Abstract
A cultural-psychological analysis emphasizes the intentionality of everyday worlds: the idea that material products not only bear psychological traces of culturally constituted beliefs and desires, but also subsequently afford and promote culturally consistent understandings and actions. We applied this conceptual framework of mutual constitution in a research project using quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the dynamic resonance between sociocultural variance in Black History Month (BHM) representations and the reproduction of racial inequality in the U.S. In studies 1 and 2, we considered whether mainstream BHM artifacts reflect the preferences and understandings of White Americans (i.e., psychological constitution of cultural worlds). Consistent with the psychological constitution hypothesis, White American participants reported more positive affect, better recognition, and greater liking for BHM representations from the schools where White Americans were the majority than BHM representations from the schools where Black students and other students of color were the majority. Moreover, as an indication of the identity relevance of BHM representations, White identification was more positively associated with judgments of positive affect and preference in response to BHM representations from White schools than BHM representations from the schools where Black students were in the majority. In studies 3 and 4, we considered whether BHM representations from different settings differentially afford support or opposition to anti-racism policies (i.e., cultural constitution of psychological experience). In support of the cultural constitution hypothesis, BHM representations typical of schools where Black students were in the majority were more effective at promoting support for anti-racism policies compared to BHM representations typical of predominately White schools and a control condition. This effect was mediated by the effect of (different) BHM representations on perception of racism. Together, these studies suggest that representations of Black History constitute cultural affordances that, depending on their source, can promote (or impede) perception of racism and anti-racism efforts. This research contributes to an emerging body of work examining the bidirectional, psychological importance of cultural products. We discuss implications for theorizing collective manifestations of mind.
Highlights
Responses to displays from Black-Majority schools (M = 1.31, SD = 1.17) tended to include more critical themes than did responses to displays from White-Majority schools (M = 0.97, SD = 0.92), this difference did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance, t(119) = −1.82, p = 0.071, d = 0.33. These differences in frequency across open-ended responses provide some evidence that displays from different school settings bear systematically different themes. We propose that this difference between critical and celebratory representations of history might be the “active ingredient” that affords the differential effects of the displays that we observed in Studies 2 and 3.That is, displays from BlackMajority schools may have produced more dislike among White American students in Study 2 in part because they include more critical representations than do displays from White-Majority schools
This research draws upon a diverse methodological toolkit— including qualitative field research, quantitative analyses, and experimental design—to investigate sociocultural variation in Black History Month (BHM) representations and their consequences for perceptions of racial inequality in the U.S The intellectual foundation of the project lies in the theoretical perspective of cultural psychology and its emphasis on the intentional character of everyday worlds
In one direction, the idea of intentional worlds emphasizes the directed character of everyday cultural ecologies
Summary
Scholars debate whether current BHM commemorations serve Woodson’s liberatory goals or are instead primarily a means for corporations to market goods to the Black community (e.g., posters from Budweiser with the slogan “this chapter of history brought to you by the king of beer”; Persinger, 2011; see Franklin, 1997; Dagbovie, 2005). These mainstream appropriations make clear that commemoration of BHM is not about disinterested documentation of Black American histories. The variety of forms and purposes suggest that representations of BHM may function as cultural affordances (Kitayama and Markus, 1999; Kitayama et al, 2006; see Gibson, 1977): that is, cultural tools that make possible particular beliefs, motivations, and actions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
