Manuela Barreto | University of Exeter (original) (raw)

Papers by Manuela Barreto

European journal of social …, 2006

This paper experimentally examines the effects of passing (versus revealing) a contextually deval... more This paper experimentally examines the effects of passing (versus revealing) a contextually devalued identity on performance-related self-confidence. An experimental scenario was developed on the basis of the results of a pilot study. Studies 1 and 2 (total N = 255) experimentally ...

We examined whether women (N 1⁄4 87) who are exposed to blatant discrimination show different res... more We examined whether women (N 1⁄4 87) who are exposed to blatant discrimination show different responses depending on whether they are rejected with reference to positively (‘‘this is something for men’’) or negatively (‘‘this is nothing for women’’) phrased intergroup differentiation. Based on current insights on responses to discrimination, we predicted and found that those who are exposed to negative differentiation will tend to object to those who rejected them, while positive differentiation is more likely to induce efforts to disprove the validity of the rejection. Female participants facing negative differentiation objected against the discriminatory nature of their rejection and showed cardiovascular reactivity more indicative of threat (and less of challenge) than participants in the positive differentiation condition. In addition, positive differentiation caused participants to disprove the validity of these group-based expectations by claiming the possession of relatively ...

We examined whether women (N = 87) who are exposed to blatant discrimination show different respo... more We examined whether women (N = 87) who are exposed to blatant discrimination show different responses depending on whether they are rejected with reference to positively (“this is something for men”) or negatively (“this is nothing for women”) phrased inter-group differentiation. Based on current insights on responses to discrimination, we predicted and found that those who are exposed to negative differentiation will tend to object to those who rejected them, while positive differentiation is more likely to induce efforts to disprove the validity of the rejection. Female participants facing negative differentiation objected against the discriminatory nature of their rejection, and showed cardiovascular (CV) reactivity more indicative of threat (and less of challenge) than participants in the positive differentiation condition. In addition, positive differentiation caused participants to disprove the validity of these group-based expectations by claiming the possession of relatively...

Previous experimental work showed that young adults reporting loneliness performed less well on e... more Previous experimental work showed that young adults reporting loneliness performed less well on emotion recognition tasks (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy [DANVA-2]) if they were framed as indicators of social aptitude, but not when the same tasks were framed as indexing academic aptitude. Such findings suggested that undergraduates reporting loneliness possessed the social monitoring skills necessary to read the emotions underlying others’ facial expressions, but that they choked under social pressure. It has also been found that undergraduates reporting loneliness have better recall for both positive and negative social information than their non-lonely counterparts. Whether those effects are evident across different age groups has not been examined. Using data from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Loneliness Experiment that included participants aged 16–99 years (N 1⁄4 54,060), we (i) test for replication in a larger worldwide sample and (ii) extend those line...

This contribution reviews the state of the art of research on the effects of prejudice on its tar... more This contribution reviews the state of the art of research on the effects of prejudice on its targets. We structure this review around ongoing debates and core questions that have been guiding this field of research and how these are addressed by recent evidence. We address five central themes that have characterized research on the way prejudice emerges in modern societies, and the impact this has on its targets. First, we examine whether members of devalued groups tend to overor underestimate the extent to which they are targeted by discrimination. Second, we assess the self-protective and harmful effects of perceived discrimination on well-being. Third, we consider whether concealable stigmas are less problematic than visible stigmas. Fourth, we examine whether individual success is helpful or harmful for the disadvantaged group. Finally, as a fifth theme, we review evidence of the social costs of confronting prejudice and highlight the more neglected social benefits of confronta...

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Almost all measures of loneliness have been developed without discussing how to best conceptualiz... more Almost all measures of loneliness have been developed without discussing how to best conceptualize and assess the severity of loneliness. In the current study, we adapted the four-item UCLA, so that it continued to measure frequency of loneliness, but also assessed intensity and duration, providing a measure of other aspects of loneliness severity. Using data from participants resident in the UK who completed the BBC Loneliness Experiment (N = 36,767; F = 69.6%) and Latent Class Profile Analyses, we identified four groups of people who scored high on loneliness on at least one of the three severity measures. Duration of loneliness often over months or years seemed to be particularly important in distinguishing groups. Further, group membership was predicted by important demographic and psychological variables. We discuss the findings in terms of implications for research and practice. We highlight the need to explore these profiles longitudinally to investigate how membership predic...

Archives of Sexual Behavior

Relatively little is known about identity-related resilience factors associated with well-being a... more Relatively little is known about identity-related resilience factors associated with well-being among transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people. Drawing upon theory on stigma-related stress and resilience and work examining group identification as a buffer against discrimination, the aim of the current study was to model perceived discrimination, transgender identification, and gender identity affirmation as predictors of well-being for TGNC people. We also tested whether the positive association between gender identity affirmation and well-being might be explained by the benefits affirmation has for individual self-concept clarity. Participants were 105 TGNC individuals (42% transgender male, 39% transgender female, 19% other gender non-conforming [e.g., non-binary]) recruited through online forums and support groups in the UK and North America who completed an online survey including self-report measures of key constructs. Results from structural equation models demonstr...

