SGER: Race and the 2008 Election

该项目研究了2008年总统选举期间，种族态度和陈规定型观念如何影响非洲裔美国学生的政治参与和学业成绩。如果一个特定群体被定型为不太可能参与政治，也不太可能在学术上取得成功，该群体的成员可能会内化这种定型观念，并在相关任务中表现不佳。根据刻板印象威胁的心理学理论，这不是由于有意识地决定表现出与刻板印象一致的行为，而是基于被内化的刻板印象从认知上分散注意力。本研究探讨了两种类型的内隐种族态度，可能会使个人或多或少容易受到刻板印象的威胁。非裔美国学生将参加一项实验，包括完成一项关于他们参加2008年大选的在线调查，他们对巴拉克奥巴马与约翰麦凯恩的支持，以及他们对一些种族相关政策（平权行动，政府对黑人的援助和奴隶制赔偿）的意见。为了引出刻板印象的威胁，该调查是在两个实验条件下进行的，一个是高刻板印象的威胁条件下，一个全白人的研究团队给非裔美国人的参与者的指示，和一个低刻板印象的威胁条件下，一个全黑人的研究团队给的指示。内隐的种族态度也使用反应时间tasks.This研究将产生更广泛的影响，更好地了解种族态度和刻板印象如何影响非裔美国人社区的成员。调查结果将传播给当地社区，目的是提高人们对种族刻板印象后果的认识和了解。此外，该项目将涉及研究生和本科生研究助理从历史上的黑人大学。这些学生将接受专业培训，丰富他们的学术经验。

This project examines how the political participation and academic performance of African American students was influenced by racial attitudes and stereotypes during the 2008 presidential election. If a particular group is stereotyped as unlikely to participate in politics and unlikely to succeed academically, members of that group may internalize this stereotype and under-perform on relevant tasks. According to the psychological theory of stereotype threat this is not due to a conscious decision to behave stereotype-consistent, but based on being cognitively distracted from the task by the internalized stereotype. The study investigates two types of implicit racial attitudes that may render individuals more or less susceptible to stereotype threat. African-American students will participate in an experiment that involves completing an online survey regarding their participation in the 2008 election, their support for Barack Obama vs. John McCain, and their opinions on a number of race related policies (affirmative action, government aid to Blacks, and slavery reparations). To elicit stereotype threat, the survey is administered under two experimental conditions, a high stereotype threat condition in which an all-White research team gives instructions to African American participants, and a low-stereotype threat condition in which an all-Black research team gives the instructions. Implicit racial attitudes are also measured using reaction time tasks.This research will have broader impacts by generating a better understanding of how racial attitudes and stereotypes affect members of the African American community. The findings will be disseminated to local communities with the goal of raising awareness and understanding of the consequences of racial stereotypes. Additionally, this project will involve graduate and undergraduate student research assistants from a historically black university. These students will receive specialized training that will enrich their academic experiences.