Jamie Yellowtail

Title:
Explanations for sexual violence: Do they differ for Native and White women?

Abstract:
Native American women experience higher rates of sexual violence than women of any other race or ethnicity in the United States. Over half of Native American women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and approximately 1 in 3 Native American women have been raped, a rate almost twice that reported by non-Hispanic White women (Rosay, 2016). Yet, Native women are often overlooked in national conversations about sexual violence (e.g., the #MeToo movement). This omission precludes understanding of why Native women face disproportionately high rates of violence and what interventions are needed to end this violence. We theorized that the reluctance to address the disproportionate sexual violence Native women experience stems in part from differences in how people explain experiences of rape among Native compared to other women. For example, prior research demonstrates that negative racial stereotypes shape the extent to which people perceive women of color to be “legitimate” victims. We anticipated that explanations of Native (compared to White) women’s experiences of rape would similarly reflect racial biases. Using a mixed method design, we explored individuals’ beliefs about why Native (versus White) women experience high rates of sexual violence. Although data collection is still ongoing (target N = 600 non-Native US adults), this talk will showcase preliminary findings and implications for support for action, reform, and resources for victims.

Savannah Adams

Title:
Investigating the roles of moral dimensions in social selection

Abstract:
The goal of this research is to investigate how people consider morality when choosing individuals to fill the various social roles in their lives. Current research on morality recognizes the existence of various dimensions of moral behavior, however the implications of these moral motivations for behavior pose new questions about what effects these might have on selecting good social partners. For example, are some morality dimensions more important than others when forming social judgments? Additionally, in the instance of potential conflict between these moral dimensions, are certain moral dimensions given priority when forming opinions of others? This talk will explore these questions and present the current state of stimuli development for a chain of studies that aims to glean how morality informs social selection across contexts.

Tong Suo

Title:
Will Purpose in Life Buffer Stress? Moderation by Culture and Social Status

Abstract:
Prior evidence suggests that people who hold a purpose in life are more resilient to adversity. So far, however, this evidence is limited to either self-reported negative emotion or lab-based physiological assessment. It is thus unclear whether purpose in life might predict
reduced physiological stress responses in daily life. Moreover, little is known about who might benefit most from the purpose in life. Here, we addressed these gaps by examining the flattening of diurnal cortisol slopes in Americans and Japanese (N = 989 in total). For Americans, purpose in life predicted a steeper diurnal cortisol slope (indicative of lower daily stress). Moreover, this effect was particularly pronounced for those low in social status. For Japanese, there was no effect of purpose regardless of social status. Our evidence shows that purpose in life can buffer stress, but its stress-buffering potential depends crucially on both culture and social status.