The positive feedback bias as a response to self-image threat.
This research examined whether Whites favourably bias their feedback to minorities in order to see themselves as egalitarian. White teacher trainees first had their egalitarian self-images affirmed, left unchanged, or threatened. They then provided feedback on a poorly written essay supposedly authored by either a Black or a White student. As predicted, trainees in the Black writer/self-image threat condition selectively rated essay content more favourably, recommended less time for skill development, provided more favourable copy-editing comments, and generated more equivocating 'buffers'. In contrast, trainees in the Black writer/self-image boost condition supplied feedback indistinguishable from feedback provided by trainees in the White writer conditions, which was unaffected by the self-image conditions. The implications for minority education and intergroup communication are discussed.
Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA. kharber@psychology.rutgers.edu
Kent D
KD
Harber
Reshma
R
Stafford
Kathleen A
KA
Kennedy
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult