Interracial Interactions Research Articles

The role of gender in shaping Black and Latina women’s experiences in anticipated interracial interactions

People's fear of being negatively stereotyped or devalued based on one or more of their social identities — social identity threat — contributes to negative anticipated experiences in interracial interactions. Prior research, however, has largely failed to consider the role of gender in shaping people's experiences in interracial interactions. To address this gap, the present research examined the implications of anticipated cross-gender interracial interactions among Black and Latina women who experience social identity threat based on their multiple marginalized identities. Across three studies, Black and Latina women imagined (Study 1) or anticipated (Studies 2 and 3) an interaction with a White man or a White woman. In the third study, Black and Latina women anticipated a cross-gender (vs. gender-matched) interaction with a same race/ethnicity partner or White partner. Compared to women who expected to interact with a White female partner, Black and Latina women who imagined or anticipated an interaction with a White male partner reported more perceived partner prejudice. Greater perceived partner prejudice, in turn, increased their levels of social identity threat, which predicted more anticipated negative interpersonal outcomes (e.g., anticipated trust and belonging, friendship interest) in the interaction. These results suggest that for Black and Latina women, the negative effects of interracial interactions may be most pronounced in cross-gender interracial interactions.

Almost-Invisible White Supremacy: Racism, Silence and Complicity in the Interracial Interaction Order

Almost-Invisible White Supremacy: Racism, Silence and Complicity in the Interracial Interaction Order

Interracial interaction, park ownership, belonging, community asset, and perceived provision of cultural ecosystem services

Public urban parks contribute fundamentally to social and ecological functioning of modern cities, and enhance human wellbeing through associated ecosystem services, including cultural ecosystem services (CES). This study was conducted to understand how components of interactional justice contribute to users’ perceptions of how well CES are provided in public parks. This paper therefore explores the possibility of parks’ contribution to sense of ownership and belonging, and their place as community assets, as potential catalysts for CES. Data came from an online survey distributed to adult residents of St. Louis, Missouri, USA in spring-summer of 2019. Black respondents reported more positive park interactions than white respondents. Positive interactions in parks were positively related to all dependent variables, while negative interactions were negatively related to belonging and community asset, but positively related to perceived provision of CES. Only community asset was positively related to perceived provision of CES. Results suggest that residents perceive the provision of CES differently based on the quality of interactions with others in their community parks. Additionally, feeling that the park is a community asset contributed positively to users’ perceptions of CES associated with it. This finding indicates that the social and cultural components of a community park relate to how well that space is perceived to deliver cultural environmental benefits. As these interactions influence relationships to and use of the park itself, it is implied that interactional justice plays an important role in determining how effective urban parks are in delivering CES.

A virtue intervention for interracial interactions increases motivation to respond without prejudice

ABSTRACT Multicultural scholars suggest that effective Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training must raise awareness of prejudice and racism while also including strategies for changing behavior by developing certain approach goals (e.g. the goal of becoming a more courageous and patient person). This study examines how virtue interventions that cultivate courage and patience may be a useful approach for increasing motivation to respond without prejudice during interracial interactions. Virtue interventions were tested in 292 White college students (69.2% female; M Age = 20.9) across four conditions (control, virtue only/no race salience, virtue and race salient, and race salient/no virtue). Results suggest that White college students receiving the virtue/race salient intervention increased internal motivation to respond without prejudice, but those who received the race salient/no virtue condition reported decreased levels of courage and decreased motivation to respond without prejudice. Findings are discussed in light of positive psychology, DEI, anti-racism training and interventions, and virtue development.

