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Group‐based Differences in Perceptions of Racism: What Counts, to Whom, and Why?
Author(s) -
Carter Evelyn R.,
Murphy Mary C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/spc3.12181
Subject(s) - racism , salience (neuroscience) , perception , social psychology , psychology , psychometrics of racism , prejudice (legal term) , inequality , meaning (existential) , psychological intervention , social perception , sociology , gender studies , cognitive psychology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , neuroscience , psychiatry , psychotherapist
Belonging to a group fundamentally shapes the way we interpret and attribute the behavior of others. Similarly, perceptions of racism can be influenced by group membership. Experimental and survey research reveal disagreement between Whites and Blacks about the prevalence of racism in America. Several social cognitive factors contribute to this disagreement: discrepancies in Whites' and Blacks' lay intuitions about the attitudes and behaviors that count as racism, comparison standards when determining racial progress, and the salience of and meaning drawn from successful Black individuals in society. These perceptual discrepancies have consequences for policy attitudes, decisions about how best to combat racial inequality, and beliefs about whether inequality persists. Successful interventions that increase Whites' knowledge of structural racism and that attenuate self‐image threat suggest that it is possible to converge Blacks' and Whites' perceptions of racism by expanding Whites' definition of racism.