On the nature and expression of prejudice as seen in judgments of pictorial stimuli.

In Study 1 (N = 120), pictures of violent behavior taking place within or between ethnic groups were rated under different instructions. A strong cross-over effect was found: interracial violence was reported as relatively more threatening under the instruction that the study concerned anxiety, whereas violence among Whites was reported as more threatening under the instruction that the study concerned stereotyping. In a separate task participants made trait ratings based on faces of members of different ethnic groups. Black men (but not Black women) received very positive ratings. Study 2 (N = 58) replicated this finding, showing it to be unrelated to both self-reported motivation to appear unprejudiced and to prevalent naive theories on how different ethnic groups are evaluated (theory-based correction). Results are discussed in terms of correction mechanisms and self-presentation concerns.