“Will they assume I’m racist?” How racial ingroup members’ stereotypical behavior impacts White Americans’ interracial interaction experiences

Three studies ( N = 1,427) examine White Americans’ threat and stress appraisals and coping strategies in imagined inter- and intraracial interactions when a nearby White person does something racist. White individuals report heightened concern about being stereotyped as racist (i.e., metastereotyping) following an ingroup member’s stereotype-confirming (vs. neutral) behavior (Studies 1–3). Moreover, across studies, these heightened metastereotypes predict greater anxiety, which in turn predicts anticipated coping strategies (e.g., increased motivation to disprove the stereotype). Additionally, relative to imagined interactions with a White partner, these consequences of witnessing a White person’s anti-Black bias are significantly stronger with a Black or Latinx (Studies 1 and 2) but not an Asian (Study 3, preregistered) interaction partner. This work highlights how an ingroup member’s racist behavior is a situational stressor for White people during intergroup encounters, engendering coping strategies to protect the self and manage the ensuing interaction.

Black individuals' suspicion of Whites' motives negatively predicts expected efficacy with White social partners.

Interracial efficacy is critical to intergroup interactions. However, the antecedents of interracial efficacy are unclear and rarely studied from the perspectives of Black individuals. The current work addresses these empirical gaps by testing whether individual differences in suspicion of Whites' motives negatively relate to expected efficacy in interracial interactions. Suspicion was operationalized as beliefs that Whites' positivity toward people of color (POC) is primarily motivated by concerns with appearing prejudiced. Four studies employing correlational and experimental vignette designs with Black adult participants (Ntotal = 2,295; ∼60% female) tested suspicion's hypothesized negative relation with three conceptions of interracial efficacy (general efficacy, liking-based efficacy, and respect-based efficacy). Four studies provided consistent evidence that suspicion of Whites' motives negatively related to expected efficacy in interactions with White social partners. Moreover, this relationship was unique to contexts with White partners and did not extend to imagined interactions with Black partners or members of other outgroup members (e.g., Latine partners). Results further suggest suspicion increases expected threat (i.e., anticipated uncertainty/anxiety), which undermines Black individuals' confidence in interactions with White partners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Historical Inequities in Medical Education - Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity, and Equity at the University of Hawai'i School of Medicine.

Medical education in the US has contributed to institutionalized racism through historically exclusionary practices, which has led to health disparities and inequities in health care today. The 1910 Flexner report, which favored schools with greater resources, led to the closure of nearly half of medical schools in the Us, which were mostly small schools located in rural communities that served economically disadvantaged, ethnic minority, and female populations. Closing these schools ultimately limited the availability of physicians willing to serve disadvantaged and minority populations in impoverished and underserved communities. In order to transform medical education to be more equitable, medical schools must be proactive in opportunity, diversity, and equity efforts. This not only includes efforts in admissions and faculty hiring, but also curricula related to social and health disparities, interracial interactions between students and faculty, and service learning activities that engage and work with marginalized communities. The University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine has a longstanding commitment to diversity, which is integral to the school's mission. Providing opportunities to underserved populations has been a priority since establishment of the school. As one of the most diverse univeristies in the US, the school of medicine continues to focus on opportunity, diversity, and equity priorities in both its strategic planning and overall mission.

Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions: Jennifer A. Richeson.

The APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions honors psychologists who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. "For illuminating with theoretical boldness and methodological rigor how sociocultural group memberships such as race and socioeconomic status shape how people reason about, respond to, and experience inequality and injustice. Jennifer A. Richeson has shown how threat impacts misperceptions of inequality and reactions to increasing racial diversity. Her steadfast commitment to being inclusive in the world and research is illustrated in her research on the dynamics of interracial interactions from the perspectives of members of both culturally devalued and traditionally dominant groups. Together, these contributions have transformed our understanding of how prejudice and stereotypes shape basic processes of mind and behavior." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

I Help You, You Help Me: Interracial Reciprocity in Situation Comedies Influences Racial Attitudes

