Mind the gap: Increasing associations between the self and blacks with approach behaviors.

Although perceived differences between outgroup social categories and the self are often cited as a major contributor to prejudice and intergroup tension, surprisingly few studies have examined ways to improve associations between the self and racial outgroups. The present research investigated one strategy to increase these associations—approach training. Specifically, 3 studies investigated the impact of training participants to conceptually approach Blacks on 3 separate measures: 2 response latency measures indexing the strength of association between the self and Blacks and a psychophysiological measure indexing brain activity in response to Blacks in the context of the self. A fourth study examined the link between earlier research on the impact of approach training on implicit prejudice against Blacks and the current results related to self–Black associations. Together, these findings provided consistent evidence that training in approaching Blacks increases associations between the self and Blacks that in turn reduce implicit prejudice against Blacks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The space between us: Stereotype threat and distance in interracial contexts.

Four studies investigate the role that stereotype threat plays in producing racial distancing behavior in an anticipated conversation paradigm. It was hypothesized that the threat of appearing racist may have the ironic effect of causing Whites to distance themselves from Black conversation partners. In Study 1, participants distanced themselves more from Black partners under conditions of threat, and this distance correlated with the activation of a "White racist" stereotype. In Study 2, it was demonstrated that Whites' interracial distancing behavior was not predicted by explicit or implicit prejudice. Study 3 provides evidence that conceiving of interracial interactions as opportunities to learn may attenuate the negative consequences of threat for Whites. Study 4 found that Whites have conscious access to their experience of stereotype threat and that this awareness may mediate the relationship between threat and distance. These results are discussed within a broader discourse of racial distancing and the possibility that certain identity threats may be as important as prejudice in determining the outcomes of interracial interactions. (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)     

Race and Genetics: Controversies in Biomedical, Behavioral, and Forensic Sciences.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 60(4) of American Psychologist (see record 2007-16797-001). In this article, Table 1 contains several errors due to an editorial mistake. In the Population and Incarceration columns, the data for Blacks and Whites were transposed. In addition, decimal points were omitted from the data in the Rate (%) of Incarceration per Population columns. The correct version of Table 1 appears in the erratum.] Among biomedical scientists, there is a great deal of controversy over the nature of race, the relevance of racial categories for research, and the proper methods of using racial variables. This article argues that researchers and scholars should avoid a binary-type argument, in which the question is whether to use race always or never. Researchers should instead focus on developing standards for when and how to use racial variables. The article then discusses 1 context, criminology, in which the use of racial variables in behavioral genetics research could be particularly problematic. If genetic studies of criminalized behavior use forensic DNA databanks or forensic genetic profiles, they will be confounded by the many racial biases of the law enforcement and penal system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employment Discrimination: The Role of Implicit Attitudes, Motivation, and a Climate for Racial Bias.

This study is an attempt to replicate and extend research on employment discrimination by A. P. Brief and colleagues (A. P. Brief, J. Dietz, R. R. Cohen, S. D. Pugh, & J. B. Vaslow, 2000). More specifically, the authors attempted (a) to constructively replicate the prior finding that an explicit measure of modern racism would interact with a corporate climate for racial bias to predict discrimination in a hiring context and (b) to extend this finding through the measurement of implicit racist attitudes and motivation to control prejudice. Although the authors were unable to replicate the earlier interaction, they did illustrate that implicit racist attitudes interacted with a climate for racial bias to predict discrimination. Further, results partially illustrate that motivation to control prejudice moderates the relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes. Taken together, the findings illustrate the differences between implicit and explicit racial attitudes in predicting discriminatory behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of African American and European American adolescents' endorsement of race-conscious social policies.

To examine the predictors of adolescents' evaluations of affirmative action and school desegregation policies, African American and European American students (ns = 94 and 116, respectively; aged 14 to 17 years) attending a racially diverse high school in the Midwestern United States completed measures of (a) implicit racial attitudes, (b) knowledge about historical racism, and (c) perceptions of and attributions for racial disparities. The following day, adolescents learned about either a proposed affirmative action policy (n = 101) or a school desegregation policy (n = 109) and completed measures of their attitudes toward the policy. Results indicated racial differences in policy support and in the factors predicting policy support. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial identity, racial attitudes, and race socialization among Black Canadian parents.

