Fa. Blanchard et al., CONDEMNING AND CONDONING RACISM - A SOCIAL-CONTEXT APPROACH TO INTERRACIAL SETTINGS, Journal of applied psychology, 79(6), 1994, pp. 993-997
Campus racial harassment provided the context for an experiment, repli
cated over 3 different campus samples, regarding the effects of social
influence on Whites' reactions to racism. Hearing someone condemn rac
ism led Ss to express significantly stronger antiracist opinions than
occurred following exposure to a no-influence control condition. Furth
ermore, hearing someone condone racism led Ss to adopt significantly l
ess strong antiracist positions than when no other opinions were intro
duced. The robust social influence effects were obtained regardless of
whether the source was White or Black or whether Ss responded publicl
y or privately. A social context approach to interracial settings is d
iscussed.