African American Stereotypes Case Study

This particular topic is very popular nowadays. We, humans, are all the same but we tend to differentiate people based on the skin color. Stereotypes play major role in this task. Why are we so biased about African American versus Caucasian person? The case of Amadou Diallo opens up our eyes about the violence and Police’s mistake to shoot the absolutely innocent person. How cruel was their decision. I was shocked when I heard about that case. Joshua Correll provided us with the results on his work that proved once and again that racism and stereotypes exist today as well. Stereotypic associations can influence the person’s schemas and make changes in them. Duncan’s Study (1976) showed the difference perception of White and African American

The most recent Payne’s Study (2001) reveals the fast distinguishing between guns and tools when African Americans were on the picture. Automatic effect plays a huge role in this case. Four studies were conducted to test out the behavioral shoot decision similar to that of a police officer. The participant was not supposed to think about ethnicity but had to make a quick decision either to shoot or not. In Study 1(Participants were time tested to shoot a White versus an African American target based on the presence of the gun and no-gun subject) the ethnicity and decision-making were the main topics. In Study 2 participants had choose the target’s destiny quicker (Participants were more reluctant to shot the White person with a gun versus an African American without a gun). In Study 3 participants were observed more closely in a way how they are connected with their prejudices and cultural stereotypes. In Study 4 the initial effort to understand the processes underlying the decision was made, once and again the study with African American without gun versus White was

You might not have any stereotypes about world around you but the culture itself provides you with the prejudiced attitude. The more prejudice person have, the greater his bias toward the target. I can hypothesize that in the videogame the bias that participants have shown is not the prejudice but the deductive application of stereotypic associations between African American and violence. Personal stereotype (person’s beliefs) and cultural stereotype were observed. Thus, we all know about the biased stereotypes toward the African American people but we tend to use it against them when we are in a stressful situation and need a quick decision. The final sample consist of 45 students, they all were White. The study used the same 2x2 within the subject design, with Target Ethnicity (White versus African-American) and Object (gun versus no gun) as repeated factors. The window of 850-ms was given to observe the effects in the latency of correct answers, rather than in error rates. The questionnaires were given to measure the prejudices against African American. Participants were asked to give their own opinion, to disclose their personal beliefs about who they believed were more dangerous White or African American. White Americans were asked to judge the African Americans from their point of view as a White Americans. Results revealed that White American would shoot faster if the