Nonverbal communication of affect in interracial dyads.

Two experiments investigated the relationship between nonverbal behavior and the racial composition of a teacher–student dyad. The Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory was used to measure prejudice. In Exp I, 36 high- and low-prejudiced White female undergraduates, acting as teachers, were led to praise successful White and Black students (confederates). Analysis of samples of nonverbal behavior showed that high-prejudiced teachers nonverbally discriminated between White and Black students (favoring Whites) significantly more than low-prejudiced teachers. In Exp II, 40 White and Black teachers (female undergraduates) taught successful White and Black students (confederates). Results show that both Whites and Blacks behaved nonverbally more positively to a student of their own race than to a student of the other race, although only same-race judges (12 White female undergraduates) could distinguish the differences in affect displayed by the Ss. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prior interracial experience and Black student transition into predominantly White colleges.

Investigated the relation between prior interracial experience and adjustment of 42 Black freshmen to 2 predominantly White colleges. Interracial experience was defined in terms of ethnic composition (mainly Black, integrated, or mainly White) of a student's neighborhood, high school, and high school friends. A scale measuring adjustment to college, providing indices of several aspects of that adjustment, was administered at 3 times during the academic year. A positive relation was found between amount of prior interracial experience and effectiveness of adjustment. Improvement in adjustment as the year progressed provided additional evidence of the beneficial effect of interracial experience for adjustment to this type of college. Differential rate of improvement for Ss with varying amounts of interracial experience—greatest for those with least experience—indicates that consequences of such prior experiences are not immutable. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of marital interaction among Black and White newlyweds.

Perceptions of marital interactions were gathered from a representative sample of urban newlywed couples (199 Black and 174 White). A factor analysis of the reports found 6 factors common to husbands and wives: Disclosing Communication, Affective Affirmation, Negative Sexual Interaction, Traditional Role Regulation, Destructive Conflict, and Constructive Conflict. Avoiding Conflict was specific to men and Positive Coorientation was specific to women. Wives reported fewer constructive and destructive conflict behaviors. Compared with Whites, Blacks reported more disclosure, more positive sexual interactions, and fewer topics of disagreement. They also more often reported leaving the scene of conflict and talking with others more easily than with the spouse. As hypothesized, perceptions that marital interactions affirm one's sense of identity strongly predicted marital well-being. Although regression analyses predicting marital happiness yielded few interactions with race or gender, those that are significant, coupled with race and gender differences in perceiving interaction, suggest taking a contextual orientation to the meaning of marital interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal interaction in mother-child dyads.

Examined the verbal interaction of mothers and their children in mother-child dyads. Ss were 24 children (12 2-yr-olds and 12 3-yr-olds) and their mothers. Each child was selected on the basis of age and pretest results indicating nondelayed receptive and expressive language function. The mother and her child were given an assortment of toys, and the mother was asked to play with her child. Tape recordings were made of each session. Analysis of the mother-child dyadic data revealed that the verbalizations of 2 groups of mothers differed significantly. Mothers of the older group of children used more complex expatiations and modeled interrogations. The occurrence of expansions and direct imitations was not a function of age of the child. The verbal interactions of 2- and 3-yr-olds was significantly different in that 2-yr-olds produced a greater percentage of imitations with reduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit and explicit prejudice and interracial interaction.

The present research examined how implicit racial associations and explicit racial attitudes of Whites relate to behaviors and impressions in interracial interactions. Specifically, the authors examined how response latency and self-report measures predicted bias and perceptions of bias in verbal and nonverbal behavior exhibited by Whites while they interacted with a Black partner. As predicted, Whites' self-reported racial attitudes significantly predicted bias in their verbal behavior to Black relative to White confederates. Furthermore, these explicit attitudes predicted how much friendlier Whites felt that they behaved toward White than Black partners. In contrast, the response latency measure significantly predicted Whites' nonverbal friendliness and the extent to which the confederates and observers perceived bias in the participants' friendliness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problems in the study of interracial interaction: Pseudo-interracial dyad paradigm.

Reviews 3 lines of research that describe behavior in interracial settings in terms of hypothesis-testing, compensation strategies, or repressed affect. It is argued that the perspectives make divergent predictions about the process and outcomes of interracial interaction, but these predictions have not been tested because of the differing paradigms associated with each perspective's supporting research. An experiment employing pseudo-interracial dyads is reported that appears to resolve some of the competing hypotheses. 70 White undergraduates participated in indirect target–perceiver dyads in which the stated race of the target was varied. In 2 additional phases of the experiment, 6 undergraduates rated the target or both the target and perceiver on the basis of audiotapes. Problems with the procedure suggest that the pseudo-interracial dyads paradigm cannot answer several important questions about Ss' use of stereotypes and responses to requests to evaluate Black targets and lacks external and construct validity. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Same difference: Black therapists' experience of same-race therapeutic dyads.

