“I’M SURE THEY DIDN’T MEAN IT”: RACIST INTENT AND THE ERASURE OF HARM
Open Access
- Author:
- Jackson, Matthew Christian
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- July 07, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Phillip Atiba Goff, Ph D, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
- Keywords:
- racial harms
stereotype threat
interracial interactions
racist intent - Abstract:
- I hypothesize that the threat of being seen as racist may lead to the increased relevance of racist intent to those under threat, when observing ambiguously racist interracial interactions. Previous research has shown that, when individuals assert non-racist intent, they are less likely to be judged as discriminatory (Swim, et. al, 2003). Thus, individuals under threat may be motivated to increasingly value the knowledge of information that can be used to avoid being judged as discriminatory – information regarding racist intent. Further, research on anxiety and memory has argued that anxiety about a negative outcome can draw ones attention to that which can help you avoid that negative outcome (Higgins, 1997; Seibt & Förster, 2004). Therefore, the attention of individuals under threat may be drawn to racist intent, as evidenced by more accurate memory of intent-related stimuli. Two studies tested the hypothesis that the threat of being seen as racist may lead to both the increased value of racist intent, as measured by self reports, and an increased attention to racist intent, as measured by a memory task. Study 1 found that stereotype threat mediated an increased value of racist intent for those concerned with appearing racist. In addition, data indicates that, as the importance of intent increases, the importance of racial harms is diminished. Study 2 provided evidence that having a sense of shared fate with a stigmatized group member can attenuate the effects of stereotype threat, eliminating disparities in the value to racist intent and racial harms. Participants with a sense of shared fate with a stigmatized group member reported that both racist intent and racial harms are valuable. Memory tests over both studies revealed no relationship between stereotype threat and memory. Implications of the data are discussed, as well as ideas for future research.