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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Psychology

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Masters Theses

Prejudice

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Buffering Effects Of Negative Intergroup Contact Through Complex Social Identities, Liora Morhayim Mar 2024

Buffering Effects Of Negative Intergroup Contact Through Complex Social Identities, Liora Morhayim

Masters Theses

Although negative intergroup contact occurs less frequently than positive contact, negative contact can more strongly influence outgroup attitudes and behaviors due to the effect of category salience in the generalization process. The present study (N =306) tests whether being aware of an outgroup member’s complex social identity will serve as a buffer against the adverse impact of a negative intergroup contact experience on outgroup attitudes. In a 3X2 between-subjects design, social identity complexity (SIC) of an outgroup confederate (high versus low versus control) and the valence of contact (neutral versus negative) were manipulated. Participants interacted with an outgroup confederate …


Structural Racism, Black Out-Group Preference, And Mental Health, Alexander J. Kellogg Mar 2024

Structural Racism, Black Out-Group Preference, And Mental Health, Alexander J. Kellogg

Masters Theses

Structural racism has increasingly been implicated as a root cause of racial disparities in health and well-being. Specifically, areas where White Americans hold more negative attitudes toward Black Americans have been associated with both anti-Black discrimination and poorer Black physical and mental health. However, previous research has relied on cross-sectional designs and has neglected the potential effects of Black community-level attitudes on mental health. We hypothesized that higher aggregate pro-White bias among White Americans would be associated with higher implicit out-group preference among Black residents living in the same communities, above and beyond the effects of traditional measures of structural …


Mobilizing The Advantaged To Protest Injustice With The Disadvantaged, Hemapreya Selvanathan Jul 2017

Mobilizing The Advantaged To Protest Injustice With The Disadvantaged, Hemapreya Selvanathan

Masters Theses

The participation of advantaged group members in collective action with the disadvantaged group to challenge inequality is crucial to building a social movement. Although prior work has found that an invitation to participate in collective action is a strong predictor of participation, the extent to which advantaged group members are influenced by such invitations is not known. The present research investigates the effect of the race of an inviter (White vs. Black) on Whites’ willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice as a function of their underlying prejudicial attitudes. Study 1 found that greater internal motivation to respond …


The Ironic Effects Of Perspective-Taking On Reactions Toward Illegal Immigrants, Levi Adelman Nov 2014

The Ironic Effects Of Perspective-Taking On Reactions Toward Illegal Immigrants, Levi Adelman

Masters Theses

Illegal or undocumented immigration is a political hot-button issue in the United States and around the world. This study investigated social psychological factors that influence reactions toward illegal immigrants. Drawing on America’s identity as a nation of immigrants and on research showing positive effects of perspective–taking on intergroup relations, this research asks how reminders of one’s ingroup history in the U.S. and perspective-taking impact Americans emotional responses to illegal immigrants and their support for pro- and anti-immigration policies. Additionally, this research investigates whether the effects of reminders of one’s ingroup history and perspective-taking depend on people’s political orientation. Results show …