"It's not an overreaction": Increasing White people's acceptance of the reality of bias and receptivity to Black people's bias concerns

Abstract

Many White people deny that racial bias is pervasive and suggest that Black people who confront bias are oversensitive. We propose that White people will be more likely to accept the reality of ongoing bias and become receptive to Black people's concerns about this bias if they: (1) understand the cumulative burden of racial bias and (2) recognize that White people's perspective on the frequency and impact of bias is limited. In four longitudinal experiments, we randomly assigned White participants to read a research-based article that communicated these concepts (reality of bias article) or a control article; approximately two weeks later, in ostensibly unrelated studies, we assessed their receptivity to Black people's bias concerns. At Time 2, those who had previously read the reality of bias (vs. control) article were more likely to validate a Black confronter's concern about bias (Study 1), less likely to perceive that Black people generally overreact to bias (Study 2), and more likely to defend Black people's bias concerns when a peer argued that Black people overreact to bias (Studies 2–4). Study 4 tested the independent effect of each concept – cumulative burden and limited perspective – and found that both are needed to create enduring increases in receptivity. An internal meta-analysis indicates that these findings are robust. Learning about cumulative burden and limited perspective increased White people's recognition of ongoing racial bias and validation of Black people's bias concerns in an independent context encountered later. We discuss implications for developing interventions to foster receptivity.