Race and the representation of discourse: Fictitious scenarios and the O.J. Simpson case

Abstract

This research was concerned with how race of actors in a text, race of participant, and race of experimenter are related to discourse processing. In Phase 1, participants read two texts and were asked inferential questions about the text contents. In Phase 2, extended discourse was studied, with participants indicating and defending judgments of O.J. Simpson's guilt or innocence, and rating the significance of Simpson case‐related statements. In Phase 1, Blacks demonstrated a same‐race bias favoring a Black suspect, as opposed to a White suspect, whereas Whites showed an other‐race bias, also favoring a Black suspect. However, in Phase 2, both Black and White participants demonstrated a same‐race bias regarding O.J. Simpson. The results demonstrated the fruitful use of extended discourse and how belief‐based dispositions contribute to a rich mental representation of and inferential use of discourse. In addition, the findings demonstrated that White responding was consistent with a model of “aversive” racism as opposed to two other models and that in discourse processing, racial factors operate selectively, being activated by both specific aspects of discourse content and discourse context.