Premium
The Nonverbal Transmission of Intergroup Bias: A Model of Bias Contagion with Implications for Social Policy
Author(s) -
Weisbuch Max,
Pauker Kristin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
social issues and policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.798
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1751-2409
pISSN - 1751-2395
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-2409.2011.01032.x
Subject(s) - psychology , nonverbal communication , psychological intervention , normative , emotional contagion , social psychology , attentional bias , cognitive bias , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , neuroscience , psychiatry , philosophy , epistemology
Social and policy interventions over the last half‐century have achieved laudable reductions in blatant discrimination. Yet members of devalued social groups continue to face subtle discrimination. In this article, we argue that decades of antidiscrimination interventions have failed to eliminate intergroup bias because such bias is contagious. We present a model of bias contagion in which intergroup bias is subtly communicated through nonverbal behavior. Exposure to such nonverbal bias “infects” observers with intergroup bias. The model we present details two means by which nonverbal bias can be expressed—either as a veridical index of intergroup bias or as a symptom of worry about appearing biased. Exposure to this nonverbal bias can increase perceivers’ own intergroup biases through processes of implicit learning, informational influence, and normative influence. We identify critical moderators that may interfere with these processes and consequently propose several social and educational interventions based on these moderators.