Laughing and Weeping,Cheerfulness and Depression: A Study of Moods Among College Students

Abstract

The relationship between relative deprivation and ethnic attitudes was investigated in a stratified random sample of 361 Blacks and 120 Afrikaans-speaking Whites. Apart from variables related to relative deprivation, a number of other variables such as biographical information, conservatism, and the experience of justice were also measured and included in multiple regression analyses to predict the ethnic attitudes of the subjects. The results indicate that the variables of academic qualification, the experience of justice, and the experience of economic deprivation significantly explained the ethnic attitudes of the black subjects. Among the white subjects a generalized attitude toward outgroups significantly explained some of the variance of the attitude scores.     

Implicit race bias revisited: On the utility of task context in assessing implicit attitude strength

Decades of research have shown that many people harbor implicit attitudes that are positive toward Whites relative to Blacks. With some notable exceptions, these findings are almost always obtained using implicit attitude tasks that assess attitudes toward Whites and Black simultaneously. This makes it difficult to determine whether implicit race bias effects are the result of strong liking for Whites, dislike for Blacks, or both. The present article reports results from a study in which participants' automatic bias towards Blacks and Whites is assessed across multiple evaluative contexts. Results show consistent negative automatic attitudes towards Blacks, but there was considerable variability in participants' attitudes toward Whites. Consistent with the idea that strong attitudes are less contextually sensitive than weaker attitudes (e.g. Krosnick, 1988), it is concluded that participants harbor strong automatic bias against Blacks, but not strong favoritism for Whites. Implications for a context-centered approach to implicit attitude measurement are discussed.     

Why Do White Americans Oppose Race‐Targeted Policies? Clarifying the Impact of Symbolic Racism

Measures of symbolic racism (SR) have often been used to tap racial prejudice toward Blacks. However, given the wording of questions used for this purpose, some of the apparent effects on attitudes toward policies to help Blacks may instead be due to political conservatism, attitudes toward government, and/or attitudes toward redistributive government policies in general. Using data from national probability sample surveys and an experiment, we explored whether SR has effects even when controlling for these potential confounds and whether its effects are specific to policies involving Blacks. Holding constant conservatism and attitudes toward limited government, SR predicted Whites' opposition to policies designed to help Blacks and more weakly predicted attitudes toward social programs whose beneficiaries were racially ambiguous. An experimental manipulation of policy beneficiaries revealed that SR predicted policy attitudes when Blacks were the beneficiary but not when women were. These findings are consistent with the claim that SR's association with racial policy preferences is not due to these confounds.     

Asymmetrical effects of contact between minority groups: Asian and Black students in a small college

Recent meta-analyses of intergroup contact research revealed that majority members' attitudes toward minorities are improved to a greater degree by contact compared to those of minority members (Tropp & Pettigrew, 2005). While previous research focused on contact between majority and minority groups, this study explored effects of intergroup contact between two minority groups that differ in status: Black and Asian college students. Because of different stereotypes and social status, the college experiences of the two groups were expected to differ in the extent to which they felt their group was respected by others (public regard). A survey conducted with 104 Black and Asian American students in a small, Midwestern liberal arts college demonstrated that the two groups differed in public regard, which led to differences in attitudes toward the majority Whites, contact with Whites, experiences of discrimination, and trust in college authorities. Further, while contact with Black students was positively associated with more favorable attitudes toward Blacks for Asians (higher status minority), contact with Asian students was not related to attitudes toward Asians for Blacks (lower status minority). The role of public regard and attitudes toward the majority as potential moderators of the relationship between contact with Asians and Blacks' attitudes toward Asians were explored. Implications for multicultural solidarity between targeted groups were discussed.     

Love It or Leave It: A Look at Women in Clerical Occupations1

This study was conducted among female clerical workers to examine factors associated with attitudes toward bridging programs. These programs facilitate women's transition from traditional to nontraditional careers. In a proposed model, 2 paths linking masculine and feminine traits of the self‐concept to personal relative deprivation were tested. Whereas feminine traits were expected to correlate with masculine traits, the former was predicted to yield feelings of relative satisfaction and the latter to evoke relative deprivation. Relative deprivation was predicted to increase intention to endorse bridging program activities. Results support the model, albeit analyses suggested an additional path from masculine traits to bridging program activities. Implications of this reality test of the relations between self‐concept, relative deprivation, and career mobility are discussed.     