Do Black therapists experience their work with Black clients differently than their work with other clients? A phenomenological study of 12 Black psychologists, social workers, and counselors working in college counseling centers examined these therapists' lived experience of same-race therapeutic dyads. The therapists described the unique aspects of their therapy with Black clients, as well as how they learned to perform that work. The implications of this study are vital not only to Black therapists, but also to educators and supervisors of Black therapist trainees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black/white interracial young adults: quest for a racial identity

The racial self-identification of 119 young adults of mixed black and white racial heredity was explored. Data showed interracial identity to be the most prevalent, and that it was associated with the least conflict. Compartmentalization into a private interracial identity and a public black one appeared to be the most frequently utilized coping mechanism for dealing with societal pressures to negate white roots.     

Clinical comparison of Black and White suicide attempters.

Compared clinical characteristics of Black and White suicide attempters. The sample consisted of virtually all (N?=?275) attempters aged 16 yrs and older brought to the Emergency Unit of the Yale-New Haven Hospital over a 1-yr period (1971–1972). Clinical ratings were made by on-duty resident psychiatrists using 42 variables dealing with mood, motivation, etc. Statistical analysis revealed few differences in Black and White profiles, a result contrary to theories asserting that Black psychology requires different principles from that of White psychology. A related incidental finding was that the frequency of suicide attempts appeared to be about the same among Blacks and Whites, which discredits the widely held belief that suicide is not an important psychiatric problem among Blacks. Rating areas in which the 2 groups did differ somewhat included extent of motivation to influence others, feelings of depression (hopelessness), and deliberateness of planning the attempt. In each of these areas, White attempters had higher scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black children adopted by White families.

Discusses the confounding of biological and social variables in S. Scarr and R. A. Weinberg's (see record 1977-07996-001) article on Black children adopted by Whites. It is suggested that an above-average group of children may have been selected either by the parents or the adoption agencies attempting to promote interracial adoption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

White–Black achievement differences: The narrowing gap.

Discusses findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the College Entrance Examination Board that demonstrate consistent reductions during recent years in the size of average achievement differences between White and Black elementary and secondary school students. Societal changes that may have contributed to increasing the average achievement levels for Black students (e.g., desegregation) are examined, and it is noted that these trends are not necessarily due to the effects of educational and social programs designed toward this end. It is argued that the difference in enrollment levels for high school algebra and geometry courses between predominantly White schools and predominantly Black schools accounts for part of the average White–Black difference in 17-yr-olds' mathematics achievement scores. Further, if average enrollments in mathematics courses for Blacks became more similar to average enrollments for Whites, White–Black average mathematics achievement differences might be reduced further. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interpersonal structure of family interaction settings: Parent–adolescent relations in dyads and triads.

Observed parental interactive patterns in the presence (a triadic setting) and in the absence (a dyadic setting) of the spouse in 44 families with 16 female and 28 male early adolescents (approximately 13 yrs old). Findings indicate that in accordance with hypotheses, the presence of the father enhanced the quality of mother–son relations, whereas the presence of the mother reduced the quality of father–son relations. The presence of the spouse influenced the extent to which parents treated girls and boys differently: Mothers differentiated more between girls and boys in the presence of the spouse, whereas fathers differentiated more between girls and boys in the absence of the spouse. Relative to the dyad, parental role differentiation increased in the triad but only in families of boys. In demonstrating interdependencies among family relationships and the responsivity of parental behaviors to the interpersonal structure of interaction settings, the results support a systems model of family processes. Implications for the study of family relations and sex typing at early adolescence are discussed. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black–White correlates of job satisfaction.

Multiple regression analysis of a sample made up of 3 independently drawn US national surveys (J. A. Davis, 1972, 1973, 1974) was used to estimate the correlation of 8 variables with job satisfaction among 275 Blacks and 1,748 Whites. Correlations were not large, and results were very similar for both races: With other variables controlled, age was the strongest predictor of job satisfaction, and social class, work autonomy, sex, and education showed no effects. Family income, supervisory position, and occupational prestige correlated with job satisfaction among Whites, but the relationships among Blacks are not significant. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black and White student preferences for counselor roles.

