Converging interracial consequences of exposure to violent rap music on stereotypical attributions of blacks

The present study explored how media, specifically violent rap music, may i nfluence Blacks' and Whites' attribution of Blacks through stereotype primi ng. When compared to controls and participants exposed to nonviolent Black musicians, those exposed to violent Black musicians reported attributions o f a target Black male's violent behavior that was particularly dispositiona l relative to attributions of a White male's violent behavior or to any oth er condition. The findings also indicated that the impact of exposure to vi olent rap music generalized to judgments involving other stereotype-related traits (i.e., intelligence) but not to judgments of nonstereotypical trait s (i.e., spatial skills). (C) 2000 Academic Press.