Teammates On and Off the Field? Contact With Black Teammates and the Racial Attitudes of White Student Athletes1

The intergroup contact hypothesis holds that proximate, cooperative interactions on an equalized basis between Blacks and Whites can minimize Whites’ prejudice (Allport, 1954). This experiment investigated the effect of contact between White and Black high school teammates on White student athletes’ racial attitudes. Using the 1996 Social and Group Experiences (SAGE) survey (created by the authors and administered in the Fall of 1996) commissioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the results indicated a significant relationship between amount of contact with Black teammates in high school and racial policy support and affect, depending on the type of sport played. White student athletes playing team sports who had higher percentages of Blacks as high school teammates expressed more policy support for and greater positive affect toward Blacks as a group than did their counterparts playing individual sports. The role of athletic experiences in changing racial attitudes is discussed.     

Does the pot melt,boil, or brew? Black children and white assessment procedures

The experiences Black youths bring to school with them constitute a distinctive, viable culture. Their subsequent performance in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns, for all of these are determined by a kind of cultural conditioning which differs, in some fundamental ways, from mainstream Americans. Several of the social and psychological characteristics of Black culture are discussed. Included are Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning, dissemination of information among Blacks, Black learning styles and maturation processes. Each is discussed further in terms of its manifestation in a testing or assessment situation; how it conflicts with the assessor's orientations and expectations; and how distorted, unreliable evaluations result from the failure of assessors to consider implications of cultural relativism in interpreting Black behavior.     

Does the pot melt, boil, or brew? Black children and white assessment procedures

The experiences Black youths bring to school with them constitute a distinctive, viable culture. Their subsequent performance in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns, for all of these are determined by a kind of cultural conditioning which differs, in some fundamental ways, from mainstream Americans. Several of the social and psychological characteristics of Black culture are discussed. Included are Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning, dissemination of information among Blacks, Black learning styles and maturation processes. Each is discussed further in terms of its manifestation in a testing or assessment situation; how it conflicts with the assessor's orientations and expectations; and how distorted, unreliable evaluations result from the failure of assessors to consider implications of cultural relativism in interpreting Black behavior.     

The role of relative deprivation in majority-culture support for multiculturalism

In this paper, we investigate majority-culture attitudes to multicultural policy in Australia. Drawing on relative deprivation (RD) theory, we explore whether resistance to multicultural policies and initiatives is related to individual and/or group-based grievance claims of discrimination. To assess RD, we asked 517 Australian-born people who identified as White Australians to rate (a) levels of discrimination toward their own group, toward themselves personally as a consequence of their group membership, and toward immigrants to Australia, and (b) feelings of injustice and anger associated with such discrimination. Our findings show that, while perceptions of discrimination toward majority-culture Australians are commonplace, perceptions of discrimination toward immigrants are more so. We also found that higher ratings of group-based RD of Australians relative to immigrants, but not individual deprivation relative to immigrants, predicted opposition to multicultural policies and initiatives. Moreover, perceived group-based RD mediated the link between national identification and opposition to multicultural policies. The findings highlight, for the first time, the importance of group-based grievance claims by majority-culture members in opposing or supporting multicultural policy.     

Aversive Racism and Resistance to Affirmative Action: Perception of Justice Are Not Necessarily Color Blind

This study utilized a factorial survey design to assess attitudes toward affirmative action as a function of targeted group (Black, handicapped, or elderly persons), framing of the policy (with or without social justification), and institutional context (business, college, or social organization). Resistance to affirmative action was aroused more by policies specifying Blacks as the targeted group and by policies presented without justification. Supportive of the aversive racism framework, the level of resistance to the policies presented without justification for Blacks as the target group was higher than for all other targeted groups with or without justification. Implications for these findings for strategies to reduce negative attitudes toward affirmative action are discussed.     

