Sense of Control and Self-stereotyping: The Role of Need for Structure

The current study involved two experiments that examined the relationships between lack of control, need for structure, and self-stereotyping in older adults. Specifically, Study 1 tested whether personal control can affect need for structure and aging self-stereotyping. The low level of control manipulated by the recall paradigm led to increase in the need for structure and negative self-stereotyping. Additionally, the need for structure mediated the effect of lack of control on negative self-stereotyping. Accordingly, we designed Study 2 to assess whether the effect of lack of control on self-stereotyping would disappear if older adults were given the opportunity to satisfy their increased need for structure in another way. Specifically, Study 2 included a structure affirmation task (a 30-piece animal puzzle) after the perceived control manipulation. The results not only were the same as Study 1 but also revealed that providing an alternative structure affirmation task could mitigate the negative effects of lack of control.

本研究包含两项实验，旨在探讨老年人的控制感缺失(lack of control)、结构需求(need for structure)与自我刻板印象(self-stereotyping)之间的关联。具体而言，实验1旨在检验个人控制感是否会对结构需求及老年自我刻板印象(aging self-stereotyping)产生影响。通过回忆范式(recall paradigm)操纵的低控制感条件，会提升个体的结构需求并引发消极自我刻板印象。此外，结构需求在控制感缺失对消极自我刻板印象的影响中起到了中介作用。据此，我们设计了实验2，以评估当老年人有机会通过其他方式满足其提升后的结构需求时，控制感缺失对自我刻板印象的影响是否会消失。具体而言，实验2在感知控制操纵环节后，增设了一项结构确认任务(structure affirmation task)——即30片装动物拼图。实验结果不仅与实验1保持一致，还表明提供替代性结构确认任务，可缓解控制感缺失带来的消极影响。