An Unobtrusive Measure of Racial Behavior in a University Cafeteria

STEWART PAGE’ University of Windsor

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Observational data were gathered from a large university cafeteria for a period of 22 days, in 1-hr periods per day, over one semester. Observations were made of the frequency with which Black and White cashiers were selected. Chi-square analyses showed a significant association between a cashier’s being Black and increased likelihood that she would not be selected. Some comments and comparisons are made with other research using similar measures.

The study of interracial behavior has long-standing familiarity to social and community psychologists, as well described in the classic writings of Kenneth Clark, Gordon Allport, Thomas Pettigrew, and others. Allport’s (1958) The Nature ofprejudice, for example, remains one of the most frequently cited books on the issue, both within and without the discipline of psychology (Pettigrew, 1988). The dramatic effects of race as a variable in research have been demon- strated, for example, in a variety of situations assessing social influence and stigmatization. Many such studies have used some form of Bogardus’ (193 1, 1959) notion of social distance (social intimacy) measures of racial acceptance.

Observational and experimental studies of race have undoubtedly declined somewhat in recent times, while more pragmatic and biopolitical aspects such as equal opportunity, affirmative action, ethnic and cultural diversity, and so on have become more prominent. These issues are important, yet many aspects of interracial behavior remain incompletely understood.

One such aspect involves behavior in open situations; that is, those without racial demand characteristics or obligations (Orne, 1962). Moreover, the factor of race may also function differently at varying levels of awareness and in ac- cordance with the extent of reactivity in measures used to observe it (e.g., Webb, Campbell, Schwartz, & Sechrest, 1966). For example, in a study which has now become a classic, Weitz (1972) administered a questionnaire assess- ing White-Black racial attitudes to a university population. For many of her

‘Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Stewart Page, Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada.

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Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1997, 27, 24, pp. 21 72-21 76. Copyright 0 1997 by V. H. Winston 8, Son, Inc. All rights reserved.

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subjects who had expressed egalitarian attitudes, Weitz nevertheless found that these same individuals showed subtly, rejecting nonverbal behaviors when later placed in a laboratory situation requiring cooperative work alongside a Black individual. From a psychoanalytic perspective, Weitz referred to these results as supporting a repressed-affect model of racial behavior. In this view, racial behavior assessed reactively, such as with questionnaires or interviews, is typically egalitarian, yet may show “leakage,” that is, negative aspects, when assessed nonreactively and unobtrusively. Similarly, in a series of studies (e.g., Page, 1995; Page & Day, 1990), we have found frequently that publicly adver- tised rental accommodation is likely to be described privately (thus unobserva- bly) as “already rented” when landlords receive telephone inquiries from persons alleging to have some type of stigmatizing characteristic.

Although their study was not concerned directly with race, Hechtman and Rosenthal (1991) found, as another example of such leakage, that teachers showed more nonverbal warmth toward pupils for whom the teaching task was stereotypically gender appropriate (e.g., vocabulary items for girls; mechanical items for boys), as compared to when they taught a task which was gender inappropriate. Lott (1987), also in a nonracial context, similarly found that men did not show unfavorable attitudes toward women on paper-and-pencil measures. They did, however, in unobtrusively observed work situations, show subtle avoidance behaviors, more negative statements, and increased social distance specifically toward female coworkers. In a racial context, Taylor (1 979) found that teachers’ nonverbal behaviors varied subtlety according to the race (White vs. Black) of their pupils in an unobtrusively observed teaching situation.

A long-standing difficulty in many studies remains that of generalization from laboratory-based research. The present study examined some aspects of racial behavior using a nonlaboratory (cafeteria) setting, whose essential functions are those of dining and socialization. Such settings generally carry no outward pre- scriptions or expectations regarding race, based on the tacit assumption that this factor indeed “does not exist.” The cafeteria setting is also one in which many behaviors, performed with little awareness or at low levels of intensity, may be unobtrusively observed. The speculative hypothesis was explored that a pre- dominantly White population of customers, consisting mostly of undergradu- ate students, might select a White cashier more frequently than a Black cashier.