The primary aim of this study was to examine the influence of racial identity on the socialization strategies used by Black parents to deal with issues of racism and discrimination. The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) was used to capture the complexity of Black identity and to provide a framework for the study of the socialization process. Ninety-one Black Canadian parents responded to measures of racial identity (e.g., identity centrality, racial ideologies), racial appraisals (e.g., concern for stereotyping), and socialization practices (e.g., preparation for bias). Racial identity measures were hypothesised to predict racial appraisals and socialization behaviours, while racial appraisals were expected to predict socialization behaviours. Furthermore, racial salience was expected to moderate the relationship between racial ideologies (e.g., nationalist ideology) and socialization behaviours. Although this latter hypothesis was not supported, the Sellers model did provide a useful theoretical framework for understanding the socialization practices of Black Canadian parents. Parents were more likely to socialize their children when they endorsed a humanist ideology and when they perceived their children as being likely targets of stereotyping and discrimination. These findings underscore the need for multidimensional measures of identity to obtain a more complete picture of the socialization process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Race and genetics: Controversies in biomedical, behavioral, and forensic sciences": Correction to Ossorio and Duster (2005).

Reports an error in "Race and Genetics: Controversies in Biomedical, Behavioral, and Forensic Sciences" by Pilar Ossorio and Troy Duster (American Psychologist, 2005[Jan], Vol 60[1], 115-128). In this article, Table 1 contains several errors due to an editorial mistake. In the Population and Incarceration columns, the data for Blacks and Whites were transposed. In addition, decimal points were omitted from the data in the Rate (%) of Incarceration per Population columns. The correct version of Table 1 appears in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2005-00117-011.) Among biomedical scientists, there is a great deal of controversy over the nature of race, the relevance of racial categories for research, and the proper methods of using racial variables. This article argues that researchers and scholars should avoid a binary-type argument, in which the question is whether to use race always or never. Researchers should instead focus on developing standards for when and how to use racial variables. The article then discusses 1 context, criminology, in which the use of racial variables in behavioral genetics research could be particularly problematic. If genetic studies of criminalized behavior use forensic DNA databanks or forensic genetic profiles, they will be confounded by the many racial biases of the law enforcement and penal system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why do implicit and explicit attitude tests diverge? The role of structural fit.

Implicit and explicit attitude tests are often weakly correlated, leading some theorists to conclude that implicit and explicit cognition are independent. Popular implicit and explicit tests, however, differ in many ways beyond implicit and explicit cognition. The authors examined in 4 studies whether correlations between implicit and explicit tests were influenced by the similarity in task demands (i.e., structural fit) and, hence, the processes engaged by each test. Using an affect misattribution procedure, they systematically varied the structural fit of implicit and explicit tests of racial attitudes. As test formats became more similar, the implicit-explicit correlation increased until it became higher than in most previous research. When tests differ in structure, they may underestimate the relationship between implicit and explicit cognition. The authors propose a solution that uses procedures to maximize structural fit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forming implicit and explicit attitudes toward individuals: Social group association cues.

The authors explored how social group cues (e.g., obesity, physical attractiveness) strongly associated with valence affect the formation of attitudes toward individuals. Although explicit attitude formation has been examined in much past research (e.g., S. T. Fiske & S. L. Neuberg, 1990), in the current work, the authors considered how implicit as well as explicit attitudes toward individuals are influenced by these cues. On the basis of a systems of evaluation perspective (e.g., R. J. Rydell & A. R. McConnell, 2006; R. J. Rydell, A. R. McConnell, D. M. Mackie, & L. M. Strain, 2006), the authors anticipated and found that social group cues had a strong impact on implicit attitude formation in all cases and on explicit attitude formation when behavioral information about the target was ambiguous. These findings obtained for cues related to obesity (Experiments 1 and 4) and physical attractiveness (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, parallel findings were observed for race, and participants holding greater implicit racial prejudice against African Americans formed more negative implicit attitudes toward a novel African American target person than did participants with less implicit racial prejudice. Implications for research on attitudes, impression formation, and stigma are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

White students reflecting on whiteness: Understanding emotional responses.

