Secondary transfer effects of interracial contact: the moderating role of social status.

The contact hypothesis asserts that intergroup attitudes can be improved when groups have opportunities to interact with each other. Recent research extending the contact hypothesis suggests that contact with a primary outgroup can decrease bias toward outgroups not directly involved in the interaction, which is known as the secondary transfer effect (STE). The present study contributes to growing research on STEs by investigating effects among Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White undergraduate students (N = 3,098) attending 28 selective colleges and universities. Using hierarchical linear modeling, our results reveal numerous positive STEs among Asian, Black, and Hispanic college students. No significant STEs were observed among White students. Mediated moderation analyses support an attitude generalization mechanism, because STEs were explained by changes in attitudes toward the primary outgroup. This research speaks to equivocal findings in the extant STE literature and highlights directions for future research on social cohesion and bias reduction.

School-Based Racial and Gender Discrimination among African American Adolescents: Exploring Gender Variation in Frequency and Implications for Adjustment.

The present study examined school-based racial and gender discrimination experiences among African American adolescents in Grade 8 (n = 204 girls; n = 209 boys). A primary goal was exploring gender variation in frequency of both types of discrimination and associations of discrimination with academic and psychological functioning among girls and boys. Girls and boys did not vary in reported racial discrimination frequency, but boys reported more gender discrimination experiences. Multiple regression analyses within gender groups indicated that among girls and boys, racial discrimination and gender discrimination predicted higher depressive symptoms and school importance and racial discrimination predicted self-esteem. Racial and gender discrimination were also negatively associated with grade point average among boys but were not significantly associated in girls' analyses. Significant gender discrimination X racial discrimination interactions resulted in the girls' models predicting psychological outcomes and in boys' models predicting academic achievement. Taken together, findings suggest the importance of considering gender- and race-related experiences in understanding academic and psychological adjustment among African American adolescents.