The authors tested the effectiveness of implementation intentions as a strategy for limiting the behavioral expression of implicit stereotypes. Implementation intentions are if-then plans that link an intended response to an anticipated situational cue, thereby enabling a reflexive form of control. The authors examined whether two different types of implementation intentions could improve response accuracy on the Shooter Task, a reaction time measure of implicit stereotyping. In Study 1, participants used a distraction-inhibiting implementation intention designed to engage control over the perception of goal-irrelevant stimuli (e.g., race). In Study 2, participants used a response-facilitating implementation intention designed to promote goal-directed action. Across studies, implementation intentions improved accuracy, thereby limiting the behavioral expression of implicit stereotypes. Furthermore, process dissociation analyses indicated that the distraction-inhibiting implementation intention increased controlled processing while reducing automatic stereotype activation, whereas the response-facilitating implementation intention increased only controlled processing. Implications for goal strategy approaches to reducing prejudice are discussed.

Bertrand & Mullainathan (2002) found evidence that race-typed names can have a significant influence on the evaluation of re´sume´s. The current study expanded on their research by manipulating both the race (Asian American, Black, Hispanic, White) and quality of the re´sume´(high, low), and by considering occupational stereotypes as an explanatory mechanism. White male participants (N 5 155) read a fictitious re´sume´, evaluated the applicant, and judged his suitability for jobs. The results revealed that Asian American individuals were evaluated highly for highstatus jobs, regardless of their re´sume´quality. White and Hispanic applicants both benefited from a high-quality re´sume´, but Black applicants were evaluated negatively, even with strong credentials. Results of mediation analyses demonstrated that occupational stereotypes accounted for the relationship between race and evaluations of applicants.

Although group membership has many privileges, members are expected to reciprocate those privileges. We tested whether in-group members would be punished more harshly than out-group members for marginal fairness norm violations within ultimatum game bargaining interactions. Participants considered monetary splits (of US$20) from in-group and out-group proposers, which ranged in proportion. Accepting an offer yielded the proposed payout; rejecting it caused each player to earn nothing—a punishment of the proposer at a personal cost. Participants exacted stricter costly punishment on racial in-group than out-group members for marginally unfair offers (Study 1), an effect that was replicated with college group membership and magnified among strong in-group identifiers (Study 2). Importantly, ultimatum game decisions were driven by fairness perceptions rather than proposer evaluations (Study 3), suggesting our effects reflected norm enforcement and not esteem preservation. These findings illuminate a previously unexplored process for maintaining group-based norms that may promote in-group favoritism.

The present study examined if a social positive illusory bias (PIB) is: a) simply a reflection of low adult-rated social acceptance, b) evident when children's perceived social acceptance is measured implicitly, and c) directly relates to impaired executive functioning (EF). Participants were 8 to 12 year-old children (N = 120; 55 boys and 65 girls) with and without clinical symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Ratings of the child's social acceptance were obtained from an adult and the child using the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter 2012); social bias was calculated as the discrepancy between standardized adult- and child-ratings. Children also completed a reaction time measure to assess implicit perceptions of social acceptance and a battery of EF measures. Depression symptoms were assessed based on parent report. Group comparisons were focused on the presence or absence of social PIB rather than on ADHD diagnostic status. Relative to non-PIB children, those with a social PIB were significantly higher in self-reported social acceptance, but significantly lower on adult reports and implicit perceived social acceptance; these children also were significantly higher in depression symptoms. EF impairments were indirectly related to social PIB as a function of adult-rated social impairment. Results suggest that social PIB is not merely a reflection of low adult-ratings of social acceptance. However, the high explicit self-reports of social acceptance in children with a social PIB are not fully consistent with their implicit self-perceptions of social acceptance. Results are discussed in light of the self-protective and cognitive deficits hypotheses regarding the nature of social PIB.

The theory of enclothed cognition proposes that wearing physical articles of clothing can trigger psychological processes and behavioral tendencies connected to their symbolic meaning. Furthermore, past research has found that increases in power are associated with greater approach orientation and action tendencies. In this study, we integrate these two literatures to examine how embodying the role of a police officer through wearing a uniform would affect responses on a reaction-time measure known as the Shooter Task. This first-person video game simulation requires participants to shoot or not shoot targets holding guns or objects. The task typically elicits a stereotypical pattern of responses, such that unarmed Black versus White targets are more likely to be mistakenly shot and armed Black versus White targets are more likely to be correctly shot. Based on the relationship between power and action, we hypothesized that participants who were randomly assigned to wear a police uniform would show more shooting errors, particularly false alarms, than control participants. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants in uniform were more likely to shoot unarmed targets, regardless of their race. Moreover, this pattern was partially moderated by attitudes about the police and their abuse of power. Specifically, uniformed participants who justified police use of power were more likely to shoot innocent targets than those who were wary of it. We discuss implications for police perceptions and the theory of enclothed cognition more broadly.