In the present investigation, we explored potential predictors of White students' general emotional responses after they reflected on their Whiteness in a semistructured interview (n = 88) or written reflection (n = 187). Specifically, we examined how color-blindness (i.e., awareness of White privilege) and racial affect (i.e., White empathy, White guilt, and White fear), assessed before the interview or written reflection, may predict positive and negative emotional responses, assessed immediately following the interview or written reflection. Furthermore, we considered whether affective costs of racism to Whites moderated the association between racial color-blindness and general positive and negative emotional responses of White students. Findings indicated that affective costs of racism moderated associations between racial color-blindness and general emotional responses. Specifically, White fear moderated associations for the written reflection group whereas White empathy moderated an association in the interview. White guilt did not moderate, but instead directly predicted a negative emotional response in the written reflection group. Findings suggest that the interaction between racial color-blindness and racial affect is important when predicting students' emotional responses to reflecting on their Whiteness. Implications for educators and administrators are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Weak criticisms and selective evidence: Reply to Blanton et al. (2009).

We respond to a critique by H. Blanton et al. (see record 2009-06703-001), challenging our previous work demonstrating that an Implicit Association Test designed to assess implicit prejudice reliably predicts intergroup discrimination (see record 2001-11532-008). We outline 3 flawed aspects of the critique. First, we note that claims that an outlier should be eliminated from the original data set are unfounded, and even with the elimination of this outlier, the conclusions of our original work are still strongly supported by the data. Second, we explain that concerns about interjudge reliability are specious and that considerable data support the validity of the judges’ observations reported in our original study. Third, we note that claims of a disconnect between Implicit Association Test scores (argued to show negative bias against Blacks) and behavioral measures (argued to show pro-Black bias) are inappropriate because they neglect the relativistic nature of the key measures. Implications for the relation between implicit attitudes and behavior, for the law, and for future work on implicit attitudes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Color-blind racial attitudes and white racial identity attitudes in psychology trainees.

Is it really important to talk about race in therapy? Does discussion of societal racism have any place in the consulting room? The American Psychological Association's (2003) recent multicultural guidelines highlight the limitations of a racially "color-blind" perspective for clinical practice. This study explored the relationships between color-blind racial attitudes and White racial identity. In a sample of 177 White counseling and clinical psychology trainees, we found that higher levels of attitudes that minimized or distorted the existence of contemporary racism (i.e., color-blind attitudes) were positively related to attitudes associated with less integrated forms of racial identity. Conversely, the results indicated that greater awareness of racism was related to more integrated White racial identity statuses. Implications for assessment, treatment, training, and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spontaneous prejudice in context: Variability in automatically activated attitudes.

The goal of the research reported in this article was to examine whether automatic group attitudes and stereotypes, commonly thought to be fixed responses to a social category cue, are sensitive to change in the situational context. Two experiments demonstrated such variability of automatic responses due to changes in the stimulus context. In Study 1 White participants' implicit attitudes toward Blacks varied as a result of exposure to either a positive (a family barbecue) or a negative (a gang incident) stereotypic situation. Study 2 demonstrated similar context effects under clearly automatic processing conditions. Here, the use of different background pictures (church interior vs. street corner) for Black and White face primes affected participants' racial attitudes as measured by a sequential priming task. Implications for the concept of automaticity in social cognition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of color-blind racial attitudes in reactions to racial discrimination on social network sites.

