Racial Perceptions Research Articles

<b>Re-Examining Fries-Britt’s Learning Race in a U.S. Context Emergent Framework Drawing on the Micro-Level Narratives of International Students in the United States</b>

Fries-Britt et al.’s (2014) Learning Race in a U.S. Context (LRUSC) emergent framework holds significant prominence in international student literature as the pioneering framework to theorize the perceptions of race and responses to racialized experiences among college students of color born and raised outside of the U.S. This scholarly paper analyzes nine peer-reviewed articles published after 2014, utilizing micro-level narratives that delve into the racial learning experiences of diverse international students within the U.S. context. The aim is to assess the framework’s relevance and suggest potential updates a decade after its initial publication. The findings show that the framework is still generally applicable but can benefit from incorporating the following revisions: 1) broadening the scope of racial encounters; 2) emphasizing the impacts of the home country context; and 3) leaving the outcomes of racial learning open.

#WatchingAfricaOnKuaishou: performing racial stereotypes on a Chinese short video platform

ABSTRACT With China’s growing engagement in African affairs, an increasing number of Chinese individuals residing or working in Africa are sharing short travel and exploration videos on Kuaishou. These videos have gained significant popularity on the platform while also reflecting racial stereotypes. An analysis of 277 videos using the #WatchingAfricaOnKuaishou hashtag reveals the hybridization of internalized racism originating from the West and racial perceptions rooted in Chinese culture. Creators strategically employ hashtags, comments, and platform policies to perpetuate explicit stereotypes of Africans while downplaying discussions about racial tensions and advocating for assimilation into Chinese modernity and culture. Beneath the facade of harmony, power dynamics are established over Africans, positioning the Chinese as both adversaries and reformers within the racial hierarchy of white supremacy. The overarching aim of these videos is to project Chinese national identity and assert a sense of cultural and civilizational superiority, thereby transforming Africans through Chineseness and reshaping power dynamics once dictated by Whites. This study examines an undercurrent of racism that exists between two previously colonized groups and calls for increased attention to specific manifestations of racism across diverse social landscapes.

<p>Epistemologies of Ignorance: Revisiting the Marley Hypothesis and the Role of Collective Self-Esteem and Social Dominance Theory</p>

Background: In studies on racial differences in the perception of racism, it has been shown that these differences are mediated by the degree of historical knowledge about racism. The validity of this hypothesis is evaluated in the context of the states of Oregon and Washington. In the present study, we propose as the main objective to contrast the Marley hypothesis based on its previous empirical evaluation, as it has been substantiated, and incorporating the analysis of the construct of social dominance orientation (SDO). Methodology: Using convenience sampling, 79 White Americans (M = 35.75, SD = 16.45) and 58 Black Americans (M = 30.93, SD = 10.27) were selected. Four measures were used: a historical knowledge quiz, the Collective Self-Esteem Scale, a perception of racism scale and the SDO-7 Short Scale. Results: The expected racial differences in the perception of racism were not found. However, White participants presented less historical knowledge. Furthermore, greater historical knowledge predicted SDO only for Black participants. It has been proven that the degree of racial identification moderates the effect of race status on perceptions of racism. Discussion and Conclusion: The defense of a “non-racist” self-image by white participants is closely linked to how they report their perceptions of racism. It is noted that, even though the two groups presented equal levels in this variable, the scores could be due to different underlying processes, hence the results are compatible with the notion that the two groups understand racism in different ways. The data suggests that in this region, the perception and understanding of racism are influenced by sociocultural factors that were not as relevant in previous studies.

“Drug Use with Racism…The Reason I Wanted to Do This Study”: Perceptions of Race and Racism’s Impact on Drug Use among Black Americans Using Opioids

Background: Several studies link racism with drug use disparities among systemically marginalized populations. However, few invite Black Americans to discuss how they perceive racism’s impact on their drug use. Objectives: To examine qualitative accounts from N=40 Black adults reporting non-medical prescription opioid use on their experiences of racism and drug use. Results: A deductive structural tabular thematic analysis informed by Jones’s (2000) levels of racism resulted in two themes: (a) Experiences of Racism (subthemes: Denying Experiences of Racism and Endorsing Experiences of Racism) and (b) Race, Racism, and Drug Use (subthemes: Rejecting Race and Racism’s Impact on Drugs and Rejecting Race and Racism’s Impact on Drugs). Conclusions: Participants provided examples of internalized, personally mediated, and institutionalized racism associated with their drug use. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed. Specifically, implications detail how to center Black Americans and demonstrate anti-racism when developing treatment strategies and drug policies.