28 Black and 28 White students from 2 university programs viewed a brief videotape of a counseling sesson in 1 of 4 conditions defined by (a) 2 female counselors (1 Black, 1 White); and (b) 2 counselor roles (active, passive). Analysis of Ss' ratings of counselor performances reveal (a) no differences among conditions in perceived attentiveness or friendliness; (b) significant differences between roles in perceptions of counselor behavior (as intended); (c) significantly higher ratings of competence and helpfulness for counselors in the active vs the passive role, regardless of counselor or S role; and (d) a main effect for counselor, which could not be unequivocally attributed either to counselor role performance or to counselor role. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

H. E. Garrett's Children: Black and White..

Condemns H. E. Garrett's (1967) booklet in which he argues that public school desegregation will be a disaster because of the innate inferiority of Black children. Research is cited to refute Garrett's statements concerning the differences in intelligence between races. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in MMPI scores of Black and White compulsive heroin users.

Investigated the question of racial bias in the MMPI by comparing responses of 252 Black and 120 White compulsive heroin users on both (a) empirically derived validity and clinical scales and (b) intuitively constructed content scales. Ss were male veterans admitted to a drug treatment program at a VA Hospital. In both univariate and multivariate ANOVAs and covariance of individual scales and overall profiles, Black users differed significantly from White users; the direction of differences was opposite to that reported for Blacks in previous studies of normal and psychiatric samples. Blacks scored significantly lower on 6 clinical scales (i.e., Infrequency, Depression, Psychopathic Deviate, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia, and Social Introversion) when profile validity and the covariates age, intelligence, and socioeconomic status were both controlled and uncontrolled. On content scales, Whites displayed greater personality disturbance in Social Maladjustment and Family Problems, whereas Blacks obtained higher scores on Feminine Interests and Phobias. Results show that methodologically the question of a Black bias in the MMPI awaits additional information about the interaction of ethnicity with clinical samples; substantively, the results refute the assumption of personality trait communality among compulsive heroin users and suggest that ethnicity is an influential S background characteristic by which subgroups of heroin users might be identified. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotype threat effects on Black and White athletic performance.

Two experiments showed that framing an athletic task as diagnostic of negative racial stereotypes about Black or White athletes can impede their performance in sports. In Experiment 1, Black participants performed significantly worse than did control participants when performance on a golf task was framed as diagnostic of sports intelligence. In comparison, White participants performed worse than did control participants when the golf task was framed as diagnostic of 'natural athletic ability. Experiment 2 observed the effect of stereotype threat on the athletic performance of White participants for whom performance in sports represented a significant measure of their self-worth. The implications of the findings for the theory of stereotype threat (C. M. Steele, 1997) and for participation in sports are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-rearing reports of White, Black, and Mexican-American families.

Compared child-rearing practices of 29 White, 30 Black, and 31 Mexican-American families with a 5-yr-old Head Start child. Results indicate that the techniques used to socialize children among the 3 cultural groups were similar; only their desired ends differed. Mexican-American parents were most consistent in their use of reward and punishment methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative analysis of Black women's and White women's sex-role attitudes.

An assessment of the sex-role attitudes (using J. P. Gump's Revised Fand Inventory) of 77 Black and 40 White female undergraduates refuted the characterization of the Black woman as matriarchal and the White woman as home centered and submissive. Black Ss, in comparison with White Ss, were more likely to define their identity with respect to the roles of wife and mother and were more home centered and more submissive; White Ss expressed significantly more interest in furthering their own development than in fulfilling the traditional role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' stereotypes of Asian, Black, and White students.

This research uses two different measurement operations to examine contemporary stereotypes of Asians, Blacks, and Whites held by an ethnically diverse sample of teachers. Data were drawn from a sample of 188 teachers representing over 160 schools in Southern California. Consistent with previous research, participants endorsed a "model minority" stereotype of Asians with regard to intelligence, academic striving, introversion, and rule compliance. Contrary to expectation, there was substantial congruence in the degree of uniformity and favorableness of the stereotypic traits associated with Blacks and Whites, with participants' revealing both strong positive and negative trait associations. The use of both open-ended and fixed-format measurement strategies revealed some method variation in the assessment of participants racial beliefs, with the open-ended format suggesting more complex and heterogeneous racial representations. Results are discussed in terms of methodological issues in stereotype assessment and implications for reducing the impact of racial biases in psychoeducational evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)