Black and Hispanic individuals experience disproportionate levels of police contact1 and it has been hypothesized that stereotype threat?the fear of confirming negative stereotypes about one?s group? negatively influences police-minority interactions2-4. It is well documented that experiencing stereotype threat has negative behavioral, affective, cognitive, and health consequences5?possibly accounting for disparities in physical/mental health outcomes among racial/ethnic minorities6. Thus, the broad aim of this study is to examine the role stereotype threat may play in racial/ethnic minority group interactions with police officers. Prior research suggests that stereotype threat acts as an acute stressors and leads to dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis7,8, leading to anxiety9 or aggression10. Social information processing theory adds to this picture by indicating stressful social situations (e.g., stereotype threat) result in aggression or negative affectivity (i.e., anxiety or depression) due to dysfunction in social cognition. One previous study has examined stereotype threat in a legal context3; however, no studies have linked stereotype threat in a legal setting with downstream effects on negative affect and aggressive behavior. Further, no studies have examined the theorized biological and social cognitive mechanisms driving these effects. This research proposal addresses these gaps by (a) examining whether the relation between stereotype threat induction in a legal context and aggressive behavior/negative affective states is mediated by cortisol and testosterone levels, (b) examining whether the previously documented relation between stereotype threat induction and aggressive behavior/negative affective states is mediated by dysfunction in social cognition, and (c) examining whether race/ethnicity act as a moderator of stereotype threat effect. This proposal utilizes a biopsychosocial model of psychopathology that reflects the Research Domain Criteria?s (RDoC) framework of integrating multiple levels of analysis (i.e., neurobiological, behavioral, social- cognitive). Specifically, it reflects the mission of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to transform the understanding of mental illness by identifying neural mechanisms in specific domains of mental function. Reflecting these missions and frameworks, this study aims to elucidate how cognitive (i.e., social cognition) and biological (i.e., cortisol and testosterone levels) processes mediate stress (i.e., stereotype threat) processes to confer risk for mental disorders, spanning multiple levels of analysis (e.g., self-report and behavioral data) to uncover fundamental mechanisms (e.g., biological, cognitive) of complex social behavior in diverse populations. Finally, this award will aid in the training of a young researcher seeking to understand the mechanisms associated with negative outcomes of stereotype threat in minority young adults by providing necessary scaffolding toward an independent research career, providing opportunities for advanced research skills and enhanced breadth and depth of knowledge across disciplines.
Minority mental health is a serious public health concern, and a growing body of literature demonstrates important negative mental health effects from stereotype threat5. Therefore, in line with the NIMH RDoC initiative to identify constructs that cut across traditional definitions of disorders, the proposed study will be the first to examine neurobiological and social cognitive mechanisms associated with the mental (i.e., anxiety and depression) and behavioral (i.e., aggression) outcomes of stereotype threat in a police encounter among minority young adults. As the first study to examine the relations among stereotype threat, social cognition, cortisol/testosterone, aggression, and affective states, the proposed research seeks to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms (e.g., biological, cognitive) by which stereotype threat relates to psychopathology in minority young adults.
