Understanding the Consequences of Interpersonal Confrontation: The Role of Goal Pursuit in Men's Responses to Being Confronted as Sexist

<p>Research investigating interpersonal outcomes resulting from confrontation of bias shows mixed results. Some studies show that men expect to react harshly when imagining confrontation (Saunders & Senn, 2009), whereas other research finds that men often react well when actually confronted (Mallett & Wagner, 2011). The current studies investigated this inconsistency by exploring the role of men's interaction goals on men's goal-directed compensation and interpersonal outcomes following confrontation. In Study 1, I measured accessibility of three goals (liking, respect, egalitarian) after men either imagined or experienced confrontation for sexist or uninformed behavior (gender-neutral). An egalitarian goal was the most accessible goal when men experienced confrontation for sexism, supporting the idea that actual confrontation leads to other-focus. Further supporting the assertion that general and imagined threats lead to self-focus (Crocker, 2008), a respect goal was uniquely accessible when men imagined gender-neutral confrontation. In Study 2, men were primed with either an other-oriented liking goal or a self-oriented respect goal. I then observed men's self-promoting or ingratiating compensation following confrontation for sexism or uninformed behavior by a female interaction partner. Confrontation for sexism elicited immediate ingratiation from men, but neither confrontation affected self-promotion. Men's ingratiation also mediated the relation between liking goal pursuit and positive interpersonal outcomes. Together, these studies enhance our understanding of men's responses to confrontation.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Wagner, Dana E

• gender relations
• goal pursuit
• goals
• intergroup relations
• interpersonal confrontation
• sexism
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/694

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ecommons.luc.edu:luc_diss-1693