Cognitive representations of Black Americans: Reexploring the role of skin tone (original) (raw)
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Racial stereotypes: The contents of their cognitive representations
1986
This research investigated the nature of contemporary racial stereotypes and their role in social cognition. A priming experiment was conducted in which racial categories (black. white) were presented as primes, and positive and negative black and white stereotypic words were presented as test stimuli. Subjects were asked to indicate (by pressing a response key) whether the test word characteristic could "ever be true" of the prime category or was "always false," and reaction time was recorded. As predicted, primes of black and white most facilitated response to traits stereotypically attributed to these social groups. Thus, there appear to be important similarities between the information processing of object categories and the representation and use of stereotypes in social categorization. In addition, responses to the positive and negative evaluative words suggest that positive traits are more strongly associated with whites than with blacks, and negative characteristics are more strongly associated with blacks than with whites. Implications of these findings for social cognition. racial attitudes, and nonreactive measurement are discussed. 0 1986 Academic Press, Inc.
Skin tone bias among African Americans: Antecedents and consequences across the life span
Developmental Review, 2016
This article is a developmental review of research on skin tone bias and its consequences for African Americans. In the first section of the paper, we summarize research findings on skin tone attitudes, preferences, and stereotypes from childhood through adulthood. Next we summarize literature regarding African Americans as the target of skin tone bias. This section is organized in terms of individual and contextual factors that shape whether and how skin tone bias occurs; factors that moderate the target's reaction to such bias; and consequences of bias, including psychosocial and health outcomes , economic and educational disparities, and repercussions within the legal system. We conclude by discussing limitations of the extant research. In a society where racism is still common, skin tone is a visible cue that activates culturally embedded prejudices and stereotypes that may lead to race-based discrimination. This review summarizes research on skin tone bias toward African Americans, filling a gap in the existing literature by considering skin tone bias both from the perspective of the perceiver and the target; by examining age differences in effects; and by delineating antecedents, moderators, and consequences that shape the experiences of skin tone bias. We begin by discussing a few lexical and methodological considerations , then review empirical findings (mostly 1990 to present) on skin tone attitudes, preferences, and stereotypes during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood from the perspective of the perceiver.
The Construction of Racial Stereotypes and How They Serve as Racial Propaganda
In social psychology, stereotypes have generally been viewed as overgeneralized beliefs about social groups in society. Although stereotypes—especially those that are negative—tend to be recognized as contributing to prejudice and discrimination of marginalized communities, they are often conceptualized as containing a “kernel of truth.” Meanwhile, there has been relatively little consideration of the historical and cultural origins of racial stereotypes. This is an important oversight given that stereotypes have and continue to be used as a means to excuse and reinforce the systemic oppression of communities of color. Thus, the current paper uses a historical framework to review major stereotypes that have targeted communities of color throughout U.S. history, with a focus on stereotypes of Black people. In doing so, we conceptualize racial stereotypes as propaganda that have historically functioned to support oppressive societal systems in the U.S. by both (a) shaping public perce...
Racial Assumptions Color the Mental Representation of Social Class
Frontiers in Psychology, 2017
We investigated the racial content of perceivers' mental images of different socioeconomic categories. We selected participants who were either high or low in prejudice toward the poor. These participants saw 400 pairs of visually noisy face images. Depending on condition, participants chose the face that looked like a poor person, a middle income person, or a rich person. We averaged the faces selected to create composite images of each social class. A second group of participants rated the stereotypical Blackness of these images. They also rated the face images on a variety of psychological traits. Participants high in economic prejudice produced strongly classdifferentiated mental images. They imagined the poor to be Blacker than middle income and wealthy people. They also imagined them to have less positive psychological characteristics. Participants low in economic prejudice also possessed images of the wealthy that were relatively White, but they represented poor and middle class people in a less racially differentiated way. We discuss implications for understanding the intersections of race and class in social perception.
Personal beliefs and cultural stereotypes about racial characteristics
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996
Social stereotypes may be expressed as personal beliefs about the characteristics of a group or as beliefs about the predominant cultural view of a group. In a study with a full intergroup design. Black and White participants rated Black and White racial groups. Results supported 3 sets of predictions derived from a projection model of stereotyping. First, participants' personal beliefs predicted their ratings of cultural stereotypes even when the group averages of personal beliefs and cultural stereotypes were statistically controlled. Second, interrater agreement in stereotype ratings was substantial for both rating tasks. Third, members of both groups underestimated how favorably their own group was rated by members of their respective out-group. Implications of the findings for the mental organizations of stereotypes, their measurement, and their consequences for social behavior are discussed. I am indebted to Landon Reid for recruiting the participants and conducting the assessment sessions.
The Effects of Skin Tone on the Perception of Discrimination in Young African American Women
Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 2022
This research focuses on the discriminatory experiences that young African American women in the American South report as a function of their actual and perceived skin tone. Participants (N = 76) were given the Pantone Skin Tone guide (Pantone, 2017) and asked to find the best color (varying on undertone and lightness) that matched closely to their skin tone. Following that, an experimenter identified participants’ skin tone and they completed several questionnaires assessing perceived racism, discrimination, and self-esteem. Participants reported discrimination and biases that they regularly experience based on their skin tone and race. While qualitative data suggests that colorism does exist, the quantitative data did not establish a link between lightness of one’s skin tone and levels of perceived discrimination. Individuals who reported a high frequency of experiencing racism in their lives also perceived their skin tone darker without the mirror than with it. This finding estab...
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1996
We examined the influence of perceived group variability on the use of stereotypes in judging individuals, distinguishing between two forms of perceived variability: stereotypicality and dispersion (Park & Judd, 1990). In Study 1, subjects judged the variability of members of sororities and fraternities and then provided trait and confidence judgments of hypothetical group members. In Study 2, 2 months after judging the variability of Asian Americans, subjects judged the mathematical ability of an Asian American individual and indicated how confident they were. In Study 3, 3 months after judging the variability of Blacks and Whites, subjects judged ambiguously aggressive behaviors performed by individual Black and White children (Sagar & Schofield, 1980). In all three studies, stereotypicality positively influenced trait judgments. Thus, subjects who perceived the group more stereotypically judged specific individuals in a more stereotypic manner. Dispersion negatively influenced confidence judgments such that subjects who perceived high dispersion among group members were less confident in their judgments of specific individuals.