Racial profiling
Mate Selection in Cyberspace: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Education
Ken-Hou Lin & Jennifer Lundquist
American Journal of Sociology, July 2013, Pages 183-215
Abstract:
In this article, the authors examine how race, gender, and education jointly shape interaction among heterosexual Internet daters. They find that racial homophily dominates mate-searching behavior for both men and women. A racial hierarchy emerges in the reciprocating process. Women respond only to men of similar or more dominant racial status, while nonblack men respond to all but black women. Significantly, the authors find that education does not mediate the observed racial preferences among white men and white women. White men and white women with a college degree are more likely to contact and to respond to white daters without a college degree than they are to black daters with a college degree.
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Anthony Burrow & Patrick Hill
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Many individuals feel socially isolated and distressed in ethnically diverse settings. Purpose in life may buffer this form of distress by fostering one's sense of having a meaningful direction, which may also be of significance to others. In two experience-sampling studies with ethnically diverse participants, we examined associations between the ethnic composition of urban trains and passenger distress, and tested purpose as a moderator of these relationships. Study 1 showed that participants of all ethnic backgrounds reported greater negative mood when the percentage of ethnic out-group members aboard their train increased. However, individual differences in purpose significantly attenuated this effect. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings experimentally by showing that relative to a control condition, briefly writing about purpose prior to boarding trains also diminished the impact of ethnic composition on negative mood. The discussion addresses strategies for promoting positive adjustment in our increasingly diverse society.
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Cognitive costs of contemporary prejudice
Mary Murphy et al.
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, September 2013, Pages 560-571
Abstract:
Two studies examined the cognitive costs of blatant and subtle racial bias during interracial interactions. In Study 1, Black participants engaged in a 10-minute, face-to-face interaction with a White confederate who expressed attitudes and behaviors consistent with blatant, subtle, or no racial bias. Consistent with contemporary theories of modern racism, interacting with a subtly biased, compared with a blatantly biased, White partner impaired the cognitive functioning of Blacks. Study 2 revealed that Latino participants suffered similar cognitive impairments when exposed to a White partner who displayed subtle, compared with blatant, racial bias. The theoretical and practical implications for understanding the dynamics of interracial interactions in the context of contemporary bias are discussed.
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The Price of Racial Bias: Intergroup Negotiations in the Ultimatum Game
Jennifer Kubota et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Existing stereotypes about Black Americans may influence perceptions of intent during financial negotiations. In this study, we explored whether the influence of race on economic decisions extends to choices that are costly to the decision maker. We investigated whether racial group membership contributes to differential likelihood of rejection of objectively equal unfair monetary offers. In the Ultimatum Game, players accept or reject proposed splits of money. Players keep accepted splits, but if a player rejects an offer, both the player and the proposer receive nothing. We found that participants accepted more offers and lower offer amounts from White proposers than from Black proposers, and that this pattern was accentuated for participants with higher implicit race bias. These findings indicate that participants are willing to discriminate against Black proposers even at a cost to their own financial gain.
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Finally, someone who "gets" me! Multiracial people value others' accuracy about their race
Jessica Remedios & Alison Chasteen
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, October 2013, Pages 453-460
Abstract:
Monoracial people typically encounter correct views about their race from others. Multiracial people, however, encounter different views about their race depending on the situation. As a result, multiracial (but not monoracial) people may regard race as a less visible aspect of the self that they hope others will verify during social interactions. Multiracial people should therefore value others' accuracy about their race more than monoracial people. In Study 1, multiracial and monoracial participants expected to meet a partner who was accurate or confused about their racial backgrounds. Multiracial (but not monoracial) participants reported heightened interest in interacting with an accurate partner. In Study 2, multiracial (but not monoracial) participants perceived accurate partners as more likely than confused partners to fulfill their needs for self-verification during an interaction. Increased expectations for self-verification, moreover, explained multiracial (but not monoracial) participants' heightened interest in interacting with accurate partners. The results suggest that multiracial (but not monoracial) people view race as an aspect of the self (like personality traits or values) requiring verification from others during interactions.