Decoding Anti-Blackness in Children’s Literature

This dissertation critically examines the representation of Black authors and themes within the John Newbery Medal canon from its inception in 1922 to 2023. It explores how this literary award has mirrored or challenged societal perceptions of race, particularly in children’s literature. Utilizing a thematic content analysis methodology, the study investigates the works of the six Black authors who have won the Newbery Medal, using a priori coding to critically examine the racial narratives, themes, and authorial diversity presented in these titles. Despite the noted increase in diversity within children’s literature, this research identifies a persistent underrepresentation of Black authors and Black cultural themes in Newbery Medal recipients. The study highlights a significant gap in racial inclusivity, with a mere six Black authors receiving the Newbery Medal in over a century. This underrepresentation is not only a marker of racial disparity but also reflects broader systemic biases within the literary and publishing industries. This dissertation engages with theories from critical race theory and critical librarianship to interrogate the structural barriers that sustain this racial homogeneity. In examining the implications of these findings, the research advocates for a more equitable literary landscape, emphasizing the need for librarians, educators, and publishers to foster inclusivity in children’s literature. The ultimate aim is to ensure that young readers encounter a more representative spectrum of narratives that celebrate racial diversity and promote inclusiveness.

Ethnic disparities in perceived racism, patient-provider communication and healthcare utilization: Asian Americans

ABSTRACT Background Race is a consequential sociocultural cue in healthcare contexts. Racism is associated with health disparities by influencing patient-provider communication and utilization of healthcare services. Objective This study aimed to investigate how Asian American subgroups differ in their perception of everyday racism, internalized racism, and perceived racism in healthcare settings and whether these perceptions predict their interactions with their health care providers and their utilization of healthcare services. Methods An online survey study was conducted. ANOVA tests were employed to compare the differences in perceptions of everyday racism, internalized racism, and perceived racism in the healthcare system among Filipino (N = 310), Japanese (N = 242), Chinese (N = 287), Asian Indian (N = 304), Korean (N = 199) and Vietnamese (N = 151) participants. Multiple regression analyses assessed whether perceptions of everyday racism, internalized racism, and perceived racism in the healthcare system predicted healthcare service utilization and patient-provider communication among the Asian subgroups sampled. Results There were significant group differences in perceived everyday racism (F = 8.56, p < .001), internalized racism (F = 3.46, p < .01), perceived racism in healthcare (F = 4.57, p < .001). Perceptions of racism and socioeconomic variables were found to predict patient-provider communication and utilization of healthcare services disparately across various Asian subgroups. For instance, the perception of everyday racism was a significant predictor of patient-provider communication for each of the subgroups, excluding the Vietnamese participants. Internalized racism was a significant predictor only for Filipino and Chinese participants. Surprisingly, perceived racism in healthcare was not a predictor for any of the subgroups. Conclusion Findings highlight the complex interplay of sociodemographic factors and perceived racism in shaping patient-provider communication and healthcare service utilization within the Asian American community. Implications are suggested for addressing the unique challenges faced by different Asian American subgroups and for promoting equitable healthcare access and fostering positive patient-provider relationships among the Asian American subgroups.

Analytic racecraft: Race-based averages create illusory group differences in perceptions of racism.

Research practices used by social scientists to understand and dismantle the psychological foundations that uphold racist hierarchies can backfire when they rely on racecraft. Racecraft ideology assumes the reality of race(s), an assumption that shapes study designs and inferences to the detriment of theoretical and practical goals. I showcase how racecraft manifests in studies seeking to quantify how perceptions of sociopolitical stimuli differ across racialized perceivers (e.g., black, white, latinx). The typical analysis for quantifying perceptions focuses on comparing group averages, which assumes the existence of discrete "races" whose perceptions can be sufficiently summarized by averages. Across three studies, I used variance component analyses on racism ratings of anti-immigrant tweets from differently racialized perceivers (N = 1,211) to show there was much larger disagreement than agreement within race categories, even when there were average differences in perceptions across race categories. This analysis shows how analytic practices can bolster different assumptions about the nature of race, some of which reify the illusion that race categories are stable cohesive groups. Researchers can improve their analytic inferences and avoid producing race-reifying caricatures of peoples' perceptions by adding variance mapping to their toolkits and attending to racialization as a dynamic process-needed improvements within the psychological study of race and racism, group-based beliefs, and antiracist research endeavors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Analytic Racecraft: Race-Based Averages Create Illusory Group Differences in Perceptions of Racism

