The effect of self-affirmation on perception of racism

Adams, Glenn; Tormala, Teceta Thomas; O’Brien, Laurie T.

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2005.11.001

Cited by 136 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

152

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Taken together, along with other research showing how affirmation buffers the rise and fall of self-feelings in response to collective events (e.g., Adams et al, 2006;Čehajić-Clancy et al, 2011;Sherman & Kim, 2005), the studies suggest that affirmation can reduce the negative impact of collective events on the self. Whereas previous research has tended to infer the presence of group norms based on characteristics of the situation, in the present research group norms were directly manipulated.…”

Section: Untethering Threats From the Selfsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…For example, people who self-affirmed prior to group activity were more willing to acknowledge wrong-doing by an ingroup (Adams, Tormala, & O'Brien, 2006;Čehajić-Clancy, Effron, Halperin, Liberman, & Ross, 2011); they showed lower partisan bias in the days prior to a presidential election (Binning, Sherman, Cohen, & Heitland, 2010); and they displayed fewer group-serving attributions for group success and failure (Sherman & Kim, 2005). When Americans were presented with a report that was critical of U.S. foreign policy, affirmed participants were less partisan in their evaluations of the report (Cohen et al, 2007).…”

Section: When Norms Conflict With Evidence: a Self-integrity Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Going along versus getting it right: The role of self-integrity in political conformity

Binning

Brick

Cohen

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

People often conform to the opinions of ingroup members, even when available evidence suggests the group is misinformed. Following insights from the social identity approach and selfaffirmation theory, it was hypothesized that people conform to salient opinions in an effort to maintain global self-integrity. In a series of experiments examining Americans' approval of President Obama and his policies, approval was consistently swayed by normative information (national polling data) but not by evidentiary information (indicators of national economic health), except under theory-predicted conditions. When participants had satisfied their sense of self-integrity with a self-affirmation exercise (Democrats in Study 1, Republicans in Study 2), or when they had low levels of American identification and thus were less concerned with national norms (Democrats and Republicans in Study 3), they showed the opposite pattern and were swayed by evidence in spite of contradicting normative information. The extent to which people are influenced by norms versus evidence in political judgment is shaped by social identity, one aspect of self-integrity. The results highlight a social psychological means to attenuate and potentially reverse conformity in the face of contradicting evidence, a finding with both practical and theoretical implications.

show abstract

Section: Untethering Threats From the Selfsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: When Norms Conflict With Evidence: a Self-integrity Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going along versus getting it right: The role of self-integrity in political conformity

Binning

Brick

Cohen

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition to these measures, participants in Study 3 responded to three items that assessed perceptions of injustice in Indian society (α = .75; based on Adams, Tormala, & O'Brien, 2006). Participants read prompts about disproportionate scrutiny toward residents of historically marginalized regions (northeastern India and Kashmir) regarding requests for identification, suspicion of substance abuse, and concern about militancy (see the Appendix for the exact items).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cultural psychological analysis of collective memory as mediated action: Constructions of Indian history

Mukherjee

Adams

Molina

2018

J. Soc. Polit. Psych.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present research applies a cultural psychological perspective on collective memory as mediated action to examine how constructions of a national past serve as tools that both reflect and shape national identity concerns. We employ a situation-sampling method to investigate collective memory in a series of studies concerning intergroup relations in the Indian context. In Study 1, participants (N = 55) generated three historical events that they considered important/relevant for Indian history. In Study 2, participants (N = 95) rated the importance and relevance of these events in a within-participant design. Illuminating the psychological constitution of cultural reality, frequency of recall (Study 1) and ratings of importance/relevance (Study 2) were greater for nation-glorifying events celebrating ingroup triumph than for typically silenced, critical events acknowledging ingroup wrongdoing. Moreover, these patterns were stronger among participants who scored higher in national identification. In Studies 3 (N = 65) and 4 (N = 160), we exposed participants to different categories of events in a between-participants design. Illuminating the cultural constitution of psychological experience, participants exposed to typically silenced, critical events reported lower national identification and greater perception of injustice against marginalized groups than did participants exposed to nation-glorifying events. Together, results illuminate a conception of collective memory as mediated action. Producers invest memory products with an identity-interested charge that directs subsequent intergroup relations toward identity-consistent ends.Keywords: collective memory, India, intergroup relations, mediated action, national identity, situation sampling method, social representatons of history Non-Technical Summary BackgroundPeople often come across narratives of national history in many contexts, such as educational settings or museums. These narratives impact how people think about their national identity as well as how they perceive present-day social issues. Research suggests that people may remember their national past selectively and this selective recall may impact how they respond to present day injustices.

show abstract

“…In the case of Katrina, claims that racism tainted relief efforts may promote experience of collective guilt (Wohl, Branscombe, & Klar, 2006), threaten White Americans' sense that they are citizens of a nonracist society, or threaten the perceived legitimacy of a social order that promotes White privilege (Lowery, Knowles, & Unzueta, 2007). Evidence suggests that White Americans are motivated to deny claims about racism as a means to defend against such threats Adams, Tormala, & O'Brien, 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%