Men experience gender-role harassment when they are ridiculed or ostracized for being "not man enough" (Berdahl 2007). Although men's emotional (e.g. shame and anxiety) and behavioural reactions (e.g. aggression) to gender-threatening feedback have been documented (Vandello et al. 2008), potential cognitive and selfregulatory consequences of this form of harassment have yet to be investigated. In the present experiment, 84 Introductory Psychology men at a Canadian university (Winnipeg, Manitoba) either experienced or did not experience gender-role harassment (i.e. told they squeezed a handgrip 'like a girl') before completing a set of tests (an anagram test, a stroop color-naming task, and a subsequent handgrip task). To ensure our experimental manipulation invoked a threat to participant's sense of manliness, we also included an open-ended measure of self-identification. In accordance with Social Identity research (Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002), we anticipated that harassed men would affirm male self-aspects significantly more so than nonharassed men. Overall, results demonstrated that, as predicted, gender-role harassment significantly threatened participant's sense of manhood, compromised cognitive ability, and weakened attentional self-control compared to the no harassment control condition. However, contrary to predictions, harassment did not weaken self-regulatory physical strength: men in the harassment condition exhibited increased handgrip strength compared to men in the no harassment condition, suggesting potential compensatory reactions occurred, as well. Implications of gender-role harassment for men's psychological well-being, intellect, and impulse control are discussed and areas for future research are outlined.
Stereotyping and implicit theory on benevolent prejudice toward an Aboriginal student were investigated in a mock work setting. In a 2 (Stereotype: prime vs. no prime) × 2 (Theory: entity vs. incremental) × 2 (Race: Aboriginal vs. Caucasian) between‐subjects design, non‐Aboriginal participants were primed or not primed with a negative Aboriginal stereotype and an entity or incremental implicit theory before evaluating an Aboriginal or Caucasian student. Consistent with a benevolent prejudice perspective, when primed with the stereotype, only participants holding an entity theory expressed greater desire to help the Aboriginal compared to the Caucasian candidate, despite both candidates demonstrating identical performance information. Implications for prejudice in work environments are discussed.
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