This study investigated the effects of an intensive weekend human relations training workshop between black and white adults 20 to 53 years of age. The results were compared to a no-treatment control group. The total sample was 27. These consisted of 13 females and 14 males, including 2 black females and 3 black males. It was hypothesised: (1) that the treatment group would show significantly greater increase than the untreated group on self-acceptance; (2) that there would be a significantly greater reduction than the untreated group in prejudice (indirect and direct measure); (3) that communication style scores for the treated group would be significantly more constructive than for the untreated group at post-test; and (4) that significant differences would remain significant at delayed post-test. (This did not apply to communication style which was measured at post-test only).

The problem of the study was to compare racial prejudice and self-acceptance in Negro and white college students. An attempt was made to determine the degree to which acceptance of self compared with acceptance of people of different races.

This research program investigated the reasonable possibility that differential information processing strategies can be manifestations of racist prejudgments. Our research design applies a technique often used in social cognition studies. This technique captures evidence of a rather habit-driven (though not instantaneous) decision made by subjects rapidly presented with information about (typically fictional) characters. These target characters are associated (in the context of the experiment) with some form of generalized expectancy (i.e., they are typically presented as a likable or unlikable person). This is accomplished either by creating the expectancy artificially, or by using targets that are members of a conspicuously or notably-stereotyped group. The rather non-conscious decision involved is one of either bolstering one's pre-conceived notions or engaging in inconsistency resolution (e.g., either marshaling evidence to bolster your prejudicial expectation or pondering more earnestly those pieces of information which are inconsistent with your expectancy or well-known prejudicial stereotypes). Typically, the likelihood of pursuing one strategy or the other is manipulated in experimental settings by first providing an artificial expectation, then altering the structure of the person-memory task or adjusting the rate of information flow to the subjects. We hoped to reveal how a non-artificial pre-existing race-based prejudicial expectancy (of a largely non-evaluative as in non-likable/dislikable nature) might effect the pursuit of one strategy or the other. By and large, tests of our five hypotheses provide only mixed support for use of a person-memory associative network model in this context. The first and second hypotheses have some visual support (i.e., recall proportions across sentence types start out roughly equal for low prejudicial expectation - PE -- subjects then branch out; high PE subjects seem to treat sentence types differently from the start); however, these differences are not amenable to clearly interpretable statistical tests. Analysis of the third and fourth hypotheses was confounded because the candidate contaminating covariate failed to have consistent effects. This, coupled with the floor effect of the PE scale, the unexplained (and substantial) variability in recall behavior, and some other control issues (detailed below), made the use of the continuous DVs less than fruitful. The floor effect of the PE scale was especially problematic - with many subjects compressed at this floor, relations would be difficult to see even if present. In an attempt to detect weak effects of prejudice, we aggregated subjects by PE (as in high and low prejudice). Aggregation probably made the floor effect-driven range restriction less problematic (the subjects lumped together on PE's floor are probably less-afflicted with well-practiced prejudicial expectations than the high half of PE scorers). This exercise generated weak support for the third hypothesis: the time interval data feebly indicates that high PE subjects manifest a negative impression-centered person-memory schema in their storage of sentences about a Black target - and, unlike the low PE subjects, they apparently do this starting with the earliest blocks of sentences. The median split approach failed to generate support for the fourth hypothesis - where we expected to see bolstering replace inconsistency resolution (in the slow condition) since subjects were afforded the time. There was weak evidence, however, that more inconsistency resolution was occurring in the fast condition (as the proposed model had predicted). This evidence was in the form of greater recall time interval differences seen when comparing high PE subjects and their schema-speeded versus non-speeded intervals. The bottom line for the first four hypotheses is still this: we failed to create a condition where prejudice would paradoxically favor recall of laudable or admirable inconsistencies associated with a fictitious Black target. The fifth hypothesis was just intended to verify that racial prejudice does not predict recall behavior when the target is White and so are the subjects. So using a White target, we performed the same sort of tests seen above. Fortunately, relations with PE ranged from weak to very weak - and, of course, were non-significant. In sum, these outcomes suggest that Hastie-Srull associative network (H-SAN) processing effects may not reliably or consistently manifest themselves in the prejudiced rater/performance appraisal arena -- at least not in designs similar to those used previously to illustrate H-SAN effects. There were some clear exceptions, however, in our data. Taken together, our results suggest that H-SAN mechanisms may apply when appraising performance potential, but have a difficult time manifesting themselves in substantial ways. / Ph. D.