Self Recategorization of Euro-Americans & Its Effects on Prejudice & Racial Perceptions

Presented at the

University of California, IrvineBy

Regina Kibodeaux

May 15, 2004

CATEGORIZATION

People

Places

Things

WHO ARE YOU?

Social Identity Theory

Group identity determine ingroup versus outgroup members

Primary determinant of positive or negative affective response

Ingroup (+) Outgroup (-)

*Prejudice: an unfair (-) attitude toward a group or a person perceived to be a member of that group

PREJUDICE BEGETS VIOLENCE

RACIAL CATEGORIZATION

Immediate and automatic (Brew & Brown, 1998; Fiske, 1998)

Functional values attributed to group differences increase prejudice (Bigler, Jones &

Lobliner, 1997)

Especially relevant to social relations when the categories imply definitions of “us” versus “them” (Tajfel

& Turner, 1976; Tafjel, 1981)

COMMON INGROUP IDENTITY MODEL

Separate groups equal higher prejudice- Categorization

One group or different groups on the same team increases positive behavior toward former outgroup members- Recategorization

Ingroup favoritism is reduced when members are seen as individuals of one’s own group- Decategorization

(Dovidio, Kawakmi & Gaertner, 2000)

White Blacks

American

Same Team

White

PREJUDICE AND RACIAL PERCEPTIONS

Prejudice persons label racially mixed individuals as out group members (Tajfel & Turner, 1979, Tafjel, 1981; Young, B. 2000)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

•Since recategorization and decategorization work well separately, can both be used in conjunction to maximize the reduction of prejudice?

•If so, can a dual/ethnic identity be activated in a highly prejudice white population?

•If so, would it result in lower measure of prejudice and higher measure of inclusiveness when assigning race to ambiguous photos?

SELF RECATEGORIZATION HYPOTHESISED TO REDUCE PREJUDICE AND INCREASE

INCLUSIVENESS

Prejudice (H1) The priming of a dual/ethnic identity will result in lower scores of prejudice compared to those primed for a single identity

Inclusiveness (H2) The priming of a dual/ethnic identity will result in assigning greater measures of ingroup heritage when viewing racially ambiguous photos compared to those primed for a single identity

RESEARCH SITE

Southern California High SchoolPredominantly Euro-American(81%)History of youth hate motivated

violenceDistrict mandated postings

regarding hate activityProximate to research

HATE MOTIVATED YOUTH VIOLENCE

“IN APRIL OF 1999, THE BODY OF A MEXICAN MAN WAS FOUND LYING IN A DRAINAGE DITCH NEAR THE CENTER OF (SoCal City). - HE HAD BEEN ROBBED AND BADLY BEATEN - TO MOST PEOPLE IT WAS QUICKLY FORGOTTEN - A RANDOM MURDER - A NAMELESS PERSON - BUT IT BECAME THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF VIOLENT, RACE-RELATED EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE IN (SoCal City) THAT YEAR.” kpbs.org

PARENTS SPEAK OUT

                         

           

                

               

                  

                                   

(April 2003) "Not safe for other ethnic groups than white due to extreme racism! " (August 2003) “Yes (school name) has a bit of a reputation for being racist…. "

In our classrooms and on our campus there will be no room for hatred, violence, or put-downs meant to harm someone physically, mentally, or emotionally because of:

Race/Ethnicity Religion

Physical appearance

Intellectual ability

Gender Sexual orientation

(actual or perceived)

DISTRICT MANDATED POSTINGS

IN EVERY CLASS AND OFFICE

METHODOLOGY

School selected for awareness of racial problems and willing to participate

Students participation was a result of convenience sampling

- Participation was voluntary- Consent/Assent forms sent home

prior to participationExperimental/Control condition was

randomly assigned

SAMPLE POPULATION

Gender:63

49

Total 112Grades: Sophomore –SeniorEthnicity: White 75

Non-White 20White/Mixed 17

Condition: Single Identity 55Total40White

Dual/Ethnic Identity 57Total35White

METHODOLOGYSURVEY TITLED: PERCEPTIONS OF ETHNICITY

Racial Ambiguous Photos (pre-test inclusiveness measure)

Social Distance Measure (pretest prejudice measure)

Experimental Condition (single or dual identity condition)

Feeling Thermometer (post-test prejudice measure)

Racial Ambiguous Photos (post-test inclusiveness measure)

DUAL IDENTITY MEASUREEthnicity:

____African American ____Hispanic American ____Asian American

____Middle Eastern American ____Euro-American

____Native American ____Pacific Islander American

If Euro-American please identify:Father’s Ethnicity: select all that apply____ French ____ Swedish ____ English ____ Irish ____ Dutch____ Italian ____ Polish ____ Finnish ____ Russian

____Belgian____ Icelandic ____Slovakian ____ Irish ____ Hungarian ____

Norwegian____ German ____ Bulgarian ____ Danish ____ Romanian

____ Swiss____Austrian ____ Australian ____Scottish ____ Welsh

____ Lithuanian____ Other: name specifically _________________________________________

If Euro-American please identify:Mother’s Ethnicity: select all that apply

____ French ____ Swedish ____ English ____ Irish ____ Dutch____ Italian ____ Polish ____ Finnish ____ Russian

____Belgian ____ Icelandic ____Slovakian ____ Irish ____ Hungarian ____ Norwegian

____ German ____ Bulgarian ____ Danish ____ Romanian ____ Swiss

____Austrian ____ Australian ____Scottish ____ Welsh ____ Lithuanian

____ Other: name specifically _________________________________________

SINGLE IDENTITY MEASURE

Ethnicity:___White ___Hispanic ___Asian ___Middle Eastern ___Black___Indian ___Pacific Islander

Father’s Ethnicity:___White ___Hispanic ___Asian ___Middle Eastern ___Black___Indian ___Pacific Islander

Mother’s Ethnicity:___White ___Hispanic ___Asian ___Middle Eastern ___Black___Indian ___Pacific Islander

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

Asian Hispanics

SingleDualUCI

Social Distance

0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00

100.00

Asian Hispanic White

SingleDual

Feeling Thermometer

Racially Ambiguous Photos

0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00

100.00

Pre-test Post-test

SingleDual

% Asian Heritage Assigned

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 1 2 3 4 5

MotherFather

Dual Identity

35 – White

22 – Other

57 - Total# of Ethnicities selected

RESULTS

Prejudice (H1) – Failed to reject the null hypothesis.

Inclusiveness (H2) – Failed to reject the null hypothesis.

Experimental Considerations

Unrealistic researcher expectationsManipulation was not understood

Students were aware of objectiveConversations, etc.

Stereotype threat – fear of confirming a known stereotype

Scores were more (+) than (-)Positive comments:“This really made me think”“Pics were confusing, but I get the point”Confirmed other areas of research (ie. Contact hypothesis)Doors open for more research

Discussion

Acknowledgments

MentorsPeter Ditto, UCI

Brandy Young, UCIChuansheng Chen, UCIValerie Jenness, UCI

Research SitePrincipalTeachersStudents

Research AssistantsWinnie Tam, UCIJenna Albanese, UCICheri Ford, UCI

Technical AssistanceRob CarpenterBob Jamieson

Funding SourceUniversity of California, Irvine Undergraduate Research

Opportunities Program

For Further InformationFor Further InformationContactContact

Regina KibodeauxRegina KibodeauxDepartment of Psychology and Social Department of Psychology and Social

BehaviorBehavior

Department of Criminology, Law and SocietyDepartment of Criminology, Law and Society

University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, Irvine

rkibodea@uci.edurkibodea@uci.edu