Supplemental Material for Analytic Racecraft: Race-Based Averages Create Illusory Group Differences in Perceptions of Racism

Can race be replaced? Ecology and race categorization

Why do people categorize others by race? Building on recent work integrating affordance management with a life history perspective, we propose that one reason perceivers categorize others by race is because race is a cue to the environments/ecologies in which groups live. In the U.S., because Black and White individuals differentially live in environments that vary in ecological harshness/unpredictability, race may be used as a cue of a person's home ecology. In three experiments (undergraduate and online U.S. samples; N = 1260) with the memory confusion paradigm (“who-said-what”), when American perceivers are presented with information on both a person's race (i.e., Black/White) and the ecologies in which they live (i.e., harsh/hopeful), racial categorization decreases, and ecology categorization emerges (Studies 1–3). Hence, in the minds of perceivers, the ecologies that others come from “replaces” others' race. However, counter to expectations, instructing perceivers to form social impressions of others on traits linked to ecological harshness (i.e., “planfulness”) led to ecology categorization disappearing (Study 3). We discuss implications of our findings for race perception and for social perception at large.

Research on Tropical Medicine and Germ Theory in Colonial Hong Kong: Focusing on Malaria and Plague Prevention.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Hong Kong was in the midst of a malaria and plague epidemic which caused a fierce dispute within the medical community over disease theories and quarantine practices. However, the Hong Kong colonial authorities and medical community did not immediately accept the theory of etiology based on germ theory. Although germ theory was becoming scientifically established through research on plague and malaria in the 1890s, the Hong Kong colonial authorities and medical community did not immediately accept it. Patrick Manson (1844-1922) began studying tropical medicine based on germ theory by studying elephantiasis and malaria in Amoi and Hong Kong during the 1880s. However, he was unable to strongly advocate for a quarantine policy based on germ theory because the exact transmission routes of these diseases were not yet fully understood. Although the scientific community began to shift towards germ theory after the discovery of causative bacteria for diseases like malaria and plague in the 1880s and 1890s, many medical and colonial health officials in Hong Kong still held on to the quarantine policy based on miasma theory. However, a series of infectious diseases and destructive miasma theory-based quarantine measures were pushing Hong Kong society into chaos, and the existing quarantine measures was no longer sustainable. In the twentieth century, colonial authorities and medical community in Hong Kong adopted tropical medicine and quarantine measures based on germ theory as their prominent position. Despite the establishment of tropical disease theory based on germ theory, racial perceptions of disease did not change significantly. Instead, the theory of tropical medicine reinforced orientalist views of disease.

Children’s perceptions of race and ethnicity in media: a 25-year update to children now

ABSTRACT In 1998, Children Now surveyed 1,200 U.S. 10- to 17-year-olds about TV racial depictions, finding white children reported the most visibility. As a 25-year update, we surveyed 834 U.S. 10- to 17-year-olds: Asian/Asian American (n = 177), Black (n = 206), Hispanic (n = 150), Indigenous/Native American (n = 86), and white (n = 215). More youth now say it’s important to see their race in media, but fewer report seeing their group, with Hispanic and Asian youth reporting the lowest frequencies. Overall, youth perceived disparities: 93% said there were ‘enough’ white characters; fewer said there were enough Black (54%), Hispanic (43%), Asian (32%), and Indigenous (19%) characters. Perceptions of qualities varied, with Indigenous characters scoring lowest in positive qualities and Black and Hispanic characters highest in negative qualities. Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian/Asian American youth perceived fewer positive ingroup representations than white and Black youth. Implications for media message design and the theory of invisibility are discussed.

