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)     

Relationship between scholastic aptitude, perception of university climate, and college success for Black and White students.

Computed, in racial subgroups, the correlations of university climate and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores with 2 criteria of academic success--GPA and students' estimated probability of receiving a degree. Factor analyses of a 115-item university climate questionnaire were performed separately for samples of 138 Black and 550 White college students. SAT scores were significantly related to GPA for both Blacks and Whites, although they were not related to Ss' estimated probability of recieving a degree in either racial group. Some university climate scales were significantly related to the 2 criteria. Viewing the university in a positive way was associated (a) with high criterion scores for Whites and with low criterion scores for Blacks, and (b) with high SAT scores for Whites and low SAT scores for Blacks. Although GPA was significantly correlated with estimated probability of degree in both Black and White samples, the correlation was significantly higher in the Black sample. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

WISC-R subscale patterns of abilities of Blacks and Whites matched on Full Scale IQ.

270 Black and 270 White children (ages 6–16.5 yrs) drawn from the national stratified random sample used in the standardization of the WISC-R were matched on age, sex, and WISC-R Full-Scale IQ to facilitate investigation of the patterns of specific cognitive abilities, as measured by the 12 subtests of the WISC-R, between the 2 racial groups. Multivariate analysis of the patterns of subtest differences between Whites and Blacks and group comparisons on 3 orthogonalized factor scores (Verbal, Performance, Memory) showed small but reliable average White–Black differences in patterns of ability. The IQ-matched racial groups showed no significant difference on the Verbal factor; Whites exceeded Blacks on the Performance (largely spatial visualization) factor; Blacks exceeded Whites on the Memory factor. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and behavioral cues in Black and White children's perceptions of ambiguously aggressive acts.

Examined the way in which the interpretation of ambiguous social behavior is influenced by racial stereotypes and cultural differences. 40 Black and 40 White 6th-grade males were shown a variety of ambiguously aggressive behaviors performed by Black and White stimulus figures. As predicted, both Black and White Ss rated these behaviors as more mean and threatening when the perpetrator was Black than when he was White. In contrast, ratings of personal characteristics were in general determined by individual behavior rather than by group stereotypes, although Blacks, whether they were the perpetrator or the recipient of the behaviors, were rated as stronger than their White counterparts. Cultural differences between S groups were apparent in the greater tendency of the White Ss to read threat into ambiguously aggressive behaviors involving no physical contact and to assume that the perpetrators of such behaviors were stronger than the recipients. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Effects of social behavior on interracial acceptance.

To test children's use of race and social behavior as cues in social acceptance, 128 Black and White male kindergartners and 1st graders rated 6 unknown videotaped target children for likability. Targets varied factorially on race (Black or White) and exhibited either positive, negative, or neutral classroom social behavior. Across age, socioeconomic status, and race, Ss used behavior as a cue, accounting for 50% of likability variance. Positive targets were liked equivalently, but Black neutral and negative targets were liked less than White counterparts. Racial but not socioeconomic status differences in the use of behaviors as social cues were found. Negative targets were liked more by Blacks than Whites and neutral targets were liked more by Whites than Blacks. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-racial psychotherapy: What the therapists say.

41 White and 37 Black psychotherapists with an average of 8.2 yrs' experience completed a 41-item questionnaire regarding psychotherapy with same- and opposite-race clients. White Ss did not experience racial issues in psychotherapy with the same salience that Black Ss did, yet they reported higher levels of subjective distress in cross-racial treatment. This distress focused on negative attitudes of clients, therapists' feelings of not being able to help or confront opposite race clients, or being oversolicitous or too distant with opposite-race clients. Both therapist groups reported equivalent abilities to empathize with opposite-race clients, but Blacks and Whites differed on a number of questions of racial attitudes and stereotyping. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer acceptance and school-related variables in an integrated junior high school.

Interracial peer acceptance at the junior high school level was related to 9 predictor variables: grade point average (GPA), IQ, attendance, self-concept of academic ability, sex, race, age, years in the school, and classroom racial composition. 322 7th- and 8th-grade students from predominantly lower-middle-class backgrounds were administered modified Syracuse Scales of Human Relations, measuring academic and social acceptance. Analysis of variance results show that White Ss slightly preferred Whites for the satisfaction of their academic and social needs. However, with stepwise multiple regression analysis, race was not a significant predictor variable for academic or social acceptance by White Ss. GPA and sex were the most prominent predictors of acceptance. Black Ss accepted both Black peers and White peers equally for academic interaction but preferred Blacks for social interaction. Race was a significant predictor variable for academic and social acceptance by Black Ss. However, race was secondary to GPA and/or sex for academic acceptance by Black females and Black males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metoprolol metabolism via cytochrome P4502D6 in ethnic populations

