Social Psychological Research on Racism and the Importance of Historical Context: Implications for Policy

Trawalter, Sophie; Higginbotham, Gerald D.; Henderson, K. C.

doi:10.1177/09637214221114092

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…A study of stress conducted in April 2020 (during a relatively early wave of the pandemic) would have different implications than a study of stress conducted in April 2019 (prepandemic) or April 2022 (2 years into the pandemic). Additionally, attending to historical context can help researchers to identify appropriate interventions that address issues such as racism-when considering historical context, researchers can look beyond the individual moment and gain a deeper understanding of systemic issues at play (Trawalter et al, 2022). These examples illustrate the value of reporting when data were collected in addition to where a given study took place.…”

Section: Regional Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Mostly White, heterosexual couples”: Examining demographic diversity and reporting practices in relationship science research samples.

McGorray¹,

Emery²,

Garr-Schultz³

et al. 2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Social and personality psychologists aim to “understand individuals in their social contexts for the benefit of all people” (Society for Personality and Social Psychology, n.d.). Though this mission is admirable, value statements do little, on their own, to create an inclusive, high-quality science that benefits humanity broadly. In this research, we evaluate relationship science, a major subfield of social–personality psychology, illustrating both the unique diversity-relevant challenges faced by particular subfields and the barriers to inclusive and diverse research that are shared across research areas. Specifically, we examine the sample diversity and reporting practices of 1,762 studies published in eight mainstream psychology and relationships journals at two time points—(a) 1996–2000 and (b) 2016–2020—and center our analysis around five focal sample characteristics: gender, sexual orientation, regional context, socioeconomic status (SES), and race. We find that reporting practices and representation have not improved for some core demographic characteristics (e.g., socioeconomic status) and that even in domains for which reporting practices have improved (e.g., sexual orientation), reporting remains limited. Further, we find that reporting practices in relationship science frequently center Whiteness (e.g., “participants were mostly White”), obscure or overlook potential sexual orientation diversity (e.g., implying that individuals in man–woman dyads are “heterosexual”), and treat the United States as the contextual default (e.g., participants came from a “large Southeastern university”). In light of these findings, we offer recommendations that we hope will cultivate a more representative and inclusive discipline.

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Section: Regional Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Mostly White, heterosexual couples”: Examining demographic diversity and reporting practices in relationship science research samples.

McGorray¹,

Emery²,

Garr-Schultz³

et al. 2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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show abstract

“…In this way, we conceptualize stereotypes as racial propaganda that have functioned to support oppressive societal systems and limit the agency and influence of people of color. In doing this we heed recent calls to take historical context into consideration in our attempts to understand and address psychological processes that perpetuate racism (Salter et al, 2018;Teo, 2022;Trawalter et al, 2022;Trawalter et al, 2020). Addressing historical oppression and injustice has the potential to target racist systems from multiple angles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Construction of Racial Stereotypes and How They Serve as Racial Propaganda

Melson-Silimon¹,

Spivey²,

Skinner-Dorkenoo³

2023

Preprint

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In social psychology, stereotypes have generally been viewed as overgeneralized beliefs about social groups in society. Although stereotypes—especially those that are negative—tend to be recognized as contributing to prejudice and discrimination of marginalized communities, they are often conceptualized as containing a “kernel of truth.” Meanwhile, there has been relatively little consideration of the historical and cultural origins of racial stereotypes. This is an important oversight given that stereotypes have and continue to be used as a means to excuse and reinforce the systemic oppression of communities of color. Thus, the current paper uses a historical framework to review major stereotypes that have targeted communities of color throughout U.S. history, with a focus on stereotypes of Black people. In doing so, we conceptualize racial stereotypes as propaganda that have historically functioned to support oppressive societal systems in the U.S. by both (a) shaping public perceptions and expectations and (b) by influencing the thoughts and behavior of members of stereotyped groups. By situating stereotypes within their historical and cultural frames, readers can recognize the way stereotypes reinforce systems of oppression. We conclude with research implications and encourage stereotyping scholars to foreground the social construction of stereotypes and the function that they serve by contextualizing their work in the social and historical context in which stereotypes emerged.

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“…That is, Chinese or American culture is causing the difference in variable Y. However, we must be cautious about allowing cultural categories to explain differences without specifying what this overarching categorical construct indexes at the level of social, historical, and cognitive mechanisms (Cikara et al, 2022; Fields & Fields, 2012; Trawalter et al, 2022). At best such a short cut treats culture as a black box, and at worst as a primordial essence.…”

Section: Cultural Scripts In Collective Temporal Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of frames structuring collective temporal thought.

Yamashiro¹,

Pashkov²

2023

Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition

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Cultural scripts can help structure collective remembering and future thought. This schematic scaffolding may help explain empirical patterns such as emotional biases in memory and future thought, as suggested by Liu and Szpunar (2023). In this commentary, we argue that the concept of “cultural scripts” as cognitive schemata shaping collective memory and future thought has been underspecified, such that cumulative theory building has been hampered. Here we outline some of the different schemata with which researchers have attempted to explain patterns in collective temporal thought. We contrast two major genres, ahistorical cultural schemata with historically contingent narrative templates. We then discuss two forms of narrative template, national narrative templates and implicit temporal trajectories. More precise specification of the “cultural script” concept will benefit researchers of collective temporal thought.

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Social Psychological Research on Racism and the Importance of Historical Context: Implications for Policy

Cited by 18 publications

References 25 publications

“Mostly White, heterosexual couples”: Examining demographic diversity and reporting practices in relationship science research samples.

“Mostly White, heterosexual couples”: Examining demographic diversity and reporting practices in relationship science research samples.

The Construction of Racial Stereotypes and How They Serve as Racial Propaganda

Varieties of frames structuring collective temporal thought.

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