title: Regulatory focus moderates the social performance of individuals who conceal a stigmatized identity.
abstract: People often choose to hide a stigmatized identity to avoid bias. However, hiding stigma can disrupt social interactions. We considered whether regulatory focus qualifies the social effects of hiding stigma by examining interactions in which stigmatized participants concealed a devalued identity from non-stigmatized partners. In the Prevention Focus condition, stigmatized participants were instructed to prevent a negative impression by concealing the identity; in the Promotion Focus condition, they were instructed to promote a positive impression by concealing the identity; in the Control condition, they were simply asked to conceal the identity. Both non-stigmatized partners and independent raters rated the interactions more positively in the Promotion Focus condition. Thus, promotion focus is interpersonally beneficial for individuals who conceal a devalued identity.
authors.affiliation: University at Albany, State University of New York, USA.
authors.forename: Anna-Kaisa
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Newheiser
authors.affiliation: University of Exeter, UK.|CIS, Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL), Portugal.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.affiliation: Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ellemers
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Belle
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Derks
authors.affiliation: Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scheepers
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012938:Social Perception; D013240:Stereotyping; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: concealable stigmatized identities; identity management; regulatory focus; social interactions