A Brake on Bigotry

Confronting somebody who makes a bigoted remark may have an impact on changing the offending person’s thinking. According to Diana Sanchez, an associate psychology professor at the School of Arts and Sciences, and Kimberly Chaney GSNB’16, a student in the School of Graduate Studies, the offending person may take the rebuke to heart and reflect on their statements. The results of their research were published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. “We need to understand what reduces prejudice,” says Sanchez. “Confronting people is hard, and unless people know it will be effective, they won’t do it.” — Ken Branson