What to Do? Predicting Coping Strategies Following Ingroup Members’ Stereotypical Behaviors in Interracial Interactions

Abstract

The current studies examine how witnessing stereotype-confirming ingroup behavior affects black Americans' interactions with white Americans. Across three studies, black Americans indicated metaperceptual, emotional, and behavioral responses to witnessing a black person's stereotypically negative, stereotypically positive, or nonstereotypically neutral behavior during an interracial (vs. intraracial) interaction. Following an ingroup member's stereotypically negative (vs. stereotypically positive in Study 1, or nonstereotypically neutral in Studies 2-3) behavior during an interracial interaction, black Americans expressed greater metastereotypes, which increased intergroup anxiety, ultimately eliciting nuanced coping strategies: engagement/overcompensation, antagonism, freezing, or avoidance. Psychological resources attenuated anxiety's effect on engagement/overcompensation (Studies 2-3) and freezing (Study 3). Both patterns were stronger in interracial (vs. intraracial) interactions (Study 3). This research demonstrates the central role of metaperceptions in interracial interactions, highlighting how stereotypically negative behaviors of nearby ingroup members are impactful situational stressors that affect behavioral intentions in intergroup encounters.