1. Stigmas, Stereotypes, Threat, and Cardiovascular Disease
Jim Blascovich
University of California, Santa Barbara
UC-Intercampus Health Psychology Conference Center
December 2, 2000

2. Collaborators Wendy Mendes Sarah Hunter Mark Seery Brian Lickel
Neneh Kowai-Bell

3. Key Motivational States
Challenge
when personal resources roughly equal or outweigh situational demands
Threat
when situational demands outweigh personal resources.

4. Demand Components
Danger
Uncertainty
Required Effort

5. Resource Components Knowledge, skills, & abilities Dispositions
External Support

6. Affective
(Emotional)
Evaluation
Challenge/
Threat
Performance
Situation
Cognitive
(Semantic)
Evaluation

7. (Dienstbier, 1989) Physiological Toughness
neuro-endocrine system
states
physiological toughness
physiological (weakness)

8. Physiological Toughness SAM Axis
Neural Response
sympathetic neural stimulation of the myocardium enhancing cardiac performance particularly contractility
Endocrine Response
adrenal medullary release of epinephrine causing vasodilation resulting in a systemic decline in vascular resistance
Benign

9. Physiological Weakness PAC Axis
Neural
sympathetic neural stimulation of the myocardium enhancing cardiac performance
Endocrine
pituitary adrenal cortical inhibition of adrenal medullary release of epinephrine and norepinephrine resulting in little change or even increases in systemic vascular resistance
Malignant

13. Key Motivational States
Challenge--when resources roughly equal or outweigh demands
indexed by Dienstbier’s pattern of physiological toughness
Threat--when demands outweigh resources.
indexed by Dienstbier’s pattern of physiological weakness

14. Motivated Performance Situations
goal relevant
require instrumental cognitive responses to “active coping” tasks
minimally metabolically demanding

15. Examples of Motivated Performance Situations
Taking Exams
Decision Making
Giving Speeches
Playing Games
Interviews
Many Social Exchanges

16. Validational Studies
correlational
experimental
manipulated physiology

17. Total Peripheral Resistance
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Correlational
(Tomaka, Blascovich, Kelsey, & Leitten, 1996)

18. Validational Studies (see Blascovich & Tomaka, 1996, for a review).
correlational
experimental
manipulated physiology

19. Total Peripheral Resistance
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Experimental Manipulation
(Sarah Hunter, 2000)

20. Total Peripheral Resistance
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Experimental Manipulation
(Mendes, Blascovich, Weisbuch, Seery, in prep)

21. Validational Studies (see Blascovich & Tomaka, 1996, for a review).
correlational
experimental
manipulated physiology

22. NO EFFECTS!

23. Application of Indexes
Attitudes (Blascovich, et al., 1993)
Dispositions (Tomaka & Blascovich, 1994; Tomaka et al, 1999)
Social Support (Allen & Blascovich, 1991, 1999)
Social Facilitation (Blascovich, Mendes, Hunter & Lickel, 1999)
Social Comparison (Mendes, Blascovich, Major, & Seery, under review)

24. Stigma and Threat
Many theorists assume that perceivers are threatened by bearers of social stigmas
Little evidence to support this basic theoretical assumption
problems with past attempts at physiological measures
problems with other types of measures especially self-report

25. Social Interaction Paradigm
Partner a participant with a confederate who is either stigmatized or not stigmatized
Immerse them in dyadic motivated performance situations
Record physiological (cardiovascular) response marking challenge and threat

26. Procedures
Participant and confederate meet and exchange background information
Participant and confederate are separated and physiological sensors applied and baseline recordings made (of participant)
Participants engage in a one or two tasks

27. Speech

28. Cooperative
Wordfinding
Task

29. Measures (all continuous)
Impedance Cardiographic
pre-ejection period (PEP) = contractile force
cardiac-output (CO) = blood volume per minute
Electrocardiographic
electrocardiogram (ECG)
Hemodynamic
mean arterial blood pressure (MAP)
Vascular
total peripheral resistance (TPR)

30. Stigma-Threat Studies (Perceiver)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark

32. Experiment 1- Speech Delivery
Blascovich et al. (in press)

33. Experiment 1- Speech Delivery Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Experiment 1- Speech Delivery
Blascovich et al. (in press)

34. Experiment 1- Speech Delivery Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Experiment 1- Speech Delivery
Blascovich et al. (in press)

35. Total Peripheral Resistance
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Experiment 1- Speech Delivery
Blascovich et al. (in press)

