Why do interracial interactions impair executive function? A resource depletion account.
Three studies investigated the veracity of a resource depletion account of the impairment of inhibitory task performance after interracial contact. White individuals engaged in either an interracial or same-race interaction, then completed an ostensibly unrelated Stroop color-naming test. In each study, the self-regulatory demands of the interaction were either increased (Study 1) or decreased (Studies 2 and 3). Results revealed that increasing the self-regulatory demands of an interracial interaction led to greater Stroop interference compared with control, whereas reducing self-regulatory demands led to less Stroop interference. Manipulating self-regulatory demands did not affect Stroop performance after same-race interactions. Taken together, the present studies point to resource depletion as the likely mechanism underlying the impairment of cognitive functioning after interracial dyadic interactions.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College.
Jennifer A
JA
Richeson
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College.
Sophie
S
Trawalter
D003071:Cognition; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011287:Prejudice; D011930:Reaction Time; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D014743:Videotape Recording