ERIC Number: EJ1436722
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
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EISSN: EISSN-2056-7936
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Integrating Stereotypes and Factual Evidence in Interpersonal Communication
Saskia B. J. Koch; Anna Tyborowska; Hannah C. M. Niermann; Antonius H. N. Cillessen; Karin Roelofs; Jana Bašnáková; Ivan Toni; Arjen Stolk
npj Science of Learning, v9 Article 52 2024
Stereotypes can exert a powerful influence on our interactions with others, potentially leading to prejudice when factual evidence is ignored. Here, we identify neuroanatomical and developmental factors that influence the real-time integration of stereotypes and factual evidence during live social interactions. The study uses precisely quantified communicative exchanges in a longitudinal cohort of seventeen-year-olds followed since infancy, testing their ability to moderate stereotype tendencies toward children as contrary evidence accumulates. Our results indicate that the impact of stereotypes on communicative behavior is linked to individual variations in gray matter density and cortical thickness in the right anterior cingulate gyrus. In contrast, the ability to moderate stereotype tendencies is influenced by developmental exposure to social interactions during the initial years of life, beyond the effects of familial environment and later experiences. These findings pinpoint a key brain structure underlying stereotype tendencies and suggest that early-life social experiences have lasting consequences on how individuals integrate factual evidence in interpersonal communication.
Descriptors: Stereotypes, Evidence, Interpersonal Communication, Adolescents, Longitudinal Studies, Adolescent Attitudes, Attitude Change, Cognitive Processes, Brain, Cognitive Structures, Early Experience
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
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Language: English
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