Perceptions of Racial Slurs Used by Black Individuals Toward White Individuals: Derogation or Affiliation?

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 678-700
Author(s):  
Conor J. O’Dea ◽  
Donald A. Saucier
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Black Study ◽  
Neutral Term ◽  
Racial Slur ◽  
Black Individual ◽  
Group Members ◽  
White Individual

Research suggests that racial slurs may be “reclaimed” by the targeted group to convey affiliation rather than derogation. Although it is most common in intragroup uses (e.g., “nigga” by a Black individual toward another Black individual), intergroup examples of slur reappropriation (e.g., “nigga” by a Black individual toward a White individual) are also common. However, majority and minority group members’ perceptions of intergroup slur reappropriation remain untested. We examined White (Study 1) and Black (Study 2) individuals’ perceptions of the reappropriated terms, “nigga” and “nigger” compared with a control term chosen to be a non-race-related, neutral term (“buddy”), a nonracial derogative term (“asshole”) and a White racial slur (“cracker”) used by a Black individual toward a White individual. We found that the intergroup use of reappropriated slurs was perceived quite positively by both White and Black individuals. Our findings have important implications for research on intergroup relations and the reappropriation of slurs.

scholarly journals Walking in My Shoes: Imagined Synchrony Improves Attitudes Towards Out-groups

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gray Atherton ◽  
Liam Cross
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Group Members

Abstract People are prone to dividing others into the categories of ‘us’ and ‘them’. This can be particularly detrimental to minorities who may experience social exclusion, prejudice, and reduced access to equal opportunities. One method of improving intergroup relations is to create opportunities for contact. Common contact interventions have members of different groups meet and engage in conversation. There are also non-verbal embodied intergroup activities that produce the same effects. Previous work has shown that the pro-social effects of coordination may be linked to whether co-actors are classed as in or out-group members. The current study explored whether imagining walking in synchrony with in- or out-group members changed majority members’ attitudes towards those individuals. Imagining walking in synchrony fostered greater increases in empathy and decreases in negative attitudes only towards minority group members following imagined coordination (not in-groups). Implications and future directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Putting the “self” in self-deprecation: When deprecating humor about minorities is acceptable

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan Ellithorpe ◽  
Sarah Esralew ◽  
Lance Holbert
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
The Self ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Disability Status ◽  
Group Members

AbstractThis study tested how source knowledge affects enjoyment of self-deprecating humor about a minority group. Participants made aware that the source of a message poking fun at people with disabilities was himself disabled had more positive evaluations of the cartoon and author than participants unaware of his disability. Participants initially given no source information judged the author more positively the second time when they were given follow-up source information. Finally, some effects were moderated by the disability status of the message receiver, such that having a disability or knowing someone who does predicted higher liking of the cartoons when the author is disabled but lower liking when he is not. The results suggest a role for self-deprecating humor in intergroup relations, and predict when such humor will be accepted by minority and non-minority group members.

scholarly journals Dynamics in the Contents of Self-Stereotyping and its Implication in Inter-Group Relations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
A.M. Dawd ◽  
F.Y.K. Oumar ◽  
C.S. Cukur
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Intergroup Relation ◽  
Group Relations ◽  
Group Members ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Intergroup Behavior

Objectives. Developing a comprehensive model to understand intergroup relationship through integrating two constructs usually used to be examined discretely; self-stereotyping and stereotyping. Background. Today’s understanding of intergroup behavior is firmly grounded in concepts related to stereotypes. In literature, apparently, there are, two dominant approaches in studying stereotype’s effect on intergroup relations. The first approach focuses on the effect of dominant group’s stereotype on intergroup relation, while the second approach focuses on studying the impacts of self stereotyping on victims. Furthermore, minority groups’ self-sterotyping is considered to be derived from the dominant groups’ stereotype. As a result, the prevailing approaches are insensitive to the dynamics in self-stereotype and its implication to the intergroup relationship. In this article, it is claimed that the etiology of intergroup behavior could be better understood by considering a mutually interacting groups’ perspective. Methodology. Systematic approach of reviewing the prevailing literature pertaining to stereotyping and self-stereotyping and integrative analysis method to develop new perspective. Conclusion. Intergroup relation involves the interaction of two or more groups each of them having stereotypes regarding their own group and outgroup. Thus, in this paper, we argued that, the etiology of intergroup behavior cannot be adequately understood without employing the belief system of mutually interacting groups. Hence, we integrated self-stereotyping and other’s stereotypes and the behaviors that emerge during intergroup relations is predicted using the dynamics in the content/valence of minority group members’ self-stereotyping simultaneously with the dominant groups’ stereotype. The integration of these two approaches appears to offer the most adequate explanation for the complex nature of intergroup behavior.

Typical Roles and Intergroup Relations Shape Stereotypes: How Understanding Social Structure Clarifies the Origins of Stereotype Content

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne M. Koenig ◽  
Alice H. Eagly
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Demographic Indicators ◽  
Stereotype Content ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Types Of Information

How do stereotypes gain their specific content? Social psychologists have argued that stereotypes of groups, defined by demographic indicators such as sex and race, gain their content from their locations in the social structure. In one version of this claim, observations of group members’ typical roles shape stereotype content. In another version, observations of intergroup relations shape this content. This research addressed the validity and compatibility of these two claims. Three experiments manipulating the roles and intergroup relations of hypothetical groups demonstrated that stereotype content emerged from both roles and intergroup relations even when both types of information were available. Another study yielded substantial correlations between actual groups’ typical roles and their intergroup relations. We conclude that stereotype content reflects groups’ positioning in the social structure as defined by their typical social roles and intergroup relations. Discussion considers the implications of this conclusion for changing the content of stereotypes.

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