The Effect of Race of Source and Persuasion on Social Issue Perceptions

Indianapolis, IN

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of race of source on perception of social issues. The study had a 2 (Race of Source: Black/White) by 2 (Political: Liberal/Conservative) design. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, and read an article about a racially salient issue and responded with their reactions. Each participant then read an opinion piece with either Liberal or Conservative views and the race of the source identified as either White or Black. Following the opinion piece, the participants made judgments about how unbiased the author was and other evaluations. We predict that: 1) White participants will be more likely to view the opinions of the non-White opinion author as more biased. and 2) Participants with a more conservative party affiliation will be more likely to disagree with the opinions of the non-White opinion author as well. There is also a possibility that participants will be more likely to agree with the political beliefs of someone with whom they share the same political beliefs, regardless of race. This study is important because it can shade light on how persuasive a source of information can be on the perception on social issues when people must come to an overall conclusion of how they feel about it.