The colloquium is a free lecture series featuring
faculty research in the College of Liberal Arts.

What you’re selling, I’m not buying: The effectiveness of confrontations as a means to reduce prejudice in others

Dr. Aimee Mark, Assistant Professor of Psychology
November 21, 2008
LA 0101 from 3:30-5:00 pm

Much research has been done in the area of stereotyping and prejudice research examining the ways that people are able to control their bias. One approach to this issue has been to focus on the role of self-control to help people inhibit responses that individuals may feel are not consistent with their ideals (e.g., egalitarianism) or social norms (e.g. Monteith, 1993). Although this research demonstrates that people can self-regulate on their behavior, it requires that they are vigilant and self-aware of their behavior, which is not always the case. Promising new research indicates that other people can serve as effective agents of change in others via confrontations. The presentation will discuss recent encouraging empirical research regarding the effectiveness of confrontations to reduce bias in others. In particular, bias regarding racism and sexism will be discussed. This research addresses issues regarding who is an effective confronter and under what circumstances might a confrontation be successful.

For additional information, contact:
Wes Durham
wdurham@usi.edu
812-464-1739