Date of Award

Spring 2020

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology; College of Arts & Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Christina Brown

Second Advisor

Dr. Katherine Moore

Abstract

Investigated within this study is how stereotype expectations might be affected when violated or reinforced, and how distancing the self from the expectation via a different perspective can allow for recognition that it can be wrong and even changed. This research is motivated by an interest in how stereotype expectations develop throughout life and experiences, and how the tendency to defend them when challenged can hinder understanding of other views. In a real world setting, placing a person in a distanced perspective could allow for change in their personal expectations and become less prejudiced/more accepting. Within the lab setting, this was executed by placing Arcadia students in group project scenarios and allowing them to reason with their “graded” evaluations of their group partner within one of two perspectives: distanced or immersed. The scenarios either involved consistent stereotype trait information or inconsistent stereotype trait information of biology majors, to either violate or maintain the stereotype expectation. The anticipated results were that violating the stereotypes with inconsistent information, while being in the distanced perspective, would report higher levels of reasoning with being incorrect and understanding different viewpoints. However, current results indicate no significant differences between the conditions, although it is worth noting that the sample is not evenly distributed or large enough for conclusive results. Should the distanced perspective have been successful. perhaps this method could be used to explore more serious stereotypes in order to unlearn racial, gender, and other prejudices, especially if these changes can be made permanent.

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Adapting Implicit Stereotype Expectation Through Perspective Distancing

Investigated within this study is how stereotype expectations might be affected when violated or reinforced, and how distancing the self from the expectation via a different perspective can allow for recognition that it can be wrong and even changed. This research is motivated by an interest in how stereotype expectations develop throughout life and experiences, and how the tendency to defend them when challenged can hinder understanding of other views. In a real world setting, placing a person in a distanced perspective could allow for change in their personal expectations and become less prejudiced/more accepting. Within the lab setting, this was executed by placing Arcadia students in group project scenarios and allowing them to reason with their “graded” evaluations of their group partner within one of two perspectives: distanced or immersed. The scenarios either involved consistent stereotype trait information or inconsistent stereotype trait information of biology majors, to either violate or maintain the stereotype expectation. The anticipated results were that violating the stereotypes with inconsistent information, while being in the distanced perspective, would report higher levels of reasoning with being incorrect and understanding different viewpoints. However, current results indicate no significant differences between the conditions, although it is worth noting that the sample is not evenly distributed or large enough for conclusive results. Should the distanced perspective have been successful. perhaps this method could be used to explore more serious stereotypes in order to unlearn racial, gender, and other prejudices, especially if these changes can be made permanent.