This project involves a series of laboratory studies that examine whether the motives that people carry into interracial interactions may contribute to negative experiences and, and how altering such motives might contribute to more positive interactions. Recent research has found that contact across racial and/or cultural divides can sometimes be negative. These types of interactions appear to require additional effort to manage, and consequently often result in mental and emotional fatigue. The research included in this project aims to discover avenues to reduce this potential outcome of interracial contact by investigating the effects of intergroup interactions on Black, White and Latino/a participants (a) with approach-oriented versus avoidance-oriented mindsets, (b) focused on their aspirations for the interaction (promotion-focused) rather than their responsibilities within the interaction (prevention-focused), or (c) with the goal to develop rather than demonstrate positive racial attitudes and intergroup understanding (learning rather than performance goals) during the interaction. The investigators hypothesize that approach-orientation, promotion focus, and learning goals will enhance the quality of these interactions and, in turn, eliminate the disrupting effects the interactions have on individuals' cognitive performance and emotional well-being.
There is mounting evidence that diverse environments have widespread social, societal, and organizational benefits. Nevertheless, the fact remains that many individuals find such diverse environments and contact with members of different racial groups both cognitively and emotionally challenging. The findings of this research will aid in creating and optimizing the positive aspects of racially diverse environments by improving the quality of the intergroup contact experiences which are characteristic of these settings.
Intellectual Merit As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, contact with individuals of a different race or culture will no longer be rare. A wealth of recent research has found, however, that intergroup contact can be stressful for both members of dominant, non-stigmatized groups and for members of low-status, stigmatized groups. In addition to being stressful, or perhaps as a consequence, performance on tasks that require an aspect of cognition called "executive control," for instance tasks that require individuals to ignore distracting information or to inhibit habitual or otherwise automatic reactions, has been shown to suffer after interracial interactions (see Richeson & Shelton, 2007 for a review). Further, the stress associated with these interactions often leads individuals to exit them feeling quite negatively and, thus, more likely to avoid interracial contact in the future. Given the potential long-term benefits of interracial contact experiences (see Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006), it is important to develop strategies with which individuals can engage in interracial interactions without these cognitive and affective costs. The purpose of this NSF project was to aid in the development of such interventions. Specifically, this project examined how different mindsets regarding interracial contact may affect the dynamics of such interactions and the experiences had by the interaction participants. In other words, we sought to discover the types of mindsets that are likely to facilitate positive interracial interaction outcomes and experiences for both members of racial majority and racial minority groups. We began our work with an investigation of the effects of three sets of motivational orientations (promotion v. prevention regulatory focus, approach v. avoidance motivation, & learning v. performance goals). Specifically, our studies investigated whether encouraging individuals to enter interracial interactions with strategies that activate promotion rather than prevention focus, approach rather than avoidance motivation, and/or learning rather than performance goals, engender interracial interactions that are more enjoyable. We later broadened the focus of our work to test other mindsets; namely, perspective-taking, similarity mindsets, and, most recently, meaning making. We also broadened the outcomes to consider interracial trust, racial evaluations and attitudes, and motivation to resolve interracial conflicts. We found compelling evidence for the positive impact of learning, compared with performance goals, perspective-taking compared with self-focus, and similarity mindset inductions on interracial contact and cognitions, as well as some initial support for the positive impact of generating redemption narratives regarding past interracial conflict for intergroup reconciliation. Interestingly, we've found more mixed support for the effects of promotion, compared with prevention, regulatory focus. It seems that the effects of these mindsets may be shaped, at least in part, by the group membership (majority or minority) of the participant. Specifically, promotion seems to yield more positive interracial contact outcomes and experiences for racial majority individuals, while prevention seems to yield more positive contact outcomes and experiences for racial minority individuals. In our future research, we will be investigating the reasons for this divergence and, hopefully, ways to overcome it. We believe that this project is both noteworthy and significant as it highlights the possibility of leveraging motivational and other mindsets to foster more positive interracial (and intergroup) interactions. Whereas previous research has examined longer-term avenues to foster positive interracial encounters (e.g., structural changes, reducing prejudice levels), this project is relatively unique in its focus on potential acute interventions for intergroup relations. Specifically, this project examined the efficacy of strategies that can be implemented in the moments prior to an interaction or intergroup judgment to promote positive outcomes, decisions, and judgments. Our approach is certain to be more feasible than many structural interventions. It is also likely to have a shorter time frame for efficacy and, perhaps even be more ethical, than trying to reduce or manipulate individuals’ levels of bias. Broader Impacts There is mounting evidence that diverse environments have widespread social, societal, and organizational benefits (e.g., Gurin, et al., 2002; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). Nevertheless, the fact remains that many individuals find such diverse environments and contact with members of different racial groups both cognitively and emotionally challenging. The findings of this research will aid in the development and maintenance of culturally diverse environments by improving the quality of the interracial contact experiences that are offered or, even, forced in these settings. The production of this work also included ethnic minority graduate student and postdoctoral collaborators, as well as ethnic minority undergraduate students as research assistants and, of course, as study participants. Through both its production and dissemination, therefore, this project is consistent with NSF’s call for science with broader societal impact.
