Effects of racial prejudice and race of target on aggression

✍ Scribed by Kenneth E. Leonard; Stuart P. Taylor

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 517 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0096-140X
• DOI: 10.1002/1098-2337(1981)7:3<205::aid-ab2480070304>3.0.co;2-q

✦ Synopsis

Three studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between prejudice and physical aggression using the competitive reaction time paradigm. In Study 1, high and low prejudiced subjects competed against either a black or white opponent. The race of the opponent did not differentially affect the aggressive behavior of either high or low prejudiced subjects. In Study 2, high prejudiced subjects were confronted with a competitor who behaved in a nonaggressive fashion. Under these conditions, the high prejudiced subjects attacked the black target more than the white target. In Study 3, high prejudiced subjects competed against an opponent who communicated nonaggressive intentions. The subjects behaved in a nonaggressive manner toward both the black and the white target. It was proposed that prejudice facilitates indiscriminate aggression in the presence of a clear threat and selective aggression in the presence of ambiguous threat.