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The limits of racial prejudice
Kevin Lewis
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
The racial segregation of romantic networks has been documented by social scientists for generations. However, because of limitations in available data, we still have a surprisingly basic idea of the extent to which this pattern is generated by actual interpersonal prejudice as opposed to structural constraints on meeting opportunities, how severe this prejudice is, and the circumstances under which it can be reduced. I analyzed a network of messages sent and received among 126,134 users of a popular online dating site over a 2.5-mo period. As in face-to-face interaction, online exchanges are structured heavily by race. Even when controlling for regional differences in meeting opportunities, site users - especially minority site users - disproportionately message other users from the same racial background. However, this high degree of self-segregation peaks at the first stage of contact. First, users from all racial backgrounds are equally likely or more likely to cross a racial boundary when reciprocating than when initiating romantic interest. Second, users who receive a cross-race message initiate more new interracial exchanges in the future than they would have otherwise. This effect varies by gender, racial background, and site experience; is specific to the racial background of the original sender; requires that the recipient replied to the original message; and diminishes after a week. In contrast to prior research on relationship outcomes, these findings shed light on the complex interactional dynamics that - under certain circumstances - may amplify the effects of racial boundary crossing and foster greater interracial mixing.
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Devin English, Sharon Lambert & Nicholas Ialongo
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
While recent evidence has indicated that experienced racial discrimination is associated with increased depressive symptoms for African American adolescents, most studies rely on cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal research designs. As a result, the direction and persistence of this association across time remains unclear. This article examines longitudinal associations between experienced racial discrimination and depressive symptoms among a community sample of African American adolescents (N = 504) from Grade 7 to Grade 10, while controlling for multiple alternative causal pathways. Sex was tested as a moderator of the link between experienced racial discrimination and later depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling revealed that experienced racial discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms 1 year later across all waves of measurement. The link between experienced racial discrimination at Grade 7 and depressive symptoms at Grade 8 was stronger for females than males. Findings highlight the role of experienced racial discrimination in the etiology of depressive symptoms for African Americans across early adolescence.
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Race in Virtual Environments: Competitive Versus Cooperative Games with Black or White Avatars
Mao Vang & Jesse Fox
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, forthcoming
Abstract:
Often, virtual environments and video games have established goals, and to achieve them, users must either compete or cooperate with others. The common ingroup identity model predicts that individuals maintain multiple identities at any given time based on roles, demographics, and contextual factors, and that they interpret others based on similarity (i.e., perceived ingroup) or dissimilarity (i.e., perceived outgroup) to these identities. In this experiment, we manipulated two aspects of a virtual partner's identity - race and task collaboration - to determine how users would perceive others in a virtual world. White participants (N=99) played an anagram game competitively (outgroup) or cooperatively (ingroup) in a virtual environment with a black (outgroup) or white (ingroup) virtual partner. Contrary to hypotheses, performing either task led to more positive evaluations of black avatars than white avatars.
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Roni Factor, David Williams & Ichiro Kawachi
American Journal of Public Health, December 2013, Pages 2245-2251
Objectives: The recently developed social resistance framework addresses a widespread pattern in which members of some nondominant minorities tend to engage in various risky and unhealthy behaviors more than the majority group. This pilot study tested the core hypotheses derived from this innovative framework.
Methods: We conducted in 2011 a nationally representative Web-based survey of 200 members of a nondominant minority group (African Americans) and 200 members of a majority group (Whites).
Results: The preliminary findings supported the main premises of the framework and suggested that nondominant minorities who felt discriminated and alienated from society tended also to have higher levels of social resistance. Those with higher levels of social resistance also engaged more in risky and unhealthy behaviors - smoking, drinking, and nonuse of seat belts - than did those with lower levels of social resistance. These associations were not found in the majority group.
Conclusions: These preliminary results supported the framework and suggested that social resistance might play a meaningful role in risky and unhealthy behaviors of nondominant minorities, and should be taken into account when trying to reduce health disparities.
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Confronting prejudice: The who, what, and why of confrontation effectiveness
Jill Gulker, Aimee Mark & Margo Monteith
Social Influence, Fall 2013, Pages 280-293
Abstract:
Following a task that ostensibly revealed implicit racism or sexism, participants were confronted about their bias. The confronter's race and gender were manipulated to test whether group membership (whether one is part of the group experiencing prejudice) determined confrontation effectiveness. Results showed that the confrontation of racism met with greater acceptance when performed by a White than a Black confronter, indicating that group membership drives confrontation impact. Further, tests of two possible mediational accounts showed mediation by perceptions of the Black confronter as a complainer. Participants trivialized the confrontation concerning sexism, underscoring the need to strengthen social norms against sexism. Implications for engaging in confrontation are discussed.