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Spencer D. Wood / In the wake of Barack Obama becoming the first nonwhite President of the United States and the diminishing instances of explicit racism, a number of Americans believe that the United States has surpassed race and therefore racism (Neville et al. 2000; Nayak 2006; Brayboy et al. 2007; Gawronski 2008; Quillian 2008; Wise 2009; Bonilla-Silva 2010; Gusa 2010; Ikuenobe 2010; Moras 2010; Gainous 2012). On the surface, the problem of overt racial discrimination has dramatically declined, yet, there are key studies that argue that new and subtler forms of racism are still prevalent (Feagin 2000; Krysan 2000; Sydell and Nelson 2000; Swim et al. 2003; Leach 2005; Henkel et al. 2006; Williams and Land 2006; Anderson 2007; D’Andrea and Daniels 2007; Sue et al. 2007; Gawronski et al. 2008; Wise 2009; Gainous 2012; Torres-Harding et al. 2012). This thesis will focus on assessing the dimensions of present-day racism and racial prejudice by replicating and updating Forman’s (2004) study of racial apathy. Using data from 2011 Monitoring the Future Survey, I explore the persistence of racial apathy, which proposes that the blatant racial discrimination of the past has manifested into racial indifference and lack of caring for existing racial inequalities (Perry and Shotwell 2009; Forman 2004; Forman and Lewis 2006; Gafford 2010; Maly et al. 2012). Consistent with previous research, this study finds that the expression of racial apathy has continued to increase, but also that political preference, gender, father’s education level and religiosity affect one’s level of racial apathy.

In examining the racism in sport literature, two general trends emerge: (a) a focus on Western sport organizations and the prejudice expressed by Whites in these entities; and (b) the tendency to document the occurrence of prejudice without examining key antecedent conditions. The purpose of this study was to address these gaps in the literature. Specifically, I compare the racial prejudice of White Americans with Asians and also examine the degree to which intergroup contact impacts this level of prejudice. Data were collected from Asian (n = 104) and White American (n = 100) college students. They completed a questionnaire that assessed their contact with African Americans as both team mates and exercise partners, their intergroup anxiety, and racial prejudice. Results indicate that all of the study variables were significantly correlated with one another. As expected, a multivariate analysis of variance further illustrated that Asians, relative to Whites, expressed more anxiety and prejudice, while also having less contact with African Americans. Finally, results from a moderated regression indicated that the relationship between nationality and intergroup anxiety was moderated by contact with African Americans as team mates and as exercise partners. In both cases, the lack of contact resulted in greater anxiety for Asians than it did for Whites. This study contributes to the literature by explicitly examining racial bias across cultures. In addition, the findings point to the importance of diversity in exercise and team settings as a way of reducing racial prejudice. That is, since in being contact with African Americans as team mates and exercise partners helped to reduce intergroup anxiety, efforts should be made to increase racial diversity in exercise and sport team settings.

This dissertation examined interracial contact and racial prejudice among white, black, Asian, and Latino college students at 28 elite colleges and universities in the United States. The study used longitudinal analyses to identify how interracial contact among college students influenced students' racial prejudice. White students interacted almost exclusively with each other and with Asian students. Asian students interacted with each other and with white students. Latino students were the most integrated, they interacted with all other student groups at high rates. Black students were the most segregated in their interactions as students of other races had less interactions with them on campus. Cross-race interactions during college did not influence white students' exiting levels of traditional and modern racial prejudice. Cross-race interactions during college had limited influence on black and Asian students' exiting levels of racial prejudice, mostly for traditional forms of racial prejudice. Latino students exhibited the most interracial contact effects on their exiting levels of racial prejudice of all student groups with all traditional and modern forms of racial prejudice influenced by cross-race interactions. The consideration of race as a form of social identity was the most powerful influence on students' exiting levels of racial prejudice for all groups. The context of interracial contact at elite colleges and universities and the existence of racialized stages of interaction are discussed in the final chapter to understand the study findings. Lastly, a discussion of the potential implications of this study's results for future intergroup contact research is also presented. / Ph. D.

