expectations of bias: does it matter why?

Expectations of bias: does it matter why?

Jasia Pietrzak

Warsaw University

Rudy Mendoza-Denton

UC-Berkeley

Geraldine Downey

Columbia University

Where I’m coming from

Two basic assumptions

• Expectations of bias lead to negative outcomes in academic settings–e.g., attitudes towards & interactions with professors

• Fairness is a social identity issue–not a personal identity issue

Group Value Theory (Lind & Tyler, 1988)

• Group Value Theory posits that – treatment– bias expectations– trustaffect interactions with authorities and consequences of such interactions because these variables speak to one’s standing within a valued group (and standing is important to people)

• these relational variables weigh in more heavily than outcome in predicting – fairness ratings– satisfaction– affect – trust in and obligation to authority

• studies mainly in judicial settings

Prior experiences of rejection

• personal

• group-based

Intense (hot) reactions to perceived rejection

Cognitive-social learning history

Anxious expectations of rejection

Ready perceptions of rejection

Cognitive-affective processing dynamic

TRIGGERSITUATIONS

General Rejection Sensitivity (RS) Model

In conjunction

• GVT doesn’t speak of different kinds of bias leading to differential outcomes

• We think bias can be based on

– personal characteristics (personality, looks, je ne sais quoi)

(“RS-personal”)

– group characteristics (race, age, gender) (“RS-group”)

• And outcomes will differ accordingly

RS-personal

• dissatisfaction in relationships

• relationship breakups

• low self-esteem

RS-group

• mistrust of the majority and its institutions

• difficulties in pursuit of valued goals in those institutions

• underachievement

GVT’s view of interactions with

authorities

expectationsabout bias

perceptions oftreatment

trust

outcome

institutional engagement

fairness ratings

affect

RS’s view of interactions with

authorities

expectationsabout g-bias



fairness ratings

affect trusttrust

personaldisengagement

low self-esteem

affectexpectationsabout p-bias

So we did a studyHow do expectations of (personal vs. gender) bias affect perceptions of and reactions to treatment by an educator?

Treatment can be seen as evidence of bias: Will disconfirmation of bias expectations reduce the negative impact of expectations?

Nasty treatment confirmation of bias expectationsNice treatment disconfirmation of bias expectations

only for group-based

bias

So we did a study• Tara on campus walk, paid people $2 or a soda to fill out 2-page questionnaire

• 240 participants read a scenario, answered questions about it

• scenarios differed by

EXPECTATIONS treatment outcome

good bad

unbiased nice

personal bias

gender bias

unbiased nasty

personal bias

gender bias

Here’s the

study design

–expectations (unbiased, personal bias, gender bias)

–outcome (goal met, goal not met)

–treatment (nice, nasty)

Example ScenarioImagine that you are taking a special summer session at your university before your junior year. It is a great opportunity to learn more about the field you are majoring in from local and visiting scholars, some of whom are famous. It is sure to be challenging, and you're very excited about it.

On the first day of class, you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who didn’t seem to like you, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how awful it was to interact with that professor. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren’t comfortable with the situation, but you’re stuck.

Two weeks later, a few days before the first assignment for the class is due, you realize you’re really invested in the work and you’re spending a lot of time on it. You want to get a better idea of how it’s going to be graded. You approach the professor at the end of a lecture to ask for a grading handout that you know is available to students. “Excuse me,” you say. “I have a couple of questions about grading, I was hoping you could give me a copy of the handout.”

The professor, shuffling through some papers, says, “Sure, hold on a sec…” then finds it, and hands it to you.

imbuing the thing with

importance

manipulation of

expectations

manipulation of treatment

and outcome

Example ScenarioImagine that you are taking a special summer session at your university before your junior year. It is a great opportunity to learn more about the field you are majoring in from local and visiting scholars, some of whom are famous. It is sure to be challenging, and you're very excited about it.

On the first day of class, you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who didn’t like men, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how that professor was less helpful to the men in your class than to the women. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren’t comfortable with the situation, but you’re stuck.

Two weeks later, a few days before the first assignment for the class is due, you realize you’re really invested in the work and you’re spending a lot of time on it. You want to get a better idea of how it’s going to be graded. You approach the professor at the end of a lecture to ask for a grading handout that you know is available to students. “Excuse me,” you say. “I have a couple of questions about grading, I was hoping you could give me a copy of the handout.”

