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Bringing automatic stereotyping under control: implementation intentions as efficient means of thought control.
Brandon D Stewart1, B Keith Payne
1School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia. stewart.507@osu.edu
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|July 29, 2008
Summary
Implementation intentions, specific plans to act, effectively reduce automatic stereotyping. This strategy targets automatic bias, not controlled thought, showing promise for efficient bias reduction.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Evidence on intentional control strategies reducing automatic stereotyping is mixed.
- Automatic stereotyping poses challenges for unbiased social interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the utility of implementation intentions in reducing automatic stereotyping.
- To investigate whether implementation intentions can specifically target automatic bias.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted using implicit tasks.
- Process dissociation analysis was employed to differentiate automatic and controlled cognitive processes.
- Participants formed implementation intentions to counter stereotyping.
Main Results:
- Automatic stereotyping was significantly reduced when participants adopted implementation intentions.
- The reduction in stereotyping was attributed to changes in automatic processes, not controlled thinking.
- Benefits were observed with minimal practice and generalized to new stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Implementation intentions are an effective strategy for reducing automatic stereotyping.
- This method offers an efficient means to control automatic biased thoughts.
- Findings suggest a practical approach to mitigate automatic social biases.
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