O cenário desta pesquisa envolveu a educação para as relações étnico raciais a partir da análise do discurso dos usuários de uma rede social, tomando como referencial as postagens de usuários do Facebook e a discussão do preconceito que se materializa em rede e se propaga nos espaços informais e formais de educação. Sua relevância se dá na medida em que instigou o estudo e a construção de estratégias educativas voltadas para os desafios da escola no contexto contemporâneo. Objetivamos investigar de que forma o preconceito materializado por meio da linguagem, numa rede social, pode ser trabalhado nos contextos informais e formais de educação, observando-se a importância de utilizar-se um recurso digital na identificação de frases e textos verbais e não verbais, cujo cunho pejorativo, inferiorize a pessoa, estigmatizando-a. A pesquisa realizada tomou como suporte os estudos de linguagem, tendo como referencial os pressupostos de M. Bakhtin, no que diz respeito aos conceitos de dialogismo e polifonia. No que concerne ao preconceito, nossa pesquisa terá como suporte os estudos de P. Bourdieu, K. Munanga, L. Sansone; C. Furtado, A. Guimarães. O trabalho proposto teve como aporte a pesquisa qualitativa, com base no pressuposto dialógico da pesquisa formação. Para tanto, a metodologia CIVITAS, do grupo de pesquisa LELIC/PPGIE/UFRGS, articulou nesta tese, o diálogo entre a educação básica e o ensino superior, com base nos sujeitos que atuam nesses segmentos da educação. Assim, com base no projeto CIVITAS, em articulação com o Projeto de Vidas/UFMA a pesquisa teve como sujeitos um grupo de estudantes da Educação Básica dos oitavo e nono anos do Ensino Fundamental e de universitários de um curso de licenciatura, registrando os sentidos atribuídos, por escolares e universitários, sobre uma seleção de postagens do Facebook que evidenciam o discurso de preconceito racial. Utilizou como base metodológica a identificação de vocábulos, frases e imagens de cunho pejorativo, fazendo associações entre palavras, frases e imagens. Nesse sentido, tais questões foram discutidas com base nos estudos de linguagem e da educação para a promoção das relações étnico raciais, compondo-se assim, um estudo acerca de como a educação formal e informal pode a partir das redes sociais discutir temas atuais e pertinentes a serem trabalhados na escola, tendo como referencial a Lei n. 11.645/08. Verificou-se que a escola deve considerar em seu currículo, de forma interdisciplinar e contextualizada com as novas tecnologias, a educação para as relações étnico raciais, no contexto de diferentes áreas de conhecimento, entre elas a Língua Portuguesa e os estudos dos gêneros digitais, enquanto proposta para se se refletir acerca das desigualdades advindas da cor/raça dos alunos. / The scenario of this research involved education or ethno-racial relations based on discourse analysis of users from a social network, setting as the benchmark, Facebook user posts and the discussion on prejudice which materializes online and spreads over informal and formal educational space. Its relevance is to the extent that it instigated study and construction of educational strategies designed for the challenges of modern day schooling. Our object is to investigate the way in which prejudice materialized through language, on a social network, can be worked in informal and formal educational contexts, noting the importance of using a digital feature to identify phrasal and verbal & non-verbal texts, whose pejorative nature, degrades and stigmatizes the person. The research was supported by language studies based on assumptions from M. Bakhtin, concerning concepts of dialogism and polyphony. Regarding prejudice, our research will be supported by studies from P. Bourdieu, K. Munanga, L. Sansone; C. Furtado, A. Guimarães. The research proposed had the contribution of qualitative research based on dialogic assumption of training research. Therefore, CIVITAS methodology CIVITAS, from the LELIC/PPGIE/UFRGS research group articulated in this thesis, dialog between basic and higher education based on subjects which act in these educational segments. Thus, based on the CIVITAS Project, articulation with Projeto de Vidas/UFMA, the subjects were a group of students from Basic Education from eighth and ninth grade in Middle School and college students from a teaching course registering the feelings attributed by school and college students about a selection of Facebook posts that show a discourse of racial prejudice. The methodological base was identification of words, phrases and images of a pejorative nature. In this sense, such questions were discussed based on language studies to promote ethno-racial relations, making up a study about how formal and informal education can, based on social networks, discuss current and pertinent themes to be worked in school as per Law 11.645/08. It was verified that schools should consider in their curriculum, interdisciplinary and contextualized matter with new technologies and education for ethno-racial relations in the context of different knowledge areas, among them Portuguese and digital genres as a proposal to reflect on inequalities stemming from students’ color/race.