In God We Distrust: Christian Nationalism and Anti-Atheist Attitude

Prior research found that Christian nationalism, a belief that integrates Christian identity with American national identity, was associated with more negative views toward marginalized groups, such as religious minorities. Relatively less known is the relationship between Christian nationalism and attitudes toward atheists. Specifically, even less is known about whether or not Christian nationalism that is above individuals at the macro, geographic level may influence individual views of atheists. Using nationally representative multilevel data, this study found that higher individual Christian nationalism was associated with more negative views toward atheists. No robust state-level Christian nationalism influence was found for anti-atheist attitude. However, Blacks, relative to Whites, were less likely to view atheists negatively in states where Christian nationalism was higher. Meanwhile, in states where Christian nationalism was higher, Black Protestants were less prejudiced against atheists compared to Evangelical Protestants.     

Fertility Related Attitudes of Minority Mothers with Large and Small Families1

The relationship between certain attitudes and levels of fertility in five cultural groups–Blacks, Cubans, American Indians, migrant Chicanos, and white Protestants–was explored. Mothers, aged 35–45, with one or two children (small family, N= 253) or five children (large family, N= 196) were compared. Subjects responded to semantic differentials measuring attitudes toward pregnancy, family, abortion, sex, birth control, and parent. Large family mothers were generally more negative toward birth control, sex, and family. Cultures differed significantly on all six attitudes, with those toward abortion and pregnancy being the best discriminators. Significant interactions between cub ture and size were found on attitudes toward birth control and pregnancy. In general, large families wanted fewer children than they had and their negative attitudes toward birth control might be associated with their ineffective experiences; however, the trend was reversed in the migrant group where small family mothers were more negative toward birth control. Since small family mothers among migrant Chicanos were difficult to find and their estimates of ideal family size was large, it is likely that their negative attitudes toward birth mntrol reflected an aversion to its use.     

College Students’ Attitudes Toward Blacks and Arabs Following a Terrorist Attack as a Function of Varying Levels of Media Exposure1

Attitudes toward Blacks and Arabs immediately following a terrorist attack on the United States, as well as 1 year later, were investigated. White undergraduate students completed a modified version of the Should‐Would Discrepancy Questionnaire (Monteith & Voils, 1998), assessing beliefs about what they should do in certain situations pertaining to race and what they would do in these situations. Additionally, daily self‐reported levels of news exposure were measured. The result was that the participants both believed that they should and would be more prejudiced toward Arabs than toward Blacks, at both Time 1 and Time 2. Furthermore, at Time 1, there was a trend for participants reporting high levels of daily news exposure (television, radio, Internet, and newspapers) to be more prejudiced toward Arabs than were participants who reported low levels. No effect of news exposure on attitudes toward Blacks was found at Time 1. At Time 2, however, participants reporting greater amounts of news exposure were more prejudiced toward Blacks than were participants reporting medium or low levels. Possible reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Intergroup Perceptions and Attitudes toward Immigrants in a Culturally Plural Society

The research examined perceptions of Chinese immigrants held by New Zealanders of European and Maori descent. The study (N = 318) adopted an intergroup perspective to test a predictive model of attitudes toward immigrants. It was based on a nation‐wide survey with prospective respondents randomly selected from the New Zealand Electoral rolls. Findings revealed that Maori differed from their European counterparts in predictable ways, reporting more relative deprivation and greater perceived threat, and holding more negative outgroup attitudes. Less contact and greater perceived threat predicted more negative attitudes toward immigrants; in addition, when intergroup boundaries were permeable, the link between perceived threat and negative attitudes was stronger in Maori than New Zealand Europeans. While intergroup relations are traditionally analysed in a dual group formation involving a privileged “dominant” ingroup and disadvantaged “minority” immigrant outgroup, the current research suggests the need to advance beyond this dichotomy to a more inclusive approach and to consider the interface between the historical and political milieux in specific national contexts.     

Prejudice Toward Contemporary Outgroups as a Generalized Attitude

The interrelatedness of attitudes toward homosexuals, Blacks, women, and old people was studied, as well as attitude differences on demographic variables. Three hundred and nine White undergraduates responded to the Homosexual Attitude Scale, The Attitudes Toward Women Scale, Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory, and two attitudes toward old people scales. Nine of the ten possible intercorrelations were significant beyond the .01 levels. Prejudice toward quite distinct outgroups appears to be a generalized attitude. Attitude differences were found on the demographic variables of sex, political party, and religion. Women expressed more tolerant attitudes than men toward all four outgroups studied. Republicans were more prejudiced toward homosexuals and women than were Democrats or Independents. Participants who identified themselves as Christians were less supportive of equality between the sexes than were Catholics, Protestants, or those with no religion Christians were also more prejudiced toward homosexuals than were Catholics or those with no religion.     

