ABSTRACT

Research on confronting prejudice frequently defines an effective confrontation as one that induces change in the perpetrator’s prejudicial beliefs or actions. We argue for a broader definition, defining successful confrontation as one that elicits the confronter’s desired response. Using a community sample of 152 adults, we conducted an exploratory study in which participants recalled a time when they had confronted racism or sexism. Results revealed a frequent mismatch between what confronters desired and what they received from the perpetrator. Path analysis showed that a perceived match between desired and actual perpetrator responses to confrontation predicted greater positive and lower negative emotion among confronters, across a range of perpetrator responses. We argue that researchers need to expand definitions of successful confrontation to better understand the ways in which confronters’ and perpetrators’ behaviors intersect within lived experiences of prejudice.

摘要

对抗偏见的研究经常将有效对抗定义为导致犯罪者的偏见信念或行为发生变化的对抗。我们主张一个更广泛的定义，将成功的对抗定义为引起对抗者期望反应的对抗。使用 152 名成年人的社区样本，我们进行了一项探索性研究，参与者回忆了他们面对种族主义或性别歧视的时间。结果显示，对抗者想要的东西与他们从犯罪者那里得到的东西之间经常不匹配。路径分析表明，期望的和实际的肇事者对对抗的反应之间的感知匹配预测了对抗者之间更大的积极情绪和更低的消极情绪，跨越一系列肇事者的反应。