Racial Perceptions Research Articles

Lay Misperceptions of Culture as “Biological” and Suggestions for Reducing Them

Culture is typically studied as socialized and learned. Yet lay intuitions may hold that culture is associated with biology via perceptions of race, presenting a problem for those who study culture: There may be a mismatch between how psychologists study culture and how their research is interpreted by lay audiences. This article is a call to researchers to recognize this mismatch as a problem and to critically evaluate the way we study culture. We first describe evidence that laypeople tend to associate culture with notions of folk biology. Next, we propose three suggestions for researchers: explicitly address whether biological processes are, or are not, relevant for studying culture in their work; consider using multiple methods because different methods for studying culture may come with assumptions about culture as more tied to socialization or biology; and represent all people as cultural by studying multiple forms of culture and by contextualizing all psychological research. Last, we provide an example for how researchers can implement these suggestions to encourage more accurate interpretations of findings.

Perceived racial efficacy and voter engagement among African Americans

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to provide clarity on the link between Black people’s perceptions of racism in American institutions and society and voter engagement. We hypothesize that Black people with high feelings of racial efficacy, or the belief that government and society operate in a racially equitable manner, the more likely they will be to vote. Conversely, Black people with low racial efficacy are discouraged from voting. However, confidence in in-group leaders and movements can counteract the demobilizing risk of low racial efficacy. Our analysis uses data from an African American Research Collaborative national survey of 1200 Black voters. Analysis of turnout in 2016 finds that Black people with low racial efficacy were significantly less likely to vote, all else being equal. However, we find that having highly favorable attitudes toward Barack Obama, Black Elected Officials, and Black Lives Matter recovers the propensity to vote for low racial efficacy Blacks back to levels comparable with their racially optimistic peers. Finally, we conclude with a survey experiment which demonstrates that priming Black people with a low racial efficacy environment results in reduced faith in government, in part corroborating the causal direction theorized in our study.

“Discrimination is always intersectional” – understanding structural racism and teaching intersectionality in medical education in Germany

BackgroundRacism in medicine represents a global problem. It takes place on the individual, institutional and structural level. Especially structural racism can have serious effects on the health of individual people. Furthermore, racist discrimination is not always based on race solemnly but frequently intersects with other social categories such as gender, class or religion. To describe this multidimensional form of discrimination the term intersectionality has been coined. However, the understanding of structural intersectional racism in medicine is still fragmented, especially in the German context. Yet, medical students need to be trained in understanding structural and intersectional racism to see the impact of racist structures on the patient’s health.MethodWe conducted a qualitative study to explore the knowledge, awareness and perception of racism in medicine and health care of medical students in Germany. Our research questions are how do medical student understand structural racism and its effects on health in Germany? Do students see interrelations with other forms of discrimination and in this context to what extent are they familiar with the concept of intersectionality? Which categories intersect from their point of views with race in context of medicine and health care? We conducted focus groups with medical students (n = 32) in Germany.ResultsOur results demonstrate that students have a wide spectrum of knowledge, awareness and perceptions about racism from being rather elaborate to very little knowledge about it. The students have particular problems to understand and situate structural racism in Germany. Some raised doubts about the relevance. Yet, other students are aware of the concept of intersectionality and are convinced that racism must be looked at from an intersectional perspective.ConclusionsThe diverse knowledge, awareness and perceptions of medical students about structural racism and intersectionality hints to a lack of systematic education of medical students about these issues in Germany. Yet, in context of diversifying societies an understanding about racism and its impact on health is imminent for future medical doctors to provide good care for their patients. Therefore, this knowledge gap must be systematically filled by the medical education.

What Has COVID-19 Taught Us: Advancing Chinese International Student-Related Research, Policies, and Practices Through Critical Race Perspectives

As the largest international student group in U.S. higher education, Chinese international students have been made particularly vulnerable due to the resurgence of anti-Asian racism and U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. There is therefore a pressing need to make sense of Chinese international students’ perspectives and experiences around U.S. higher education—and in doing so, to highlight the ever-present educational inequalities rooted in academic capitalism, global unevenness, and institutional racism. This article builds on the results of a critical qualitative research project investigating Chinese international students’ agency, decision-making, and perceptions of race, racism, and power. It aims to unveil global hierarchies and racial inequalities in the field of international education in order to help advance future research and open new paths to practice. Greater critical reflexivity can help enhance the higher education institution’s understanding of and engagement with Chinese international students in today’s highly interconnected but politically polarized society.

