Automatic justice is self-centered: The influence of self-relatedness on implicit measures of social justice inferences

Abstract: We review research on response-latency based (“implicit”) measures of attitudes by examining what hopes and intentions researchers have associated with their usage. We identified the hopes of (1) gaining better measures of interindividual differences in attitudes as compared to self-report measures (quality hope); (2) better predicting behavior, or predicting other behaviors, as compared to self-reports (incremental validity hope); (3) linking social-cognitive theories more adequately to empirical research (theory-link hope). We argue that the third hope should be the starting point for using these measures. Any attempt to improve these measures should include the search for a small-scale theory that adequately explains the basic effects found with such a measure. To date, small-scale theories for different measures are not equally well developed.

Download Full-text

Inducing Unconscious Stress

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000247 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 192-201

Author(s):

Melanie M. van der Ploeg ◽

Jos F. Brosschot ◽

Markus Quirin ◽

Richard D. Lane ◽

Bart Verkuil

Keyword(s):

Repeated Measures ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Physiological Changes ◽

Implicit Measures ◽

Prime Word ◽

Student Sample ◽

Priming Task ◽

Subject Design ◽

The Relationship ◽

Stress And Health

Abstract. Stress-related stimuli may be presented outside of awareness and may ultimately influence health by causing repetitive increases in physiological parameters, such as blood pressure (BP). In this study, we aimed to corroborate previous studies that demonstrated BP effects of subliminally presented stress-related stimuli. This would add evidence to the hypothesis that unconscious manifestations of stress can affect somatic health. Additionally, we suggest that these findings may be extended by measuring affective changes relating to these physiological changes, using measures for self-reported and implicit positive and negative affectivity. Using a repeated measures between-subject design, we presented either the prime word “angry” ( n = 26) or “relax” ( n = 28) subliminally (17 ms) for 100 trials to a student sample and measured systolic and diastolic BP, heart rate (HR), and affect. The “angry” prime, compared to the “relax” prime, did not affect any of the outcome variables. During the priming task, a higher level of implicit negative affect (INA) was associated with a lower systolic BP and diastolic BP. No association was found with HR. Self-reported affect and implicit positive affect were not related to the cardiovascular (CV) activity. In sum, anger and relax primes elicited similar CV activity patterns, but implicit measures of affect may provide a new method to examine the relationship between (unconscious) stress and health.

Download Full-text

Convergent and Predictive Validity of Implicit and Explicit Anxiety Measures as a Function of Specificity Similarity and Content Similarity

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.24.4.254 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 254-262 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Tobias Gschwendner ◽

Wilhelm Hofmann ◽

Manfred Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Implicit Association Test ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Implicit Measures ◽

Speech Anxiety ◽

Behavioral Indicators ◽

General Anxiety ◽

Anxious Behavior ◽

Content Similarity ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

Validation Strategy

In the present study we applied a validation strategy for implicit measures like the IAT, which complements multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) analyses. As the measurement method (implicit vs. explicit) and underlying representation format (associative vs. propositional) are often confounded, the validation of implicit measures has to go beyond MTMM analysis and requires substantive theoretical models. In the present study (N = 133), we employed such a model ( Hofmann, Gschwendner, Nosek, & Schmitt, 2005 ) and investigated two moderator constructs in the realm of anxiety: specificity similarity and content similarity. In the first session, different general and specific anxiety measures were administered, among them an Implicit Association Test (IAT) general anxiety, an IAT-spider anxiety, and an IAT that assesses speech anxiety. In the second session, participants had to deliver a speech and behavioral indicators of speech anxiety were measured. Results showed that (a) implicit and explicit anxiety measures correlated significantly only on the same specification level and if they measured the same content, and (b) specific anxiety measures best predicted concrete anxious behavior. These results are discussed regarding the validation of implicit measures.

Download Full-text

Response Interference as a Mechanism Underlying Implicit Measures

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.24.4.218 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 218-225 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Bertram Gawronski ◽

Roland Deutsch ◽

Etienne P. LeBel ◽

Kurt R. Peters

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Psychological Research ◽

Implicit Measures ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Response Interference ◽

Relevant Evidence ◽

Moderated Mediation Model ◽

Stimulus Features ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

Over the last decade, implicit measures of mental associations (e.g., Implicit Association Test, sequential priming) have become increasingly popular in many areas of psychological research. Even though successful applications provide preliminary support for the validity of these measures, their underlying mechanisms are still controversial. The present article addresses the role of a particular mechanism that is hypothesized to mediate the influence of activated associations on task performance in many implicit measures: response interference (RI). Based on a review of relevant evidence, we argue that RI effects in implicit measures depend on participants attention to association-relevant stimulus features, which in turn can influence the reliability and the construct validity of these measures. Drawing on a moderated-mediation model (MMM) of task performance in RI paradigms, we provide several suggestions on how to address these problems in research using implicit measures.

Download Full-text

Restructuring Educational Systems and Promoting Social Justice for Young People Involved in Drug Trafficking in Brazil

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000366 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 227 (2) ◽

pp. 139-143 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa ◽

Linda Liebenberg ◽

Dorothy Bottrell ◽

Silvia Helena Koller

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Social Justice ◽

Young People ◽

Latin American ◽

Drug Trafficking ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Educational Systems ◽

Economic Changes ◽

2030 Agenda ◽

Development Goals

Abstract. Economic changes in the context of globalization have left adolescents from Latin American contexts with few opportunities to make satisfactory transitions into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that there is a protracted period between the end of schooling and entering into formal working activities. While in this “limbo,” illicit activities, such as drug trafficking may emerge as an alternative for young people to ensure their social participation. This article aims to deepen the understanding of Brazilian youth’s involvement in drug trafficking and its intersection with their schooling, work, and aspirations, connecting with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 16 as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 .

Download Full-text