“Treating” Prejudice: An Exposure-Therapy Approach to Reducing Negative Reactions Toward Stigmatized Groups.

Birtel, Michele D.; Crisp, Richard J.

Abstract

One of the ways in which therapists treat anxiety disorders is to expose patients to a fear-evoking stimulus within a safe environment before encouraging more positive stimulus-related thoughts. In the study reported here, we adapted these psychotherapeutic principles of exposure therapy to test the hypothesis that imagining a positive encounter with a member of a stigmatized group would be more likely to promote positive perceptions when it was preceded by an imagined negative encounter. The results of three experiments targeting a range of stigmatized groups (adults with schizophrenia, gay men, and British Muslims) supported this hypothesis. Compared with purely positive interventions, interventions in which a single negative encounter was imagined just prior to imagining a positive encounter resulted in significantly reduced prejudice. Furthermore, reduced anxiety uniquely derived from the mixed-valence imagery task statistically explained enhanced intentions to engage positively with the previously stigmatized group in the future.

Citation

Birtel, M. D., & Crisp, R. J. (2012). “Treating” Prejudice: An Exposure-Therapy Approach to Reducing Negative Reactions Toward Stigmatized Groups. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1379-1386. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612443838

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 4, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Sep 27, 2012
• Publication Date: 2012-11
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2017
• Journal: Psychological Science
• Print ISSN: 0956-7976
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9280
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 1379-1386
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612443838
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1370456