The effects of contextual information in processing race: exploring the nature of the black as fear stereotype
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The current research was conducted in order to test the effects of contextual information on the social categorization process and to examine the nature of the Black stereotype. Two studies sought to accomplish these goals by using a modified flanker paradigm in which participants categorized targets as Black or White while context information, determined by emotion words (Experiment 1) or stereotype-related words (Experiment 2), was simultaneously presented. Additionally, participants in each study completed a well-established test of racial bias (weapons task; Payne, 2001) to try to ascertain possible connections between the categorization of racial cues amid distracting context information and automatic and controlled components of racial bias. Behavioral and physiological results indicated that White participants did not process contextual information until later stages of processing and attended first to Black targets and then to White targets. Finally, although not fully supported, there was some preliminary evidence that a stereotype involving fear may be more connected to the Black social category than are other negative stereotypes.
DOI: 10.17615/pvcn-z707
Author: Dickter, Cheryl L.
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2953449749