ABSTRACT In this manuscript, three studies examined the effects of viewing situation comedies on attitudes toward Black Americans. Study 1 was a content analysis of sitcoms that had either predominately Black casts (PBC) or predominately White casts (PWC) and showcased interracial interaction. It is found that positive cross-racial interaction (interracial reciprocity) occurs in both types of shows but is more common with PBC sitcoms. Study 2 was a survey that found watching PBC sitcoms was associated with reduced prejudice, while watching PWC sitcoms was associated with increased prejudice. These effects were mediated by positive reciprocity expectations for Black Americans, as explicated by Bounded Generalized Reciprocity theory. Study 3 was an experiment that found exposure to increased scenes of interracial reciprocity in PBC was associated with less negative attitudes toward Black Americans through the mechanism of reduced negative reciprocity expectations. Overall, we found sitcoms are associated with activating racial prejudice. However, the direction of these beliefs is in part determined by if the casts of these shows are predominantly Black or White.

Culture, Economies and Media: The Change of African American rights during the Harlem Renaissance

The Great Migration, an influx of African-American movement from the South to the North, signifies the birth of Harlem. This New York City district provided unique opportunities to all of its residents. The Harlem Renaissance has been known to have had positive effects by popularizing black culture and music and providing ample chance for interracial interaction. Conversely, African-Americans were also dependent on gaining financial aid to support artistic endeavors. The following paper explores advantages and drawbacks to the Harlem Renaissance in regards to its residents and the overall Civil Rights movement. Harlem District was successful in advancing African-American culture and serving as an inspiration for the progression of additional rights.

Exploring the Role of Race in Social Cohesion in Two Rural Communities of South Africa

Globally, race and social cohesion in urban areas have received significant research focus. However, it may appear that scholars have not paid adequate attention to the role of race as a facilitator or barrier to social cohesion in rural areas. Thus, the aim of the study was to explore the role of race as a facilitator of, or barrier to, social cohesion in two South African rural communities, namely, Lambert’s Bay, Western Cape, and Philippolis, Free State Province. The study uses some of the tenets of critical race theory to interrogate the issues of race in South African rural communities. A qualitative research design was utilised to gather in-depth knowledge of the participants’ views. Nineteen participants participated in the face-to-face interviews conducted with the stakeholders and parents of both communities under study. The data was analysed thematically and five themes were identified, presented and discussed in the results: (1) Experiences of other racialised groups, (2) Experiences of immigrants, (3) Race as a factor influencing cohesion, (4) Experiences of racial discrimination, and (5) Fear of marginalisation and exclusion. Additionally, the findings highlighted physical separation and segregation between races as barriers to race relations in the communities. The study highlights that segregated communities limit interracial interactions, and rather foster intolerance, which in turn fuels racism. As a result, these factors have negative consequences on social cohesion in South African communities. Keywords: Race, Social cohesion, Rural community, Critical theory, South Africa

An African Looks at America: Picturing Racial Integration for Africa, 1956–68

The global tour of Edward Steichen’s 1955 photographic exhibition The Family of Man, sponsored by the United States Information Agency (USIA), has long been viewed as the defining moment for the medium’s engagement in US Cold War diplomacy and propaganda. Yet the attention garnered by this single exhibition has served to obscure an extensive programme of photographic diplomacy developed by the USIA during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and largely overlooked by photographic scholarship. One strand of this programme was shaped by the twin concerns of racial conflict at home and decolonisation in Africa and Asia. As the US government cultivated audiences in the newly independent nations of the emerging Third World, it became clear that it would need to adapt its message. Racial integration became a pervasive theme in the agency’s photographic output as it sought to picture America for its international audiences and visually refute accusations that the USA was an inherently racist society. In contrast to studies of US propaganda output of the early 1950s, which have suggested a limited repertoire for the representation of African Americans, the photographic records for this period provide evidence that the USIA paid close attention to the micro-politics of racial interaction and endeavoured to create a richer and more complete set of representations. Seen in the context of the time, the carefully choreographed portrayals of interracial interaction that emerge from the USIA archives are remarkable, if always highly partial and selective.

Does extended experience with other-race nannies predict racial bias in the preschool years?

