Carl Word and his colleagues found that White university students who were assumed to already hold prejudiced attitudes sat further away, conducted briefer interviews, and made more speech errors when interviewing black students. Which of the following constructs most readily explains the results from this study?
A)Social facilitation
B)Group polarization
C)Stereotype threat
D)Self-fulfilling prophecies

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The results from Carl Word and his colleagues' study are best explained by the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies. This concept suggests that people's expectations about someone can lead to behavior that causes those expectations to come true. In this case, the White university students' presumed prejudiced attitudes led them to behave in ways that could reinforce racial stereotypes and biases, such as sitting further away and making more speech errors, which could negatively impact the interaction with the Black students.

Carl Word and His Colleagues Found That White University Students