Perceptions of mixed-race

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Wright, B.C. ORCID: 0000-0002-4946-9761, Olyedemi, M. and Gaines, S.O., 2015. Perceptions of mixed-race. Journal of Black Psychology, 41 (6), pp. 513-539. ISSN 0095-7984

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095798414550248

Abstract

The psychology of race is in its infancy, particularly in the United Kingdom and especially regarding mixed-race. Most use untimed explicit indexes and qualitative/self-report measures. Here, we used not only explicit responses (participants’ choice of response categories) but also implicit data (participants’ response times, RT). In a Stroop task, 92 Black, White, and mixed-race participants classified photographs of mixed-race persons. Photos were accompanied by a word, such as Black or White. Participants ignored the word, simply deciding whether to categorize photos as White or Black. Averaged across three different instructional sets, White participants categorized mixed-race slightly to the White side of the center point, with Black participants doing the converse. Intriguingly, mixed-race participants placed mixed-race photos further toward Black than did the Black group. But for RT, they now indicated midway between White and Black participants. We conclude that at the conscious (key-press) level, mixed-race persons see being mixed-race as Black, but at the unconscious (RT) level, their perception is a perfect balance between Black and White. Findings are discussed in terms of two recent theories of racial identity.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Journal of Black Psychology

Creators:

Wright, B.C., Olyedemi, M. and Gaines, S.O.

Publisher:

Sage

Date:

2015

Volume:

Number: