title: The Whitewashing Effect: Using Racial Contact to Signal Trustworthiness and Competence.
abstract: The present research examines whether people use racial contact to signal positive and negative social attributes. In two experiments, participants were instructed to fake good (trustworthy/competent) or fake bad (untrustworthy/incompetent) when reporting their amount of contact with a range of different racial groups. In Experiment 1 (N = 364), participants faking good reported significantly more contact with White Americans than with non-White Americans, whereas participants faking bad did not. In Experiment 2 (N = 1,056), this pattern was replicated and was found to be particularly pronounced among those with stronger pro-White bias. These findings suggest that individuals may use racial contact as a social signal, effectively "whitewashing" their apparent contact and friendships when trying to present positively.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia s.lamacchia@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: La Macchia
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Winnifred R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Louis
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hornsey
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Fiona Kate
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Barlow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D063505:Racism; D012938:Social Perception; D057545:Social Stigma; D035502:Trust
keywords: intergroup contact; prejudice; race; self-presentation; stigma