Although Aboriginal people in Canada are subject to marginalization and racism, researchers have devoted limited attention to studying White Canadians’ prejudice toward this group. In addition, little qualitative research has been conducted with individuals known to possess prejudiced attitudes. This study addressed these gaps in the literature. A two-part mixed-methods approach was employed. In Phase 1, a questionnaire was administered to 192 non-Aboriginal undergraduate students. Endorsement of old-fashioned prejudice was somewhat low, though a sizeable minority of participants (29%) scored above the midpoint on this measure. The mean score on the modern prejudice measure was above the scale midpoint, and the majority of the sample (61%) scored above the midpoint, suggesting that modern prejudice toward Aboriginal people was fairly prevalent in this sample. Phase 1 participants who scored above the midpoint on one or both prejudice measures and reported a White ethnicity were invited to participate in an interview. Interviews with 13 of these individuals (nine women and four men) were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The themes that emerged have provided insight into the ways in which old-fashioned and modern prejudiced attitudes toward Aboriginal people are created and maintained. The socialization process emerged as a key contributor to participants’ attitudes toward Aboriginal people (e.g., internalization of stereotypes about Aboriginal people). Modern prejudiced sentiments mainly revolved around the perceived unfairness of the presumed special treatment of Aboriginal people in Canada. Ambivalence toward Aboriginal people, a core feature of modern prejudice, was also observed. Consistent with the conceptualization of old-fashioned prejudice, some participants implied that Aboriginal people possess inherent inferiorities (e.g., poor work ethic) that are responsible for the social problems they encounter. This was often linked to a perception that Aboriginal people have the choice to advance themselves, but many are content with being financially dependent on the government. It is posited that participants’ apparent surface-level evaluations and understandings of Aboriginal people and social issues demonstrate that increased awareness and education may be needed among the Canadian public (e.g., regarding societal factors that serve to maintain inequality). Limitations of this study along with avenues for future research are also discussed.

O cenário desta pesquisa envolveu a educação para as relações étnico raciais a partir da análise do discurso dos usuários de uma rede social, tomando como referencial as postagens de usuários do Facebook e a discussão do preconceito que se materializa em rede e se propaga nos espaços informais e formais de educação. Sua relevância se dá na medida em que instigou o estudo e a construção de estratégias educativas voltadas para os desafios da escola no contexto contemporâneo. Objetivamos investigar de que forma o preconceito materializado por meio da linguagem, numa rede social, pode ser trabalhado nos contextos informais e formais de educação, observando-se a importância de utilizar-se um recurso digital na identificação de frases e textos verbais e não verbais, cujo cunho pejorativo, inferiorize a pessoa, estigmatizando-a. A pesquisa realizada tomou como suporte os estudos de linguagem, tendo como referencial os pressupostos de M. Bakhtin, no que diz respeito aos conceitos de dialogismo e polifonia. No que concerne ao preconceito, nossa pesquisa terá como suporte os estudos de P. Bourdieu, K. Munanga, L. Sansone; C. Furtado, A. Guimarães. O trabalho proposto teve como aporte a pesquisa qualitativa, com base no pressuposto dialógico da pesquisa formação. Para tanto, a metodologia CIVITAS, do grupo de pesquisa LELIC/PPGIE/UFRGS, articulou nesta tese, o diálogo entre a educação básica e o ensino superior, com base nos sujeitos que atuam nesses segmentos da educação. Assim, com base no projeto CIVITAS, em articulação com o Projeto de Vidas/UFMA a pesquisa teve como sujeitos um grupo de estudantes da Educação Básica dos oitavo e nono anos do Ensino Fundamental e de universitários de um curso de licenciatura, registrando os sentidos atribuídos, por escolares e universitários, sobre uma seleção de postagens do Facebook que evidenciam o discurso de preconceito racial. Utilizou como base metodológica a identificação de vocábulos, frases e imagens de cunho pejorativo, fazendo associações entre palavras, frases e imagens. Nesse sentido, tais questões foram discutidas com base nos estudos de linguagem e da educação para a promoção das relações étnico raciais, compondo-se assim, um estudo acerca de como a educação formal e informal pode a partir das redes sociais discutir temas atuais e pertinentes a serem trabalhados na escola, tendo como referencial a Lei n. 11.645/08. Verificou-se que a escola deve considerar em seu currículo, de forma interdisciplinar e contextualizada com as novas tecnologias, a educação para as relações étnico raciais, no contexto de diferentes áreas