Kerry Kawakami | York University (original) (raw)

Papers by Kerry Kawakami

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012

The self-concept is one of the main organizing constructs in the behavioral sciences because it i... more The self-concept is one of the main organizing constructs in the behavioral sciences because it influences how people interpret their environment, the choices they make, whether and how they initiate action, and the pursuit of specific goals. Because belonging to social groups and feeling interconnected is critical to human survival, the authors propose that people spontaneously change their working self-concept so that they are more similar to salient social categories. Specifically, 4 studies investigated whether activating a variety of social categories (i.e., jocks, hippies, the overweight, Blacks, and Asians) increased associations between the self and the target category. Whereas Studies 1 and 2 focused on associations between stereotypic traits and the self, Studies 3 and 4 examined self-perceptions and selfcategorizations, respectively. The results provide consistent evidence that following social category priming, people synchronized the self to the activated category. Furthermore, the findings indicate that factors that influence category activation, such as social goals, and factors that induce a focus on the interconnectedness of the self, such as an interdependent vs. independent self-construal, can impact this process. The implications of changes to the working self-concept for intergroup relations are discussed.

On becoming Batman: The impact of threat induced uncertainty on the likelihood of taking action

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000

Nucleic Acids Research, 1996

The cDNA clones encoding ARE (Na,K-ATPase α1 subunit gene regulatory element) binding protein ARE... more The cDNA clones encoding ARE (Na,K-ATPase α1 subunit gene regulatory element) binding protein AREC3 were isolated from myoblast C2C12 cells and mouse skeletal muscle cDNA library. At least four alternatively spliced forms of AREC3 cDNA were identified. Sequence analysis indicates that AREC3 has an extensive homology with the Drosophila sine oculis gene product required for development of the entire visual system [Cheyette et al. (1994) Neuron 12, 977-996]. The homologous region including a homeodomain is required for specific DNA binding to ARE. A transactivation domain was identified in the C-terminal part of the AREC3 by reporter gene assays using GAL4-AREC3 fusion protein constructs. Immunohistochemistry revealed that AREC3 localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm of myoblast C2C12 cells, and the production of AREC3 is augmented during muscle differentiation. Western blot analysis indicated that the 115 kDa form of AREC3 protein is increased in the cytoplasmic extract, and the 67 kDa form is increased both in nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts of C2C12 cells during muscle differentiation.

Journal of The National Cancer Institute, 2000

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) locus on chromosome 5q21-22 shows frequent loss of heterozyg... more The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) locus on chromosome 5q21-22 shows frequent loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in esophageal carcinomas. However, the prevalence of truncating mutations in the APC gene in esophageal carcinomas is low. Because hypermethylation of promoter regions is known to affect several other tumor suppressor genes, we investigated whether the APC promoter region is hypermethylated in esophageal cancer patients and whether this abnormality could serve as a prognostic plasma biomarker. Methods: We assayed DNA from tumor tissue and matched plasma from esophageal cancer patients for hypermethylation of the promoter region of the APC gene. We used the maximal chi-square statistic to identify a discriminatory cutoff value for hypermethylated APC DNA levels in plasma and used bootstrap-like simulations to determine the P value to test for the strength of this association. This cutoff value was used to generate Kaplan-Meier survival curves. All P values were based on two-sided tests. Results: Hypermethylation of the promoter region of the APC gene occurred in abnormal esophageal tissue in 48 (92%) of 52 patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, in 16 (50%) of 32 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and in 17 (39.5%) of 43 patients with Barrett's metaplasia but not in matching normal esophageal tissues. Hypermethylated APC DNA was observed in the plasma of 13 (25%) of 52 adenocarcinoma patients and in two (6.3%) of 32 squamous carcinoma patients. High plasma levels of methylated APC DNA were statistically significantly associated with reduced patient survival (P = .016). Conclusion: The APC promoter region was hypermethylated in tumors of the majority of patients with primary esophageal adenocarcinomas. Levels of hypermethylated APC gene DNA in the plasma may be a useful biomarker of biologically aggressive disease in esophageal adenocarcinoma patients and should be evaluated as a potential biomarker in additional tumor types. [J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92:1805-11] Fig. 4.

On the Nature of Prejudice: Automatic and Controlled Processes

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1997

The present research, involving three experiments, examined the existence of implicit attitudes o... more The present research, involving three experiments, examined the existence of implicit attitudes of Whites toward Blacks, investigated the relationship between explicit measures of racial prejudice and implicit measures of racial attitudes, and explored the relationship of explicit and ...

Intergroup Contact: The Past, Present, and the Future

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2003

The Contact Hypothesis has long been considered one of psychology's most effective strategie... more The Contact Hypothesis has long been considered one of psychology's most effective strategies for improving intergroup relations. In this article, we review the history of the development of the Contact Hypothesis, and then we examine recent developments in this area. Specifically, ...

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002

The present research examined how implicit racial associations and explicit racial attitudes of W... more The present research examined how implicit racial associations and explicit racial attitudes of Whites relate to behaviors and impressions in interracial interactions. Specifically, the authors examined how response latency and self-report measures predicted bias and perceptions of bias in verbal and nonverbal behavior exhibited by Whites while they interacted with a Black partner. As predicted, Whites' self-reported racial attitudes significantly predicted bias in their verbal behavior to Black relative to White confederates. Furthermore, these explicit attitudes predicted how much friendlier Whites felt that they behaved toward White than Black partners. In contrast, the response latency measure significantly predicted Whites' nonverbal friendliness and the extent to which the confederates and observers perceived bias in the participants' friendliness.

Racial Prejudice and Stereotype Activation

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1998

... Abstract. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the interrelationships among ... more ... Abstract. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the interrelationships among preudice and the endorsement and activation of cultural stereotypes. The endorsement of stereotypes was examined using an attribution estimate measure. ...

Just say no (to stereotyping): Effects of training in the negation of stereotypic associations on stereotype activation

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000

The primary aim of the present research was to examine the effect of training in negating stereot... more The primary aim of the present research was to examine the effect of training in negating stereotype associations on stereotype activation. Across 3 studies, participants received practice in negating stereotypes related to skinhead and racial categories. The subsequent automatic activation of stereotypes was measured using either a primed Stroop task (Studies I and 2) or a person categorization task (Study 3). The results demonstrate that when receiving no training or training in a nontarget category stereotype, participants exhibited spontaneous stereotype activation. After receiving an extensive amount of training related to a specific category, however, participants demonstrated reduced stereotype activation. The results from the training task provide further evidence for the impact of practice on participants' proficiency in negating stereotypes.

Why Can't We Just Get Along? Interpersonal Biases and Interracial Distrust

Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2002

The authors review a series of studies that illustrate how one form of contemporary racial bias o... more The authors review a series of studies that illustrate how one form of contemporary racial bias of Whites, aversive racism, can shape different perspectives of Blacks and Whites in ways that can undermine race relations. This research demonstrates that contemporary racism among Whites is subtle, often unintentional, and unconscious but that its effects are systematically damaging to race relations by fostering miscommunication and distrust. In particular, the authors examine the effects of aversive racism on outcomes for Blacks (e.g., in selection decisions), on the ways that Whites behave in interracial interactions, in the impressions that Whites and Blacks form of each other in these interactions, and on the task efficiency of interracial dyads.