Why Do We Hold Mixed Emotions About Racial Out-Groups? A Case for Affect Matching.

A four-wave survey on a national probabilistic sample (N = 17,399) tested novel predictions about how positive and negative contact with racial out-groups predicts warmth and anger toward those groups. Three competing hypotheses were tested: (a) that negative contact will outweigh positive contact when predicting both emotions ("bad is stronger than good"); (b) that negative and positive contact will similarly predict each emotion; and (c) that negative contact will have a disproportionately large association with anger (a negative emotion), whereas positive contact will have a disproportionately large association with warmth (a positive emotion)-a phenomenon known as affect matching. The data revealed clear evidence for affect matching: Negative contact was associated with high levels of anger more than low levels of warmth, whereas positive contact was associated with high levels of warmth more than low levels of anger. Results suggest that positive and negative feelings about out-groups may be tied to qualitatively distinct contact experiences.

Risk and resiliency factors related to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating: The identity disruption model.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined a theoretical model (the identity disruption model) linking negative early life experiences to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating via self-concept clarity and sociocultural factors (internalization of beauty ideals and appearance comparison tendencies). METHOD: 1,023 participants (52% women) completed a series of questionnaires online, including measures of negative early life experiences and childhood abuse, self-concept clarity, internalization of beauty ideals, appearance comparison tendencies, sociocultural pressure to improve one's appearance, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling indicated that self-reported early adversity was associated with lower self-concept clarity, which in turn was associated with greater internalization of beauty ideals and more frequent appearance comparisons. Internalization and appearance comparisons were associated with body image concerns, which in turn were associated with disordered eating and exercise behaviors. There were few sex differences in these paths. DISCUSSION: These findings provide initial conceptual support for the identity disruption model and extend previous models of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating to include processes that occur earlier in life. This model opens up the possibility for new interventions that are targeted toward those who are most vulnerable to developing body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.

Dimensions of internalization relevant to the identity disruption model of body dissatisfaction.

The Identity Disruption Model posits that negative early life experiences are associated with disrupted personal identity, which in turn increases the risk of internalizing societal standards of attractiveness and body dissatisfaction. Although internalization plays a central role in this model, it is unclear which aspect(s) of internalization (awareness, endorsement, or internalization) are most relevant to the Identity Disruption Model. To address this issue, female participants (N = 278) completed measures of the following constructs: early adversity; self-concept clarity; awareness, endorsement, and internalization of societal standards of attractiveness; and body dissatisfaction. Self-concept clarity was negatively correlated with internalization (r = -.45, p <  .001), but was not significantly correlated with awareness (r = -.05) or endorsement (r = -.11). Furthermore, structural equational modeling showed that there was a significant indirect path from early adversity to self-concept clarity to internalization to body dissatisfaction (unstandardized b = .015, SEboot = .004, p <  .001). The indirect paths through awareness and endorsement were not significant. These findings help clarify the Identity Disruption Model by indicating that lower self-concept clarity is specifically associated with taking on societal standards as personally meaningful beliefs, rather than with mere awareness of, or agreement with, those standards.

How might childhood adversity predict adult psychological distress? Applying the Identity Disruption Model to understanding depression and anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND: Experiencing adversity in childhood is associated with increased risk of a range of psychopathologies, including depression and anxiety disorders. However, there is limited understanding of psychological mechanisms that may help to explain these relationships. The Identity Disruption Model proposes that early adversity can disrupt typical identity development, which may then increase one's vulnerability to psychopathology. The present study aims to apply the Identity Disruption Model to understanding symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and social anxiety. METHODS: A non-clinical sample of adults from the United States (n = 382) completed an online survey assessing early adversity, self-concept clarity, intolerance of uncertainty, and depression, generalized anxiety, OCD, and social anxiety symptoms. Structural equation models: (1) tested whether early adversity predicts psychopathology via a disrupted sense of self, and (2) explored the role of intolerance of uncertainty in the relationship between early adversity and psychopathology. RESULTS: Early adversity predicted more severe symptoms of depression and anxiety via lower self-concept clarity. Furthermore, a parallel mediation model showed that self-concept clarity and intolerance of uncertainty simultaneously mediated the relationship between early adversity and psychopathology. LIMITATIONS: The data are cross-sectional in nature and longitudinal research is needed to more conclusively test the causal pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Disrupted identity may be one mechanism through which childhood adversity predicts depression and anxiety disorder symptoms later in life. The Identity Disruption Model provides new avenues for future research and suggests potential points of early intervention for the prevention of depression and anxiety disorders.

