Endorsing Black Lives Matter The roles of intra-personal, inter-group and structural processes Chairs: Jordan Leitner & Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton Jordan Leitner Colin Leach Hemapreya Selvanathan Lydia Hayward

How past intergroup contact shapes judgments of current intergroup conflict The cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner Lydia E. Hayward, Dr Fiona Kate Barlow, Professor Matthew J. Hornsey The University of Queensland, Australia

Positive contact Negative contact

Outcomes beyond prejudice?

What about negative contact? Disadvantaged group members: negative contact  increase support for social change Advantaged group members: negative contact  reduce support for social change

Judgments of current conflict? Does contact alter the lens through which we perceive intergroup conflict situations?

Judgments of current conflict?

The present study How do White and Black Americans perceive these incidents? How does contact predict these perceptions?

The present study 207 White Americans 92 women M age = 33.55, SD age = Black Americans 68 women M age = 33.87, SD age = 10.11

Intergroup contact 1 never  7 very frequently Overall, how often do you have POSITIVE/ PLEASANT/ GOOD/ FRIENDLY/ ENJOYABLE contact with Black [White] Americans? Overall, how often do you have NEGATIVE/ UNPLEASANT/ BAD/ UNFRIENDLY/ UNENJOYABLE contact with Black [White] Americans? Correlated ~ -.40

The Incident

Outcome Measures Do you agree with the grand jury decision not to indict (charge) Officer Wilson? (1 strongly disagree  7 strongly agree) Attributions of Blame (8 items; 1 strongly disagree  7 strongly agree) Officer Darren Wilson is responsible for the death of Michael Brown. Officer Darren Wilson did not intend for Michael Brown to die. (R) Racial profiling of the victim (4 items; 1 strongly disagree  7 strongly agree) Michael Brown was targeted by police because of his race. Michael Brown would always have been treated this way, regardless of his race. (R)

Outcome Measures Do you think Officer Darren Wilson is guilty or innocent of committing a crime? Guilty/Innocent I have signed a petition in support of the victims of police violence (Michael Brown and Eric Garner) Yes/No

Mean Differences White AmericansBlack Americans Agree with GJ* Blame Officer* Racial Profiling* Officer Guilty?*40.6%84.5% Signed a Petition? *8.3%30.8%

Results: White Americans N = 207

Do those who have had more frequent positive contact with Black Americans… disagree with the grand jury decision? blame the officer? believe the officer is guilty? believe racial profiling was a factor in the incident? sign a petition on behalf of the victims? Does negative contact predict the opposite?

Do you agree with the grand jury decision not to indict the Officer? Positive Contact Agreement with Jury decision Negative Contact.21** -.08 Mean = 4.23 More agreement in Brown case (4.56) than Garner case (3.89) Standardized coefficients (β) reported. † p <.10 * p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001

How much is the Officer to blame? Standardized coefficients (β) reported. † p <.10 * p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001 Mean = 3.63 Positive Contact Officer Blame Negative Contact -.21**.12

Was racial profiling a factor? Standardized coefficients (β) reported. † p <.10 * p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001 Mean = 3.77 Positive Contact Racial Profiling Negative Contact -.26***.05

Is the Officer Guilty? Main Effects: 1.91 x likely to say Guilty in the Garner case (47%) than the Brown case (33%) No main effects of contact Interactions: Marginal negative contact * case interaction (p =.051): Negative contact  less likely to say Guilty (0.63 x), but only for the Garner case

% Yes: 8.33 Main Effects: Marginal main effect of positive contact  1.53 x more likely to have signed a petition Did you sign a petition on behalf of the victims? Yes/No

Negative contact with Black Americans predicted: Agreement with grand jury decision Blaming the officer even less Believing that racial profiling was not a factor Believing the officer was innocent in Eric Garner case Positive contact with Black Americans predicted: Signing a petition on behalf of the victims Summary: White Americans

Results: Black Americans N = 116

Do those who have had more frequent positive contact with White Americans… agree with the grand jury decision? blame the officer less? believe racial profiling was not a factor in the incident? believe the officer is innocent? not sign a petition on behalf of the victims? Does negative contact predict the opposite?

Do you agree with the grand jury decision not to indict the Officer? Positive Contact Agreement with Jury decision Negative Contact * Mean = 2.28 Standardized coefficients (β) reported. † p <.10 * p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001

How much is the Officer to blame? Standardized coefficients (β) reported. † p <.10 * p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001 Mean = 4.98 More blame for Officer in Brown case (5.22) than Garner case (4.73) Positive Contact Officer Blame Negative Contact †

Was racial profiling a factor? Standardized coefficients (β) reported. † p <.10 * p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001 Mean = 5.15 Positive Contact Racial Profiling Negative Contact **

Is the Officer Guilty? % Guilty: 84.5% Main Effects: Positive contact  less likely to say Guilty (0.53 x) Interactions: Positive contact * case interaction: Positive contact  less likely to say Guilty (0.08 x), but only for the Garner case

% Yes: 30.8% Main Effects: Positive contact  less likely (0.60 x) to have signed a petition Did you sign a petition on behalf of the victims? Yes/No

Positive contact with White Americans predicted: Less disagreement with grand jury decision Blaming the officer less (marginally) Lower belief that racial profiling was a factor Believing the officer was innocent in Eric Garner case Not signing a petition on behalf of the victims Summary: Black Americans

Do these outcomes look familiar?

Take home message Past contact may alter the lens through which we perceive events Different effects for advantaged vs. disadvantaged groups (but with a similar end result) For White Americans: Negative contact  defending the police officer. For Black Americans: Positive contact  defending the victim less

Thank you