Increasing self-regulatory strength can reduce the depleting effect of suppressing stereotypes.
Three longitudinal studies and one correlational study tested the hypothesis that increasing self-regulatory strength by regular self-regulatory exercise would reduce the intrapsychic costs of suppressing stereotypes. Participants tried to resist using stereotypes while describing or talking to a stimulus person. Participants whose habitual motivation to suppress stereotypes was low exhibited impaired Stroop and anagram performance after the suppression task, presumably because of self-regulatory depletion (i.e., a reduction of self-regulatory strength following prior use). Two weeks of self-regulation exercises (such as using one's nondominant hand or refraining from cursing) eliminated this effect. These findings indicate that self-regulatory exercise can improve resistance to self-regulatory depletion and, consequently, people can suppress stereotypes without suffering subsequent decrements in task performance.
Gailliot
Matthew T
MT
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270, USA. gailliot@psy.fsu.edu
Plant
E Ashby
EA
Butz
David A
DA
Baumeister
Roy F
RF
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D013240:Stereotyping