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Disambiguating discriminatory acts of typical versus atypical perpetrators: the moderating role of need for cognitive closure
Author(s) -
Bucchianeri Michaela M.,
Corning Alexandra F.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12027
Subject(s) - executor , psychology , moderation , closure (psychology) , situational ethics , cognition , trait , social psychology , cognitive psychology , political science , computer science , law , neuroscience , programming language
Three studies tested the interaction of the prototype effect, the notion that ambiguous behavior is more likely to be perceived as discriminatory when the executor is prototypical; and the need for cognitive closure, the tendency to seize on an answer. Study 1 provided bolstering evidence of the prototype effect's moderation by need for cognitive closure. Ambiguously sexist behavior enacted by a prototypical (male) executor was perceived as more discriminatory than the same behavior exhibited by a nonprototypical (female) executor, and this effect was exacerbated by higher trait levels of need for cognitive closure. In Studies 2 and 3, via situational induction, prototype reliance again was exacerbated, such that it overrode the influence of individual‐difference levels of need for cognitive closure.