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Automatic and ironic behavior are both mediated by changes in the self-concept

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Abstract

Recent accounts suggest that prime-to-behavior effects are mediated by changes to the active self-concept. Likewise, recent reports of post-suppression behavioral rebound have attributed changes to behavior to changes in the self-concept. According to such accounts, whenever an activated trait or stereotype can be easily incorporated into the active self, behavioral assimilation (i.e., behavior consistent with the activated concept) is likely to ensue. Yet, little evidence has emerged to directly support the mediating role of changes to the self-concept. The present research was designed to examine whether changes to the active self-concept are responsible for changes in behavior following stereotype suppression and priming. Participants who suppressed or were primed with stereotypes of the elderly were more likely to endorse stereotypic traits as self-descriptive and to behave in stereotypic ways. Critically, the former effect significantly mediated the latter. Implications for theories of concept activation and behavior are discussed.

Research highlights

► Competing theories of automatic behavior disagree on the role of the self-concept. ► We tested whether changes to the self-concept contribute to automatic behavior. ► Activating elderly stereotypes led to more stereotypic behavior. ► Behavior change was, in part, accounted for by changes to the self-concept.

Section snippets

The present study

The aim of this study was to establish whether changes in stereotype-relevant behavior following stereotype priming or suppression are mediated by changes in the self-concept. We examined two behavioral measures that have previously been affected by activating elderly stereotypes: walking speed and memory. After suppressing or priming with stereotypes of the elderly, participants walked down a corridor and completed a recall memory task. To the extent that they assimilated to the elderly

Participants and design

Seventy-two participants1 were tested individually and were randomly assigned to one of three instruction conditions.

Procedure

The experiment took place in three stages, introduced as unrelated studies.2

Behavior

We first standardized both walking time and memory performance, reflecting the latter such that higher scores indicated more stereotypic behavior (i.e., slower walking, fewer words recalled). For ease of interpretation, raw scores are presented in Fig. 1. We entered both scores as repeated measures in an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with instruction condition as a between-participants factor. The results yielded only the predicted main effect of instruction condition, F(2, 69) = 13.91, p < .001, ηp2

Discussion

The results of this study build on those reported by Wyer, Mazzoni, et al. (2010) by providing direct evidence that changes in the self-concept contribute to the effects of concept activation on behavior. Participants for whom elderly stereotypes were activated produced stereotype-consistent behaviors (walking slowly, being forgetful) to a greater extent than did control participants. More importantly, these differences were significantly mediated by the extent to which participants attributed

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