This study examines associations between responses to online racial discrimination, more specifically, racial theme party images on social network sites and color-blind racial attitudes. We showed 217 African American and European American college students images and prompted them to respond as if they were writing on a friend’s “wall” on Facebook or MySpace. Reactions to racial theme party images were not bothered, not bothered-ambivalent, bothered-ambivalent, and bothered. A multinomial logistic regression revealed that participants differed in their reactions to the images based on their racial group and color-blind racial ideology. European Americans and participants high in racial color blindness were more likely to be in the not bothered reaction group. Further, these students were more likely to condone and even encourage the racial theme party practice by laughing at the photos and affirming the party goers. Conversely, those low in color blindness were vocal in their opposition to the images with some reporting that they would “defriend” a person who engaged in the practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The transmission of racial attitudes within the family.

Previous literature based on self-report measures has not found a clear relationship between the ethnic attitudes of White parents and those of their children. In particular, no study has evidenced such a relationship in the case of preschool children. In the present study, the authors measured parents' implicit and explicit racial attitudes as well as the racial attitudes of their 3- to 6-year-old children. They found that parents' explicit attitudes were not related to children's responses. In contrast, mothers' implicit attitudes (but not fathers' implicit attitudes) were significant predictors of children's attitudes. Results demonstrate that early racial attitudes might develop within the family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of a brief video intervention on White university students' racial attitudes.

The authors investigated the effects of a brief video intervention on the racial attitudes of White university students. One hundred thirty-eight self-identified White students were randomly assigned to either an experimental condition in which they viewed a video documenting the pervasiveness of institutional racism and White privilege in the United States or a neutral control condition. Findings offer preliminary support that participants in the experimental, but not the control, condition showed significant increases in racial awareness (i.e., decrease in racial color-blindness), White empathy, and White guilt, at posttest. However, no significant differences in racial prejudice or White fear of racial minorities were observed at posttest. Implications for multicultural counseling training, diversity programming, and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implications for social policy of variability in racial groups.

Social policy and federal and state legislation require the use of single cut scores when tests of cognitive ability, knowledge, or skills (CAKS) are used to make high-stakes assessment decisions, such as whether students or employees may be promoted. Rationales offered for the requirement are that cut scores provide objective standards and are fairer than using subjective criteria, such as racial group membership. It is argued that failure to consider threats to statistical conclusion validity, such as differences in variability between groups, obscures the differential impact of using a common cut score as the basis for highstakes decisions. Analyses of 40 Black and White samples revealed that (a) Whites might be considerably advantaged and Blacks might be considerably disadvantaged by the same cut score and (b) depending on where the cut score is set, decisions based on ratios of numbers of Whites numbers of Blacks might be fairer than use of CAKS test cut scores. Implications for assessment practice and social policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the malleability of automatic attitudes: Combating automatic prejudice with images of admired and disliked individuals.

Two experiments examined whether exposure to pictures of admired and disliked exemplars can reduce automatic preference for White over Black Americans and younger over older people. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed to either admired Black and disliked White individuals, disliked Black and admired White individuals, or nonracial exemplars. Immediately after exemplar exposure and 24 hr later, they completed an Implicit Association Test that assessed automatic racial attitudes and 2 explicit attitude measures. Results revealed that exposure to admired Black and disliked White exemplars significantly weakened automatic pro-White attitudes for 24 hr beyond the treatment but did not affect explicit racial attitudes. Experiment 2 provided a replication using automatic age-related attitudes. Together, these studies provide a strategy that attempts to change the social context and, through it, to reduce automatic prejudice and preference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative race–class stereotypes by race and perceived class of subjects.

80 Black and 74 White college students assigned traits, from a list of 80, to the Black lower class, Black middle class, White lower class, and White middle class. Each S rated the 5 or fewer traits that he or she had chosen as being most typical of the respective race–class groups from –5 (unfavorable) to +5 (favorable) for the given groups. Ss also assigned themselves to 1 of 4 classes: lower class, working class, middle class, or upper class. On the basis of these judgments, the Ss within each racial group were classified as perceiving themselves to be above or below the median of their own race's distribution. White Ss assigned more favorable characteristics to the middle than to the lower class and did not rate Blacks lower than Whites. Black Ss made a similar, but smaller, social class distinction and, in addition, generally perceived Blacks more favorably than Whites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)