Black-and-White TV: Nonverbal Racial Bias Found in Popular Television Shows
Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 15:49
in Psychology & Sociology
Popular television shows that put black and white characters on an equal footing as doctors or detectives may still be transmitting racial bias nonverbally, according to a new study. Researchers found that in a selection of brief, silent clips from 11 prime-time television shows, white characters were consistently rated as behaving more positively toward other white characters than toward black ones, even when the black characters were deemed equal to their white counterparts in attractiveness, kindness and intelligence.