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Nicole Coleman, Stephanie Chapman & David Wang
Journal of Black Psychology, October 2013, Pages 486-504
Abstract:
This study examined the role of color-blind racial ideology among a sample of 152 African American undergraduate students in relation to race-related stress. We hypothesized that those who endorsed relatively higher color-blind racial attitudes would experience greater race-related stress because experiences with racism would be interpreted as more taxing without an operating framework of extant racism in the United States. Contrary to our hypothesis, after controlling for overall well-being, trait-level positive and negative affect, and racial identity, we found color-blind racial attitudes to be a negative predictor of race-related stress. This finding indicates that moderate levels of color-blind attitudes may act as a buffer against race-related stress among undergraduate students who possess an overall sense of well-being. A detailed discussion of the findings and implications for future research is provided.
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Viren Swami et al.
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, October 2013, Pages 468-476
Abstract:
This study examined skin tone dissatisfaction, measured using a skin tone chart, among a multiethnic sample of British adults. A total of 648 British White individuals, 292 British South Asians, and 260 British African Caribbean participants completed a visual task in which they were asked to indicate their actual and ideal skin tones. They also completed measures of body appreciation, self-esteem, and ethnic identity attachment. Results showed that Asians had a lighter skin tone ideal than White and African Caribbean participants. Conversely, White participants had higher skin tone dissatisfaction (preferring a darker skin tone) than Asian and African Caribbean participants, who preferred a lighter skin tone. Results also showed that skin tone dissatisfaction predicted body appreciation once the effects of participant ethnicity, age, ethnic identity attachment, and self-esteem had been accounted for. Implications of our findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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Carolyn Field, Sitawa Kimuna & Murray Straus
Journal of Black Studies, October 2013, Pages 741-776
Abstract:
This study uses a sample of college students (N = 1173) at four American and one Canadian university to examine attitudes toward interracial relationships. The sample allowed for comparison of the attitudes toward interracial relationships at historically Black universities (HBUs) with those at predominantly White universities (PWUs). Results revealed that attitudes toward Black/White relationships were less positive at HBUs, and that overall, Black students disapproved of interracial dating more commonly than White. Results further indicated that approval of Asian/White relationships was higher than approval of Black/White relationships. There were no statistically significant differences between male and female respondents in their attitudes toward interracial relationships. When it comes to the perceived attitudes of parents reported by the students, a clear racial difference became apparent. White students believed their parents had the least favorable attitudes toward Black/White marital and dating relationships.
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Individual Differences in Discrimination Expectations Moderate the Impact of Target Stereotypically Black Physical Features on Racism-Related Responses in Blacks
James Johnson, Leslie Ashburn-Nardo & Len Lecci
Journal of Black Psychology, December 2013, Pages 560-584
Abstract:
Two experiments assess the extent that targets' stereotypically Black physical features and individual differences in perceiver discrimination expectations influence racism-related responses. In Experiment 1, a total of 115 Black college students read about an ambiguously racist workplace situation. Participants reported their hostile emotions and racism attributions. In Experiment 2, a total of 121 Black college students read about two White police officers who physically harm a Black male. Participants reported their experience of empathy for the Black target. In both experiments, stereotypically Black physical features of the Black target were experimentally manipulated, and individual differences in discrimination expectations were assessed. More stereotypically Black physical features elicited greater racism attributions, greater hostile emotions, and more empathy for the target; and in all cases, the impact was stronger for Blacks with low discrimination expectations relative to those with high discrimination expectations. When person-related variables are especially salient, the influence of situational factors is necessarily reduced. Specifically, our findings demonstrate the insensitivity to racism-related situational cues that may be most pervasive for Blacks with high discrimination expectations.
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Lisa Liu & Anna Lau
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, October 2013, Pages 383-394
Abstract:
Ethnic racial socialization (ERS) processes include cultural socialization (enculturation), preparation for bias, and promotion of mistrust. Although often conflated, these processes may variably confer psychological risk or protection. Cultural socialization has often been found to be protective, whereas promotion of mistrust has at times been associated with risk. We hypothesized that the distinctive associations between ERS processes and depression might be explained by trait optimism and pessimism as potential mediators. Results from a sample of 670 African American, Latino, and Asian American young adults indicated that cultural socialization was negatively associated with depression, whereas preparation for bias and promotion of mistrust were positively associated with depression. Participants who reported that their families engaged in cultural socialization had a more optimistic and less pessimistic outlook, which in turn explained lower levels of depression symptoms. In contrast, reported familial preparation for bias and promotion of mistrust were linked to greater pessimism and less optimism, which in turn were associated with depression symptoms. Although there were racial/ethnic differences in mean levels of ERS processes, multigroup analyses revealed that the associations with depression symptoms were robust across groups.
