文章轉錄自Science Daily（點此連結）；文章主要論述：不論是年齡、種族、宗教、性別這些範疇的刻板印象，對曾經歷過負面刻板印象影響的人，即便已經脫離該環境，此偏見的負面效果仍始終對這些人持續影響著；第一、文中提及，過去心理學研究早已發現，人在刻板印象的環境中會表現的如同刻板印象一般，最經典的論述即是，如果在課堂上老師傳達出「女生的數學比男生來得差」，在數學表現上，接收此概念的女生會比未接受到此概念的女生表現來得差（這研究的經典在於解釋，男女性別差異可能並非來自於先天，而是來自於社會期待與塑造），但這篇文章繼續研究，當這群接受到負面刻板印象影響的人，脫離了原先刻板印象的環境，是否就會變回初始？答案是：否定的，甚至會持續影響到他們之後的敵意及其他認知能力作業。第二、刻板印象的延續其實是可以料想得到，畢竟「過去影響現在」，但更值得探討的提問是，這負面影響到多大？（或許你也想問，這影響會持續多久？）負面影響是只使她對自己數理能力缺乏自信外，或而如文中所說，還甚至影響到情緒、自我控制、飲食量、認知決策能力等；而這篇研究正是敘述：刻板印象的塑造與負面影響可能超乎我們所能想像的廣泛與深遠。第三、這研究是實驗室的操弄，在現實中，沒有一個人不存活於刻板印象的負面之中（至少高矮美醜胖瘦一定會有），但若真的按照此研究敘述，那麼每一個人都有刻板印象這廣泛又深遠的負面影響，即是整個社會大家相互集體減分，或許你會想到解套的說法，就是有人可以抵擋刻板印象的負面影響，而不致於減分太嚴重（有人雖然減分但是有加分回來），因而，更進一步的追問就是，哪些因素是讓人不會或少受到刻板印象的負面影響呢？（如果你贊成我說的，刻板印象只是讓大家相互彼此減分，我們為什麼不去創造一個大家可以彼此加分的社會？）
Stereotyping Has a Lasting Negative Impact, New Research Finds
ScienceDaily (Aug. 11, 2010) — Aggression. Over-eating. Inability to focus. Difficulty making rational decisions. New research out of the University of Toronto Scarborough shows prejudice has a lasting negative impact on those who experience it.
"Past studies have shown that people perform poorly in situations where they feel they are being stereotyped," says Associate Professor of Psychology Michael Inzlicht, who led the study, published in this month's edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "What we wanted to do was look at what happens afterwards. Are there lingering effects of prejudice? Does being stereotyped have an impact beyond the moment when stereotyping happens?"
In order to determine whether negative stereotyping in a particular situation had lasting effects, Inzlicht's team performed a series of tests. First, they placed participants in situations where they had to perform a task in the face of negative stereotyping. After the participants were removed from the prejudicial situation, researchers measured their ability to control their aggression, eat appropriate amounts, make rational decisions, and stay focused.
Their results show that prejudice and stereotyping have lingering adverse impacts.
"Even after a person leaves a situation where they faced negative stereotypes, the effects of coping with that situation remain," says Inzlicht. "People are more likely to be aggressive after they've faced prejudice in a given situation. They are more likely to exhibit a lack of self control. They have trouble making good, rational decisions. And they are more likely to over-indulge on unhealthy foods."
In one portion of the study, researchers had a group of women write a math test. They told the women this test would determine whether or not they were capable and smart in math, subtly injecting stereotypes about women and math skills "into the air," says Inzlicht. A separate group of women wrote the same test, except this group was given support and coping strategies to deal with the stress they'd face when writing the test.
After completing the math test, the two groups performed another series of tasks designed to gauge their aggression levels, their ability to focus and to exercise self control.
"In these follow-up tests, the women who felt discriminated against ate more than their peers in the control group. They showed more hostility than the control group. And they performed more poorly on tests that measured their cognitive skills," says Inzlicht.
The pattern remained the same, regardless of the test groups. People who felt they were discriminated against -- whether based on gender, age, race or religion -- all experienced significant impacts even after they were removed from the situation, says Inzlicht.
"These lingering effects hurt people in a very real way, leaving them at a disadvantage," says Inzlicht. "Even many steps removed from a prejudicial situation, people are carrying around this baggage that negatively impacts their lives."
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