title: Perspective taking and automatic intergroup evaluation change: testing an associative self-anchoring account.
abstract: The current research adopted a multipronged mediational approach to test an associative self-anchoring account of automatic intergroup evaluation change following perspective taking. We contend that actively contemplating outgroup members' perspectives strengthens associative links between that outgroup and the self, enabling a transfer of positive automatic self-evaluations to the group. A first set of experiments, using both measurement-of-mediation and experimental-causal-chain designs, supported a model in which strengthened self-outgroup associations underlie perspective taking's positive effects on automatic intergroup evaluations. Additional experiments, using a moderation-of-process design, found that the benefits of perspective taking were attenuated when measured or manipulated automatic self-evaluations were relatively negative, preventing positive associative transfer. A final experiment uncovered a practical downstream implication of our causal model, as perspective-taking-induced changes in automatic intergroup evaluations were still evident 1 day later. Overall, these findings supported our associative self-anchoring account; additional analyses found no support for an alternative, empathy-based account.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. andrew-todd@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burgmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult