Many people overestimate their reactions to racist acts, according to a new Canadian study. Contemporary race relations are marked with paradox: though overt prejudice is condemned, blatantly racist acts continue to occur on a regular basis.
The report, published in the Jan. 9 issue of Science magazine, posits that the explanation lies in how people miscalculate how they would feel and react after witnessing racism.
One way that people may stem the tide of negative emotions related to witnessing a racial slur is to reconstrue comments as either a joke or harmless remark, according to the study, co-authored by profs from York and the University of British Columbia.
