Maple Leaf
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Reaction to racism not as strong as people believe it will be, study suggests (HEADLINE)
January 08, 2009 02:51
TORONTO - Many people probably believe they would react strongly if they heard someone make a racist comment.
But a Canadian-led study suggests real-life responses to acts of prejudice don't always reflect what people think they will do.
Students participated in experiments in which a white male made a racist remark about a black male who had bumped against him while leaving the room.
Those who read about the scenario or watched it on video were asked to predict how someone seeing this happen would feel, and whether they would choose the white male or black male as a lab partner.
The group of observers believed people who heard the slurs would be very upset and more likely to pick the black person over the white person.
But in reality, the racist remarks didn't affect those who heard them first-hand, and they were more likely to select the white person as their lab partner.
The study appears in this week's edition of the journal Science
January 08, 2009 02:51
TORONTO - Many people probably believe they would react strongly if they heard someone make a racist comment.
But a Canadian-led study suggests real-life responses to acts of prejudice don't always reflect what people think they will do.
Students participated in experiments in which a white male made a racist remark about a black male who had bumped against him while leaving the room.
Those who read about the scenario or watched it on video were asked to predict how someone seeing this happen would feel, and whether they would choose the white male or black male as a lab partner.
The group of observers believed people who heard the slurs would be very upset and more likely to pick the black person over the white person.
But in reality, the racist remarks didn't affect those who heard them first-hand, and they were more likely to select the white person as their lab partner.
The study appears in this week's edition of the journal Science