The professor, shuffling through some papers, snaps, “Fine, if you have to, take my last copy,” and hands it to you.


importance

manipulation of

expectations


and outcome

ManipulationsOn the first day of class, you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who didn’t like men, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how that professor was less helpful to the men in your class than to the women. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren’t comfortable with the situation, but you’re stuck.

On the first day of class you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who didn't seem to like you, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how awful it was to interact with that professor. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren't comfortable with the situation, but you're stuck.

On the first day of class, you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who seemed to like you, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember that that professor was constructive and gave the students a lot of help. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You are comfortable with the situation.


The professor, shuffling through some papers, snaps, “Make an appointment!” and turns away.

The professor, shuffling through some papers, says, “I’m sorry, I just gave away my last copy. Why don’t you try to get it from another student in the class.”


manipulation of

expectations


and outcome

Dependent Measuresaffect

perceptions of treatment

perceptions of professor

motivational consequences

confident nervous rejected sadcalm tense disrespected anxiousangry irritable happycomfortable enthusiastic relaxed

How likely are you to complain about the professor to your friends?How likely are you to complain about the professor to the administration?How would you rate the professor on a course evaluation?How sincere/intelligent/cold/snobby/pleasant/unfair is the professor? How much do you trust the professor?How much do you respect the professor?

How likely would you be to drop the class?What would your feelings be after this interaction about your major?

How fair do you consider the outcome of your interaction?How fair do you consider the process leading up to the outcome? How satisfied are you with the outcome of the interaction?To what extent do you think the professor treated you politely?To what extent do you think the professor treated you respectfully?

RESULTS

1. Main effects from GVT:– Does procedure outweigh outcome in an academic context?

2. Main effects from RS:– Do bias expectations matter?

– Do kinds of bias expectations matter?

3. Interaction hypothesis:– Do group expectations interact with treatment?

– Do these interactions depend on type of bias?

First thing: does GVT hold?

• yes: treatment affects DVs much more than outcome does– treatment >> outcome

• and it’s qualified by an interaction– when treatment bad, outcome doesn’t matter– when treatment good, outcome matters

How angry do you feel?

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

nice nasty

good

bad

treatment

(0-5)

outcome

F(1, 235)=10.12, p<.01Similar for irritable, disrespected, nervous…

How unfair is the professor?

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

nice nasty

good

bad

treatment

(1-7)

outcome

F(1, 235)=4.75, p<.05similar for snob, unfair, overall rating of prof

How fair was the outcome?

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

nice nasty

good

bad

treatment

(1-7)

outcome

F(1, 235)=20.95, p<.001similar for respect, happy, relaxed, comfortable..

RESULTS

1. Main effects from GVT:– Treatment does matter in an academic context

2. Main effects from RS:– Do bias expectations matter?

– Do kinds of bias expectations matter?

3. Interaction hypothesis:– Do group expectations interact with treatment?


Second thing: Do expectations matter?

well, almost. but not as much as treatment does. or as much as outcome.

• expectations of no bias lead to different effects than expectations of bias for– attributions (manipulation check)– perceptions of treatment – affect– perceptions of professor

• does kind of bias matter?

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

(1-5)no biaspersonal biasgender bias

expectations

F(2, 237)=5.39, p<.01

Attributions to self (MC)

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

(1-5)

no biaspersonal biasgender bias

expectations

Attributions to gender (MC)

F(2,137)=36.93, p<.001

3

3.5

4

4.5

(1-5)

no biaspersonal biasgender bias

expectations

Attributions to prof’s personality (MC)

F(2, 237)=5.34, p<.01

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5


expectation

How fair was the process?

F(2, 236)=10.85, p<.001similar for most percept of treatment vbs

1

1.5

2

2.5

3


expectation

How angry do you feel?

F(2, 236)= 4.67, p<.01similar for relaxed, nervous, rejected, anxious…

2

3

4

5

6

7

(1-9) no biaspersonal biasgender bias

expectation

Overall rating of professor

F(2, 236)=17.84, p<.001

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5


expectation

How unfair is the professor?

F(2, 236)=14.19, p<.001similar for cold, snobby, pleasant, sincere

Second thing: Do expectations matter?

well, almost. but not as much as treatment does. or as much as outcome.

• expectations of no bias lead to different effects than expectations of bias for – attributions (manipulation check)– perceptions of treatment – affect– perceptions of professor

• does kind of bias matter?

