Adults' Implicit Associations to Infant Positive and Negative Acoustic Cues: Moderation by Empathy and Gender. Issue 9 (September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Senese, Vincenzo Paolo; Venuti, Paola; Giordano, Francesca; Napolitano, Maria; Esposito, Gianluca; Bornstein, Marc H.
• Is Part Of: Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. Volume 70:Issue 9(2017)
• Page Start: 1935
• Page End: 1942
• Publication Date: 2017-09
• Subjects: Auditory -- Implicit affective associations -- Infant cry -- Infant laugh -- Single Category Implicit Association Test; Psychology, Experimental -- Periodicals; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Psychology, Comparative -- Periodicals; 150.72405
• DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1215480
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1747-0218

Abstract

In this study a novel auditory version of the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT-A) was developed to investigate (a) the valence of adults' associations to infant cries and laughs, (b) moderation of implicit associations by gender and empathy, and (c) the robustness of implicit associations controlling for auditory sensitivity. Eighty adults (50% females) were administered two SC-IAT-As, the Empathy Quotient, and the Weinstein Noise Sensitivity Scale. Adults showed positive implicit associations to infant laugh and negative ones to infant cry; only the implicit associations with the infant laugh were negatively related to empathy scores, and no gender differences were observed. Finally, implicit associations to infant cry were affected by noise sensitivity. The SC-IAT-A is useful to evaluate the valence of implicit reactions to infant auditory cues and could provide fresh insights into understanding processes that regulate the quality of adult–infant relationships.