The independent effects of skin tone and facial features on Whites' affective reactions to Blacks

Research on skin tone and Afrocentric features provides evidence that people use phenotypes (visible physical characteristics) to make inferences about the degree to which stereotypes about the racial group apply to the individual (i.e., to make impressions of others). However, skin tone and Afrocentric features have been confounded in prior research on this topic. The present study examines whether facial features (lip thickness, nose width) have effects on Whites' affective reactions to Black targets, above and beyond the well-documented skin tone effect by experimentally crossing variation in facial features and skin tone. The results showed that both skin tone and facial features independently affected how negatively, as opposed to positively, Whites felt toward Blacks using both implicit and explicit measures. The findings that Whites reacted more negatively toward Blacks with darker skin tone and more prototypical facial features than toward Blacks with lighter skin tone and less prototypical facial features on the explicit measure may indicate that Whites are unaware of the negative effects that Blacks' phenotypes can have on their racial attitudes. The present study demonstrated that subtle facial features, in addition to salient skin tone, also play an important role when predicting Whites' feelings about Blacks. One implication is that it is important to raise people's awareness about the effects that Blacks' phenotypes can have on their attitudes.     

Subliminal exposure to faces and racial attitudes: Exposure to Whites makes Whites like Blacks less

Despite recent social and political advances, most interracial contact is still superficial in nature, and White individuals interact mainly with other Whites. Based on recent mere exposure research, we propose that repeated exposure to Whites may actually increase prejudice. In a series of experiments, White participants were subliminally exposed to White faces or nothing (control) and then completed various explicit and implicit measures of racial attitudes. Exposure to White faces consistently led to more prejudice by making attitudes toward Blacks more negative, rather than by making attitudes toward Whites more positive. A final experiment demonstrated that the pattern of increased prejudice following exposure to Whites was moderated by the strength of participants’ attitudes toward Whites. Only when White attitudes were strong did Black attitudes became more negative after exposure to White faces.     

Racial Categorization and Stereotype-Based Judgments About Homeless People1

The present study uses a social-cognitive paradigm to examine the association between racial categorization and stereotype-based judgments about homeless people. The study uses data from a national White subsample (N= 1,221) surveyed about attitudes toward homeless/homeless mentally ill people. It was hypothesized that individual differences in perceptions of the representativeness of Blacks in the homeless population, as measured by subjective estimates of the percentage of Blacks, would be associated with the enhancement of racially relevant negative stereotypes about homeless people. A secondary hypothesis was that perceptions of the representativeness of Blacks would be more strongly associated with the stereotype of homeless people as dangerous than with the view of them as lazy. The results support these hypotheses.     

Political Power and Race Relations in South Africa: African Attitudes Before and After the Transition

When an oppressed majority finally gains political power, what happens to its attitudes to its erstwhile oppressor, and to its perceptions and feelings about its socioeconomic disadvantages that were established during its oppression? Longitudinal data from pre- and post-transition surveys of black South African college and high school students indicate marked reductions in perceptions of and outrage about intergroup socioeconomic inequity and deprivation relative to English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking whites, but no change in attitudes toward these groups or toward whites in general. The findings are discussed in terms of contemporary theory and research on justice, intergroup relations, and group conflict. Some tentative implications for the prospects for a democratic political culture in South Africa are noted.     

Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action Plans Directed at Blacks: Effects of Plan and Individual Differences1

Non-Black students (N= 178) completed a questionnaire that permitted tests of hypotheses about the bases of attitudes toward affirmative action plans (AAPs) directed at Blacks. Respondents positively evaluated 5 AAPs (race blind, eliminate discrimination, recruitment, training, proportional hiring) and rejected 2 AAPs (weak and strong preferential treatment). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that attitudes toward the specific AAPs were entirely mediated by judgments of AAP fairness, but were only partly mediated by perceived threats to personal and collective self-interest. Attitudes toward the specific AAPs were more strongly related to details of the AAPs than to individual differences or to attitudes toward affirmative action in general. Attitudes toward affirmative action in general varied with self-interest and racism, but not with belief in the dominant ideology of opportunity.