Implicit and explicit emotional reactions to witnessing prejudice

Abstract

To what degree do expressions of prejudice garner a negative emotional response from others not targeted by that bias? Existing evidence points in conflicting directions. On the one hand, research on group-based emotion indicates that people have strong negative reactions to group members who engage in harmful or discrediting acts toward outgroup members (e.g.

Social Identity Threat in Response to Stereotypic Film Portrayals: Effects on Self‐Conscious Emotion and Implicit Ingroup Attitudes

“…In addition to documenting the emotional costs of stereotypic portrayals for Mexican Americans, we also found in Study 2 that European Americans experience a sense of shame and self‐consciousness when watching stereotypic films in the context of other ingroup members who take delight in the stereotyping of a disadvantaged ethnic outgroup. This effect is consistent with past research on vicarious shame (Lickel et al., ; Schmader et al., ) showing that European Americans exhibit negative self‐conscious affect when they witness others confirming stereotypes that their ingroup is racist. However, it should be noted that these feelings of shame might also have been minimized by hearing another Mexican American student laugh at and thus seem to condone this stereotyping.…”

“…Among European American participants tested in Study 2, our predictions were more exploratory. European Americans can experience social identity threat in contexts which seem to confirm the perception that European Americans are racist (Richeson & Shelton, 2012), and report negative emotional reactions when they witness racial prejudice (Schmader et al, 2012). Thus, European American participants might also experience these self-conscious emotions in response not to the stereotypic content of the film clip itself, but in response to an ingroup member who seems to take delight in the stereotyping of Latinos in film.…”

“…On the one hand, research on social identity threat often assumes that minorities are concerned about confirming stereotypes in the minds of the outgroup. However, research on group‐based emotion has suggested that vicarious shame might be an important signal of ingroup norm violation that helps alert a person to police the behavior of their ingroup (Schmader, Croft, Scarnier, Lickel, & Mendes, ). These two theoretical frameworks thus make competing hypotheses about whether affective costs for Mexican Americans will be stronger when the ingroup or the outgroup appears to endorse stereotypic content in film.…”

When do women respond against discrimination? Exploring factors of subtlety, form, and focus

“…First, targets of prejudice and their allies need to realize that they are not doing themselves any favors by not responding to instances of prejudice when they witness them in the first place. Indeed, previous research has shown that negative consequences such as emotional discomfort can emerge from witnessing discrimination without acting out against it (Schmader, Croft, Scarnier, Lickel, & Mendes, ). Our findings seem to indicate that workplaces are filled with individuals that experience such emotional discomfort, with observers of prejudice likely to recognize occurrences of discrimination directed at others while simultaneously being unwilling to speak up against these discriminatory instances.…”

Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace: A Vicious Cycle

“…Here, participants witnessed a confederate subtly discriminate against another confederate through negative body positioning, vocal tones, and undermining the person's ideas in an uncivil manner. Some scholars have suggested that bystanders may punish perpetrators for violating justice norms (O'Reilly, Aquino, & Skarlicki, 2016;Turillo, Folger, Lavelle, Umphress, & Gee, 2002), which can occur through a variety of ways, including retaliation, ostracism, neglect, and negative affect toward perpetrators (Reich & Hershcovis, 2015;Schmader et al, 2012;Smart & Leary, 2009;Turillo et al, 2002). However, it has been shown that punishing or retaliating against a perpetrator of subtle discrimination does not lead to increased positive affect toward the target of the discriminatory remark.…”