Intergroup Interactions: Mediating Role of Behavior Regulation

自1954年美国最高法院做出重大裁决，将废除种族隔离作为国家法律以来，白人和黑人之间的接触越来越多。以前的研究已经证明，个人的态度和刻板印象可能会对群体间互动的动态产生巨大影响。然而，这项研究的大部分工作采取了一种“个人主义”的方法，就研究人员研究群体间相互作用的一个方面而言。目前的研究超越了这一方法，同时从白人和黑人的角度研究了群体间的互动。这项工作将集中在白人对看起来有偏见的担忧，以及黑人对成为偏见目标的担忧，在种族间互动中如何塑造他们自己和他们的伴侣的情感和认知结果。具体地说，提出了一个自相矛盾的种族间互动模型，该模型预测白人和黑人对偏见的担忧对他们自己在种族间互动中的体验产生了负面影响，但对他们伴侣的体验产生了积极影响。此外，本研究还将考察行为调节在有偏见的人际关系与情感和认知结果之间的关系中的中介因素。据预测，担心表现出偏见的白人试图控制他们的非语言行为和语言行为，这就是导致二人成员体验差异的原因。同样，有人预测，担心成为偏见目标的黑人会使用补偿行为策略，这会导致二元组成员体验的不同影响。这些研究将丰富我们对群际接触的理论认识。此外，这项研究将提供信息，帮助改善在人际互动中代表不足的少数民族群体的心理健康。

Since the momentous 1954 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court mandating racial desegregation as the law of the land, Whites and Blacks have come into increasing contact with one another. Previous research has documented the dramatic impact that individuals' attitudes and stereotypes can have on the dynamics of intergroup interactions. The majority of this work, however, has taken an "individualistic" approach, insofar as researchers study one side of the dyadic intergroup interaction. The current research takes a step beyond this approach by studying intergroup interactions from the perspective of both Whites and Blacks simultaneously. This work will focus on how Whites' concerns about appearing prejudiced, and Blacks' concerns about being the target of prejudice, shape their own and their partner's affective and cognitive outcomes during interracial interactions. Specifically, a paradoxical model of interracial interactions is proposed which predicts that Whites' and Blacks' concerns with prejudice negatively impact their own experiences in interracial interactions, but positively impact their partners' experiences. Moreover, the proposed research will examine the mediating factor of behavioral regulation in the relationship between interpersonal concerns with prejudice and affective and cognitive outcomes. It is predicted that Whites who are concerned with appearing prejudiced attempt to control their nonverbal and verbal behaviors, which is what leads to the differential impact in the dyad members' experiences. Similarly, it is predicted that Blacks who are concerned about being the target of prejudice use compensatory behavioral strategies, which lead to the differential impact in the dyad members' experiences. These studies will enrich our theoretical understanding of intergroup contact. Moreover, the research will provide information to help improve the psychological well-being of underrepresented ethnic minority groups during interpersonal interactions.