Controlling racial prejudice social-cognitive goals affect amygdala and stereotype activation

Mary E. Wheeler, Susan T. Fiske

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

312 Scopus citations

Abstract

The malleability of stereotyping matters in social psychology and in society. Previous work indicates rapid amygdala and cognitive responses to racial out-groups, leading some researchers to view these responses as inevitable. In this study, the methods of social-cognitive neuroscience were used to investigate how social goals control prejudiced responses. Participants viewed photographs of unfamiliar Black and White faces, under each of three social goals: social categorization (by age), social individuation (vegetable preference), and simple visual inspection (detecting a dot). One study recorded brain activity in the amygdala using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and another measured cognitive activation of stereotypes by lexical priming. Neither response to photos of the racial out-group was inevitable; instead, both responses depended on perceivers' current social-cognitive goal.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)56-63
Number of pages8
JournalPsychological Science
Volume16
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2005

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Psychology

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