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To determine if a public outreach educational presentation on domestic violence would produce change in attitudes toward wife-beating and if the attitude change would persist over time, 36 female and male university students were quasi-randomly assigned to groups. Half of the subjects received a 20-minute presentation on domestic violence (Group P), and half did not receive a presentation (Group NP). Groups were then tested on their responses on the Inventory of Beliefs about Wife Beating (IBWB). Three weeks later, groups were retested on their responses to the scale. MANOVA revealed that attitudes of Group P were significantly more negative toward wife-beating than attitudes of Group NP on three of the five IBWB subscales and on three of the 31 IBWB items subsumed under the subscales. Data supported the prediction that public outreach efforts would produce more negative attitudes toward wife-beating and that attitude change would not deteriorate over time.

History and some research suggest that the degree of prejudice by Whites as well as within the African American community is related to the extent of African physical characteristics and the gender of the target. The goal of our experiment was to determine if White and non-White males and females would judge targets differently based on the target’s physiognomy and gender. Participants were divided into eight groups, each judging photographs depicting a different level of target physiognomy and gender (European, mixed, moderately African, and extremely African males and females) following presentation of a false scenario about the target’s having been caught cheating. Although Whites’ratings did not differ according to target physiognomy, non-Whites favored more African targets.