This study examined the intricate ways in which modern racists aggress against African-Americans. Under most circumstances, blatant displays of interracial aggression are negatively viewed and socially condemned. However, if a covert mode of aggression is available, modern racists will utilize it in lieu of overt retaliation. This pattern of aggression may not hold, however, if modern racists are not motivated to control their prejudiced reactions. It was hypothesized that both overt and covert forms of aggression would be used in such situations. Furthermore, angry affect was expected to mediate the relation between Modern Racism and aggression when there was low motivation to control prejudice. Results indicated, however, that dispositional levels of internal and external motivation to respond without prejudice were better predictors of aggressive behavior. In particular, people with primarily external motivations were far more aggressive toward White competitors than other individuals. Also, they were affected by situational inhibitory factors more than other individuals. Participants were reluctant, however, to behave in either an overtly or covertly aggressive manner toward Black competitors, even when situational inhibitory motivations were low. Additionally, none of the various measures of angry affect mediated the relationships between prejudice and aggression. Discussion focuses on the multitude of inhibitory factors present in competitive interracial encounters, and the role of dispositional motivations to respond without prejudice in provoking situations / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_23351 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Contributors | Beal, Daniel Judson (Author), O'Neal, Edgar C (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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