Are Rejection Fears during Interracial Interactions Moderated by the Racial Composition of the Interacting Partner’s Social Network? A Pre-Registered Replication and Extension Experiment

Abstract

Shapiro et al. found that White people had greater rejection fears from and desires to reject a Black person with a Black friend (homogeneous network) versus a White friend (heterogeneous network). We aimed to replicate these findings in a high-powered, pre-registered study and explored a novel question: would racial heterogeneity in the target’s network allay rejection concerns and desires only if it included a friend whose race matched the perceiver’s? Results mostly replicated Shapiro and colleagues’. New here, an Asian friend prompted equally weak rejection concerns and inclinations as did a White friend, with both below the Black friend condition. Thus, White people surmised a Black person was open to positive interactions if alongside a non-Black friend.