‘Carrying it on her shoulder, like an Irish-woman’: early modern English traveller perceptions of women in Ireland, America, and Africa, 1555–1745

ABSTRACT This article compares how early modern English travel accounts to Ireland, America, and Africa portrayed native women. It examines gendered tropes that reoccurred in all these writings, such as ease of childbirth, breast size, and breastfeeding over the shoulder. It argues that many of these tropes that helped shape the racialised thinking of indigenous people in America and Africa first appeared in English-written travel accounts to Ireland. In some examples, English travel writers in America and Africa made direct comparisons to Irish women. Accordingly, the article demonstrates that Ireland is significant for the study of early modern English imperialism. Perceptions of gender were central in formulating English racial perceptions of the Other in the New World, but there was nothing unique about these tropes. In other words, there was nothing particularly ‘African’ about English perceptions of African women. English imperialists perceived Native American, African, and Irish women through the same lens. The article shows that early modern notions of racial difference were constructed less on overt characteristics particular to a geographical zone of contact—for example, the skin colour of Africans—and more on certain transferable gendered tropes that framed perceptions of native women across all three continents.

HIV-related knowledge, risk perception, and minority stressors among South Asian sexual minority men in the United States.

South Asian gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) in the United States have been persistently overlooked in HIV research and programming. To address this limitation, this article describes their HIV-related knowledge, risk perception, and minority stressors, with a focus on identifying variations between American-born individuals and immigrants. Participants were recruited from April-July 2022 through social media advertising and peer referral and surveyed about their sociodemographic and HIV-related behavioral characteristics. Previously validated scales were used to assess their HIV-related knowledge, risk perception, disclosure of sexual identity, experienced homophobia, and perceived racism within the sexual and gender minority community. Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests were conducted to compare those born in the United States and those born abroad. Of the 112 participants, 26 (23.21%) were American-born individuals and 86 (76.79%) were immigrants. Despite similar levels of sexual risk behaviors, such as having multiple male sex partners, engaging in condomless anal sex, and using alcohol or drugs immediately before or during sex, immigrants had lower levels of HIV-related knowledge (p = .0480) and risk perception (p = .0114) compared to American-born individuals. Immigrants were also less likely to have disclosed their sexual identity to family, friends, and society compared to American-born individuals (p = .0004). No differences were identified with respect to experiences of homophobia (p = .2303) or perceptions of racism (p = .4011). Comprehensive HIV prevention efforts that address the social and cultural norms of South Asian GBM in the United States are needed.

S89 - Perceptions of Racism’s Impact on Drug Use Among African Americans Using Opioids

S89 - Perceptions of Racism’s Impact on Drug Use Among African Americans Using Opioids

Experiences and Perceptions of Maternal Autonomy and Racism Among BIPOC Veterans Receiving Cesarean Sections

BackgroundPrevious studies of pregnant veterans enrolled in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care reveal high rates of cesarean sections among racial/ethnic minoritized groups, particularly in southern states. The purpose of this study was to better understand contributors to and veteran perceptions of maternal autonomy and racism among veterans receiving cesarean sections. MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews to understand perceptions of maternal autonomy and racism among 27 Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) veterans who gave birth via cesarean section using VA maternity care benefits. ResultsOur study found that a substantial proportion (67%) of veterans had previous cesarean sections, ultimately placing them at risk for subsequent cesarean sections. More than 60% of veterans with a previous cesarean section requested a labor after cesarean (LAC) but were either refused by their provider or experienced complications that led to another cesarean section. Qualitative findings revealed the following: (1) differences in treatment by veterans’ race/ethnicity may reduce maternal agency, (2) many veterans felt unheard and uninformed regarding birthing decisions, (3) access to VA-paid doula care may improve maternal agency for BIPOC veterans during labor and birth, and (4) BIPOC veterans face substantial challenges related to social determinants of health. ConclusionFurther research should examine veterans’ perceptions of racism in obstetrical care, and the possibility of VA-financed doula care to provide additional labor support to BIPOC veterans.

COVID-19 Implications on Worksite Wellness Programming.

Seven of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States are due to chronic diseases and treating these accounts for 86 percent of our nation's health care costs. The workplace offers an environment to implement chronic disease prevention strategies, such as worksite wellness programs, due to the large amount of time spent at the worksite daily by employees. As a result of COVID-19, many organizations began to change their workdays (i.e., working from home). This research sought to understand what, if any, implications the COVID-19 epidemic had on worksite wellness programming. Semistructured interviews were employed and recorded via Zoom conferencing to gather qualitative data. Four themes were identified: (a) relationship building among remote employees, (b) creativity in how to carry out program components, (c) increased physical activity and work-life balance, and (d) increased knowledge of health issues and mental health resources. Both challenges and successes were reported within themes. The main finding from this research indicates a mostly positive experience for worksite wellness programs during the COVID-19 epidemic. Many organizations have continued nontraditional work environments and the lessons learned from this study can both encourage and provide ideas for how to create and continue a worksite wellness program outside of the normal face-to-face working environment.