de conhecimento, entre elas a Língua Portuguesa e os estudos dos gêneros digitais, enquanto proposta para se se refletir acerca das desigualdades advindas da cor/raça dos alunos. / The scenario of this research involved education or ethno-racial relations based on discourse analysis of users from a social network, setting as the benchmark, Facebook user posts and the discussion on prejudice which materializes online and spreads over informal and formal educational space. Its relevance is to the extent that it instigated study and construction of educational strategies designed for the challenges of modern day schooling. Our object is to investigate the way in which prejudice materialized through language, on a social network, can be worked in informal and formal educational contexts, noting the importance of using a digital feature to identify phrasal and verbal & non-verbal texts, whose pejorative nature, degrades and stigmatizes the person. The research was supported by language studies based on assumptions from M. Bakhtin, concerning concepts of dialogism and polyphony. Regarding prejudice, our research will be supported by studies from P. Bourdieu, K. Munanga, L. Sansone; C. Furtado, A. Guimarães. The research proposed had the contribution of qualitative research based on dialogic assumption of training research. Therefore, CIVITAS methodology CIVITAS, from the LELIC/PPGIE/UFRGS research group articulated in this thesis, dialog between basic and higher education based on subjects which act in these educational segments. Thus, based on the CIVITAS Project, articulation with Projeto de Vidas/UFMA, the subjects were a group of students from Basic Education from eighth and ninth grade in Middle School and college students from a teaching course registering the feelings attributed by school and college students about a selection of Facebook posts that show a discourse of racial prejudice. The methodological base was identification of words, phrases and images of a pejorative nature. In this sense, such questions were discussed based on language studies to promote ethno-racial relations, making up a study about how formal and informal education can, based on social networks, discuss current and pertinent themes to be worked in school as per Law 11.645/08. It was verified that schools should consider in their curriculum, interdisciplinary and contextualized matter with new technologies and education for ethno-racial relations in the context of different knowledge areas, among them Portuguese and digital genres as a proposal to reflect on inequalities stemming from students’ color/race.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:16:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1894897 bytes, checksum: 08ccd6fb2673a53ea8af7e94ae9d97c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Undeniably, racial prejudice is an issue of great social importance. Its extent permeates the relations established by individuals and groups and the modes of forming social interactions. Such constructions are molded through the transmission of customs, ideologies, and culture. Likewise, relations of exclusion and segregation are formed in which minority groups are included, such as women, Blacks, etc. Indeed, the discrimination suffered by Blacks is manifest since their arrival in Brazil as African merchandise. However, after 512 years of Portuguese colonization, their situation remains characterized by stigma and social segregation. According to Carvalho (2003), in that year, the percentages of black students and faculty in Brazilian public universities fluctuated around 0.5%. The researcher even points out that, if conditions are maintained, the forecast for the next 170 years indicates that the index will not exceed 1% of the total. In this context, we discuss the implementation of public policies that promote equal conditions for the black population. This concerns the policy of racial quotas that, for Guarnieri and Silva (2007), are social measures aimed at democratizing access to universities by reserving spots exclusively for Blacks. Thus the general objective of this work was to analyze the relationship between historical knowledge about the role of Blacks in Brazilian society and the positioning of the participants with regard to affirmative action policies. Toward this end, we conducted two complementary studies using different methodological strategies. Study 1 was handled in a quasi-experimental 2 x 2 (type of context and type of school) posttest-only design, involving manipulation of variables and formation of a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG). The voluntary participants in this study were 200 students in their second year of high school in João Pessoa, with 47.5% being from public schools and 52.5% from private schools. Of the total, 62.3% were female, with a mean age of 15 years (SD=0.8). The results showed very high rates of rejection of racial quota policies in both the control group (63.3%) and in the experimental group (69.4%), i.e. the manipulation of the independent variable was not