“It is not my fault”: Exploring experiences and perceptions of racism among international students of color during COVID-19.

“It is not my fault”: Exploring experiences and perceptions of racism among international students of color during COVID-19.

Perceptions of Racism and White Privilege Among White Graduate Students in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.

In the White-dominated fields of audiology and speech-language pathology, graduate students should demonstrate awareness of racism and racial privilege to begin developing cultural humility. A 2013 survey of graduate students in audiology and speech-language pathology indicated that White students demonstrated minimal awareness of White privilege (Ebert, 2013). This study builds on Ebert (2013) by investigating changes in White students' perceptions of White privilege over time and by adding characterization of their perceptions of systemic racism. A web-based survey was distributed to graduate students in audiology and speech-language pathology programs across the country. The survey combined repeat questions from the work of Ebert (2013) with novel questions on systemic racism within the fields. For this study, only responses from White students were analyzed. The majority of White respondents (n = 104) acknowledged White privilege and systemic racism, though colorblindness and denial were still present among student responses. Significant increases in acknowledgment of White privilege from the Ebert (2013) results were observed across all questions. In qualitative analyses, the most common themes were the impact of White privilege and systemic racism on quality of services, access and opportunities, and clinician-client mismatch. Among White audiology and speech-language pathology graduate students, awareness of White privilege has increased over the past decade and most students acknowledge this privilege, as well as systemic racism. However, additional steps should be taken by students, graduate training programs, and practicing clinicians to continue confronting racial inequities in the fields. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22714222.

Student perceptions and interests in sustainability: differences among student groups and impact on student sustainability program participation

PurposeThis study aims to examine factors that impact participation of diverse university students in an academic sustainability certificate and Office of Sustainability internships at the University of Georgia, recognizing the need for diverse voices and perspectives in addressing sustainability challenges and the current lack of diverse representation in the field.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sample of 77 student organizations and 35 departments, schools and colleges associated with the university was identified. The questionnaire was created using the Qualtrics online survey platform and distributed via email to potential participants. A total of 234 completed responses were collected. Descriptive statistics were calculated to determine the demographic composition of the sample. One-way ANOVAs were performed to examine the relationship between respondent demographics and perceptions of sustainability and participation in campus sustainability programs. Post hoc tests were conducted using Fisher’s least significant difference procedure.FindingsSignificant relationships were observed between perceptions of sustainability and race and current gender. A significant relationship was observed between race and participation in campus sustainability programs. Overall, students from diverse backgrounds believe that sustainability efforts contribute to racial justice and equity. Additionally, students from diverse backgrounds do want to participate in campus sustainability programs; however, there may be barriers preventing their participation.Originality/valueThis study examines how students from diverse backgrounds perceive sustainability efforts, as well as their interest in participating in campus sustainability programs. The results of this study can be used to inform recruitment and program development strategies for sustainability programs at higher education institutions. At the time of publication, no study could be located that examines the current study outcomes.

“Why is This Still Happening?”: International Students of Color’s Racial Sensemaking and Perceptions of Racial Conflicts and Racial Movements in 2020

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine international students’ racial sensemaking and perceptions of race, racism, and racial conflict in the United States in the years 2020/2021. The past year was one filled with contention, including the politicizing of a global virus and racial conflict from anti-Blackness and anti-Asian violence. Although racism felt far removed from many participants’ personal sphere until the arrival of the pandemic and racial conflicts in the year 2020, George Floyd’s murder served a critical incident that elicited reactions to U.S. racial dynamics, the Black Lives Matter movement, and racial protests. The participants’ experiences challenged what they thought they knew about race and shaped how they moved forward while living and learning in the United States.

