Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Can "Slacktivism" Work? Perceived Power Differences Moderate The Relationship Between Social Media Activism And Collective Action Intentions Through Positive Affect, Mindi D. Foster, Eden J.V. Hennessey, Benjamin T. Blankenship, Abigail Stewart

Psychology Faculty Publications

We argue that the often-used critique of social media activism as merely a ‘feel-good’ mechanism can be countered by conceptualizing social media activism as a necessary type of collective action (i.e., consensus mobilization), incorporating theory on the benefits of positive feelings for activism, and by examining how power may affect these relationships. Women from two different samples (MTurk and university) were randomly assigned to recall a high- versus low-power experience, view real-world events of sexism, and then complete questionnaires assessing endorsement of social media activism, positive affect, and collective action intentions. A dual moderated mediation analyses at the second stage …

Tweeting About Sexism: The Well-Being Benefits Of A Social Media Collective Action., Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although collective action has psychological benefits in non-gendered contexts (e.g., Drury et al., 2005), the benefits for women taking action against gender discrimination are unclear. This study examined how a popular, yet unexplored potential form of collective action, namely tweeting about sexism, affects women’s well-being. Women read about sexism and were randomly assigned to tweet, or to one of three control groups. Content analyses showed tweets exhibited collective intent and action. Analyses of linguistic markers suggested public tweeters used more cognitive complexity in their language than private tweeters. Profile analyses showed that compared to controls, only public tweeters showed decreasing …

The Relationship Between Collective Action And Well-Being And Its Moderators: Pervasiveness Of Discrimination And Dimensions Of Action, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Given the negative impact of perceiving gender discrimination on health (e.g., Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009), there is a need to develop interventions to attenuate this effect; collective action may be one such intervention. Study 1 (N = 185) used an experimental paradigm to investigate whether undergraduate women in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada perceived pervasiveness of discrimination would interact with their collective action-taking to predict negative mood and well-being. Results showed that among those perceiving pervasive gender discrimination, informing friends/family and informing the media led to greater well-being than doing nothing, whereas among those perceiving gender discrimination as isolated, doing nothing …

Everyday Confrontation Of Discrimination: The Well-Being Costs And Benefits To Women Over Time., Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Taking action against discrimination has positive consequences for well-being (e.g., Cocking & Drury, 2004) but most of this research has focused on collective actions and has used methodologies assessing one point in time. This study therefore used a diary methodology to examine how women’s everyday confrontations of discrimination would affect measures of subjective and psychological well-being, and how these relationships would change over time. In a 28-day online diary study, women indicated their daily experience of discrimination, described their response, and completed measures of well-being. Results showed that at the beginning of the study, using indirect confrontation predicted greater well-being …

When The Advantaged Become Disadvantaged: Men’S And Women’S Actions Against Gender Discrimination, Mindi D. Foster, Stacey Arnt, Jill Honloka

Psychology Faculty Publications

Intergroup theories suggest that different social identities will either discourage or encourage the taking of action against discrimination (Bartky, 1977; Jost & Banaji, 1994). However, research (e.g., Branscombe, 1998) has shown that discrimination is a less negative experience for men than for women. As such, it is possible that men may take greater action than women, regardless of identity. However, men’s responses to their perceived disadvantage has not yet been tested. Among those induced to ascribe to a gendered stereotype identity, men endorsed more action than women did.Among those induced to ascribe to an identity based on a gendered social …

The Role Of Hardiness In Moderating The Relationship Between Global/Specific Attributions And Actions Against Discrimination, Mindi D. Foster, Kenneth L. Dion

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this study, we proposed that individual differences in hardiness may moderate the relationship between global attributions and actions against discrimination. Specifically, global attributions were expected to predict decreased endorsement of actions to combat discrimination among low hardy women. In contrast, global attributions were expected to predict increased endorsement of actions among high hardy women. High and low hardy women were exposed to a laboratory situation of discrimination, and their attributions for, and responses to, discrimination were then assessed. Results showed the expected interaction, but in the opposite direction: among low hardy women, global attributions predicted stronger endorsement of action.Among …

Dispositional Hardiness And Women’S Well-Being Relating To Gender Discrimination: The Role Of Minimization, Mindi D. Foster, Kenneth L. Dion

