Complexity of Intergroup Interactions

The current work tests a model of interracial interactions that focuses on specific types of expectations as determinants of different affective responses to such interactions. NonBlack participants anticipating an interaction with a Black person reported their motivations to respond without prejudice and then received either positive or negative feedback about their ability to respond without bias in an interracial interaction (self-efficacy feedback) and their partner's openness to the interaction (response expectancy feedback). Results indicated that self-efficacy feedback influenced participants' self-reported efficacy expectancies about interracial interactions, whereas response expectancy feedback influenced their self-reported response expectancies. Consistent with the proposed model, negative self-efficacy expectancies resulted in greater anxiety among highly internally motivated participants. Anxiety, in turn, led to a greater desire to avoid the interaction and for participants to blame themselves for tension in the interaction. Negative response expectancies led to greater anger regarding the interaction and less negative self-directed affect. Anger, in turn, predicted people's tendency to blame their partner for tension in the interaction. The findings are discussed in terms of how people's expectations and specific affective reactions influence the quality of interracial interactions.