Confronting Prejudice and Discrimination

European Journal of Social Psychology

Cohen, & Ferguson, 2001). Sexism can be defined as unequal evaluations and treatment of men and w... more Cohen, & Ferguson, 2001). Sexism can be defined as unequal evaluations and treatment of men and women based on their sex (Swim & Hyers, 2009) and includes a range of daily hassles and negative life events (Klonoff & Landrine, 1995). Sexism affects women negatively in different ways, such as by leading to unfair payment (Petersen & Morgan, 1995) and lack of leadership opportunities (Barreto, Ryan, & Schmitt, 2009; Eagly & Carli, 2007). Moreover, disadvantage in the workplace causes stress and generally negatively affects women's

Social Justice Research, Dec 1, 2017

Giovannelli declares that she has no conflict of interest. Maria Giuseppina Pacilli declares that... more Giovannelli declares that she has no conflict of interest. Maria Giuseppina Pacilli declares that she has no conflict of interest. Stefano Pagliaro declares that he has no conflict of interest. Carlo Tomasetto declares he has not conflict of interest. Manuela Barreto declares she has not conflict of interest.

Personality and Individual Differences

Emotion

Humans generally fear those different to them (i.e. an out-group) in the same way they fear natur... more Humans generally fear those different to them (i.e. an out-group) in the same way they fear natural predators. But fear pushes us to derogate others, whether they constitute a threat or not. Research has examined how fear associated with specific intergroup relations interferes with how individuals relate to in-group and out-group members. However, we know relatively little about how intergroup relations might be affected by incidental emotions. We tested how incidental fear affects empathy towards in-group and out-group members. We found that exposing participants to fearful imagery was sufficient to reduce empathy, but only in response to out-group suffering. We discuss how these findings provide insight into how fear is often leveraged to encourage social tribalism.

Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics

Abstract We evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-week, daily meal provision service by a non-profit... more Abstract We evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-week, daily meal provision service by a non-profit provider on the physical and psychological wellbeing of an older adult population. We further examined the feasibility of carrying out such measures in participant’s homes. 19 older adult participants (8M, 11F; 78.3 ± 8.7 years) received 3 meals per day for 21 days and supplemented these meals ad libitum. Risk of malnutrition (Mini Nutritional Assessment; MNA) body composition, blood pressure, handgrip strength, balance, mobility, loneliness, social capital, satisfaction with life and mood were evaluated in participant’s homes before and after the intervention. Following the intervention, MNA score increased significantly and participants rated themselves as significantly less depressed. We describe a methodology that was largely feasible and outline ways in which it could be improved. We have demonstrated that even short-term, home meal deliveries improve MNA scores and can positively alter some measures of mood.

Social Neuroscience

Individuals feel more empathy for those in their group (i.e. ingroup members) than those who are ... more Individuals feel more empathy for those in their group (i.e. ingroup members) than those who are not (i.e. outgroup members). But empathy is not merely selective to group distinctions, rather it fluctuates according to how groups are perceived. The goal of this research was to determine whether group-based evaluations can drive biases in self-reported empathy as well as in the underlying neural activity. Participants were asked to rate a target's physical pain while BOLD responses were recorded via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The target was either a member of the ingroup or one of two outgroups, one which was more of a rival to the ingroup than the other. Participants reported more empathy for targets experiencing painful compared to innocuous events showing bias only in favour of their ingroup. Neural responses were stronger while observing painful, compared to innocuous, events but only for targets from the ingroup or the less competitive outgroup. The difference was non-significant and trended in the opposite direction when the target was from the more competitive outgroup. This provides evidence that empathy is not merely selective to "us" vs "them" but is more nuanced by whom we refer to by "them".

Frontiers in psychology, 2018

The spread and publicity given to questionable practices in the corporate world during the last t... more The spread and publicity given to questionable practices in the corporate world during the last two decades have fostered an increasing interest about the importance of ethical work for organizations, practitioners, scholars and, last but not least, the wider public. Relying on the Social Identity Approach, we suggest that the effects of different ethical climates on employee behaviors are driven by affective identification with the organization and, in parallel, by cognitive moral (dis)engagement. We compared the effects of two particular ethical climates derived from the literature: An ethical organizational climate of self-interest, and an ethical organizational climate of friendship. Three hundred seventy-six workers completed measures of Ethical Climate, Organizational Identification, Moral Disengagement, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs), and Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWBs). Structural equation modeling confirmed that the two ethical climates considered were ...

Palgrave communications, Jan 15, 2018

Despite extraordinary advances in biomedicine and associated gains in human health and well-being... more Despite extraordinary advances in biomedicine and associated gains in human health and well-being, a growing number of health and well-being related challenges have remained or emerged in recent years. These challenges are often 'more than biomedical' in complexion, being social, cultural and environmental in terms of their key drivers and determinants, and underline the necessity of a concerted policy focus on generating healthy societies. Despite the apparent agreement on this diagnosis, the means to produce change are seldom clear, even when the turn to health and well-being requires sizable shifts in our understandings of public health and research practices. This paper sets out a platform from which research approaches, methods and translational pathways for enabling health and well-being can be built. The term 'healthy publics' allows us to shift the focus of public health away from 'the public' or individuals as targets for intervention, and away from ...