Does the kind of bias matter?

• not really, some marginal effects

1

1.5

2

2.5

3(0-5)

How calm do you feel?

1

1.5

2

2.5

3(0-5)

no bias personal bias gender bias

How happy do you feel?

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

(1-7)

How politely were you treated?

overall F(2, 236)=2.28, p<.10bias conds F(1, 237)=1.80, p<.10


overall F(2, 236)=4.72, p<.01bias conds F(1, 237)=1.97, p=.05

RESULTS


2. Main effects from RS:– Bias expectations (vs no-bias expectations) affect

• attributions, perceptions of treatment, perceptions of professor, affect…

– Type for bias expectation does not have a direct effect

3. Consistent with the moderation hypothesis:– Do expectations interact with treatment?


Third thing: Moderation

• the effect of treatment is moderated by expectations for– perceptions of treatment – affect– perceptions of professor– academic motivation

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5


(1-7)

nicenasty

expectations

How politely were you treated?


treatment

similar for respectful treatment

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

no bias personalbias

gender bias

(0-5) nicenasty

expectations

How confident do you feel?

overall F(1, 228)=2.93, p=.05bias conds F(1, 156)=5.16, p<.05similar for comfortable, irritable, nervous

treatment

2

3

4

5

6


(1-7)

nicenasty

expectations

How likely are you to complain about the prof to your friends?

overall F(1, 236)=4.12, p<.05bias conds F(1, 156)=5.16, p<.05similar for respect the prof

treatment

4

4.5

5

5.5

6


gender bias

nice

nasty

How do you feel about your major?

overall F(1, 235)=2.98, p=.05bias conds F(1, 155)=3.93, p<.05

no change

(1-9)

treatment

better

worse

RESULTS


2. Main effects from RS:– Bias expectations (vs no-bias expectations) affect


– Type for bias expectation has not as much effect as we hypothesized

3. Consistent with the moderation hypothesis:– Group-based bias expectations follow the pattern predicted by GVT,

personal bias expectations do not• Expectations of bias based on gender

– can be counteracted by disconfirmation • Expectations of bias based on personal characteristics

1. less affected by disconfirmation

Next study

If disconfirmation of gender-bias expectations can reverse effects of those expectations…

well, disconfirmation can come in various guises. Seeing the professor treat an ingroup member politely should have similar effects.

(disconfirmation of personal bias expectations, though, has to occur personally)

Vicarious study• Tara on campus walk, paid people $2 or a soda to fill out 2-page questionnaire

• 234 participants read a scenario, answered questions about it

• scenarios differed by

– treatment (nice, nasty)

– outcome (goal met, goal not met)

– expectations (unbiased, personal bias, gender bias)

EXPECTATIONS treatment outcome

good bad

unbiased nice

personal bias

gender bias

unbiased nasty

personal bias

gender bias

Here’s the

study design

Example vicarious scenarioImagine that you are taking a lecture series course at your university before your junior year. The lecture series is only organizes once every few years, so you’re really lucky to be taking it. It is a great opportunity to learn more about the field you are majoring in from local and visiting scholars, some of whom are famous. It is sure to be challenging, and you're very excited about it.

On the first day of class, you meet the professor who will be leading the series. You had a professor last semester who didn’t like women, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how that professor was less helpful to the women in your class than to the men. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren’t comfortable with the situation, but you’re stuck.

Two weeks later, a few days before the first assignment for the class is due, you realize you’re really invested in the work and you’re spending a lot of time on it. You want to get a better idea of how it’s going to be graded. You approach the professor at the end of a lecture. The professor is speaking to another student, who is asking for the grading handout that is available to students. “Excuse me,” the student says. “I have a couple of questions about grading, I was hoping you could give me a copy of the handout.”