Hidden in plain view: Indigenous early career researchers' experiences and perceptions of racism in Australian universities

ABSTRACT Despite extensive impact studies over the past two decades documenting the insipid and debilitating health, social, and emotional impacts of racism on Indigenous peoples in Australia, racism remains a key factor impacting negatively on the lives of Indigenous Australians at all levels of education. Racism experienced by Indigenous early career researchers is much-neglected area of research to date: the aim of this paper is to force a conversation about the prevalence of institutional racism in the higher education sector through an examination of the impact of racism on the experiences and career trajectories of Indigenous early career researchers in Australian universities. We challenge the day-to-day perceptions of normalcy where the Whiteness of the institution goes unnoticed and make clear that claiming ignorance does not absolve the individual or the institution of accountability. Although grounded in Australian experiences of institutional racism in higher education, the study has global significance to other relationally-like colonised nations. International literature highlights racism is imbricated across the Pan-Pacific nations; this is laid bared by the recounting of Australian Indigenous experiences and perceptions.

Making the call: how does perceived race affect desire to call the police?

There is little scholarship about what affects calls for service, even as they originate the vast majority of police interventions in the USA. We test how racial perceptions, ambiguous situational contexts, and participant demographics affect desire to call the police. We conduct a nationwide survey experiment with 2,038 participants, varying vignette racial composition (subjects described as black or white) and seriousness of event (less serious, more ambiguous or more serious, less ambiguous) to test two outcomes: 1) desire to call the police and 2) perceived threat. Perceived race does not directly affect mean desire to call the police or perceived threat. However, political views moderate the effects of race: compared to politically moderate participants, very liberal participants express less desire to call the police while very conservative participants express more desire to call the police in a vignette featuring young Black men. The political polarization of desire to call the police raises questions about racially differentiated risk of more serious criminal justice system events, including arrest and incarceration, for racial and ethnic minorities.

Understanding the Role of Race in Doula Communities: Florida Doulas’ Perceptions of Maternal Health Disparities [ID: 1377606

INTRODUCTION: This study, part of a larger qualitative project, spurred significant participant feedback related to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) clients’ needs for support from racially similar doulas. As such, this study analyzed the data to investigate how doulas navigate client perceptions of race. METHODS: Seven in-depth interviews and six focus groups were conducted with doulas serving in Florida (n=31). Transcripts were coded post-inter-coder agreement using an inductive approach to thematic analysis. Participant consent and IRB approval were obtained. RESULTS: 1) White doulas reported Black doulas advising them to refrain from taking on Black, Brown, non-English speaking clients and instead to refer when possible. Some participants explained tendency for implicit bias and discrimination when White doulas try to step into the perspective of clients of color, specifically Black women, despite good intent in trying to support a community facing health disparities. 2) A few doulas referred to White doulas reaching out to non-White clients as a savior/virtue signaling act, while others countered that White doulas can use their racial status for advocacy in medical settings. CONCLUSION: Doulas shared a desire to work with underserved families and discussed that issues surrounding race must first be acknowledged in order to create safer spaces for open communication surrounding maternal health, thereby mitigating disparities. It is important to note that our study relied on convenience sampling, utilizing predominantly White doulas, limiting our data on Black doula experiences and their perceptions on the role of race in the doula–client relationship. Future directions must include diversification of participants and speaking directly with Black doulas.

Factors Related to College Major Selection in Communication Sciences and Disorders: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Purpose:The growing number of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States is not reflected in the speech-language pathology profession, with ramifications for the diverse communities it serves. Despite decades of initiatives, the numbers of racial and ethnic minorities entering the profession have been modest. The aim of this pilot study is to explore potential factors that influence decision making for a college major that could inform strategies for underrepresented racial and ethnic minority (URM) recruitment into communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs.Method:The theory of planned behavior was used as a framework to explore the influences on students' selection of college majors with a particular focus on speech-language pathology. Students enrolled and not enrolled in CSD programs were surveyed about their attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective normative pressure (e.g., perceptions of race and ethnic representation, familiarity with speech-language pathology, and family education).Results:There were significant differences between CSD and non-CSD respondents, and between URM and White respondents in their perception of representation and exposure to the profession. The majority of URM students reported that race and ethnic representation is important in their chosen job. URM students were less likely than White students to know anyone who has received speech-language therapy or who is a speech-language pathologist.Conclusion:Findings suggest that initiatives to increase representation and diverse role models, and early exposure to the profession for URM students should be areas of focus in the efforts to diversify the profession.

