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Challenge and Threat During Social Interactions With White and Black Men

Jim Blascovich

University of California, Santa Barbara

Brian Lickel

University of Southern California

Sarah Hunter

RAND Corporation

This research examined the extent to which minority or "devalued"group members engendered threat reactions from interactionpartners. Participants' cardiovascular responses markingchallenge and threat were obtained during social interactionswith White or Black confederates who described their backgroundas either socioeconomically advantaged or disadvantaged.Main effects for race and status were found. When interactingwith Black or disadvantaged confederates, participants exhibitedcardiovascular threat responses, whereas participants inter-actingwith White or advantaged confederates primarily exhibitedcardiovascular challenge responses. Consistent withcardiovascular responses, participants paired with White partnersperformed better during a cooperative task than participantspaired with Black partners. In contrast to the physiologicaland behavioral indicators, self-reports indicated greaterliking and more agreement with positive statements for Blackpartners than White partners. These findings demonstrate thevalue of multiple and less consciously controlled measures for thestudy of intergroup relations.

Key Words: intergroup interactions • cardiovascular reactivity • challenge • threat

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