Week 7 Summary article Converging interracial consequences of exposure to violent rap music on
stereotypical attributions of blacks
●Social scientists have devoted an extensive amount of attention to the theoretical and practical
consequences of exposure to various types of social category and stereotypical trait information. Mere
exposure to a symbol or representative of a social category or to aspects of a group stereotype itself can
be sufficient to activate stereotypic associations, often without attention or awareness.
●Current theorists emphasize a distinction stereotype activation and application.
●Stereotype activation refers to the enhanced accessibility of stereotype associated information,
whereas application involves the use of this information in perceptual or evaluative operations.
●The present study examined the effects of exposure to stereotypical racial information about blacks, in
the form of violent rap music, on stereotype application in the perceptions and evaluations of both
blacks and whites.
●Stereotype application often occurs more conditionally than dos stereotype activation. Controlled
processes, such as those related to personal standards and motivations, can play a significant role in
stereotype application.
●Alternatively, categorical responses, such as stereotype application may be facilitated by associations
between the potential target person and the representation that was primed.
●The present work was designed to extend previous research in three ways: by considering how the
mass media, in this case violent rap music, can prime and activate racial stereotypes, by further
examining how stereotype application can be moderated by the relationships between the activated
stereotype and characteristics of the application situation, in this case the race of the person being
evaluated and whether the evaluation was related to stereotypic dimension, and by exploring the extent
to which racial in-group-out-group membership moderates theses effects.
●One of the major areas of concern regards the effects of exposure to media depictions that portray
black males as violent and aggressive.
●Media critics and black leaders have often suggested that the media bias towards portraying black men
as violent might elicit or confirm perceptions that violence is a stable and dispositional trait among black
men in general.
●The results of recent empirical investigations seem to indicate that concerns regarding media
portrayals of black males may be warranted.
●The present research examined whether violent rap music would similarly affect evaluations of black
males relative to white males and the possibility that this effect would occur primarily on stereotype-
related dimensions and not for ratings on dimensions unrelated to the racial stereotype.
●Just as our beliefs about other groups influence how we perceive and threat their members, our beliefs
about our own group may also influence how we perceive an threat ourselves.
●Several researchers have shown that blacks may have internalized or bought into stereotypical beliefs
and attitudes regarding blacks.
●One mechanism through which exposure to black stereotypes can influence subsequent perceptions
and evaluations of both blacks and whites involves the processes of priming and stereotype activation.
More specifically, priming a stereotype results in activation spreading to related concepts in a semantic
knowledge structure which, in turn, increases accessibility of these contents.
●One implication of the hypothesized mechanism of stereotype priming is that priming black
stereotypes may systematically influence the perceptions and evaluations of blacks as it does of whites
because blacks and whites share similar socialization experiences and cultural exposures.
stereotypical attributions of blacks
●Social scientists have devoted an extensive amount of attention to the theoretical and practical
consequences of exposure to various types of social category and stereotypical trait information. Mere
exposure to a symbol or representative of a social category or to aspects of a group stereotype itself can
be sufficient to activate stereotypic associations, often without attention or awareness.
●Current theorists emphasize a distinction stereotype activation and application.
●Stereotype activation refers to the enhanced accessibility of stereotype associated information,
whereas application involves the use of this information in perceptual or evaluative operations.
●The present study examined the effects of exposure to stereotypical racial information about blacks, in
the form of violent rap music, on stereotype application in the perceptions and evaluations of both
blacks and whites.
●Stereotype application often occurs more conditionally than dos stereotype activation. Controlled
processes, such as those related to personal standards and motivations, can play a significant role in
stereotype application.
●Alternatively, categorical responses, such as stereotype application may be facilitated by associations
between the potential target person and the representation that was primed.
●The present work was designed to extend previous research in three ways: by considering how the
mass media, in this case violent rap music, can prime and activate racial stereotypes, by further
examining how stereotype application can be moderated by the relationships between the activated
stereotype and characteristics of the application situation, in this case the race of the person being
evaluated and whether the evaluation was related to stereotypic dimension, and by exploring the extent
to which racial in-group-out-group membership moderates theses effects.
●One of the major areas of concern regards the effects of exposure to media depictions that portray
black males as violent and aggressive.
●Media critics and black leaders have often suggested that the media bias towards portraying black men
as violent might elicit or confirm perceptions that violence is a stable and dispositional trait among black
men in general.
●The results of recent empirical investigations seem to indicate that concerns regarding media
portrayals of black males may be warranted.
●The present research examined whether violent rap music would similarly affect evaluations of black
males relative to white males and the possibility that this effect would occur primarily on stereotype-
related dimensions and not for ratings on dimensions unrelated to the racial stereotype.
●Just as our beliefs about other groups influence how we perceive and threat their members, our beliefs
about our own group may also influence how we perceive an threat ourselves.
●Several researchers have shown that blacks may have internalized or bought into stereotypical beliefs
and attitudes regarding blacks.
●One mechanism through which exposure to black stereotypes can influence subsequent perceptions
and evaluations of both blacks and whites involves the processes of priming and stereotype activation.
More specifically, priming a stereotype results in activation spreading to related concepts in a semantic
knowledge structure which, in turn, increases accessibility of these contents.
●One implication of the hypothesized mechanism of stereotype priming is that priming black
stereotypes may systematically influence the perceptions and evaluations of blacks as it does of whites
because blacks and whites share similar socialization experiences and cultural exposures.
