The Cognitive Effects of Experiencing and Observing Subtle Racial Discrimination

an article by Elise M. Ozier and Mary C. Murphy (Indiana University, USA) and Valerie Jones Taylor (Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA) published in Journal of Social Issues Volume 75 Issue 4 (December 2019)

Abstract

Most research on the cognitive effects of subtle racial discrimination among racial and ethnic minorities focuses on direct experiences of it wherein stigmatised individuals are the targets of discriminatory treatment.

However, it is not necessary for people to be the direct target of discriminatory behaviour to experience the negative consequences associated with it. Although exposure to discriminatory behaviour is increasingly common given the accessibility of smartphones and social media, we know relatively little about how this exposure affects people's executive functioning.

1. Here, we provide a systematic, comparative review of the extant literature on the effects of personally experiencing versus
2. observing instances of subtle racial discrimination toward others on three core executive functions: inhibition, shifting, and updating.

We highlight where more work is needed to understand the cognitive consequences of observing discrimination and we provide initial evidence that observing subtle discrimination impairs updating – a previously unexplored relationship.

Finally, we discuss the implications of executive function impairment due to observing and experiencing subtle discrimination for long‐term outcomes, such as academic achievement, employment, and mental health.

Labels:
racial_profiling, discrimination, stigma, social_media,

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