The professor, shuffling through some papers, says, “Sure, hold on a sec…” then finds it, and hands it over.


importance

manipulation of bias

expectations


and outcome

vicarious

Results

1. Main effects from GVT:– Again, treatment is the best predictor of the DVs

2. Main effects RS:– Bias expectations (vs no-bias expectations) affect


3. Consistent with the vicarious moderation hypothesis:– are group-based expectations overcome by vicarious experience?

Perceptions of treatment

1

2

3

4

5

6

nice nasty

good

bad

treatment

(1-7)

outcome

(similar for evaluation of & avoidance of prof)

1

2

3


expectation

Affect

Evaluations of prof

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

(1-9)

2

3

4

(1-7)

Trust in professor

Overall

Results

1. Main effects from GVT:– Again, treatment is the best predictor of the DVs

2. Main effects RS:– Bias expectations (vs no-bias expectations) affect


3. Consistent with the vicarious moderation hypothesis:– Interestingly….

• Expectations of bias based on gender – ARE NOT counteracted by

disconfirmation • Expectations of bias based on personal characteristics

1. ARE affected by disconfirmation

4

4.25

4.5

4.75

5

5.25


(1-9)nicenasty

expectations

Feel about yourself

treatment

“no change”

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5


gender bias

nice

nasty

Anxious

(0-5) treatment

2

3

4

5

6

7


(1-9)nicenasty

expectations

Overall rating of prof

treatment

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

good bad good bad good bad

(1-7)

nicenasty

treatment

interaction for bias conditions significant

Perception of treatment

outcome irrelevant for gender bias, not for personal bias

nobias personal gender

Exciting conclusions

• Some indication that expectations interact with treatment to influence perceptions of social interactions

• Vicarious experiences lead to unexpected (complex) results

Ideas for continuation

• Group-bias manipulation:

– ‘liking’ not as effective as ‘competence’ (for women?)

– scenario not conducive to expressing bias

• Personal-bias manipulation

• For overcoming personal-bias

– “nice” treatment could be a façade

– “warm” treatment could be more effective

• RS model suggests mediation

– expectations--> perceptions--> outcomes

– this turned out a little bit messy here, though• for men, for attributions to gender:

– a constellation of nervous-anxious emotions– intent to drop the class

Other interesting things to think about?

Thanks for coming!

ManipulationsOn the first day of class, you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who didn’t like men, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how that professor was less helpful to the men in your class than to the women. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren’t comfortable with the situation, but you’re stuck.

On the first day of class you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who didn't seem to like you, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember how awful it was to interact with that professor. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You aren't comfortable with the situation, but you're stuck.

On the first day of class, you meet the professor. You had a professor last semester who seemed to like you, and this one is giving you a similar vibe. You remember that that professor was constructive and gave the students a lot of help. The experience you had last semester comes flooding back into your head. You are comfortable with the situation.


The professor, shuffling through some papers, snaps, “Make an appointment!” and turns away.

The professor, shuffling through some papers, says, “I’m sorry, I just gave away my last copy. Why don’t you try to get it from another student in the class.”


manipulation of

expectations


and outcome

• Is there hope for the mediation hypothesis?

• Attributions affect lots of stuff…

What do attributions affect?

assumptionsabout bias



fairness ratings

affect

trust

Attributions to professor predict

• affect

• less satisfaction

• perceptions of unfair outcome, unfair process

• perceptions of less polite respectful treatment

• higher likelihood of complaining

• worse feelings about CU & major

• devaluing the professor

Attributions to self predict

• lower perceptions of respectful treatment

• dropping the class

• devaluing professor – he’s cold, he irritates me, I don’t trust him

Attributions to gender predictFor women• less interest in major• more enthusiasm (??)For men• affect• lower overall prof rating• devaluing prof: unfair, snob, don’t trust him• unfair outcome• dropping class• less interest in major

So is there mediation?

• for women, no• for men,

– for attributions to gender:• a constellation of nervous-anxious emotions• intent to drop the class

assumptionsabout bias



fairness ratings

affect

trust

Interesting things to think about

• gender differences– expectations of gender bias affect men more than

they do women

• women more enthusiastic -- more likely to ingratiate/work to overcome prof’s bias????

• gender attribution differences

enthusiasm

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

nobias personalbias

gender bias

(0-5)

nicegoodnicebadnastygoodnastybad

treatment/outcome

interaction for bias conditions significant

drop

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

nobias personalbias

gender bias

(1-7)


treatment/outcome

interaction for bias conditions not significant

how respectfully were you treated?

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

5

nobias personalbias

gender bias

(1-7)


treatment/outcome

interaction for bias conditions not significant

outcome has an effect for bias conds, not for no bias

expectations of bias: does it matter why?

Documents

treatment bias expectations

expectations of personal

evidence of bias

gender bias affect perceptions

different kinds of bias

expectations unbiased

rspersonal dissatisfaction

gender rsgroupand outcomes