Whites' avoidance of Blacks as a function of observing a negative interaction with a Black.

Three studies examined whether observing the negative behavior of a Black male would influence people's behavior toward a subsequently encountered Black male. In Study 1, after observing a Black or a White male behave in a positive, neutral, or negative manner toward a White female experimenter, White subjects were then given the opportunity to sit next to either a Black or a White male confederate. Subjects were later asked to rate how related two traits commonly associated (i.e., athletic and hostile) with Blacks were to Blacks as a group. The results indicated that while negative behavior in general led to avoidance of a Black person, the main effect for behavior was primarily due to subjects' behavior in the Black negative condition. Subjects in the Black negative condition also tended to stereotype Blacks as a group more than subjects in the Black control and the White negative conditions. In Study 2, the general focus was on whether subjects would minimize an interaction with a Black interviewee (a confederate) after observing a Black's negative behavior. Results indicated that White subjects gave significantly shorter interviews in the Black negative condition than in either a control or a White negative condition. However, subjects in the White negative condition tended to sit the furthest away from the Black interviewee. In Study 3, after observing the negative interaction, White subjects interviewed naive Black interviewees. Interview length was observed, and the interviewers' and interviewees' behavior was evaluated by judges. As expected, significantly shorter interviews occurred in the Black negative condition. However, subjects' nonverbal and verbal behavior were unaffected by the observation of the Black confederate's negative behavior. The findings indicate that people's perceptions of and behavior toward members of different groups may be more difficult to modify than previously expected because people need not have direct negative interactions with outgroup members in order for their subsequent interactions to be affected. Merely observing the negative action of an outgroup member will be enough to alter peoples' subsequent perceptions and behavior.PhDPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/105197/1/9116194.pdfDescription of 9116194.pdf : Restricted to UM users only