Papers by Katherine Van Allen
Journal of health communication, Jan 6, 2016
Research suggests that communications about racial health disparities may adversely affect Blacks... more Research suggests that communications about racial health disparities may adversely affect Blacks. In this study, we varied the message content (Black-White cardiovascular-related disparities + neutral health topics vs. neutral health topics only) embedded in public service announcements given to Black and White participants (N = 86) and had them complete a purported health self-assessment. We used the number of items completed as a measure of task persistence. Our results showed that participants in the disparities condition completed fewer items on average than participants in the neutral condition (p < .01). Planned contrasts revealed that this effect was driven by the responses of Blacks who completed fewer items in the disparities condition (p < .01), though Whites evinced a comparable condition-based trend (p = .12). We found no Black-White differences in the number of items completed in either of our experimental conditions (ps ≥ .53). Although preliminary, our findings...
Race and Social Problems, 2013
To our knowledge, no published research has developed an individual difference measure of health-... more To our knowledge, no published research has developed an individual difference measure of health-related stereotype threat (HRST). We adapted existing measures of academic stereotype threat to the health domain on a sample of black college students (N = 280). The resulting healthrelated stereotype threat scale-24 (HRST-24) was assessed for internal consistency, construct and incremental validity, and whether it explains variance in self-reported delays among four preventive health behaviors-blood pressure and cholesterol assays, physical exams, and routine checkups. After adjusting for several control variables, the HRST-24's (full scale = 0.96) perceived black health inferiority (18 items; = 0.96) and perceived physician racial bias (6 items; = 0.85) sub-scales explained unique variance in delays among two of the four behaviors including a blood cholesterol check (p < .01) and routine checkup-albeit at marginal levels (p =. 063) in the case of the latter. Overall, these data provide preliminary evidence of construct and incremental validity for the HRST-24 among blacks. Recommendations for administering the scale are provided and future directions for HRST research are discussed.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002
The authors tested the hypothesis that members of stigmatized groups would be unwilling to report... more The authors tested the hypothesis that members of stigmatized groups would be unwilling to report that negative events that occur to them are the result of discrimination when they are in the presence of members of a nonstigmatized group. Supporting this hypothesis, women and African Americans were more likely to report that a failing grade assigned by a man or a European American was caused by discrimination, rather than by their own lack of ability, when they made the judgment privately and in the presence of a fellow stigmatized group member. However, they were more likely to indicate that the cause of the failure was lack of ability, rather than discrimination, when they expected to make these judgments aloud in the presence of a nonstigmatized group member.
European Review of Social Psychology, 2003
Integrative complexity has been shown to influence information-processing and decision-making in ... more Integrative complexity has been shown to influence information-processing and decision-making in different social situations. The present research assessed the effects of group status and cognitive appraisal prime on complexity in a group decision-making context. Experiment 1 assessed group status effects, and Experiment 2 tested whether priming threat or challenge would moderate those effects. Both experiments found that minority members showed greater complexity than majority members. Experiment 2 found that appraisal prime moderated the relationship between status and complexity. Minority members receiving the threat prime were the most complex, while majority members in the threat and control conditions were the least complex. The mediating roles of cognitive appraisal, anxiety, and coping expectancy were assessed, but none were found to be significant mediators of complexity.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2022
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Papers by Katherine Van Allen