Abstract
Two studies examined the cognitive costs of blatant and subtle racial bias during interracial interactions. In Study 1, Black participants engaged in a 10-minute, face-to-face interaction with a White confederate who expressed attitudes and behaviors consistent with blatant, subtle, or no racial bias. Consistent with contemporary theories of modern racism, interacting with a subtly biased, compared with a blatantly biased, White partner impaired the cognitive functioning of Blacks. Study 2 revealed that Latino participants suffered similar cognitive impairments when exposed to a White partner who displayed subtle, compared with blatant, racial bias. The theoretical and practical implications for understanding the dynamics of interracial interactions in the context of contemporary bias are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 560-571 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Group Processes and Intergroup Relations |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2013 |
Funding
Portions of this research were presented at the 2009 Association for Psychological Science and 2011 European Association of Social Psychology Conferences. The authors are grateful for the help of Jalisha Tolbert, Amanda Tudesco, Katherine Palardy, Eric Ruyak, and Dan Foster with data collection and for the support of NIMH/OBSSR (1R01MH078992) grant funding to Jennifer Richeson and Nicole Shelton, an NSF postdoctoral fellowship and NSF grant (SMA-1032702) to Mary Murphy, and an NSF predoctoral fellowship to Hilary Bergsieker.
Keywords
- attributional ambiguity
- cognitive depletion
- executive function
- interracial interactions
- prejudice
- racial and ethnic relations
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Cultural Studies
- Communication
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Sociology and Political Science