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Article
Effects of dyadic communication on race-based impressions and memory.pdf
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations (2018)
  • Monica Biernat, University of Kansas
  • Adrian Villicana, Western Washington University
  • Amanda K. Sesko, University of Washington Tacoma
  • Xian Zhao
Abstract
In an experimental study, we examined the effects of dyadic communication and implicit racial attitudes on impressions formed of Black versus White individuals. Participants viewed a graduate application of a student depicted as a Black or White male and then had a conversation about the applicant with another student (or not) before individually rendering judgments of him. Subjective impressions were more favorable for the Black than White applicant among participants in the communication condition, conversations about Whites included more negations, and participants wrote longer narratives in which they were less likely to mention race when they had previously communicated than when they had not. Communication also disrupted the association between implicit racial attitudes and memory for the applicant’s Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores: Those with negative racial attitudes remembered the Black applicant as having lower GRE scores than the White applicant, but this effect was eliminated following communication. Findings are discussed with reference to audience tuning, shifting standards, and attitude–behavior consistency models.

Keywords
  • Communication,
  • Impression Formation,
  • Racial Attitudes,
  • Shifting Standards,
  • Stereotypes
Publication Date
2018
DOI
10.1177/1368430216663022
Citation Information
Monica Biernat, Adrian Villicana, Amanda K. Sesko and Xian Zhao. "Effects of dyadic communication on race-based impressions and memory.pdf" Group Processes & Intergroup Relations (2018)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/dradrian-villicana/4/