No abstract

Two studies were undertaken to investigate the relative contribution of race and belief factors in social interaction involving the actual presence of majority (group consensus) and minority (a potential ally) group members. Results showed that under exposure to informational influence from their ingroup, prejudiced subjects discriminated against blacks on tasks dealing with selfidentity (personal reality), an effect which was magnified under conditions of ingroup surveillance with threat of censure. As predicted, no discrimination occurred on (a) visual perception tasks (testing physical reality), ( 6) opinions referring to society in general (general social reality), or on (c) pencil-and-paper measures. Findings were used to account for discrepant results among previous studies and to identify the specific conditions under which racial discrimination is manifested.

A field experiment was conducted with police officers during the normal course of their traffic patrol duties. The purpose was to determine whether the presence of holstered weapons and mirror sunglasses affected the degree of aggressiveness expressed nonverbally, and reported on a mood scale by citizens halted for an information check (neutral condition) or in order to be given a traffic ticket (negative condition). Results indicated that subjects in the negative condition both expressed and reported more aggressivity when the police officer wore a weapon than when no weapon was visible. The use of sunglasses had no effect on aggressivity but resulted in the officer's being perceived more negatively, though he was not perceived more negatively when he wore a weapon. No sex differences in expressed or reported aggressivity were obtained, although some sex differences on measures of secondary interest did occur. The implications of these findings for research on the “weapons effect” and on policy regarding the visibility of police weapons and the wearing of sunglasses by police officers are discussed.

No abstract

No abstract