| Witnessing discrimination against a racial minority should be threatening to both racial minority and majority group members, but for different reasons. One's racial group membership and one's relationship with the perpetrator could both serve as sources of threat to a third party observer. Ninety-two participants identified as racial majority group members (i.e., White) and 48 identified as racial minority group members (i.e., Asian, Black, and other). Each participant was asked to report one instance of discrimination perpetrated by a close other and one by a distant other. Some differences between minority and majority group members' responses emerged. For example, compared to witnessing close others discriminate against a racial minority, people had stronger negative emotional reactions to witnessing distant others discriminate. A confound between one's relationship with the perpetrator and the type of event reported appeared, such that participants reported witnessing close others commit less impactful events than distant others. |