Most existing studies on racial bias reduction have used short-term interracial interaction interventions with fleeting effects. The current natural experiment examined whether daily interactions with other-race nannies relate to reduced racial bias in the preschool years. We capitalized on a unique child-rearing situation in Singapore whereby children are often cared for by other-race nannies since infancy. Singaporean Chinese 3- to 6-year-olds (N = 100) completed explicit and implicit racial bias measures assessing their preferential bias favoring own-race adults over adults of their nannies’ race. Differential findings were obtained for children’s explicit and implicit racial bias. Extensiveness, but not mere presence, of other-race nanny experience was associated with lower levels of explicit racial bias in children. In contrast, neither presence nor extensiveness of other-race nanny experience was associated with children’s implicit racial bias. Together, these findings suggest that long-term and extensive contact with an other-race caregiver could have subtle mitigating effects on children’s explicit, but not implicit, racial bias.

White psychodrama

White psychodrama

Shanshan Lan, “Researching race, migration, and the transnational circulation of racial knowledge: On Chinese migrants in Chicago, on African migrants in Guangzhou, and on the reconfiguration of whiteness in China”. Interview by Dominique Vidal and Si

Shanshan Lan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. She has been conducting researches for nearly twenty years on Chinese migration to the United States, on Africans in the Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou and on whiteness in China. In the following interview, Shanshan Lan introduces her biographical and scholarly background, her training as an anthropologist in the United States and her distanced use of Western social sciences. She also discusses several concepts that she has developed from empirical investigations: “racial knowledge”, “overlapping racialization”, “grassroots interracial interaction”, and the difference she makes between “white privilege” and “white skin privilege”.

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

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.

Interaction, Stereotypes, and Performance: Evidence from South Africa

We exploit a policy designed to randomly allocate roommates in a large South African university to investigate whether interracial interaction affects stereotypes, attitudes and performance. Using implicit association tests, we find that living with a roommate of a different race reduces White students' negative stereotypes towards Black students and increases interracial friendships. Interaction also affects academic outcomes: Black students improve their GPA, pass more exams and have lower dropout rates. This effect is not driven by roommate's ability. (JEL D91, I23, J15, O12)

Linguistic Characteristics of Interracial Interactions on Primetime TV: A Quantitative Content Analysis

Media depictions of interactions between members of different ethnic/racial groups can have either constructive or detrimental social impact depending on the characteristics of these representations. To advance understanding of these interracial dynamics, the linguistic characteristics of interracial interactions in scripted primetime television shows were examined. Human and computer-assisted analysis of 548 interactions involving 578 characters revealed a relatively egalitarian pattern of representation of interracial interactions. Furthermore, in line with communication accommodation theory, characters generally matched each other’s language use (i.e., converged) during interracial interactions.

The effects of intranasal oxytocin on black participants' responses to outgroup acceptance and rejection.

Social acceptance (vs. rejection) is assumed to have widespread positive effects on the recipient; however, ethnic/racial minorities often react negatively to social acceptance by White individuals. One possibility for such reactions might be their lack of trust in the genuineness of White individuals' positive evaluations. Here, we examined the role that oxytocin-a neuropeptide putatively linked to social processes-plays in modulating reactions to acceptance or rejection during interracial interactions. Black participants (N = 103) received intranasal oxytocin or placebo and interacted with a White, same-sex stranger who provided positive or negative social feedback. After positive feedback, participants given oxytocin (vs. placebo) tended to display approach-oriented cardiovascular responses of challenge (vs. threat), exhibited more cooperative behavior, and perceived the partner to have more favorable attitudes toward them after the interaction. Following negative feedback, oxytocin reduced anger suppression. Oxytocin did not modulate testosterone reactivity directly, but our exploratory analysis showed that the less participants suppressed anger during the interaction with their partner, the greater testosterone reactivity they displayed after the interaction. These results survived the correction for multiple testing with a false discovery rate (FDR) of 20%, but not with a rate of 10 or 5%. Discussion centers on the interplay between oxytocin and social context in shaping interracial interactions.

