The Effect Of Negative Meta-stereotypes On Job Self-efficacy And The Role Of Imagined Intergroup Contact In Female College Job Seekers

In recent years,more and more students devote themselves to go to university,which can help them to find good jobs.The number of graduates are on the increase.In addition,the employment pattern of college graduates is also changing.It is difficult for college graduates to find a good job.Further more,female college students find it more difficult to get a job than male college students,which cause social concern.The reasons for the difficulty of female college student job seekers are varied.One reason is that female college students are more likely to be rejected by interviewers because of gender or the interviewer may stereotype women and underestimate their abilities.These negative views not only made them less likely to find a satisfying job,but also activated their meta-stereotypes(Vorauer,Hunter,Main& Roy,2000).Meta-stereotype comes down to the personal opinion about the stereotype carried by the out-group members on in-group members to which he takes(Vorauer,Main,& O'Connell,1998).There is a degree of subjectivity to this view.Since meta-stereotypes were proposed more than 20 years ago,and meta-stereotypes among different groups have always been the focus of researchers.However,there is little research on the meta-stereotypes of gender groups.Studies have shown that the activation of meta-stereotypes can have adverse effects on many aspects such as emotion,cognition and behavior(Spencer,Logel & Davies,2016).Therefore,it is very necessary to explore the influence of the activation of negative meta-stereotype on career decision-making self-efficacy and inter-group anxiety of female college students and to find effective intervention ways.Numerous studies have demonstrated that imagining inter-group contact can not only alleviate individuals' inter-group anxiety(Turner,Hewstone & Voci,2007),but also reduce individuals' prejudice towards the outside group(Brambilla,Ravenna & Hewstone,2012).Therefore,these studies provide empirical support for the use of imaginary inter-group contact to reduce or eliminate negative meta-stereotypes..Therefore,this research is divided into two parts: In the first study,200 female college students' job seekers were selected to explore the effects of negative meta-stereotype activation on inter-group anxiety and career decision-making self-efficacy.Results: 1.The level of inter-group anxiety in the negative meta-stereotype activation group was significantly higher than that in the control group.2.The career decision-making self-efficacy of the negative meta-stereotype activation group was significantly lower than that of the control group.In the second study,A total of 190 female college students' job seekers were selected as candidates.By activation of negative meta-stereotypes in female college students,the experimental method was used to investigate the effects of imagined inter-group contact on inter-group anxiety and career decision self-efficacy induced.The results showed that: 1.Inter-group anxiety was significantly lower in the imagining inter-group contact group and the imagining landscape group than in the non-imagining group,and there was no difference in inter-group anxiety between the imagining inter-group contact group and the imagining landscape group;2.Three groups of participants edge significant difference in career decision-making self-efficacy,imagining the inter-group contact group and non-imagining group have significant difference in career decision-making self-efficacy,non-imagining group and imagining scenery group have no significant difference in career decision-making self-efficacy,imagining inter-group contact group and imagining scenery group have no significant difference of career decision-making self-efficacy;3.Inter-group anxiety plays a fully mediating role in the influence of negative meta-stereotypes on career decision-making self-efficacy.In conclusion,the above results show that female college students experience more inter-group anxiety after their negative meta-stereotypes are activated.In addition,They also experienced a decrease in career-making self-efficacy.Female college students who imagined inter-group contact or imagined scenery showed a decrease in inter-group anxiety triggered by negative meta-stereotype activation.Only after imagined inter-group contact,the negative meta-stereotype activation has a mitigated negative effect on career decision self-efficacy.