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Racial identity and autonomic responses to racial discrimination
Enrique Neblett & Steven Roberts
Psychophysiology, October 2013, Pages 943-953
Abstract:
Several studies identify racial identity - the significance and meaning that individuals attribute to race - as a mitigating factor in the association between racial discrimination and adjustment. In this study, we employed a visual imagery paradigm to examine whether racial identity would moderate autonomic responses to blatant and subtle racial discrimination analogues with Black and White perpetrators. We recruited 105 African American young adults from a public, southeastern university in the United States. The personal significance of race as well as personal feelings about African Americans and feelings about how others view African Americans moderated autonomic responses to the vignettes. We use polyvagal theory and a stress, appraisal, and coping framework to interpret our results with an eye toward elucidating the ways in which racial identity may inform individual differences in physiological responses to racial discrimination.
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Perceiving race relevance in everyday events: Target race matters, perceiver race does not
Diana Betz, Laura Ramsey & Denise Sekaquaptewa
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, November 2013, Pages 699-716
Abstract:
Perceptions of the relevance of race in everyday situations may matter for intergroup relations. Extending previous research, this work examines Blacks' and Whites' perceptions of race relevance in positive versus negative everyday situations affecting Black or White individuals. It also examines whether Black and White participants expect more intergroup disagreement regarding those perceptions than actually exists (i.e., interracial pluralistic ignorance). In Study 1, White participants saw significantly more race relevance in negative situations affecting Black (rather than White) individuals, whereas positive events seemed only marginally more race relevant when they featured Blacks. Study 2 replicated this pattern among White and Black participants. Furthermore, Study 2 uncovered interracial pluralistic ignorance: both Black and White participants expected to agree with their racial ingroup more than their racial outgroup, even though both groups reported similar race relevance perceptions. Participants' own race relevance ratings and symbolic racist attitudes moderated the degree of expected disagreement.
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Reactions to the implicit association test as an educational tool: A mixed methods study
Social Psychology of Education, September 2013, Pages 495-516
Abstract:
We examined reactions to the Race Implicit Association Test (IAT), which has been widely used but rarely examined as an educational tool to raise awareness about racial bias. College students (N=172) were assigned to read that the IAT reflected either personal beliefs or both personal and extrapersonal factors (single vs. multiple explanation conditions). They then completed the IAT and quantitative measures of affect, attitudes, and belief in bias. A subset of participants (n=32) also wrote reaction papers, which were used to develop qualitative themes to more fully describe reactions to the IAT. Quantitative results revealed that participants with a stronger implicit preference for European Americans more strongly believed in implicit bias in the multiple (vs. single) explanation condition. Mixed methods analyses using data transformation and typology development indicated that participants whose qualitative IAT responses were more negative were subsequently more likely to help an African American.
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Martica Hall et al.
Psychosomatic Medicine, October 2013, Pages 783-790
Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) differs markedly by race, yet few studies have evaluated these relationships in women, and none have done so during sleep (sHRV).
Methods: We addressed these gaps by examining sHRV in women of African American, Chinese American, or European American origin or descent (mean [standard deviation] age = 51.2 [2.2] years).
Results: HRV during Stage 2 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep differed significantly by race after adjusting for possible confounders. Normalized high-frequency HRV was significantly lower in European American compared with African American and Chinese American participants (European American NREM = 0.35 [0.01], REM = 0.23 [0.01]; African American NREM = 0.43 [0.02], REM = 0.29 [0.02]; Chinese American NREM = 0.47 [0.03], REM = 0.33 [0.02]; p values <.001). European Americans also exhibited higher low-to-high-frequency HRV ratios during sleep compared with African American and Chinese American women (European American NREM = 2.42 [1.07], REM = 5.05 [1.07]; African American NREM = 1.69 [1.09], REM = 3.51 [1.09]; Chinese American NREM = 1.35 [1.07], REM = 2.88 [1.13]; p values <.001).
Conclusions: Race was robustly related to sHRV. Compared with women of African American or Chinese American origin or descent, European American women exhibited decreased vagally mediated control of the heart during sleep. Prospective data are needed to evaluate whether sHRV, including race differences, predicts cardiovasular disease.