The reward value of stereotypes: Evaluating the contribution of the neural reward circuitry to the persistence of stereotypes

Project Information

Rewarding Stereotype

Grant agreement ID: 838282

DOI

10.3030/838282

Project closed

EC signature date 24 April 2019

Start date 1 September 2019

End date 12 February 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 185 464,32

EU contribution

€ 185 464,32

Coordinated by

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
Israel

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Rewarding Stereotype (The reward value of stereotypes: Evaluating the contribution of the neural reward circuitry to the persistence of stereotypes)

Reporting period: 2019-09-01 to 2021-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Stereotypes guide many of our social interactions. At times, existing schemas about groups of people can help to diminish the extensive efforts associated with processing detailed multi-modal information about an individual we are interacting with. However, this benefit comes with a cost. Stereotypes often generalize inaccurate notions and attribute certain traits or characteristics to individuals regardless of whether these individuals possess or display trait-relevant behaviors. Consequently, stereotypes often bear detrimental outcomes for stereotyped individuals. Aware of these costs, social scientists continuously attempt to find ways to reduce the impact of stereotypes and their prominence. The current project suggests that to provide a sustainable mechanism for reducing stereotypes, we need to better understand what makes stereotypes so appealing.

The overall objective of this project was to combine behavior, neuroimaging, and computational studies to investigate the contribution of the neural reward circuitry to the pervasiveness of stereotypes. Building on several theoretical leads, the project proposed that seeing a stereotype, and particularly seeing that stereotype confirmed, triggers a neurobiological reward reaction akin to the response elicited by receiving money, eating good food, or having sex. The project aimed to test this hypothesis using complementary methods, allowing a well-rounded examination of the hypothesis.

The putative sensitivity of stereotypes to rewards could open promising avenues towards mitigating the adverse effects of stereotypes. Understanding the neurobiological basis supporting the persistence of stereotypes would allow researchers in and outside academia to develop scalable efforts to help institutions and individuals alike overcome the allure of stereotype confirmation. Effective communication of these efforts holds the potential for a long-term improvement of society.

Unfortunately, the bulk of this action took place during the COVID-19 pandemic which has severely limited research with human participants; the proposed studies did not take place as initially planned. Therefore, the conclusions of this action are partial. Building on related work, we found that people value confirmation of gender stereotypes in the context of Israeli gender stereotypes, as evident in the amount of money people are willing to forego to see stereotypical information. We analyzed data collected prior to COVID-19 and found that confirmation of stereotypes triggers activity in the neural reward circuitry, as suggested in the action. Together, the work done within the action suggests that confirmation of stereotypes triggers a reward-like response that can, in turn, explain why stereotypes are so persistent.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Stimuli creation: a total of approximately 400 unique statements were created. Half of the statements pertained to gender stereotypes, half to ethnic stereotypes (stereotypes about Jews and Arabs).
Stimuli pilots: a total of 530 participants (mean age = 31.06 50% women, a Jewish sample) rated the gender statements, and 290 participants (mean age = 30.6 47% women, a Jewish sample) rated the ethnic statements. Participants were recruited in several rounds. Participants rated each statement on how compatible the statement was for a specific social category (men or women for gender statements, Jews or Arabs for ethnic statements). Each participant rated each statement on compatibility with a specific group. The final set of stimuli included 240 statements. Forty masculine-stereotype statements, 40 feminine-stereotypes statements, 40 gender-neutral statements, 40 Jew-stereotype statements, 40 Arab-stereotype statements, and 40 ethnicity-neutral statements. Stereotype-relevant statements were chosen based on a minimal difference of 20 points (on a 0-100 scale) between the two relevant social categories and a minimum score of 50 for the stereotypical statements. Stereotype-neutral statements were defined as statements with a difference of no more than 11 points (on the same 0-100 scale).
Paradigm pilots and execution: Two complementary paradigms were tested. First, a behavioral paradigm aiming to examine how much money people are willing to forego to see stereotypical information (for a related paradigm, see Reggev et al., 2021). Including all pilots, 220 participants completed the paradigm. Results are currently being analyzed. Initial results show that participants are willing to forgo money to see stereotypical information instead of counter-stereotypical information; however, when faced with an alternative (solving easy trivia questions), participants preferred the trivia question over both stereotypical and counter-stereotypical information (the preference was stronger for trivia comparted to counter-stereotypical information). Given this surprising results, our lab is currently conducting two additional studies to explore and rule out alternative explanations.
The second paradigm was planned as an fMRI-compatible paradigm. Approximately 45 participants completed various versions of the paradigm in the lab to fine-tune the display and timing parameters. As COVID-19 severely disrupted behavioral and neuroimaging experiments, we are currently collecting neuroimaging from this paradigm and do not have results yet. The decision not to analyze the data prior to data collection completion is necessary to ensure an unbiased interpretation of the data and unbiased collection termination decision.
Unfortunately, the setbacks described above have prevented the conclusion of the studies included in the action and, therefore, the action did not directly result in publications.
In parallel, working on this action indirectly contributed to thinking, writing, and publishing related results (Reggev et al., 2021; Mokady & Reggev, 2022). I have presented these results at conferences (the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience annual meeting, 2021; the Israeli Cognitive Psychology annual meeting, 2020) and at departmental colloquia in Israel (at the Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv University, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience) and abroad (at Harvard University). Furthermore, the stimuli developed a part of the action serve several additional lines of work in my laboratory.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This project is the first to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms that support the value people attribute to stereotypical thinking. By focusing on a concrete mechanism, this project seeks to provide a candidate target for alleviating the detrimental impacts associated with stereotypes. Identifying a mechanism and successfully manipulating it holds great promise to improve the lives of numerous individuals in the European Union and around the globe. Capitalizing on the insight that confirmation of stereotypes imbues a reward response equivalent to monetary gains will allow governments, institutions, and individuals to construct systems negating or overcoming the involuntary reward response. Focusing on the causal tole of the reward mechanism in the process of stereotype maintenance can fundamentally change how societies deal with the marginalization of individuals and the adverse impacts of stereotypes. More broadly, understanding the rewarding value of expectation confirmation can help to understand and overcome barriers associated with prior beliefs, including in topics such as vaccine hesitancy or denial of climate change.

Figure 1 from Mokady & Reggev, 2022, work related to the action.