Method

Participants

During a recent semester, observations were made of a university popula- tion in a large public cafeteria at the University of Windsor over a period of 22

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(nonconsecutive) weekdays, excluding Fridays. A daily 1 -hr observation peri- od, from approximately noon until approximately 1 p.m. each day, was used.

Procedure

The spatial arrangement of the cafeteria was such that once food items are collected and before entering the main eating area, customers must select a cash- ier from (usually) three choices during peak lunchtime hours throughout the academic year. Cashiers for the current period of observation were three females, located at the end of three separate pathways, one of which must be selected by exiting customers. Distances to each cashier, from locations occupied by cus- tomers after selecting all food items, are approximately equal. In the eating area directly beyond the cashiers is a counter area, containing a straight row of individ- ual seats. A vertical partition attached to the front edge of the counter partially obscures the occupants of these seats from view. From one end of the counter, the activities of each cashier can be observed reliably and unobtrusively.

Throughout the above time period, one of the three cashiers was Black; the remaining two were White. On the campus, as typical of Ontario universities generally, Black students form a distinct and visible minority group.

A daily record was kept of the number of (non-Black) customers paying for food at each cashier. For consistency, observations were made only when three cashiers, at separate locations, were on duty. Individual cashiers varied nonsys- tematically in their location from day to day. Cases in which a single person paid for one or more companions’ food were counted as representing only a single customer. Cases where individuals only requested change or approached a cashier for reasons other than paying for food were excluded. In general, therefore, a ‘Lunit” of observation was recorded and signaled, in most cases, when a cashier was observed extending her hand to return change. No subjec- tive judgments or ratings were thus required; data (Table 1) were gathered solely in the form of frequency counts.

Results and Discussion

Results, in terms of frequency of cashier selection, are shown in Table 1. A goodness-of-fit ( x 2 ) analysis of the frequency data showed a significant ten- dency for customers to select less frequently a cashier who was Black, ~ ’ ( 2 , N= 9,713) = 6 . 5 7 , ~ < .038.

In order to evaluate further the possibility that a directional or spatial bias played some role in cashier selection, some additional data (covering 19 days; non-Fridays) were gathered, during a different semester. For these data, all three cashiers were White. There was no significant location preference in se- lection, ~ ’ ( 2 , N = 8,015) = 2 . 4 4 , ~ e .296.

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Table 1

Frequency of Cashier Selection by Race

Cashier Frequency of selection

1 (White cashier) 3,320 2 (White cashier) 3,271 3 (Black cashier) 3,122

Cashier selection: Three White cashiers

1 2,659 2 2,622 3 2,734

In interpreting such results, one must exercise caution in view of certain limitations. One cannot know precisely what percentage of customers might have been included more than once over the total time period, nor does one have complete information about other factors in a university population which are germane to the issue of race. Moreover, populations such as the one observed in the present study consider themselves (and are considered) highly accepting, aware, and sensitive to matters concerning race, as congruent with commonly prevailing values and norms within a North American university campus.

Yet there remain other, more abstract issues, still largely unresolved by social and community psychologists. One concerns Kelman’s (1958) early distinctions between levels of attitude internalization, and between the emotional, evalua- tive, and behavioral components of attitudes. Another concerns the unreliable, indeed sometimes disturbing, relationship between racial attitudes and racial behavior (Pettigrew, 1988). Another concerns the related issue of congruence between behaviors elicited under reactive conditions, in which they may be de- tected, and those which may be observed nonreactively and which may be per- formed at low levels of awareness. In this light, one is reminded of recent videotaped demonstrations on the ABC network program Prime Time Live, in which Black “pseudoclients” were given false information about job availabil- ity, higher prices for used cars, and less accommodating service in stores. One is also reminded of LaPiere’s (1934) classic study in which restaurateurs indi- cated by telephone that Chinese couples would not be served, yet most such couples were served when they actually entered the restaurants.

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Again, while the factor of race may become a conspicuous factor in re- search situations where reactive measures or manipulations are used, its pres- ence and effects in other situations may remain more insidious and ill-defined. Indeed, the present data reflect only frequency counts; that is, simple observa- tions of human behavior. They seem sufficient, however, to illustrate the myth that race is irrelevant or does not exist in the context of everyday acts and social routines. Further research on the repressed affect model of racial behavior therefore seems clearly warranted.

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