Weight Stigma Predicts Poorer Psychological Well-Being Through Internalized Weight Bias and Maladaptive Coping Responses.

OBJECTIVE: Weight-based stigmatization is associated with negative psychological and behavioral consequences, but individuals respond to stigma in different ways. The present study aimed to understand some of the factors that predict how one will cope with weight stigma and how different coping responses predict psychological well-being. METHODS: Across four samples, 1,391 individuals who identified as having overweight or obesity completed surveys assessing the frequency of weight stigma experiences, internalized weight bias, coping responses to weight stigma, and psychological distress. RESULTS: Frequency of weight stigma predicted greater internalized weight bias, which predicted more frequent use of maladaptive coping responses ("disengagement coping") and less frequent use of adaptive coping responses ("reappraisal coping"), in turn predicting more depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The more that individuals with overweight or obesity experience weight stigma and internalize weight bias, the more they report using maladaptive coping and the less they report using adaptive coping when dealing with weight stigma. Maladaptive coping is strongly associated with poorer psychological well-being. Thus, those who experience more frequent weight stigma may be more vulnerable to psychological distress because they appear to be at greater risk of employing maladaptive coping strategies.

How negative contact and positive contact with Whites predict collective action among racial and ethnic minorities.

Positive contact with advantaged group members can improve disadvantaged group members' attitudes towards them, yet it may also lower perceptions of group discrimination and consequent collective action. Little is known, however, about how negative contact with the advantaged predicts collective action among members of disadvantaged groups. With samples of Black and Hispanic Americans, we tested positive and negative contact with White Americans as predictors of self-reported collective action behaviour and future intentions. Across both samples, negative contact with White Americans predicted greater collective action, largely through the mechanisms of perceived discrimination and intergroup anger. Simultaneously, positive contact showed a negative indirect effect on collective action primarily through reduced anger. These findings suggest that negative contact may be a potential driver of social change among racial minorities. Implications of these findings for the contact and collective action literatures are discussed.

Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Intergroup Contact: Descriptions and Mediators of Positive and Negative Contact Among Majority and Minority Groups.

Positive contact predicts reduced prejudice, but negative contact may increase prejudice at a stronger rate. The current project builds on this work in four ways: establishing an understanding of contact that is grounded in subjective experience, examining the affective mediators involved in the negative contact-prejudice relationship, extending research on the effects of positive and negative contact to minority groups, and examining the contact asymmetry experimentally. Study 1 introduced anger as a mediator of the relationships between positive and negative contact and prejudice among White Americans ( N = 371), using a contact measure that reflected the frequency and intensity of a wide range of experiences. Study 2 found a contact asymmetry among Black and Hispanic Americans ( N = 365). Study 3 found initial experimental evidence of a contact asymmetry ( N = 309). We conclude by calling for a more nuanced understanding of intergroup contact that recognizes its multifaceted and subjective nature.

Applying the contact hypothesis to anti-fat attitudes: contact with overweight people is related to how we interact with our bodies and those of others.

This paper is the first to apply the contact hypothesis, a social psychological theory of prejudice reduction, to the field of weight bias. It aims to investigate whether contact with overweight people is associated with the extent to which people report weight bias, as well as vigilance around their own bodies. In 2013 we recruited 1176 American participants to complete surveys regarding prejudice toward overweight people, as well as a suite of measures capturing people's relationships with their own weight (fat talk, drive for thinness, and body-checking behavior). Positive contact with overweight people predicted decreased prejudice, regardless of whether participants were overweight (p < .001) or not (p = .003). However, negative contact was a stronger predictor of increased prejudice (p < .001 for both samples). For non-overweight participants, any contact with overweight people (whether positive or negative) predicted increased body-checking behaviors (positive-p = .002, negative-p < .001) and fat talk (positive-p = .047, negative-p < .001), and negative contact predicted increased drive for thinness (p < .001). However, for those who were overweight a different picture emerged. While negative contact predicted increased body-checking behaviors (p < .001) and fat talk (p < .001), positive contact was protective, predicting decreased drive for thinness (p = .001) and body-checking behaviors (p < .001). This paper demonstrates that the interactions we have with overweight people are inherently tied to both our attitudes towards them and our relationship with our own bodies.