Protesters march against racism in Brooklyn in 2020 / Getty
*New research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology finds that anti-Black bias among White Americans is rooted in fear of Black males.
The research was conducted across five studies and highlights the perception among White folks that Black males are a threat. In the first two studies, 213 White undergraduate students participated. In the third and fourth studies, 445 White undergraduates participated.
Per the study: “All studies indicated that White Americans automatically associate Black men with physical threat. Study 3 indicated the association is unique to Black men and did not extend to Asian men as a general intergroup effect. Studies 3, 4, and 5, which simultaneously paired threat against negativity, indicated that the Black-threat association is stronger than a Black-negative association.”
Here’s more from PsyPost.com: “Overall, the five studies consistently revealed that White Americans automatically associate Black men with physical threat. This association was found to be unique to Black men and did not extend to Asian men. The studies also indicated that this association with threat was stronger than the association with negative valence when these two concepts were paired in competition.”
“As recent events have highlighted, the consequences of anti-Black bias can be deadly,” explained study author David S. March, an assistant professor of psychology at Florida State University.
“The typical approach to prejudice as valenced (i.e., bad vs. good) evaluations implies that negative evaluations of Black Americans is the problem and redressing the unfavorable attitude is the solution. But I noticed that approach does not easily track field and laboratory data,” March added.
“I suggested that many instances of anti-Black bias, like shooter bias, may be more strongly driven by a danger rather than negative association,” said March.
“That is, instead of dislike, the underlying problem might be threat. So, I wanted to test if White Americans implicitly process Black individuals as a survival threat and/or in terms of negativity,” March continued. “Showing a unique or stronger Black-threat association would grant credence to the idea that threat and not dislike drive much anti-Black bias.”
Read the full breakdown of the study here.
READ MORE: Anti-Black Racism Drives Chinese Social Media
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