One rotten apple or a rotten tree: football leaders’ perceptions of racism in European football

ABSTRACT Despite efforts by key stakeholders to address racial discrimination in international football, racially charged behaviour persists, particularly in the European context. To explore this phenomenon, our paper employs Critical Race Theory as a central framework and links empirical research to racism and inclusion while keeping institutional football and policy concerns at the forefront of its investigation. Primary questions underlining the study concern practices and actors that enable or sustain exclusionary practices in the football industry. To better understand the nature of racial discourse among football leaders and how it potentially facilitates or acts as a barrier to inclusion in football, qualitative interviews were conducted with leaders from eight European countries. The interviews revealed conflicting tensions in the football industry. Tensions between corporatized football practices and equality policymaking, discrepancies in views on discriminatory actions and their connections to larger structural issues and resistance to change from predominantly White, male leadership.

Closing a conceptual gap in race perception research: A functional integration of the other-race face recognition and "who said what?" paradigms.

White people confuse Black faces more than their own-race faces. This is an example of the other-race effect, commonly measured by the other-race face recognition task. Like this task, the "Who said what?" paradigm uses within-race confusions in memory, but to measure social categorization strength. The former finds a strongly asymmetrical pattern of interrace perception, the other-race effect, yet the latter usually finds symmetrical patterns (equally strong categorization of own-race and other-race faces). In a "Who said what?" meta-analysis, racial categorization and individuation across races were only weakly asymmetrical (Study 1, n = 2,669). We aimed to resolve this empirical misalignment. As tested in other-race face recognition tasks, the weak asymmetry was not due to the limited number of portrait stimuli (Study 2, N = 99) nor to the longer duration of stimulus presentation in the "Who said what?" task (Study 4, n = 358). Pairing portraits with statements reduced the other-race effect (Study 3, n = 126). Showing each portrait repeatedly also reduced the other-race effect (Study 4, n = 358; Study 5, n = 470) but did not decrease infrahumanization of Black portraits (Study 6, n = 487). Consequently, presenting portraits only once in the "Who said what?" paradigm (Study 7, N = 112) resulted in strong interrace categorization and individuation asymmetries. This finding bridges a central conceptual gap between the other-race effect and social categorization strength. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Moving Beyond Single Racial Identification: Considering Multiracial and Multiethnic Identification in Public Health.

As multiracial and multiethnic youth populations are anticipated to be 11.3% of the U.S. population by 2060, it is essential that public health research and practice find ways to effectively capture and reach these diverse groups. Single racial identification has been a norm in public health practice; however, this method has limitations for capturing the health of multiracial and multiethnic individuals. Drawing on personal experience of the author and multidisciplinary scholarship, this research commentary examines the limitations of single race identification and how this influences the processes of racialization. The author provides important implications for public health research by suggesting more complex and effective ways to capture personal racial identification and racial perceptions and addresses how to reach multiracial and multiethnic groups through public health interventions where individuals might identify with multiple cultural identities.

An Intersectional Analysis of Perceptions of Race in U.S. Prisons From Individuals Previously Incarcerated With Mental Illness

Despite efforts to reduce the number of people in the United States living in prison, people with mental illnesses continue to be overrepresented in prisons. This study explores how race impacts the prison experiences of individuals with mental illnesses. Thirty-seven participants were recruited from three states via flyers at community treatment providers and through word of mouth. Participants completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews and surveys to understand prison experiences and collect demographic information. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, framework method analysis, and an intersectional lens. Findings show that participant experiences were influenced by race through interpersonal interactions between those incarcerated and through interactions between people incarcerated and correctional staff. Intersectional identities underlying these interactions were explored including race, socioeconomic status, rural versus urban residents, and subordinate/dominant roles tied to power (e.g., staff vs. person incarcerated). These findings provide insight into how race, mental illness, and criminal-legal contact intersect.