Seeing race and seeming racist? Evaluating strategic colorblindness in social interaction

被引:313
作者
Apfelbaurn, Evan P. [1 ]
Sommers, Samuel R. [1 ]
Norton, Michael I. [2 ]
机构
[1] Tufts Univ, Dept Psychol, Medford, MA 02155 USA
[2] Harvard Univ, Sch Business, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
关键词
interracial interaction; regulatory behavior; nonverbal behavior; normative influence; executive function;
D O I
10.1037/a0011990
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
One strategy practiced by many Whites to regulate the appearance of prejudice during social interaction is to avoid talking about race, or even acknowledging racial difference. Four experiments involving a dyadic task investigated antecedents and consequences of this tendency. Observed colorblindness was strategic in nature: Whites' acknowledgment of race was highly susceptible to normative pressure and most evident among individuals concerned with self-presentational aspects of appearing biased (Study 1). However, this tendency was often counterproductive, as avoiding race during interracial interaction predicted negative nonverbal behavior (Study 1), a relationship mediated by decreased capacity to exert inhibitory control (Study 2). Two studies examining White and Black observers' impressions of colorblind behavior revealed divergent assessments of actors' prejudice in situations where race was clearly relevant (Study 3) but convergent assessments when race was less relevant (Study 4). Practical and theoretical implications for interracial interaction are considered.
引用
收藏
页码:918 / 932
页数:15
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