Study: Race fears linger like dread of snakes

Although the subjects showed as strong a prejudice towards a different race as towards dangerous animals, the researchers argue that adaptation probably had little to do with the racial case.

“We didn’t evolve around different races,” Phelps said.  “So it is unlikely that race, per se, is driving this effect.” 

The emergence of separate races happened relatively recently – by some estimates, between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago.   Geographic isolation is thought to have been necessary, so early humans would have had little interaction with other races.  There would have been no reason to acquire an inherent racial suspicion.

Therefore, the responses in the lab are – at least partly – culturally influenced.  To examine this, the researchers interviewed the subjects to assess their conscious, as well as unconscious, racial attitudes. They also asked them what percentage of their acquaintances, friends, and romantic partners were of a different race.

It turned out that the only factor that had any correlation with the fear responses was the amount of interracial dating.  Those subjects who had more contact with the opposite race through dating exhibited less of the fear bias towards the outgroup.

Group definition
It is impossible to say from these results whether those who have experienced interracial dating start out with less of a fearful predisposition, or whether they learn to be less fearful of the other race through the close contact.

The researchers speculate that humans are born with a suspicion of those outside their group – be they from another tribe, another neighborhood, or another race.  The way in which we define our group will depend on the culture we grow up in. “In America, race is one of the more prominent ways,” Phelps said.

Those who date another race may change their perception of what their group is.

"Our discovery underscores the strong bond between person and social group," said Mahzarin Banaji from Harvard University. "It shows how strong is the 'pull' that the groups we belong to exert on us. We can't shake off the group easily.

Even people who are well-intentioned may have a deep-seated suspicion of outsiders. Being aware of the “pull” could help avoid whatever subtle influences on behavior this may have. 

“The optimistic news is that this predisposition to fear members of another race may be changed by close personal contact," Banaji said.  “We are products of our evolutionary history and our immediate social environment; the former we don't control, the latter we most certainly do.”

These results are presented in the July 29 issue of the journal Science.

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