The Antecedents and Implications of Intergroup Anxiety

拟议的工作考察了影响种族间相互作用过程的因素。对群体间关系的研究强调了群体间焦虑在决定人们对群体外成员的反应中的重要性。根据先前关于偏见和社会焦虑的理论，本研究为种族间互动中焦虑的前因和影响提供了一个模型。具体地说，群体间焦虑是由于缺乏与外群体成员的积极经验，对种族间互动的过程有消极的期望，以及缺乏对外群体成员不带偏见地作出反应的个人动机。此外，这种焦虑被认为会导致对外群体成员的敌意加剧，并希望避免与外群体成员互动，尤其是那些个人动机不带偏见地回应的人。群体间焦虑会给人们的生活带来压力，并可能导致回避型应对方式，这两种方式都对人们的心理健康产生负面影响。对外围群体成员的回避可能导致被回避的人产生社会孤立感，这对心理和健康产生负面影响。此外，如果焦虑导致对外群体成员的敌意，这种敌意可能会给外群体成员带来压力，并威胁到他们的自尊。本研究采用纵向调查方法和实验室实验来检验模型中的偶然关系，通过制定策略和干预措施来减少种族间互动中的焦虑和伴随的回避和敌意。

The proposed work examines the factors that influence the course of interracial interactions. Research on intergroup relations has highlighted the importance of intergroup anxiety in determining people's responses toward outgroup members. Drawing upon previous theorizing from both the prejudice and social anxiety literatures, the proposed work offers a model of the antecedents and implications of anxiety in interracial interactions. Specifically, it is argued that intergroup anxiety results from a lack of positive previous experiences with outgroup members, negative expectation about the corse of interracial interactions, and a lack of personal motivation to respond without bias toward outgroup members. Further, this anxiety is posited to result in heightened hostility toward outgroup members and a desire to avoid interacting with outgroup members, particularly among people who are not personally motivated to respond without prejudice. Intergroup anxiety creates stress in people live's and can result in avoidant coping styles both of which have negative implications of people's psychological well-being. Avoidance of outgroup members can lead to feelings of social isolations among those people who are avoided, which has negative psychological and health-related implications. In addition, if anxiety results in hostility toward outgroup members, this hostility could be stressful for outgroup members and threaten their self-esteem. The proposed work tests the casual relationships in the model using a longitudinal survey approach and a laboratory experiment to examine by developing strategies and interventions to reduce anxiety and the concomitant avoidance, and hostility in interracial interactions.