Subscribe
The latest psychology and neuroscience discoveries.
My Account
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Neuroscience
  • About
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Social Psychology Political Psychology

Messages of individual blame for black Americans perpetuate racial inequality

by SAGE Publications
July 8, 2015
in Political Psychology
Photo credit: Army Medicine

Photo credit: Army Medicine

Share on TwitterShare on Facebook
Stay on top of the latest psychology findings: Subscribe now!

A recent CDC report calls into question the widely reported belief that Black fathers are more absent in their children’s lives than White fathers – showing that while more Black fathers live apart from their children, they are just as involved with their children as members of other racial groups in the same living situations. So why is it that messages about Black absentee fathers, such as Obama’s 2008 Father’s Day address, are so pervasive in society?

A new paper, published today in Social Psychological and Personality Science, suggests that such messages align with broader beliefs that Black Americans place too much blame on “the system” and instead need to hear messages that encourage individual responsibility. A consequence of that, the researchers say, is that they perpetuate structural racial inequalities.

Phia Salter of Texas A&M University and her colleagues were interested in President Obama’s well-known speech on absentee dads, in large part because it was delivered in a predominately African-American church. “We were interested in whether the individual blame account of missing Black fathers gained attention because it was given in front of a Black audience,” she explains. “We thought it may not be just what President Obama said in his speech, but to whom he said it to that mattered.” It struck them that many of the critiques of his speech for ignoring societal factors were largely coming from the Black community (even this recent Op-ed).

So led by then-grad students Kelly Hirsch and Luyen Thai, Salter join efforts with her colleague Rebecca Schlegel to design several studies that investigated the interactions between messaging, audience and third-party perceptions. First, to measure general perceptions, they surveyed participants online about whether they thought various groups (e.g., Black, White, Latino, Democrats, Women) believe that society is fair. The participants thought that Blacks reject the idea that society is fair and do so more than other groups.

In a second study, the researchers asked participants to read a statement about racial inequality that either suggested that racial disparities stem from failures and inadequacies of individuals or from failures and inadequacies of systems. They then asked participants to what extent they thought various groups needed or wanted each message. They found that third-party observers preferred individual blame messages delivered to Black audiences, as this is what they perceived Black audiences ”need to hear.”

In a third set of studies to experimentally test these perceptions, the researchers asked participants to read and respond to an excerpt from a speech given to either a Black or a White audience. The speech was actually an excerpt from Obama’s 2008 Father’s Day speech that was either the original text emphasizing personal responsibility or an edited version emphasizing a systemic account of missing fathers.

“We found that believing the speech was being delivered to a Black versus White audience increased the appeal of an individual blame account of the speech but not a system blame version of the speech,” Salter says. “Although politicians and others who deliver speeches are likely to take into account who may be listening, prior social psychological research had not considered how third parties might take into account the audience’s racial composition.”

The implication of this work – that people think that Black Americans have a tendency to blame the system too much and are in need of messages that counteract their perceptions of injustice – is troubling for two at least reasons, Salter says. “First, by minimizing or ignoring the ways in which structural inequality persists, we are unlikely to search for, endorse or enact solutions that might address these forms of societal problems.”

Second, she says, targeting Black Americans with the idea that they caused their own circumstances by not working hard enough “reinforces the idea that Blacks are ultimately responsible for their own disadvantage, even when structural inequalities persist.” Therefore, these individual blame messages are detrimental to efforts to create a fair and just society.

The work fits in with previous research that suggests that events that represent exceptional accomplishments of a few minority group members are used to demonstrate that race does not matter and, in turn, render policies that address racial inequality irrelevant. Following Obama’s presidential victory, for example, researchers found that people were more likely to conclude that racism was less of a problem and expressed decreased support for policies aimed at furthering racial equality.

Heading into the next Presidential election, this research is an important reminder to be critical consumers of information, Salter says. “Political messages are encoded with a lot of information and the perceived audience is also a part of the message,” she says. “People make judgments about whether political speeches contain the ‘right’ message for the right audience. We should all take a step back and evaluate why we think a particular message is ‘right’ for a certain audience.”

