What do people think of those who respond to confrontation by acknowledging personally prejudiced behavior? In six experiments (N = 3344), people judged a man who made a prejudiced comment and responded to confrontation by acknowledging, denying, or, in some cases, saying nothing about his prejudice. Participants consistently evaluated someone who acknowledged prejudice as warmer, more moral, and ironically, less prejudiced than someone who denied. People also perceived acknowledging as more appropriate and less typical than denying regardless of whether the prejudice was racism or sexism. Moreover, men and women, White, Black, and Asian people alike evaluated acknowledgements more positively than denials. Evidence from multiple experiments suggests that people form more positive impressions of those who acknowledge than deny because acknowledgment signals more of a learning orientation to prejudice and intergroup relations. Although people frequently respond to confrontation by denying prejudiced behavior, there appears to be an upside to acknowledging.

人们如何看待那些通过承认个人偏见行为来回应对抗的人？在六个实验中（N = 3344），人们评判一个发表偏见评论的人，并通过承认、否认或在某些情况下对他的偏见只字不提来回应对抗。参与者一致认为承认偏见的人比否认偏见的人更温暖、更有道德，而且具有讽刺意味的是，偏见更少。人们还认为承认比否认更合适，更不典型，无论偏见是种族主义还是性别歧视。此外，男性和女性、白人、黑人和亚洲人都更积极地评价承认而不是否认。来自多个实验的证据表明，人们对承认的人比否认的人形成更积极的印象，因为承认更多地表明了对偏见和群体间关系的学习取向。