Variation in black anti-white bias and target distancing cues: factors that influence perceptions of "ambiguously racist" behavior.
Experiment 1 indicated that when the White supervisor's negative treatment of a Black subordinate was unconstrained, participant race had no impact on attributions. Conversely, when the treatment was constrained, Black participants reported greater racist attributions than did White participants. Experiment 2 indicated that when the supervisor reported no response or a minimal negative response (i.e., indicating that he did not support his actions) after his negative treatment of the Black subordinate, Black participants reported greater racist attributions than did White participants. Conversely, when the supervisor's negative treatment was followed by a more extreme negative response, participant race had no impact on attributions. Experiment 3 indicated that Black participants were less likely than White participants to perceive a minimal negative response as reflecting a White supervisor's lack of support for his negative actions. Conversely, participant race had no impact on attributions of a Black supervisor's negative actions.
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, NC 28403, USA. johnsonj@uncwil.edu
James D
JD
Johnson
Carolyn
C
Simmons
Sophie
S
Trawalter
Tara
T
Ferguson
William
W
Reed
D000328:Adult; D015982:Bias; D044383:Black People; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D012938:Social Perception; D013240:Stereotyping; D044465:White People