36. Experiment 1- Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

37. Experiment 1- Word Finding Task Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Experiment 1- Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

38. Experiment 1- Word Finding Task Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Experiment 1- Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

39. Total Peripheral Resistance
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Experiment 1- Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

40. Experiment 1- Word Finding Task Blascovich et al. (in press)
Number of Words Generated
Experiment 1- Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

41. Stigma-Threat Studies (Perceiver)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 2 -- Facial Birthmark

42. Experiment 2 - Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

43. Experiment 2 - Word Finding Task Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Experiment 2 - Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

44. Experiment 2 - Word Finding Task Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Experiment 2 - Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

45. Total Peripheral Resistance
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
Cardiac Output (L/m)
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Experiment 2 - Word Finding Task
Blascovich et al. (in press)

46. Blascovich et al. (in press)
Number of Words Generated
Experiment 2
Blascovich et al. (in press)

47. Stigma-Threat Studies (Perceiver)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 2 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 3 -- Race & SES (males)

48. Blascovich et al. (in prep)
TPR CO
PEP
Experiment 3 - Speech
Blascovich et al. (in prep)

49. Blascovich et al. (in prep)
TPR CO
PEP
TPR CO
PEP
Experiment 3 - Speech
Blascovich et al. (in prep)

50. Experiment 3 - Word Finding Blascovich et al. (in prep)
TPR CO
PEP
Experiment 3 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in prep)

51. Experiment 3 - Word Finding Blascovich et al. (in prep)
TPR CO
PEP
TPR CO
PEP
Experiment 3 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in prep)

52. Stigma-Threat Studies (Perceiver)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 2 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 3 -- Race & SES (males)
Experiment 4 -- Race & SES (females)

53. Experiment 4 - Word Finding Blascovich et al. (in press)
TPR CO
PEP
Experiment 4 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in press)

54. Experiment 4 - Word Finding Blascovich et al. (in press)
TPR CO
PEP
TPR CO
PEP
Experiment 4 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in press)

55. Experiment 4 - Word Finding Blascovich et al. (in press)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
b = -1.2
b = 3.9**
Experiment 4 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in press)

56. Experiment 4 - Word Finding Blascovich et al. (in prep)
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
b = .21t
Cardiac Output (L/m)
b = -1.2
b = 3.9**
Experiment 4 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in prep)

57. Total Peripheral Resistance
b = .07
Pre-ejection Period (sec*-1)
b = .21t
Cardiac Output (L/m)
b = -1.2
b = 3.9**
b = -58.6*
b = -18.2
Total Peripheral Resistance
(Resistance Units)
Experiment 4 - Word Finding
Blascovich et al. (in press)

58. Effect Size Summary .16 -- .10 .18 .05 .33 .20 .27 .30 .18 .15 Speech
Wordfinding
Exp. 1
Exp. 2
Exp. 3
Race
Status
Exp. 4
.16 --
.10
.18
.05
.33
.20
.27
.30
.18
.15

59. Stigma-Threat Studies (Bearer)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark

60. TPR Cardiovascular Reactivity from the first minute of Speech Delivery
by Perceptions of Stigmatization
msec* -1 CO
PEP
TPR
dyne-s*cm-5
Mendes & Blascovich, in prep.
Cohen’s d = .61; Multivariate F = 2.78, p < .03

61. Stigma-Threat Studies (Bearer)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 2 -- Race

62. Cardiovascular Reactivity during the first minute of the Word-Finding
by Race of Participant (all cooperating with a White evaluator)
msec* -1 CO
PEP
TPR
dyne-s*cm-5
Mendes & Blascovich, in prep.
Cohen’s d = .52; Multivariate F = 4.15, p < .002

63. Stigma-Threat Studies (Bearer)
Experiment 1 -- Facial Birthmark
Experiment 2 -- Race
Experiment 3 -- Stereotype Threat

64. Blascovich, Spencer, Quinn, & Steele, in press
Stereotype Threat Theory
Rationale
Design
Procedures
Results

65. Blascovich, Spencer, Quinn, & Steele, in press

66. Implications Stigmas are threatening.
perceivers
bearers
Interactions involving members of stigmatized groups
likely to be aversive to individuals involved
psychologically
cardiovascular health
likely to lead to negatively toned behaviors

67. Implications for Stigma Interventions
decreasing demand evaluations
danger
uncertainty
required effort
increase resource evaluations
knowledge, skills, and abilities
dispositions
external support