Presenter Information

Emily A. DoernerFollow

Major

Psychology

Anticipated Graduation Year

2020

Access Type

Open Access

Abstract

Confronting prejudice leads to backlash (Czopp et al., 2006), so people hesitate to confront (Swim & Hyers, 1999). This research investigated the effects of feeling essentialized after confrontation on liking, and interventions to reduce backlash for confronters. Participants imagined being confronted for racism by a friend or stranger, and wrote about the scenario in a self-affirming, self-compassionate, or objective manner. Feelings of being essentialized by the confronter and liking were measured. Participants felt more essentialized by a stranger (versus friend). As feelings of essentialism increased, a self-compassionate (versus self-affirmative/objective) viewpoint increased liking. Encouraging self-compassion limits backlash, making confrontation less costly.

Faculty Mentors & Instructors

Dr. Robyn Mallett, Associate Professor, Social Psychology; Jamie Patrianakos, Graduate Student, Social Psychology

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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The Effect of Feeling Essentialized on Outcomes of Direct Confrontation

Confronting prejudice leads to backlash (Czopp et al., 2006), so people hesitate to confront (Swim & Hyers, 1999). This research investigated the effects of feeling essentialized after confrontation on liking, and interventions to reduce backlash for confronters. Participants imagined being confronted for racism by a friend or stranger, and wrote about the scenario in a self-affirming, self-compassionate, or objective manner. Feelings of being essentialized by the confronter and liking were measured. Participants felt more essentialized by a stranger (versus friend). As feelings of essentialism increased, a self-compassionate (versus self-affirmative/objective) viewpoint increased liking. Encouraging self-compassion limits backlash, making confrontation less costly.