DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSES OF BLACKS AND WHITES TO AMERICAN LEADERS

How do members of different ethnic or racial groups differ in their re sponses to the same political events? Previous research has shown that when leaders are seen on television, the viewers' episodic emotional and cognitive responses can influence their attitudes and subsequent v oting behavior. In an experimental replication, using excerpts of all candidates in the 1988 American presidential election, episodic emotio ns elicited by facial displays were again found to produce positive at titude change in white viewers. For blacks, however, the emotions felt while watching leaders-including Jesse Jackson and Michael Dukakis, w ho elicited highly favorable responses-did not influence posttest atti tudes. This contrast between black and white viewers' emotions and att itudes differs from the effects of nonverbal behavior associated with personality or gender. These findings suggest that non-conscious facto rs may play an important role in the way blacks perceive and react wit hin the American political system.