Janet K. Swim - US grants

Research has shown that members of stigmatized groups will be particularly vigilant to cues that they or other members of their group are the victims of prejudice and discrimination. At the same time, however, it has also been shown that members of stigmatized groups are frequently unwilling to indicate that they have personally been the target of prejudice or discrimination, except when that discrimination is blatant. It has also been found that members of minority groups are particularly sensitive to discrimination directed at other members of their social group, but do not generally perceive that discrimination has occurred to them personally. Taken together, these findings suggest that stigmatized group members are both highly concerned about the occurrence of discrimination at large, and yet at the same time, when such discrimination actually occurs to them, they do not notice it, interpret it as due to some factor other than discrimination, or simply deny it.

Such paradoxical findings have both empirical and practical interest from a social psychological perspective. Understanding how and when individuals perceive discrimination has important implications for both the psychological health of the affected individuals, as well as the quality of cross-category social interactions and behavior. If individuals from stigmatized groups misperceive (either by over- or under-estimating) that events that occur to them are discriminatory, they may inappropriately avoid situations or individuals who are not in fact biased toward them, or may be unprepared to cope with or respond to true discrimination. Either error may have profound consequences for their well being, because perceptions of discrimination are associated with negative health outcomes. Furthermore, disagreements in perceptions of discrimination between or among individuals may lead to potential misunderstandings in intergroup relationships, and understanding these disagreements could help relieve some of this tension.

This project tests a 3-stage social-cognitive model of the perceptions of discrimination that can be used to understand the perceptions (or misperceptions) of discrimination on the part of stigmatized and non-stigmatized group members. The model proposes that individuals may or may not initially become suspicious that a behavior might be discriminatory, and secondarily they may or may not interpret the event as being caused by discrimination. Finally, they may choose either to report or not to report the discrimination publicly. Furthermore, it is proposed that the same contextual factors that increase perceptions of discrimination at one stage (for instance, initial perceptions), may simultaneously decrease its later interpretation or reporting. Unlike prior explanations, which only predict main effects of contextual variables on perceptions, the current approach predicts that different contexts will have different influences on sensitivity to discrimination, depending upon the stage being considered.

The sustainability of the earth and its living systems are being challenged by the impacts of human consumption. Past research indicates that women report being more concerned than men about environmental problems. Upon closer examination, however, the gender differences are nuanced and complex. For instance, behaviors that minimize the impact of human consumption on the environment tend to be stereotypically associated with either men (e.g., installing low-flow aerators in faucets) or women (e.g., decorating rooms with light colors that reflect daylight). In addition, messages designed to inspire pro-environmental actions do so via the arousal of emotions that may be stereotypically associated with either men (e.g., anger) or women (e.g., worry). The lab experiments and representative survey studies contained in this proposal examine whether the gendered nature of environmentally relevant behaviors and emotions affect men and women's environmental attitudes and behaviors. More specifically, the PIs propose that gender matching, or the tendency for people to prefer behaviors and emotions that match their respective gender roles, can help explain gender differences in environmental engagement.

Compared to femininity, however, masculinity is more restrictive, must be continual asserted, and is readily susceptible to threats when engaging in gender mismatched behaviors. These characteristics of masculinity could make gender matching more important for men than women, especially among men for whom being masculine is more important. This could often result in men's greater resistance to pro-environmental behaviors and emotions. Finally, when masculinity is threatened, men respond with efforts to restore their masculinity which could include competitive behaviors and risk taking that could harm the environment.

Based on this analysis, the PIs propose to test three novel theoretical propositions that specify linkages between masculinity and environmental engagement. First, because masculinity is a cherished social identity for men, the tendency to support pro-environmental behaviors that are gender consistent (e.g., organic solutions for women, technological solutions for men) is stronger for men than women. Second, men who have internalized cultural ideals of masculinity will be particularly likely to resist gender mismatched environmental engagement. Third, when masculinity is threatened, men will be more willing to engage in environmentally damaging and risky behaviors because these behaviors are consistent with masculine role norms.

This research provides a needed theoretical framework to explain cultural influences on individual environmentally relevant behaviors. At an applied level, the proposed studies address an inherently important social problem (sustainability). This research will also involve women and minority students as undergraduate and graduate student research assistants. Students will be trained in research methods, critical thinking and data analyses and will be mentored in making their presentation of scientific findings from this research. Our findings will be published in scientific journals and be useful for businesses and government agencies who are attempting to engage the public in environmentally responsible behavior.

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a 9-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum. The Belmont Forum is a consortium of research funding organizations representing over 55 countries focused on support for transdisciplinary approaches to global environmental change challenges and opportunities. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. Each partner country provides funding for their researchers within a consortium to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in consortia that consist of partners from at least three of the participating countries. The research teams will work to identify sustainable pathways to help alleviate the increasing and unprecedented pressure on the natural resources that interact to provide sustainable life support systems and essential benefits to societies such as food production and water quality and quantity. The impacts of changes in land management and urbanization will be evaluated to develop sustainable soils and groundwater management options that will help create and maintain sustainable terrestrial ecosystems.

The project seeks to develop a global transdisciplinary platform for understanding the impacts of land abandonment on sustainability of soil and water resources. Land abandonment and subsequent land use or land cover change can have profound implications for water resources, as the changing fabric of the Critical Zone dictates changes in infiltration, runoff, and the delivery of sediment and nitrogen to groundwater and surface waters. The project team will describe social and natural forcing functions that drive land abandonment and subsequent land use change; and quantify impacts on water quality due to this abandonment. The team will also identify gaps in understanding of the impacts and those perceived by stakeholders so that land use change can be better understood and modeled. The team will use this information to develop a modeling framework to assess sustainability of various land use and land abandonment scenarios in the context of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.