Social Work Student Perceptions of Racism, Implicit Bias, and Other Forms of Discrimination: A Racial Justice Climate Survey

This article discusses the findings of a racial justice climate survey using a mixed-methods design conducted to learn more about the areas of strength and areas of improvement related to racial justice in one faith-based School of Social Work. The framework for organizing the findings focuses on the three pillars of social work education: the explicit curriculum, the implicit curriculum, and field education. While the overall findings indicate that student experiences in our BSW and MSW programs related to racial justice are primarily positive, some of the data indicate otherwise. Findings suggest that the efforts being made in the explicit curriculum should continue and expand, while several recommendations for improvements should focus on the implicit curriculum. These findings will help our social work programs move towards more racially just pedagogy, policies, and practices, which could serve as a model for other programs within the College and for social work programs in other colleges and universities.

I cinesi among others: the contested racial perceptions among Chinese migrants in Italy

ABSTRACT This article examines the vernacular system of racial designations and perceptions deployed by Chinese migrants in Italy for making sense of the pluralistic and hierarchical racial reality in which they live. Data primarily came from 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Bologna from 2014 to 2015 and the subsequent annual visits until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Focusing on three major racial labels, it sheds light on the ways in which Chinese diasporic subjects produce a racialized vocabulary related to racism and practice racial formations in transnational contexts. Their localised racial ideology reflects their predicament of being simultaneously both socially vulnerable and economically privileged. It paradoxically both reproduces and negotiates the preexisting Italian racial hierarchy that also reflects globally circulating racial hierarchies, while intersecting with their own understandings of civility and modernity. The perspectives of Chinese migrants who, themselves subject to racialisation, also racialise others reveal a contested bottom-up narrative of racial formation in a European society experiencing rapid demographic change. This ethnographic study thus challenges the existing narratives of racialisation and immigration beyond Eurocentric frameworks.

Influence of Economic Scarcity on Race Perception.

Racial socioeconomic gaps are widened in periods of economic recession. Besides social and institutional factors, black people also struggle with many psychological factors. The literature reports racial-biased complex behaviors and high-level processes that are influenced by economic scarcity. A previous study found a bias at the perceptual level: an experimental manipulation of scarcity (a subliminal priming paradigm) lowered the black-white race categorization threshold. Here we present a conceptual replication in a higher ecological setup. In our main analysis we compared the categorization threshold of participants that received the Brazilian government's emergency economic aid in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 136) and participants that did not receive the economic aid (n = 135) in an online psychophysical task that presented faces in a black-white race continuum. Additionally, we analyzed the economic impact of COVID-19 on household income, and in cases of family unemployment. Our results do not support the claim that perception of race is influenced by economic scarcity. Interestingly, we found that when people differ greatly in terms of racial prejudice, they encode visual information related to race differently. People with higher scores on a prejudice scale needed more phenotypic traits of the black race to categorize a face as black. We discuss the results in terms of differences in method and sample.

More Than Words? How Highlighting Target Populations Affects Public Opinion about the Medicaid Program.

The Medicaid program provides health insurance coverage to a diverse set of demographics. We know little about how the policy community describes these populations (e.g., on Medicaid-related websites or in public opinion polls and policy writings) or whether and how these descriptions may affect perceptions of the program, its beneficiaries, and potential policy changes. To investigate this issue, we developed and fielded a nationally representative survey of 2,680 Americans that included an experiment for priming respondents by highlighting different combinations of target populations of the Medicaid program as found in the Medicaid policy discourse. Overall, we find that Americans view Medicaid and its beneficiaries rather favorably. However, there are marked differences based on partisanship and racial animosity. Emphasizing citizenship and residency requirements at times improved these perceptions. Racial perceptions and partisanship are important correlates in Americans' views about Medicaid and its beneficiaries. However, perceptions are not immutable. In general, the policy community should shift toward using more comprehensive descriptions of the Medicaid population that go beyond the focus on low income and that include citizenship and residency requirements. Future research should expand this work by studying descriptions in the broader public discourse.

