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Black‐White Semantic Differences and interracial Communication 1
Author(s) -
Lewit David W.,
Abner Edward V.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1971.tb00365.x
Subject(s) - semantic differential , psychology , white (mutation) , racial group , social psychology , similarity (geometry) , set (abstract data type) , race (biology) , encoder , statistics , mathematics , computer science , artificial intelligence , gender studies , sociology , biochemistry , chemistry , image (mathematics) , gene , programming language
In Phase I, black and white adolescent males made semantic differential ratings of 14 concepts representing a wide range of values. MOTHER, FATHER, GIRLS TV, GOD. POLICE. and NEXT YEAR yielded profiles significantly different for the 2 racial groups. In Phase II, 28 blacks and 28 whites each attempted to decode the profiles of 1 black and 1 white other. For combined racial groups, accuracy was greater when the other was semantically similar. Disregarding semantic similarity, accuracy was greater when the other was of the same race. Semantic similarity made little difference, however, when both encoder and decoder were black. Whites excelled in decoding the profiles of other whites where concepts were commonly encoded by both racial groups, while blacks were more accurate intraracially where concepts were differentially encoded by the 2 racial groups. Results were related to the assumption of a standard set of meanings for whites and a standard‐nonstandard dual system for blacks.