Emotional Reactions to a Seemingly Prejudiced Response: The Role of Automatically Activated Racial Attitudes and Motivation to Control Prejudiced Reactions

Abstract

This study examined emotional reactions to a televised public service ad regarding racial prejudice. The ad induces viewers to draw a seemingly prejudicial inference about an African American man. Emotional reactions to the ad varied as a function of automatically activated racial attitudes and the two factors of the Motivation to Control Prejudiced Reactions Scale, all of which were assessed 3 months prior to exposure to the ad. More positive racial attitudes were associated with feelings of guilt in response to the ad. Individuals with higher scores on the concern with Acting Prejudiced factor of the motivation scale reported both greater guilt and greater agitation, whereas those with higher scores on the Restraint to Avoid Dispute factor experienced agitation but not guilt. The implications of the findings for prejudice reduction efforts and the effectiveness of the public service ad as a social influence strategy are discussed.

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