Stigmatized and Dominant Cultural Groups Differentially Interpret Positive Feedback

Abstract

Members of stigmatized cultural groups may view positive feedback from a dominant group member more negatively than do dominant cultural group members. In this experiment, a White evaluator praised or did not praise either Black or White students for a good academic performance. The students then indicated their perceptions of the evaluator’s politeness and performance expectations and their feelings about their performance. Praised Black students rated the evaluator as less polite than did nonpraised Black students, whereas praise did not affect the White students’ evaluations of the evaluator’s politeness. Black students tended to attribute praise to the evaluator’s low expectations, whereas the White students tended to attribute praise to high expectations.The Black students also felt better about their performance than did the White students. The discussion raises additional questions for future research.