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether metabolism via cytochrome P4502D6 (CYP2D6) was higher in Black subjects than White subjects. METHODS: Ten Black and 10 White healthy male volunteers who were phenotyped CYP2D6 extensive metabolizer phenotypes participated in this randomized, cross-over study in which metoprolol was used as a model CYP2D6 substrate. In both study phases, subjects received oral rac-metoprolol tartrate (200 mg); during one phase, subjects also took quinidine sulfate (100 mg) daily beginning 3 days before the dose of metoprolol. Plasma samples were collected for 12 and 24 hr after the dose in the metoprolol and metoprolol plus quinidine phases, respectively. Metoprolol enantiomer concentrations were determined by chiral HPLC with fluorescence detection. RESULTS: S-metoprolol areas under the concentration vs. time curves during the metoprolol phase were 879 +/- 600 ng/ml*hr in White subjects vs. 984 +/- 653 ng/ml*hr in Black subjects. During inhibition of CYP2D6-mediated metabolism with quinidine, S-metoprolol areas under the concentration vs. time curves were 2515 +/- 749 and 2719 +/- 742 in White and Black subjects, respectively. Metoprolol elimination half-lives in both groups were approximately doubled by quinidine. Mean S-metoprolol/R-metoprolol ratios were 1.39 in both racial groups during the metoprolol phase, and during the metoprolol plus quinidine phase were 0.89 and 1.03 in White subjects and Black subjects, respectively (p < 0.05, Blacks vs. Whites). The percentage of metoprolol metabolism inhibited by quinidine was similar between Blacks and Whites (e.g., 66 +/- 15% and 64 +/- 25% of S-metoprolol apparent oral clearance in Blacks and Whites, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there are no differences between Black subjects and White subjects in metabolism via CYP2D6. There were also no racial differences in the contribution of CYP2D6 to overall metoprolol metabolism. The results of this study suggest that drugs are primarily metabolized by CYP2D6 will not exhibit racial differences in their disposition.     

Differences in measures of personality and family environment among Black and White alcoholics.

Reviewing 16 studies, D. Pritchard and A. Rosenblatt (see record 1980-11070-001) claimed to find no evidence that the MMPI is racially biased. M. Gynther and S. B. Green (see record 1980-11037-001), reviewing 40 studies, concluded that racial bias in the MMPI varies as a function of sampling, with bias more likely when normal Blacks are compared with normal Whites but not when abnormal groups are compared. The present study compared MMPI scores of 272 White and 56 Black alcoholics. Blacks scored significantly lower on a few scales (e.g., Hysteria), but profile differences were not clinically meaningful, particularly when the covariates of age, education, and socioeconomic status were controlled. Blacks differed appreciably on the Family Environment Scale (FES), however, rating social climates more positively than Whites. Findings that Blacks obtained negligible differences on a wholly White normed test (the MMPI), contrasted with the significant differences and better adjustment shown by Blacks over Whites on a test normed with minority-group representation (the FES), interject new considerations into the issue of racial bias. Whereas nonsignificant differences would not appear to support the contention of racial bias on the MMPI, FES results question whether such nonsignificance actually rules out test bias. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compositions in Black and White: Determinants of interaction in interracial dyads.

Examined the initial, unstructured interactions of 40 interracial (Black–White) dyads in which 3 factors were systematically varied. These factors were the disposition of the White dyad members to either seek out or shun interaction with Blacks, the race (Black vs White) of the experimenter, and the gender composition (male–male vs female–female) of the dyads. Results show that within dyads, White dyad members displayed more interactional involvement than their Black partners but experienced the interactions as more stressful and uncomfortable. Whites predisposed to avoid interaction with Blacks looked and smiled at their partners less than those predisposed to initiate interaction. Both Black and White members of these avoidance dyads reported heightened feelings of anxiety and concern about their interactions, but the moderating influences of the Whites' approach–avoidance dispositions on interaction behavior were essentially limited to conditions in which the experimenter was Black and the White S was a "solo minority." It is suggested that Black–White partner effects are attributable to differing amounts of cross-race contact typically experienced by Blacks and Whites. Black–White experimenter effects are interpreted in terms of S. E. Taylor's (1981) hypothesis that stereotypes and related dispositions are activated in social contexts in which group membership is made salient. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of cardiovascular responses to stress as a function of race and parental hypertension in men.