TweetSendScanShareSendPinShareShareShareShareShare

RELATED

Trump’s speeches stump AI: Study reveals ChatGPT’s struggle with metaphors
Artificial Intelligence

Trump’s speeches stump AI: Study reveals ChatGPT’s struggle with metaphors

July 15, 2025

Can an AI understand a political metaphor? Researchers pitted ChatGPT against the speeches of Donald Trump to find out. The model showed moderate success in detection but ultimately struggled with context, highlighting the current limits of automated language analysis.

Read moreDetails
New research shows the psychological toll of the 2024 presidential election
Anxiety

New research shows the psychological toll of the 2024 presidential election

July 13, 2025

Among young adults, stress from election news was linked to higher risks of depression and anxiety, while pre-election anticipatory stress was linked to depression only. Stress about the election outcome was not associated with either condition.

Read moreDetails
Liberals and conservatives live differently — but people think the divide is even bigger than it is
Political Psychology

Liberals and conservatives live differently — but people think the divide is even bigger than it is

July 12, 2025

New research finds that students with different political identities tend to engage in slightly different everyday behaviors. But students dramatically overestimate how much liberals and conservatives differ, fueling a distorted sense of social and political division.

Read moreDetails
Testosterone shifts political preferences in weakly affiliated Democratic men, study finds
Political Psychology

Testosterone shifts political preferences in weakly affiliated Democratic men, study finds

July 10, 2025

What if the key to swaying a swing voter lies in their biology? New research found giving testosterone to weakly affiliated Democratic men made them less loyal to their party and more open to Republicans, revealing a potential hormonal link to political persuasion.

Read moreDetails
People with psychopathic traits fail to learn from painful outcomes
Narcissism

National narcissism linked to emotional impairments and dehumanization, new study finds

July 7, 2025

A new study suggests that people who see their nation as uniquely important often struggle with recognizing emotions and experience more anger and contempt—factors that may help explain why they’re more likely to dehumanize both outsiders and fellow citizens.

Read moreDetails
Fascinating study reveals how Trump’s moral rhetoric diverges from common Republican language
Donald Trump

Viral AI-images highlight how Trump engages in “victimcould,” scholar argues

July 6, 2025

How can one of the world's most powerful men also be its biggest victim? A new paper argues it’s a political strategy based on hypothetical, not actual, harm—a concept the author calls “victimcould” used to justify present-day aggression.

Read moreDetails
New study suggests Donald Trump’s “fake news” attacks are backfiring
Political Psychology

Scientists are uncovering more and more unsettling facts about our politics

July 5, 2025

Why has politics become so personal? The answers may lie in our minds. These 13 studies from the new science of political behavior reveal the hidden psychological forces—from personality to primal fear—that are driving us further apart.

Read moreDetails
These common sounds can impair your learning, according to new psychology research
Political Psychology

Despite political tensions, belief in an impending U.S. civil war remains low

July 4, 2025

A new national survey finds that only a small fraction of Americans believe civil war is likely or necessary.

Read moreDetails

SUBSCRIBE

Go Ad-Free! Click here to subscribe to PsyPost and support independent science journalism!

STAY CONNECTED

LATEST

Key Alzheimer’s protein found at astonishingly high levels in healthy newborns

People’s ideal leader isn’t hyper-masculine — new study shows preference for androgynous traits

Chronic pain rewires how the brain processes punishment, new research suggests

Common antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs tied to major shifts in gut microbiome composition

New psychology study: Inner reasons for seeking romance are a top predictor of finding it

Scientists demonstrate that “AI’s superhuman persuasiveness is already a reality”

Cannabis alternative 9(R)-HHC may be as potent as THC, study in mice suggests

A single dose of lamotrigine causes subtle changes in emotional memory

         
       
  • Contact us
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms and Conditions
[Do not sell my information]

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Cognitive Science Research
  • Mental Health Research
  • Social Psychology Research
  • Drug Research
  • Relationship Research
  • About PsyPost
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy