1. Charles Chu1, Sohad Murrar2, Evava Pietri1, Rebecca Rosen3
The Effect of Diversity Intervention Media Format (Visual vs. Written) on Attitudes Toward Minorities
DISCUSSION
This research provides the first empirical support for the parenthood as moral imperative hypothesis. As Thompson (1974) proposed, the cultural prescription to have children is so strong that it is an imperative, with social sanctions for those who violate this norm. Not having children is therefore seen not only as atypical but also as wrong. Interestingly, this was true for both male and female targets. If parenthood is indeed a moral imperative, further decreases in the U.S. birthrate may affect the perceived typicality of not having children but not likely the perceived moral obligation to become a parent.
Charles Chu1, Sohad Murrar2, Evava Pietri1, Rebecca Rosen3
1Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, 2University of Wisconsin – Madison, 3Indiana University – Bloomington Kelley School of Business
INTRODUCTION
Positive contact is demonstrated to improve intergroup relations under certain conditions (e.g., equal status; Allport, 1954), but people often avoid outgroup contact due to anxiety (Shelton, 2003; Shelton & Richeson, 2005).
In order to avoid some of these barriers to interpersonal contact, researchers have investigated media contact (e.g., videos of an outgroup member, written narratives about interactions with outgroups) as an intervention to improve intergroup relations.
However, little is known about the relative benefits of using visual versus written media to improve intergroup relations. This is a troubling gap in the research because videos are often more expensive and time-consuming to produce – organizations need to know whether the additional investment in visual media interventions will yield enough returns.
Person-perception research posits important differences between visual and written media, namely, that visual and audio cues provide valuable information for forming impressions of targets (Freeman & Ambady, 2011).
OBJECTIVE
Our goal in this research is to explore whether visual media is more effective than written media as a diversity intervention and to investigate a potential mechanism (trait impressions) for why this difference exists.
EXPERIMENT 1
Methods
199 participants (via Amazon Mturk)
Between-subjects experiment with 1 independent variable (media content: diversity vs. control)
Diversity video: 3 minute video of a Black man discussing experiences with bias in education
Control video: 3 minute video of a White man discussing healthcare
Measures
Modern Racism Scale
“Blacks are getting too demanding in their push for equal rights.”
Results
Condition: t(197) = 1.95, p = .053, d = .28
EXPERIMENT 2
405 participants (via Amazon Mturk)
2 (media content: diversity vs. control) X 2 (media format: video vs. written transcript) between-subjects experiment
New Measures
Aggression: Trait evaluations of the speaker as aggressive and hostile
General Positive Traits: Trait evaluations of the speaker as competent, thoughtful, intelligent, and likable
EXPERIMENT 2 (cont.)
Proposed Model
Results
Results (cont.)
Indirect effects were significant in diversity conditions
Aggression: .13, 95% CI:
General Positive Trait: .07, 95% CI:
Indirect effects were not significant in control conditions
Aggression: .02, 95% CI:
General Positive Trait: .01, 95% CI:
CONCLUSION
Across the two studies, the diversity narrative was an effective intervention to improve attitudes toward African-Americans compared to the control narrative.
In particular, the diversity narrative presented in video format improved attitudes toward African-Americans more than the same narrative presented in written format.
Mediation analysis showed that the video format of the diversity narrative was more effective than the written format of the same narrative due to people’s perceptions of the Black male speaker as less aggressive and generally more positive in the video diversity condition. In short, in the video format, participants relied less on their existing stereotypes of Black man as aggressive and hostile which led to improved attitudes toward African-Americans.
REFERENCES
Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Freeman, J. B., & Ambady, N. (2011). A dynamic interactive theory of person construal. Psychological Review, 118(2), 247.
Shelton, J. N. (2003). Interpersonal concerns in social encounters between majority and minority group members. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 6(2),
Shelton, J. N., & Richeson, J. A. (2005). Intergroup contact and pluralistic ignorance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(1), 91.
Interaction
F(1, 398) = 8.85,
p = .003, ηp2 = .022
Interaction
F(1, 398) = 5.14,
p = .024, ηp2 = .013
Media Content
F(1, 401) = 4.27,
p = .040, ηp2 = .011
Media Format
F(1, 401) = 3.26,
p = .072, ηp2 = .008