Jan 16, 2009 2:05 PM GMT
We often seem to discuss Racism within threads on RealJock. Predictably, everyone claims "I'm not racist" -- and I'm sure they're right! -- but nonetheless some comments seem to betray something that doesn't quite square with this.
Rather than back-and-forth between "I'm not racist!" and "yes you are!", it's far more illuminating to try to understand our behaviour from a psychological perspective.
Hence, I refer you to this fascinating paper that's just come out. The full text is sadly restricted to subscribers, but you can read a very good summary of what was done in the Economist's Science section. You can also hear a podcast about the research.
The experiment contrasted the response of people who were present with a small act of racism with those who saw a video recording or were read a description. The finding was while that the latter group thought they would be appalled by the racism, the former group in fact hardly responded at all.
Absolutely fascinating stuff..... we are more prejudiced that we think we are.
Rather than back-and-forth between "I'm not racist!" and "yes you are!", it's far more illuminating to try to understand our behaviour from a psychological perspective.
Hence, I refer you to this fascinating paper that's just come out. The full text is sadly restricted to subscribers, but you can read a very good summary of what was done in the Economist's Science section. You can also hear a podcast about the research.
The experiment contrasted the response of people who were present with a small act of racism with those who saw a video recording or were read a description. The finding was while that the latter group thought they would be appalled by the racism, the former group in fact hardly responded at all.
Absolutely fascinating stuff..... we are more prejudiced that we think we are.