Stereotyping, self-affirmation, and the cerebral hemispheres.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Self-affirmation is a psychological process that can influence cognitive and social behaviors.
• Stereotyping is a common cognitive shortcut that can lead to biased judgments.
• Cerebral hemisphere processing differences may underlie variations in self-affirmation and stereotyping.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between self-affirmation and stereotyping.
• To explore the role of relative cerebral hemisphere activation in mediating this relationship.
• To examine how self-affirmation affects stereotyping of different social groups.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted involving self-affirmation tasks and stereotyping assessments.
• Relative cerebral hemisphere activation was measured using a line bisection task.
• Participants' stereotyping of a librarian and a stigmatized target was evaluated.

Main Results:

• Self-affirmation increased stereotyping and left hemisphere activation in Study 1.
• Left hemisphere activation mediated the relationship between self-affirmation and stereotyping.
• Self-affirmation decreased stereotyping for a stigmatized target in Study 2, without mediation by hemisphere activation.

Conclusions:

• Self-affirmation's effect on stereotyping is context-dependent, varying with target status.
• Relative cerebral hemisphere activation offers insights into the mechanisms of stereotyping.
• Understanding hemisphere activation can elucidate the processes underlying different forms of stereotyping.