If you demonstrate that 'black lives matter,' others will too

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/uoc--iyd061915.php

Public Release: 22-Jun-2015
University of California - Berkeley Haas School of Business

The "Black Lives Matter" hashtag evolved as a call for social change aimed at increasing the conversation about racial inequality. But what if social change was less dependent on talking and more dependent on nonverbal communication?

New research finds observing a white American engage in small nonverbal acts such as smiling more often, making eye contact for longer periods of time, and standing in closer proximity to a black American makes the observer less prone to racial biases. Specifically, small acts of positivity by white Americans towards African Americans and other black Americans causes observers to hold fewer stereotypes about black Americans and to have more positive attitudes towards black Americans in general.

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"Prejudice is often less overt. It manifests often as micro acts of aggression," says Carney. "What is hopeful is that our study also indicates that positive behavior toward different social groups can be contagious."

Four related experiments to test the contagious effects of racial bias produced these results:

1. Observers of micro-positive behavior toward a black American subject formed more positive impressions.

2. Observers of micro-positive behavior toward a black American subject adopted fewer racial stereotypes.

3. Observers of micro-positive behavior toward a black American subject were found to have less racial bias towards black Americans in general.

4. Observers must also be aware that negative social behavior is being directed toward a black person in order to produce a pro-black bias outcome.

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