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. 2024 Jun;77(6):1312-1331.
doi: 10.1177/17470218231196861. Epub 2023 Sep 8.

Performance-related feedback as a strategy to overcome spontaneous occupational stereotypes

Eimear Finnegan  1   2 , Alan Garnham  1 , Jane Oakhill  1
Affiliations

Performance-related feedback as a strategy to overcome spontaneous occupational stereotypes

Eimear Finnegan et al. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2024 Jun.

Abstract

This article investigates the use of performance-related feedback as a strategy for overcoming spontaneous occupational stereotyping when certain social role nouns and professional terms are read. Across two studies participants were presented with two terms: a role noun (e.g., surgeon) and a kinship term (e.g., mother) and asked to quickly decide whether both terms could refer to the same person. The feedback training involved telling participants whether their responses were correct or incorrect and providing them with their cumulative percentage correct score. In the absence of feedback, responding to stereotype-incongruent pairings was typically slower and less accurate than in stereotype-congruent and neutral conditions. However, the results demonstrated that performance significantly improved to stimuli on which participants received the feedback training (Experiment 1), and to a novel set of stimuli (Experiment 2). In addition, the effects were still evident 1 week later (Experiment 2). It is concluded that performance-related feedback is a valuable strategy for overcoming spontaneous activation of occupational stereotypes and can result in lower levels of stereotype use.

Keywords: Occupational stereotypes; performance feedback; stereotype reduction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Experiment 1: mean accuracy to critical word pairs across blocks in the training and no training conditions. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Experiment 1: mean response times to critical word pairs across blocks in the training and no training conditions. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Experiment 2: mean accuracy to critical word pairs across blocks. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Experiment 2: mean response times to critical word pairs across blocks. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Mean accuracy to critical word pairs across blocks in all three conditions. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Mean response times to critical word pairs across blocks in all three conditions. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
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