CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN DIGITAL SPACES: REACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Hedgecoth, Nikki
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 22, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Kristin Buss, Program Head/Chair
Ray Block, Outside Unit & Field Member
Karen Gasper, Major Field Member
Reg Adams, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Jes Matsick, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Alicia Grandey, Major Field Member - Keywords:
- Cultural Appropriation
Humor
Stereotyping
Colorblind Racial Ideology
Intersectionality
cultural appropriation
humor
stereotyping
colorblind racial ideology
intersectionality - Abstract:
- Cultural appropriation is defined broadly as adopting elements of cultures to which one does not belong, often done in an exploitative, harmful, or stereotypical manner (Young, 2005). With the popularity and accessibility of the Internet, cultural appropriation has become a hot topic of debate and interest. I frame this dissertation by exploring a particular kind of cultural appropriation: digital blackface. After situating a historical legacy of blackface minstrelsy, I further consider how social psychological research can be leveraged to understand digital blackface by considering motivations and contemporary racial prejudice. By using interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, I approach the work with an understanding that power, gender, and race may all shape the processes of appropriation. In a mixed-method package of two studies, I explore perceptions of digital blackface and potential motivations that underlie engagement in the behavior. In Study 1 (N = 69), I qualitatively examined Black social media users’ perceptions of and insights into digital blackface. I created four major themes from their responses: Context and Intention, Stereotypes and Mockery, Internet Currency, and Proximity/Access to Blackness. Participants’ responses regarding digital blackface and stereotyping echoed sentiments of Black and feminist scholarship and provided an insightful orientation for investigating the underlying motivations and conditions under which White people use Black imagery. Next, in Study 2 (N = 190), building on the insights gleaned from Study 1, I tested how two stereotypes associated with Black people (emotion stereotypes and intensity stereotypes), and two potential motivators underlying White people’s use of Black imagery (humor and colorblind racial ideology) influence the selection and rating of Black GIFs. In an online experiment, White participants were randomly assigned to an intensity condition 2(high vs low) to select and rate GIFs that varied in an emotion condition 4(angry, happy, sad, disgusted) between-within-subjects online study. I found that White people were more likely to select angry Black GIFs, which was more pronounced for GIFs of Black women. Additionally, people rated GIFs of Black women and Black men differently, with GIFs of Black women generally being rated more negatively (e.g., as less cool/trendy). Neither humor nor colorblind racial ideology informed the selection of Black GIFs, though humor was an important covariate in the ratings of GIFs. Collectively, the present research is novel and provides initial insights into the burgeoning study of digital blackface, and more broadly supports the study of cultural appropriation in psychology.