Date of Award
2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Mollie A. Ruben
Abstract
Statement of the Problem: A long-standing history of the oppression of Black Americans has resulted in racism manifesting through White individuals’ nonverbal behavior in interracial interactions’ specifically by way of unfriendly behavioral cues, or on the other end of the spectrum, overly positive and patronizing nonverbal behavior. Regardless of the underlying sentiment, White people’s nonverbal behavior in interracial interactions affect Black people’s mental and physical health and longevity. However, there is a dearth of research on how well-established measures of implicit and explicit racism predict racist nonverbal behavior, and even more so for subtle self-report measures. Methodology: To this end, I conducted a multi-phase study where White participants (N = 76) completed several measures of racism in one phase and then, in a second phase, completed two recorded mock interviews (one with a Black woman avatar and one with a White woman avatar). Participants rated both interviewers on several explicit evaluations. Trained nonverbal coders watched 30 second video clips without sound of participants and rated them on several nonverbal behaviors (e.g., fidgeting, smiling, expressivity). Multiple linear regressions tested the impact of the racism measures on nonverbal behaviors/explicit evaluations toward the Black interviewer, while controlling for the nonverbal behaviors/explicit evaluations toward the White interviewer. Multiple patterns of predictive validity were tested (Double Dissociation, Interactive/Multiplicative). Results: Though the implicit measure did not predict nonverbal behavior toward the Black interviewer, several other relationships between racism measures and nonverbal behaviors emerged. Calmer and more verbally dominant behavior toward the Black interviewer was predicted via more modern racism (explicit measure), less angry but less immediate behavior indicated greater relative self-reported feelings of warmth toward White women than Black women (explicit measure), less open posture but more smiling indicated greater levels of biased assimilation (subtle measure), and lastly, more expressivity, outright positivity, but fidgety behavior indicated more colorblind racism (subtle measure). Behavioral scientists should select the measures that predict the behavior they are attempting to capture. In terms of practical implications, people in power positions, such as interviewers and hiring managers, should make a concerted effort to observe the specific nonverbal behaviors identified in the current work during the hiring process and use that information to inform their hiring decisions, in order to rid the workforce of racism.
Recommended Citation
Weaver, Adele E., "THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF IMPLICIT, EXPLICIT, AND SUBTLE RACISM MEASURES ON NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR AND EXPLICIT EVALUATIONS OF BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN INTERVIEWERS" (2025). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 4515.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/4515