CONDEMNING AND CONDONING RACISM - A SOCIAL-CONTEXT APPROACH TO INTERRACIAL SETTINGS

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.