Investigated cardiovascular responses to 12 stressors known to elicit either beta-adrenergic (mental arithmetic) or alpha-adrenergic (forehead cold pressor) reactivity in 27 Black and 29 White normotensive male college undergraduates. Ss in each group were selected for presence or absence of parental hypertension. Based on previous research (e.g., F. M. Abboud and J. W. Eckstein [1966], H. Barcroft et al [1960]) Blacks were expected to show smaller cardiovascular responses to the beta-adrenergic mental arithmetic task and greater responses to the alpha-adrenergic cold pressor relative to the Whites. Unlike previous findings, no significant racial differences in cardiovascular responses were found during either task. However, Black participants had significantly higher systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure levels throughout the cold pressor periods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are special norms for minorities needed? Development of an MMPI F scale for Blacks.

As part of a large-scale investigation of the need for special MMPI norms for adult Black American test Ss, 882 normal 18–65 yr old Blacks from Alabama, Michigan, and North Carolina were tested. Item analyses of these protocols revealed 33 items that met the 10% or less endorsement criterion used to develop the MMPI F scale. Comparisons were made between White and Black endorsements of the items on this new scale, items of the standard F scale, and additional items in the MMPI pool that met the 10% criterion but were not included in the original F scale. White endorsement patterns agreed with the Blacks' F scale, but Black endorsement patterns agreed with only one third of the standard F-scale items. Further, Blacks showed comparable levels of infrequency on only 6 of the 38 supplementary F items. Although these results do not necessarily indicate that special norms for the clinical scales are necessary, the amount of difference between responses of Blacks and Whites to rarely endorsed items suggests that for Blacks, this new scale may be a more accurate measure of correlates associated with endorsement of deviant items than the standard F scale. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of race of examiner and cultural mistrust on the WAIS performance of Black students.

100 Black males (17–19 yrs old) were given the Terrell Cultural Mistrust Inventory, and groups with high and low levels of mistrust of Whites were identified. Half of the Ss in each group were then administered the WAIS by a White examiner. The remaining were tested by a Black examiner. The Black examiner/high mistrust group scored significantly higher than the White examiner/high mistrust group. In addition, the White examiner/low mistrust group scored significantly higher than the White examiner/high mistrust group. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observed IQ as a function of test atmosphere, tester expectation, and race of tester: A replication for female subjects.

Investigated performance on the WISC among 208 Black and 208 White female junior high and high school students under 16 yrs of age. The variables of test atmosphere (evaluative or gamelike), tester expectation (high or low), race and sex of tester, and race and socioeconomic status (SES; above or below the median) of S were placed in a 2–6 factorial design. The variables of atmosphere, expectation, and SES interacted significantly with the race of the S in determining mean IQ. High-SES Blacks exposed to what had been predicted to be optimally motivating conditions achieved mean IQs equaling or exceeding those of low-SES Whites. Ss generally performed better in the presence of a female tester. (27 ref) (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)     

Multiple myeloma among Blacks and Whites in the United States: role of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages

In the United States, the incidence rates of multiple myeloma in Blacks are more than twice those in Whites, but the etiology of this cancer is poorly understood. A population-based case-control interview study of 571 subjects (365 White, 206 Black) with multiple myeloma and 2,122 controls (1,155 White, 967 Black) living in three areas of the United States (Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey) offered the opportunity to investigate the relationship with smoking and alcohol drinking and to evaluate whether these factors might contribute to the excess risk of multiple myeloma in Blacks. For Blacks and Whites of either gender, there were no significantly elevated risks associated with ever use of cigarettes or alcoholic beverages and no consistent patterns with either intensity or duration of use. These data support previous studies indicating that smoking and drinking are not related causally to the risk of multiple myeloma, and thus cannot account for the racial disparity in incidence rates.     

Development of racial identity in minority and majority children: An affect discrepancy model.

Proposes an affect discrepancy to explain the processes by which children come to know and identify with a minority or majority group. To test this model, 203 White and 91 Indian children in kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 answered racial identity, preference, social distance and recognition questions by pointing to pictures of Whites, Indians, and Blacks. Several weeks later Ss completed measures of concrete operational thought and self-esteem. Indian children made more cross-racial choices than did Whites, even though Indians were more accurate than Whites in recognizing the pictures. Structural equation models indicated that for both groups, cognitive development was positively associated with own-group choices. Self-esteem was positively related to own-group choices for Whites but inversely related for Indians. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectations and achievement among third-, sixth-, and ninth-grade Black and White males and females.

Hypothesized that (a) boys in 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade would have higher expectations than girls, but only 9th-grade boys would have higher achievement; (b) achievement would increase with grade; (c) Whites would have higher expectations and achievement than Blacks; and (d) realism would increase with grade level. 112 Black and White 3rd, 6th, and 9th graders recorded their expectations and then attempted to perform tasks of math, mazes, or geometric drawings. Contrary to predictions and most previous studies, no significant sex differences were found. Whites achieved higher scores on mazes and drawings than did Blacks. The expectations of Blacks rose with grade level, regardless of concomitant achievements; but expectations of Whites did not. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)