Study: Whites react more negatively to 'black' than 'African-American'
theGRIO REPORTS - A new study indicates that whites might react more positively to the term “African-American” than black...
A new study indicates that whites might react more negatively to the term, ‘black’ than ‘African-American.’
The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology published a study by Emory University that found the word “black” was associated with less intelligence and substandard socioeconomic status.
By contrast, the term “African-American” was associated with higher intelligence and greater success.
A lead researcher on the study, Erika Hall, said that the study asked participants to assign traits to descriptions of race such as black, African-American, white and Caucasian. While the term black was the term most associated with negative traits, African-American was actually similarly received to the descriptor “white.”
The study found that, “The stereotype content for Blacks was significantly more negative than for African-Americans. In contrast, the stereotype content for African-Americans did not significantly differ in perceived negativity from that of whites.”
The researchers conducted four experiments, including one where 90 white individuals described a crime suspect. When the 29-year-old hypothetical suspect was called black instead of African-American, the study participants “expressed more negative emotions.”
These findings led the researchers to collude that, “the choice of racial labels used in courtroom proceedings could affect how jurors interpret the facts of a case and make judicial decisions.”
The complete study can be found here.