Bringing Compassion into Business: The Role of Self/Other Compassion in Organizational Relationships

Over the last decade, research on positive psychology has skyrocketed. One area in particular that has gained attraction is compassion. In short, compassion is the desire to alleviate suffering, a common yet detrimental aspect to an individual’s personal and professional life. Suffering can take on a variety of forms – from feeling undervalued by your supervisor and organization to grieving the death of a family member. This experience can happen inside the walls of the workplace or spillover from an individual’s personal life. Regardless of where, when, and how an individual suffers, an increasingly important question that is asked is “should businesses care?” (Worline & Dutton, 2017). Many would argue yes, as compassion helps from both a strategic level – increasing an organization’s overall bottom line (Worline & Dutton, 2017) – and an individual level – protecting an employee from negative experiences (Reizer, 2019; Schabram & Heng, 2021) and improving their overall well-being (Zessin, Dickhauser, & Garbade, 2015). Despite that the topic is both “timely and timeless,” it is surprising that there is a lack of attention given to compassion in the workforce. A recent review illustrates that the healthcare industry dominates the majority of research on compassion (Dodson & Heng, 2021). While research in that setting may be important, it is also useful to explore compassion from a business lens. For instance, encouraging compassion in the workplace may appear beneficial, but research on helping professions demonstrates that it can lead to compassion fatigue (Boyatzis, Smith, & Blaize, 2006; Figley, 2002). Thus, an important question to consider is what does compassion mean in the workplace? Does it result in positive organizational outcomes, but come at cost to the individual? Further, the literature on compassion has shown to be empirically messy or inconsistent (Dodson & Heng, 2021). The literature has teased out two components of compassion: self-compassion (kind acts toward the self; Neff, 2003) and other-compassion (kind acts toward others; Lazarus, 1991). The former has been studied as a state (Leary, Tate, Adams, Allen, & Hancock, 2007), trait (Anjum Liang, Durrani, & Parvez, 2020), and process (Schabram & Heng, 2021), while the latter has been conceptualized as a process (Dutton, Workman, & Hardin, 2014). Taken together, these shortcomings pave the way for future research to investigate the implications of compassion in the organizational context and conceptualizations and comparisons of the constructs. This symposium seeks to investigate the role that self- and/or other- compassion play in addressing employee suffering – a common yet understudied area. Our symposium includes five papers that collectively make three important contributions. First, we contribute to the compassion literature by expanding scholars’ knowledge to both the antecedents and consequences of compassion, which shows that compassion can be harnessed in organizations and can benefit the individual employee as well as surrounding employees or a diverse workgroup. Second, we explore various conceptualizations of compassion, which paints a clearer picture on how compassion can be utilized and studied in the workplace. Third, we consider the role that compassion may have for the self and other employees, highlighting both the potential upsides and downsides from an organizational perspective. We hope this symposium will encourage future research and stimulate further discussion around the importance of studying and practicing compassion at work. Clearance to Care: The Impact of Sufferer Self-Compassion on Observer Compassion Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Virginia Presenter: Charmi Patel; Henley Business School, U. of Reading The Effects of Forgone Identity Preference and Existential Meaning Beliefs on Compassion Presenter: Rachel Burgess; W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State U. When to Care: Self- and Other-Compassion on Citizenship Behavior Presenter: Sara Krivacek; Clemson U. Presenter: Thomas Joseph Zagenczyk; North Carolina State U. Presenter: Kristin L. Scott; College of Business, Clemson U. Presenter: Yannick Griep; Radboud U., Netherlands Exploring the Possible Benefits of Self-Compassion for Interracial Interactions Presenter: Jean-Marc Moke; York U. Presenter: Natalya Alonso; Haskayne School of Business, U. of Calgary Presenter: Brent John Lyons; Schulich School of Business, York U. The Straining Effect of Leader Identity Threat and the Exacerbating Role of Overidentification Presenter: Jordan Nielsen; Purdue U. Presenter: Thomas Ptashnik; U. of Iowa Presenter: Amy E. Colbert; U. of Iowa