Black figures on White ground: Explanations of differences by race

Abstract

Five experiments (N = 854) tested the hypothesis that U.S. adults generate explanations of Black–White differences that position Black Americans as “the effect to be explained” (EBE), and White Americans as the norm for comparison. Participants explained race differences in trust in the police (Experiment 1), success or failure in a drug rehabilitation program (Experiment 2), charitable donation rates (Experiment 3), or the benefits of a new medication (Experiments 4 and 5). Every experiment counterbalanced which group had the numerically higher or lower result and the more expected or unexpected data pattern. Participants’ explanations focused significantly more on Black Americans and on the group with the more unexpected results in four experiments. Explanatory focus was not related to perceptions of the mutability of groups’ behavior or which data pattern was numerically larger. Studies 1–4 used mostly White samples, but Experiment 5 found that Black and White participants both focused explanations on Blacks. The tendency to take Black Americans as the EBE is large when they show the less expected data pattern (Cohen’s d = 0.86), and medium (d = 0.33) even when White Americans show the less expected data pattern. These data show why diversifying samples and research teams are necessary but not sufficient steps to undo the impact of structural inequalities on the representation of diverse people in psychology.