Second, if true, this theory should generalize to other cases of people who express an exceptionally strong opposition towards some low-status/disreputable behavior that can be practiced covertly, or some low-status beliefs that can be held in secret. Yet it’s hard for me to think of any analogous examples that would be the subject of either folk theories or scientific studies.
There are a few other scientific results of this type: search the literature under “reaction formation”. For example:
Morokoff (1985): Women high in self-reported “sex guilt” have lower self-reported reaction to erotic stimuli but higher physiological arousal.
Dutton & Lake (1976): Whites with no history of prejudice and self-reported egalitarian beliefs were given bogus feedback during a task intended to convince them they were subconsciously prejudiced (falsely told that they had high skin response ratings of fear/anger when shown slides of interracial couples). After they had left the building, they were approached by either a black or white beggar. Whites who had received the false racism feedback gave more to the black beggar (though not to the white beggar) than whites who had not.
Sherman and Garkin (1980): Subjects were asked to solve a difficult riddle in which the trick answer involved sex-roles, such that after failing they felt “implicitly accused of sexism” (couldn’t find the exact riddle, but I imagine something like this). Afterwards they were asked to evaluate a sex-discrimination case. People who had previously had to solve the riddle gave harsher verdicts against a man accused of sexual discrimination than those who had not.
I’ve heard anecdotal theories of a few similar effects—for example, that the loudest and most argumentative religious believers are the ones who secretly doubt their own faith.
Overall I probably shouldn’t have included the case study because I don’t think Trivers’ theory stands or falls on this one point, and it’s probably not much more than tangential to the whole idea of a conscious/unconscious divide.
There are a few other scientific results of this type: search the literature under “reaction formation”. For example:
Morokoff (1985): Women high in self-reported “sex guilt” have lower self-reported reaction to erotic stimuli but higher physiological arousal.
Dutton & Lake (1976): Whites with no history of prejudice and self-reported egalitarian beliefs were given bogus feedback during a task intended to convince them they were subconsciously prejudiced (falsely told that they had high skin response ratings of fear/anger when shown slides of interracial couples). After they had left the building, they were approached by either a black or white beggar. Whites who had received the false racism feedback gave more to the black beggar (though not to the white beggar) than whites who had not.
Sherman and Garkin (1980): Subjects were asked to solve a difficult riddle in which the trick answer involved sex-roles, such that after failing they felt “implicitly accused of sexism” (couldn’t find the exact riddle, but I imagine something like this). Afterwards they were asked to evaluate a sex-discrimination case. People who had previously had to solve the riddle gave harsher verdicts against a man accused of sexual discrimination than those who had not.
I’ve heard anecdotal theories of a few similar effects—for example, that the loudest and most argumentative religious believers are the ones who secretly doubt their own faith.
Overall I probably shouldn’t have included the case study because I don’t think Trivers’ theory stands or falls on this one point, and it’s probably not much more than tangential to the whole idea of a conscious/unconscious divide.
That’s extremely interesting—thanks for the references!