Psychology Faculty Publications

Three studies examined whether personality-based hardiness would be associated with mental health benefits in contexts of gender discrimination. Hardy women encountering both a laboratory simulation and a hypothetical scenario of discrimination showed greater self-esteem and less negative affect than low hardy women. However, these benefits were mediated by the use of specific attributions, suggesting that the well-being in hardy women may have been achieved through minimizing the pervasiveness of discrimination. Study three showed this mediation pattern occurred only for participants exposed to higher threat scenarios versus lower threat scenarios of discrimination. Thus, minimizing the pervasiveness of discrimination may have been …

The Motivational Quality Of Global Attributions In Hypothetical And Experienced Situations Of Gender Discrimination, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Traditionally, global attributions have been thought to reduce instrumental behavior aimed at resolving negative events. However, the present research shows global attributions for gender discrimination are related to taking action against unfair treatment. In Study 1, women ( N = 157) completed a questionnaire assessing attributions for hypothetical scenarios of discrimination and collective responses to discrimination. In Study 2, women ( N = 79) were placed into a laboratory situation of discrimination and asked to indicate their attributions for and responses to their unfair treatment. In both studies, hierarchical regression analyses showed that global attributions were related to both individual …

Positive And Negative Responses To Personal Discrimination: Does Coping Make A Difference?, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although psychological research has found that perceiving personal discrimination is associated with negative psychological symptoms, group consciousness theories suggest that perceiving personal discrimination can be empowering. To attempt to reconcile these presumably opposing findings, the present study suggested that how one copes with perceiving personal discrimination may better predict whether the outcomes are negative or positive than the perception of personal discrimination alone. American female university students ( N = 262) completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions of personal discrimination, psychological symptoms and psychosocial behaviors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that coping mechanisms predicted psychosocial behaviors over and …

Utilization Of Global Attributions In Recognizing And Responding To Gender Discrimination Among College Women, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although learned helplessness theories suggest that global attributions for gender discrimination may serve to promote feelings of helplessness about responding to discrimination, group consciousness theories suggest they may instead be a precursor to enhancing collective actions against discrimination.

To examine this theoretical discrepancy, college women completed measures of attributions for gender discrimination, political consciousness (as measured by common fate), participation in collective action, and helplessness behavior among college women. To examine the unique role of global attributions, participants were included if they made external and unstable attributions for discrimination (N = 231). Structural equation modeling showed hat recognizing discrimination occurs …

Acting Out Against Gender Discrimination: The Effects Of Different Social Identities, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Self-categorization theory suggests that when a social identity is salient, group- oriented behavior will ensue. Thus, women should be likely to act out against gender discrimination when their social identity as women is salient. However, self-categorization theory has typically defined a social identity along stereo- types, which may serve instead to maintain the status quo. Two studies therefore examined the effects of two different social identities on taking action against discrimination. Participants were female students (Anglo American (93%), African American (2%), Native American (2%), Hispanic (1%), Asian American (1%) and Other (1%)). Study 1 examined a structural model and Study …

Perceiving And Responding To The Personal/Group Discrimination Discrepancy, Mindi D. Foster, Kimberley Matheson

Psychology Faculty Publications

To explain why minority group members recognize less personal than group discrimination, research has focused on cognitive processes. While within self-categorization theory it may be argued the discrepancy is a function of a salient social self that perceptually discounts the personal self, it can also be argued that depersonalization allows for the cognitive possibility of perceiving similar amounts of personal and group discrimination. The present study suggested that, consistent with group consciousness theories, the social self may serve to both discount as well as integrate the social self, depending on the way in which the social self is defined. Using …

Responding To Sexual Discrimination: The Effects Of Societal Versus Self-Blame, Mindi D. Foster, Kimberley Matheson, Megan Poole

Psychology Faculty Publications

While self-blame has been considered to be a useful coping tool for victims, its benefits within the context of group discrimination are equivocal. The present research hypothesized that women encouraged to engage in self-blame for sex discrimination would be more likely to endorse accepting their situation or endorse the use of individual, normative actions. In contrast, women encouraged to engage in societal blame for sex discrimination would be more likely to participate in non-normative actions aimed at enhancing the status of the group as a whole. Female students in Canada were subjected to a situation of discrimination and were encouraged …