VOLUME FORTY FIVE ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY SERIES EDITORS MARK P. ZANNA PATRICIA DEVINE JAMES M. OLSON ASHBY PLANT VOLUME FORTY FIVE ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY EDITED BY PATRICIA DEVINE Psychology Department University of Wisconsin Madison, USA ASHBY PLANT Department of Psychology Florida State University Tallahassee, FL, USA AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA 32 Jamestown Road, London NW1 7BY, UK Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands First edition 2012 Copyright # 2012, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 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Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN: 978-0-12-394286-9 For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at elsevierdirect.com Printed and bound in USA 12131410987654321 CONTENTS Contributors vii 1. Stereotypes and Shifting Standards: Forming, Communicating, and Translating Person Impressions 1 Monica Biernat 1. Introduction and Overview 2 2. Shifting Standards in Social Judgment 5 3. Shifting Standards in Communication and Its Translation 11 4. Shifting Standards in Judgment and Communication About the Self 21 5. Setting and Measuring Judgment Standards 28 6. Do Standards Mediate Judgment and Communication Effects? 37 7. Summary and New Directions 46 References 51 2. Color-in-Context Theory 61 Andrew J. Elliot and Markus A. Maier 1. Existing Theoretical and Empirical Work 63 2. Color-in-Context Theory 66 3. An Important Methodological Digression 72 4. Red in Achievement Contexts 75 5. Red in Affiliation Contexts 92 6. Other Colors, Other Contexts, and Other Causal Directions 105 7. Implications and Concluding Comments 109 References 111 3. Implicit Theories Shape Intergroup Relations 127 Priyanka B. Carr, Aneeta Rattan, and Carol S. Dweck 1. Implicit Theories of Malleability 128 2. Implicit Theories and Intergroup Relations 139 3. Broader Lessons and Implications for Intergroup Relations 157 4. Conclusion 160 References 160 v vi Contents 4. Reactions to Vanguards: Advances in Backlash Theory 167 Laurie A. Rudman, Corinne A. Moss-Racusin, Peter Glick, and Julie E. Phelan 1. Introduction 168 2. The Role of Backlash in Stereotype Maintenance 170 3. The Backlash and Stereotype Maintenance Model 171 4. Backlash Against Female Leaders 176 5. The Status Incongruity Hypothesis 185 6. Status Incongruity and Backlash Against Atypical Men 195 7. Extending the BSMM to Racial Vanguards 201 8. How Fear of Backlash Undermines Performance 206 9. Concluding Perspectives 212 Acknowledgments 218 References 218 5. Consequences of Self-image and Compassionate Goals 229 Jennifer Crocker and Amy Canevello 1. Interpersonal Goals 232 2. Measurement of Self-image and Compassionate Goals 236 3. Self-image and Compassionate Goals and Subjective Experience: The Goals and Adjustment to College Study 238 4. Consequences of Self-image and Compassionate Goals in Roommate Relationships: The Roommate Goals Study 243 5. Distress and Self-esteem: The Roommate Goals and Mental Health Study 256 6. Alternative Explanations 263 7. Remaining Issues 266 8. Conclusions 272 Acknowledgments 272 References 273 6. Adult Attachment Orientations, Stress, and Romantic Relationships 279 Jeffry A. Simpson and W. Steven Rholes 1. Introduction 280 2. Attachment in Adulthood 281 3. Attachment and Diathesis–Stress Models 287 4. Review of Diathesis–Stress Attachment Studies 294 5. Conclusions and Future Directions 317 Acknowledgments 321 References 322 Index 329 Contents of Other Volumes 339 CONTRIBUTORS Monica Biernat Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA Amy Canevello Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA Priyanka B. Carr Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA Jennifer Crocker Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA Carol S. Dweck Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA Andrew J. Elliot Department of Clinical and Social Science in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA Peter Glick Department of Psychology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, USA Markus A. Maier Department of Psychology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany Corinne A. Moss-Racusin Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA Julie E. Phelan Langer Research Associates, New York, NY, USA Aneeta Rattan Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA W. Steven Rholes Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA Laurie A. Rudman Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA Jeffry A. Simpson Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA vii Intentionally left as blank CHAPTER ONE Stereotypes and Shifting Standards: Forming, Communicating, and Translating Person Impressions Monica Biernat Contents 1. Introduction and Overview 2 2. Shifting Standards in Social Judgment 5 2.1. The signature shifting standards pattern 6 2.2. Shifting standards and prejudice 9 3. Shifting Standards in Communication and Its Translation 11 3.1. Translation effects 11 3.2. Communication chains 12 3.3. Processes of communication based on stereotype-based standards 14 4. Shifting Standards in Judgment and Communication About the Self 21 4.1. Self-judgments 22 4.2. Interpreting communications directed toward the self 23 4.3. Limitations of the self-translation effects 27 5. Setting and Measuring Judgment Standards 28 5.1. Low minimum standards for groups stereotyped as “deficient” on a trait or attribute 28 5.2. Stringent confirmatory standards for members of negatively stereotyped groups 31 5.3. Both stringency and leniency for members of groups stereotyped as “deficient” on attributes 34 6. Do Standards Mediate Judgment and Communication Effects? 37 6.1. Reasons for lack of meditational findings 38 6.2. Considering motivation in the shifting standards model 41 7. Summary and New Directions 46 References 51 Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 45 # 2012 Elsevier Inc. ISSN 0065-2601, DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394286-9.00001-9 All rights reserved. 1 2 Monica Biernat Abstract Stereotypes may function as standards against which we judge individual members of stereotyped groups. This is the basic premise of the shifting standards model (Biernat, Manis, & Nelson, 1991), from which a complex set of predictions is derived: Members of negatively stereotyped groups may be judged, communicated about, and treated more or less positively than mem- bers of contrasting social groups, depending on the judgment or decision at hand. The chapter reviews research documenting a “signature” shifting stan- dards effect, whereby judgments of targets on common-rule scales assimilate to stereotypes but show null or contrastive effects in subjective language. This idea is elaborated in the context of communication, whereby members of negatively stereotyped groups may be described relatively favorably in subjective language (because of lower standards), at the same time that both “interpreters” and communicators leave the communicative exchange with stereotype-consistent views. Standards themselves may also have different implications—either leniency or stringency for members of negatively stereo- typed groups—depending on whether they reference minimum expectations or confirmatory requirements. Despite the apparent positivity that results when targets are evaluated against low standards, the use of shifting standards may contribute to the maintenance of stereotypes over time and to confusion and inconsistency in the feedback targets receive. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the role of motivation in moderating shifting standards effects, and possible means of reducing the tendency to shift standards. 1. Introduction and Overview Consider the following scenarios: A female employee is described as “highly competent,” but her employer nonetheless ranks her below a comparable male coworker. A Black job