Differences in the Communication of Affect: Members of the Same Race Versus Members of a Different Race

Abstract

This study examined African American and Caucasian individuals'ability to recognize facial expressions and vocal prosody of predominately Caucasian stimuli at three age groups: children's pictures and voices, young adults' pictures and voices, and older adults'pictures and voices. The Diagnostic Assessment of Non- verbal Accuracy 2 (DANVA 2) and the Carolina Older Adult Test of Nonverbal Communication (COAT-NC) were used to measure these skills. The results indicate race is a significant factor in the interpretation of emotion of facial expressions and prosodic features.. They suggest that individuals from a specific ethnic group are more accurate in decoding emotional cues from stimulus-containing individuals within the same ethnic group. Caucasians were not necessarily better than African Americans decoding communication of affect, but were more successful at interpreting the emotions of individuals within their ethnic group. The results indicate potential for miscommunications between African Americans and Caucasians.

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