PostDoctoral Research Fellowship

Taylor, Valerie J, Ewing NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This National Science Foundation Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship will advance our understanding of the emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal consequences of witnessing a racial group member behave stereotypically during an ongoing interracial interaction. Research documents that the anxiety caused by interracial interactions raise many interpersonal concerns that affect people?s experiences with members of other racial groups. However, much less research has explored how the stereotype-confirming behaviors of ingroup members affect such interactions. This project will examine whether minority (Blacks, Latinos) and majority (Whites) group members experience negative mental health outcomes, compensate for ingroup members behavior, or avoid interactions with outgroup members during an interracial interaction after ingroup members have committed stereotype-confirming behaviors. This research will provide novel insights regarding the experiences of people during interracial interactions and highlights how the behavior of racial group members, rather than one?s own behavior, can impact individuals? mental health and behavior in interracial contexts. The fellow will perform her research at Princeton University, under the sponsorship of Dr. Nicole Shelton in the Psychology Department. Princeton University has a wealth of resources and courses that will assist the fellow in acquiring new methodological and statistical techniques regarding intergroup interactions, mental health, and behavior. Dr. Shelton is one of the premier researchers on intergroup relations in the country. Broadly, her research focuses on 1) the concerns of ethnic minorities and Whites during interracial interactions and 2) the mental health and psychological outcomes of minorities. In her work, she shows that the different interpersonal concerns of ethnic minorities and Whites not only affect the quality of interracial interactions, but the impressions people have about racial outgroup members. Additionally, she examines the psychological adjustment of minority youth and, in another line of work, she investigates how racial bias and mental illness stigma leave people vulnerable to mental health problems. Learning from Dr. Shelton?s expertise in intergroup relations and mental health outcomes, the fellow will be trained to conduct dyadic interaction and mental health research with diverse populations. To date, there has been a dearth of research on how stereotype-confirming behavior affects people?s mental and behavioral outcomes during interracial interactions. People are aware that the stereotypic behaviors of ingroup members are often generalized to them; thus, they may experience negative mental health outcomes (e.g., shame, anxiety, low state self-esteem) in the face of ingroup members? stereotype-confirming behavior during interracial interactions. Previous research suggests that such mental health outcomes will lead to avoidance behaviors uniformly. However, the current proposal suggests that rather than disengage from interracial interactions when ingroup members behave stereotypically, individuals may exhibit approach behaviors and show improved performance in an attempt to disprove negative group stereotypes. To test these hypotheses, four experimental studies will focus on the mental health and behaviors of racial minorities (Latino/as, Blacks) and Whites after witnessing an ingroup member behave stereotypically during intra- and interracial interactions. To explore the breadth of this phenomenon, all four studies use different racial groups, stereotypes, and situations. This work will provide novel insights into how negative mental health outcomes experienced during interracial interactions after witnessing ingroup members behave stereotypically may be motivating. The postdoctoral fellowship will allow the fellow to learn new theoretical perspectives on intergroup relations and provide her with methodological and statistical training in this area. With these goals in mind, the fellow has five training objectives while at Princeton: 1) to learn methodology appropriate for studying dyadic interaction; 2) to enhance her statistical knowledge by taking advanced statistics courses; 3) to attend psychology colloquia and seminars by premier researchers in the field; 4) to publish research; and 5) to attend and present her work at national conferences. With the training and resources at Princeton University, the fellow will demonstrate how stereotype-confirming behavior may cause negative mental health outcomes, but also lead to unexpected approach behaviors in interracial interactions. Ultimately, the postdoctoral training will prepare the fellow for a tenure-track position at a research university.