The Marley Hypothesis: Denial of Racism Reflects Ignorance of History

This study used a signal detection paradigm to explore the Marley hypothesis—that group differences in perception of racism reflect dominant-group denial of and ignorance about the extent of past racism. White American students from a midwestern university and Black American students from two histor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2013-02, Vol.24 (2), p.213-218
Main Authors: Nelson, Jessica C., Adams, Glenn, Salter, Phia S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African American studies
African Americans
African Americans - psychology
American history
Biological and medical sciences
Black White Relations
College Students
Cultural identification
Denial (Psychology)
Difference
Epistemology
Ethnic Identity
Ethnicity
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Group Identity
History
Humans
Hypotheses
Identity
Injustice
Knowledge
Minority groups
Perception
Perception tests
Perceptions
Perceptual reality
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Racial Differences
Racial identity
Racism
Racism - psychology
Research Report
Social attribution, perception and cognition
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social Perception
Social psychology
U.S.A
United States history
University students
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Summary:This study used a signal detection paradigm to explore the Marley hypothesis—that group differences in perception of racism reflect dominant-group denial of and ignorance about the extent of past racism. White American students from a midwestern university and Black American students from two historically Black universities completed surveys about their historical knowledge and perception of racism. Relative to Black participants, White participants perceived less racism in both isolated incidents and systemic manifestations of racism. They also performed worse on a measure of historical knowledge (i.e., they did not discriminate historical fact from fiction), and this group difference in historical knowledge mediated the differences in perception of racism. Racial identity relevance moderated group differences in perception of systemic manifestations of racism (but not isolated incidents), such that group differences were stronger among participants who scored higher on a measure of racial identity relevance. The results help illuminate the importance of epistemologies of ignorance: cultural-psychological tools that afford denial of and inaction about injustice.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1177/0956797612451466