strong enough to produce a greater accession and acceptance of racial quotas. In contrast, the vast majority of students in the EG were in favor of an apology. Nevertheless, regarding the analysis from the intersection of variables "placement of students" and "type of school", there was a statistically significant effect [χ²(1)=30.950, p<0.001], so there was a greater accession to racial quotas among students from public schools (74.2%). Indeed, it was found that the social backgrounds and socioeconomic levels had statistically significant effects [χ²(3)=46.398, p <0.001]. Thus, we can state that the majority of students belonging to the upper class were found enrolled in a private education institution (7.7%). Regarding the lower middle class, public school students had higher frequency (45.7%). Finally, on the analysis from the intersection of the variables "degree of racial identification" due to the "type of school" there was a statistically significant effect in relation to "Morenos" (dark-skinned) [χ²(1)=9.491, p<0.05] and "Blacks" [χ²(1) = 9.775, p <0.05]. Taken together, the results indicate that, although participants who self identified with whites are distributed equally in both types of school, participants who self identified with Blacks or Morenos are concentrated in the public schools. Overall, we observed the maintenance of the system that denies the possibility of access and career advancement to black Brazilians. Moreover, it can be said that the positioning of the study sample was organized based on social background criteria, and those with better financial conditions are connected to private institutions and show high rates of rejection of racial quotas. In the second study the aim was to investigate the discursive content compiled from the recovered memories, understood as social representations, from the time of black slavery, and their relationship with the positions on racial quotas. Meanwhile, the theoretical support favoring the investigation of the memories as social representations adds aspects of the theory of social representations from Moscovici (1961/1978) and Abric (2000) because, conceptually, the central core of the representation is related to the collective and historical memories of groups. The study sample consisted of 200 third-year high school students in public and private schools in the city of João Pessoa, being 58% female with a mean age 16 of 17 years (SD=2.3). The results confirmed the data from Study 1, particularly with regard to social stratification, focusing on the clear separation between participants who identified with white Brazilians and those who identified with black or dark-skinned Brazilians. Moreover, we also saw that public school students were concentrated mostly in lesser-advantaged socioeconomic classes and were more favorable to racial quotas [χ²(1)= 58.284, p<0.05] compared to private school students, who are found mostly in affluent socioeconomic classes [χ²(3)=52.077, p <0.05]. Regarding the memories, the data demonstrated that the process of constructing and updating social memories is seen intrinsically related to the group in which the individual is included. In this sense, the formation of memories, in this study, was linked to the established dichotomy between students who are white and of affluent social class, and students who are black, from disadvantaged social classes, and favorable to the establishment of racial quota policies. Taken together, the results indicate the importance and influence of the culture and customs of a particular social group, and how these elements act as standards that serve as sources for the formation of memories and recollections about everyday events. / Inegavelmente, o preconceito racial representa um problema de grande importância social. Seu alcance permeia as relações estabelecidas pelos indivíduos e grupos e os modos de constituição das interações sociais. Tais construções moldam-se por meio da transmissão de costumes, ideologias e cultura. Do mesmo modo são construídas as relações de exclusão e segregação nas quais se inserem os grupos minoritários como as mulheres, os negros etc. Com efeito, a discriminação sofrida pelo negro ocorre desde sua chegada ao Brasil na condição de mercadoria africana. Entretanto, passados 512 anos da colonização portuguesa, a situação deles permanece caracterizada por estigmas e segregação social. Segundo Carvalho (2003), naquele ano, os percentuais de alunos e docentes negros nas universidades públicas brasileiras oscilaram em torno de 0,5%. O pesquisador ainda salienta que, se mantidas as condições, a projeção para os próximos 170 anos indica que o índice não ultrapassará 1% do total. Nesse contexto, discute-se a implantação de políticas públicas promotoras de igualdade de condições para a população negra. Trata-se das políticas de cotas raciais que para Guarnieri e Silva (2007) são medidas sociais que objetivam a democratização do acesso às universidades públicas através da reserva de vagas exclusivas para negros. Assim, o objetivo geral deste trabalho foi analisar as relações entre o conhecimento histórico sobre o lugar do negro na sociedade brasileira e o posicionamento dos participantes no tocante às políticas de ações afirmativas. Para tanto, foram realizados dois estudos complementares utilizando estratégias metodológicas distintas. O estudo 1 tratou de um delineamento quase experimental 2 x 2 (tipo de contexto e tipo de escola) com pós-teste apenas, envolvendo manipulação de variáveis e formação de grupo controle (GC) e grupo experimental (GE). Participaram voluntariamente desse estudo 200 estudantes do segundo ano do Ensino Médio de João Pessoa, sendo que 47,5% eram de escolas públicas e 52,5% de escolas privadas. Do total, 62,3% eram mulheres, com média de idade de 15 anos (DP=0,8). Os resultados obtidos mostraram índices bastante elevados de rejeição às políticas de cotas raciais, tanto no grupo controle (63,3%) quanto no grupo experimental (69,4%), ou seja, a manipulação da variável independente não foi suficientemente forte para provocar uma maior adesão e aceitação das cotas raciais. Em contrapartida, a grande maioria dos estudantes do GE se mostrou favorável ao pedido de desculpas formais pelo sofrimento causado à população negra. Não obstante, em relação à análise realizada a partir do cruzamento das variáveis posicionamento dos estudantes e tipo de escola , verificou-se efeito estatisticamente significativo [χ²(1)=30,950; p<0,001], sendo assim, observou-se uma maior adesão às cotas raciais entre os estudantes oriundos de escola pública (74,2%). Com efeito, constatou-se que as pertenças sociais e os níveis socioeconômicos obtiveram efeitos estatisticamente significativos [χ²(3)=46,398; p<0,001]. Desta forma, é possível afirmar que, majoritariamente, os estudantes pertencentes à classe alta se encontraram matriculados em instituição de ensino privada (7,7%). Já em relação à classe média baixa, os estudantes de escola pública obtiveram maiores frequências (45,7%). Por fim, sobre a análise realizada a partir do cruzamento das variáveis grau de identificação racial em função do tipo de escola verificou-se efeito estatisticamente significativo em relação aos morenos [χ²(1)=9,491; p<0,05] e negros [χ²(1)=9,775; p<0,05]. Tomados em conjunto, os resultados indicam que, embora os participantes que se autoidentificaram como brancos estejam distribuídos igualmente nos dois tipos de escola, os participantes que se autoidentificaram como negros ou morenos se concentram nas escolas públicas. De modo geral, observou-se a manutenção do sistema que nega possibilidade de acesso e ascensão profissional aos negros brasileiros. Ademais, é possível afirmar que o posicionamento da amostra pesquisada se organizou baseado no critério de pertença social, sendo que aqueles que possuem melhores condições financeiras se encontram vinculados a instituições particulares e mostram elevados índices de rejeição às cotas raciais. No estudo 2 objetivou-se investigar os conteúdos discursivos elaborados a partir das memórias resgatadas, entendidas enquanto representações sociais, do período da escravidão negra e suas relações com os posicionamentos sobre as cotas raciais. Nesse ínterim, o aporte teórico privilegiado para a 14 investigação das memórias como representações sociais do passado agrega aspectos da teoria das representações sociais de Moscovici (1961/1978) e de Abric (2000) visto que, conceitualmente, o núcleo central da representação se encontra relacionado com as memórias coletivas e históricas dos grupos. A amostra do estudo foi composta por 200 estudantes do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio de escolas públicas e privadas da cidade de João Pessoa, sendo 58% do sexo feminino com média de idade de 17 anos (DP=2,3). Os resultados obtidos confirmaram os dados do estudo 1, principalmente no tocante à estratificação do tecido social, com enfoque na nítida separação entre participantes identificados com brasileiros brancos e participantes identificados com brasileiros negros ou morenos. Ademais, verificou-se também que os estudantes de escola pública concentraram-se, majoritariamente, nas classes socioeconômicas menos favorecidas e se mostraram mais favoráveis às cotas raciais [χ²(1)=58,284; p<0,05] em comparação aos estudantes de escolas privadas, que se encontraram, majoritariamente, localizados nas classes socioeconômicas abastadas [χ²(3)=52,077; p<0,05]. Em relação às memórias, os dados demonstraram que o processo de construção e atualização das memórias sociais se encontrou intrinsecamente relacionado ao grupo no qual o indivíduo está inserido. Nesse sentido, a formação das memórias, no presente estudo, esteve vinculada à dicotomia estabelecida entre os estudantes brancos e de classes sociais abastadas e estudantes negros, de classes sociais desfavorecidas e favoráveis à instauração das políticas de cotas raciais. Tomados em conjunto, os resultados indicaram a importância e a influência da cultura e dos costumes de um determinado grupo social e como tais elementos atuam como padrões que servem como fontes para a formação de lembranças e recordações sobre acontecimentos cotidianos.