend the self from a threat. We follow this conceptualization in the present research, considering projection to be defensive to the extent that it is motivated by a desire to Activation of Threat- Application of defend the self-concept from a threat. Specific Stereotypic Stereotypes to Specific Traits Targets Stereotypes and defensive projection.Everyprojector needs a focusing lens. We propose that stereotypes serve Figure 1 Schematic illustration of proposed sequence from self- that function when a person projects onto other people. threat to stereotypic projection. More specifically, for projection to take place, people need to feel justified in attributing a negative trait to oth- (p. 259). Surprisingly, although Allport articulated how ers. Allport (1954) suggested that stereotypes may pro- stereotypes may serve as justifications for projection, our vide such justification. Consequently, stereotyped indi- review of the literature found no research directly test- viduals are more likely to serve as targets of projection ing this idea. Thus, our goal was to test whether than are nonstereotyped individuals. According to stereotypes act as a focusing lens by guiding and Allport, stereotypes inform a perceiver “which qualities constraining how people project, and onto whom. he should project upon one group and which upon the Figure 1 provides a schematic summary of the pro- other” (p. 386). Thus, a person projecting onto stereo- posed role of stereotypes in focusing projection. A threat typed targets may not feel that he or she is distorting real- to a person’s self-concept instigates motivation to avoid ity because stereotypes provide assurance that one’s seeing oneself in negative terms. This motivation, in judgment is realistic. Using a slightly different metaphor, turn, leads to heightened accessibility of threat-related Allport memorably referred to stereotyped individuals thoughts. This is where we propose that stereotypes play as “living inkblots” to whom one can attribute one’s own a role. When specific negative information about the self unfavorable qualities. For example, a person who does is easily accessible, people are likely to be highly attuned not want to see himself or herself as lazy may emphasize to related thoughts about stereotyped others for two rea- this quality in Mexicans. A person motivated to deny his sons. First, the related traits will draw more attention in a or her own greed may describe Jews as greedy. However, stereotyped than nonstereotyped target due to being cultural stereotypes would make it much less likely that consistent with the shared cultural knowledge. Second, someone would project greed onto Mexicans. Thus, to the extent that the perceiver needs to feel justified in Allport was clear in emphasizing that specific stereotypes attributing negative traits to others, stereotypes may pro- are projected to specific groups. Consistent with vide reassurance that a perceiver’s judgment is realistic. Allport’s theorizing, Holmes (1968) concluded that “the When interpreting the behavior of a person who type of projection used would in large part be deter- belongs to a stereotyped group, these processes conspire mined by the nature of the stimulus persons who are to boost the salience of traits that the (feared) self and available to be projected upon, that is . whether their the stereotyped person might share. We suggest that this cultural role includes the characteristics to be projected” Govorun et al. / DEFENSIVE PROJECTION 3 should have two kinds of consequences. First, the PROCEDURE perceiver will preferentially activate aspects of the ste- reotype that are relevant to the self-threat. For example, Participation was solicited during a regular class a person whose work ethic has been threatened may find period. Students were told that they would take a survey of college experiences and that their responses would be thoughts about laziness particularly accessible when used to construct materials for psychology studies. Stu- interacting with an African American sales clerk. dents were ensured of the