Date of Award

2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Philosophy

First Advisor

Gaynier, Lisa

Subject Headings

Race relations -- Psychological aspects -- Case studies, Self-management (Psychology), Self-control, Social psychology -- United States -- Case studies, self-regulation, resource depletion, interracial interactions, self-presentation, automatic processing, controlled processing

Abstract

Self-control/self-regulation depends on a limited resource. It has been suggested that self-presentation may require self-regulation particularly when familiar or dispositional tendencies must be overridden in order to make desired impressions. The more resources used the less a person has control of his or hers executive functioning. This is especially true for some people during interracial interactions. Recent research finds that interracial interactions can negatively impact executive functioning. This study examined whether the anticipation of an interracial interaction would deplete regulatory resources more in an unstructured than a structured (i.e. scripted) condition. Also examined in this study, was whether participants would feel more positive when they anticipated interaction in a structured discussion with people of a different race than when structure is absent. Contrary to our predictions, the present study failed to support either hypothesis. The data revealed that there was no correlation of regulatory resources, nor the creation of positive feelings in regards to having an interracial interaction

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