Study finds we are better able to detect racial tension in members of our racial group

Monday, December 22, 2008 - 12:42 in Psychology & Sociology

In March of 2008, in a speech addressing contemporary racial tensions in America, then-Senator Barack Obama suggested that there is a "chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races." Could this be true? Is it more difficult for members of different races to understand each others' emotions and intentions? Psychologist Heather M. Gray from Boston University, along with Wendy Berry Mendes and Carrigan Denny-Brown of Harvard University, investigated whether the ability to detect a person's anxiety declines when perceptions are made across the racial divide.

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