“I'm So Sick of This Race Talk. Boo Hoo”: Perceptions of Race on 2021–22 CBS Survivor

Historically, reality TV casts have lacked diversity while producers have been known to create narratives based on stereotypical characterizations, perpetuating stigmas and reinforcing racial bias. But what is the role of reality TV anyway and do audiences even desire or care to include these conversations in entertainment discussions? In response to the most diverse cast of CBS’ Survivor, this study analyzes 492 social media posts to assess how audiences perceive race on season 41 of this popularized reality TV competition. Specifically, this study explores audiences’ sentiments about CBS’ attempt to intersect diversity initiatives with the show while assessing whether audiences believe Survivor is an appropriate forum to educate about race and engage in racial discourse. Findings suggest that generally audiences watch Survivor solely for entertainment purposes and believe engaging in race conversations presents an unnecessary and problematic distraction, encroaching on their ability to escape reality. Moreover, findings indicate audiences often become offended by these conversations and believe they demonstrate a political agenda, while believing diverse cast members can separate their racial identities from their gameplay, despite Survivor being a social experiment. Such perspectives and their implications including their ability to impede progress toward addressing systemic racial issues are discussed.

Patient perspectives on noninvasive prenatal testing among black women in the United States: a scoping review

Advances in reproductive health technologies such as noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) are changing the landscape of prenatal care and maternal health. NIPT, made clinically available in the United States (US) in 2011, is a screening test that utilizes cell-free DNA (cfDNA) to detect for aneuploidies and genetic characteristics in fetal DNA. In September 2020, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended NIPT for all pregnant patients regardless of age or risk factors. We examined peer-reviewed, empirical studies published from January 2011 to February 2022, assessing NIPT studies with patient perspectives in the US and what is known about how empirical studies include Black women. Our scoping review draws from PubMed (with advanced MeSH search options) and Scopus databases for advanced scoping review, with 33 articles meeting our criteria. Empirical studies on NIPT show patient perceptions range across five themes: 1) accuracy / safety, 2) return of results, 3) patient knowledge, 4) informed consent, and 5) perceptions among minoritized groups (with perceptions of race and gender as a social demographic intersection). Additionally, among the 15 studies that included that Black woman in their study sample, none measured the perceptions of Black women with genetic conditions. Bridging this knowledge gap is critical because NIPT is becoming increasingly accessible across the nation and is being developed to screen for additional genetic conditions, such as sickle cell disease. Ultimately, NIPT researchers need to go to greater lengths to examine the patient perspectives of Black women with and without genetic conditions.

Validated names for experimental studies on race and ethnicity

A large and fast-growing number of studies across the social sciences use experiments to better understand the role of race in human interactions, particularly in the American context. Researchers often use names to signal the race of individuals portrayed in these experiments. However, those names might also signal other attributes, such as socioeconomic status (e.g., education and income) and citizenship. If they do, researchers would benefit greatly from pre-tested names with data on perceptions of these attributes; such data would permit researchers to draw correct inferences about the causal effect of race in their experiments. In this paper, we provide the largest dataset of validated name perceptions to date based on three different surveys conducted in the United States. In total, our data include over 44,170 name evaluations from 4,026 respondents for 600 names. In addition to respondent perceptions of race, income, education, and citizenship from names, our data also include respondent characteristics. Our data will be broadly helpful for researchers conducting experiments on the manifold ways in which race shapes American life.

There Are No Good Deaths in War: Rebecca Harding Davis's "John Lamar" and the White Feminist Foundations of U.S. Antiwar Literature

Studies of (anti)war literature continue to devalue Rebecca Harding Davis's contributions to the genre. This essay reaffirms Davis's status as a foundational writer of U.S. antiwar literature whose exposure to emergent guerilla conflict in the borderlands of western Virginia made her critical of northern and southern attempts to reconcile the Civil War's carnage with martial codes of conduct and domestic narratives of mourning. Reibsome argues that Davis's 1862 short story "John Lamar" employs a multivalent Good Death/Bad Death rhetoric to convey the horror of unconventional warfare and to force readers to contemplate the irreconcilable differences between Confederate and emancipatory war aims. Combining contemporary criticism and new historical research, Reibsome problematizes the story's reconciliationist conclusion, suggesting that Davis's familial participation in slavery distorted her perception of race, as evidenced by her penchant for incorporating racist tropes and caricatures in her writing.