Reactance to (or Acceptance of) Stereotypes

Abstract

Abstract. We propose that reactance to threats to individual freedom can be broadened to include threats to group identity and its associated values and norms. In two studies we primed women and men with (counter) stereotypical roles and measured implicit activation of reactance versus acceptance goals, task persistence, and support for system justification beliefs and collective action. Although we found no direct evidence of reactance activation, men activated acceptance when primed with gender stereotypes, whereas women did not. Further, traditional women legitimize the system after counter-stereotypical exposure, whereas progressive women (feminist identifiers) persist more in solving a task stereotypically favoring men under these conditions (Study 1). Finally, nonsexist women show higher support for collective action after stereotypical exposure when threat to their identity is blatant (Study 2). We argue that reactions to identity threats depend on the content of that identity so that the specific form reactance takes may depend on the group norms being threatened.

Counter-Stereotypes and Feminism Promote Leadership Aspirations in Highly Identified Women

“…The three-way interaction term was further explained by a significant effect of women's identification (regardless of feminist identification) on leadership aspirations in the counter-stereotypic condition, and by a significant effect of women's identification on leadership aspirations in the stereotypic condition (but only in high feminist identifiers). These findings are in line with recent research showing that gender identification and feminist identification are orthogonal identity constructs, and that women's reactions to gender stereotypes and to counter-stereotypes depend the interaction of these two identities (de Lemus et al, 2015; Van Breen et al, in review). Our research extends those findings by showing that women's and feminist identification interact with stereotype salience to affect behavioral intentions such as leadership aspirations.…”

“…Moreover, the current set of findings may even suggest that feminist identification promotes leadership aspirations, as much as counter-stereotypes do. This finding emphasizes the importance of resistance to stereotypes as a motivated response to protect the interests of the group (de Lemus et al, 2015; Van Breen et al, in review).…”

“…A review of the literature suggested that high gender identification should associate with greater leadership aspirations (1) under conditions of counter-stereotype salience (in all research participants) and (2) under conditions of stereotype salience, conditional on greater levels of feminist identification. Those predictions were based on what we know about women's reactions to non-threatening counter-stereotypes (Hoyt and Simon, 2011; Latu et al, 2013), and based on the literature on stereotype resistance (de Lemus et al, 2015; Van Breen et al, in review). In line with these expectations we uncovered that stereotype (vs. counter-stereotype) salience and participant's identification with women and with feminism interacted to predict female participants' leadership aspirations.…”

“…This part of the questionnaire inquired about participants' gender, their identification with women and with feminism, and several individual difference measures related to feminism. To account for individual differences in people's beliefs about gender (Morton et al, 2009; Napier et al, 2010; Okimoto and Brescoll, 2010), we asked participants to fill in measures of gender essentialism, gender system justification, benevolent sexism and liberal feminist attitudes (Glick and Fiske, 1996; Jost and Kay, 2005; Napier et al, 2010; Connelly and Heesacker, 2012; Brescoll et al, 2013; de Lemus et al, 2015). We wanted to use those measures as covariates, to see whether the effects uncovered are specifically due to feminist identification, rather than merely feminist beliefs.…”

“…Three items measured participants' identification with women, (e.g., “Being a woman is an important part of who I am”; α = 0.82), and three similar items were used to measure identification with feminism, replacing the word “woman” with “feminist,” α = 0.99 (de Lemus et al, 2015). …”