Exposure to Racial Ambiguity Influences Lay Theories of Race |
Exposure to Racial Ambiguity Influences Lay Theories of Race
Social Psychological and Personality Science
Volume 6, Number 4 (May 2015)
pages 382-390
DOI: 10.1177/1948550614562844
Diana T. Sanchez, Associate Professor of Psychology
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Danielle M. Young
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Kristin Pauker, Assistant Professor of Psychology
University of Hawaii, Manoa
Biological lay theories of race have proven to have pernicious consequences for interracial relations, yet few studies have examined how intergroup contact itself (particularly with those who naturalistically challenge these conceptions) affects beliefs about race. Three studies (a correlational study, an interaction study, and an experimental study) examine whether exposure to racially ambiguous individuals reduces Whites’ biological lay theories of race across time. Study 1 demonstrates that increased exposure to racial ambiguity across 2 weeks reduced White individuals’ biological lay theories. Study 2 shows that Whites who interacted in a laboratory setting with a racially ambiguous individual were less likely to endorse biological lay theories, an effect that sustained for 2 weeks. Study 3 finds that the reduction in biological lay theories after exposure to racial ambiguity is mediated by the tendency for Whites’ lay theories of race to conform to beliefs they presume racially ambiguous individuals hold.
Read or purchase the article here.
Tags: Danielle M. Young, Danielle Young, Diana Sanchez, Diana T. Sanchez, Kristin Pauker, Social Psychological and Personality Science