By comparing data from three experiments in the UK and the Netherlands, PhD researcher Yi Sheng and her co-authors found that when ethnic issues are more salient - often triggered by major social events - majority group tends to act more kindly toward individuals from minority groups.
Yi: "The research showed that after events that brought high salience to ethnic issues - such as the rise of the worldwide #BlackLivesMatter movement - people with majority background were more likely to treat individuals from ethnic minority groups with greater kindness. The effect, however, was not observed in interactions where people with majority backgrounds engaged with other individuals from the majority group. This suggests that the increased kindness was specific to interactions with ethnic minority individuals and did not extend to interactions solely among individuals from the majority group."
Understanding the context
The study was conducted before and after significant events, such as the #BLM protests and the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack. While many might expect that these events create negative feelings towards certain groups, the experiments showed that, in some cases, they actually led to increased pro-sociality towards people perceived to be from those groups.
However, Yi cautions against assuming that these results indicate a long-term change in how people feel about ethnic minorities. "The findings suggest that the positive behavior observed may be due to people wanting to appear supportive in a social setting, rather than a true change in attitudes."
Complex picture
Yi: "These findings highlight how ethnic salience can influence generosity toward a minority partner. It appears that social desirability bias was a key mechanism underlying the effect. However, this doesn’t necessarily reflect deeper changes in society. In fact, polled voting data in the Netherlands and UK shows that political preferences on the theme of ethnic diversity have not shifted into the same direction as the behavior observed in the experiments, showing a complex picture of public sentiment."
Forming social attitudes
Looking ahead, Yi believes it’s crucial to study how people behave in more natural settings to better understand the true attitudes towards ethnic minorities. "Studying younger people, like children, could provide insights into how social attitudes are formed, as children are often less influenced by societal expectations."
