Black media images as a perceived threat to African American ethnic identity: coping responses,...

Recent research has suggested that minority audiences in the United States may exhibit a pattern of media literacy, including media use and responses to media messages, that is distinct from their White counterparts. In general, minority members are more frequent media users than Whites (e.g.,

Albarran & Umphrey, 1993; Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Brodie, 1999), they are more likely to consider the content of the media as real (Greenberg & Brand, 1994), and they are more critical audiences when evaluating how the media present in-group members (Davis & Gandy, 1999; McAneny, 1994). In comparison to the White majority, these differences may relate to minority audiences' ethnic identity (Allen, 2001; Davis & Gandy, 1999). Davis and Gandy, for example, suggested that African Americans have developed and use strategies in dealing with biased media images of Blacks so that they can protect themselves from possible negative influence.

This poses an interesting question about media effects and public opinion research on racial policies. Recent research has revealed that minority images conveyed via the media contribute to public opinions on racial policies (e.g., Pan & Kosicki, 1996; Sniderman, Brody, & Tetlock, 1991; Tan, Fujioka, & Tan, 2000). Tan et al., for example, suggested that negative media portrayals of African Americans (perceived by White viewers) were related to White viewers' negative perceptions of Blacks in general, which in turn led to their opposition to affirmative action. Negative minority images have been prevalent in the mainstream media (e.g., Entman & Rojecki, 2000), yet neither minority responses to these images nor the influence of these images on minority decisions for affirmative action has yet been systematically addressed.

Bobo (1998) stated that public opinion research on affirmative action has heavily focused on Whites' views, yet beliefs of racial minority members should be addressed because both perspectives must play a role in developing racial policies. Similarly, although media effects research on racial policies has largely relied on Caucasian data, responses of ethnic minorities must be examined because both Whites' and minority members' racial opinions are formed in a mediated racial environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between minority media portrayals and minority respondents' decision making for affirmative action. The study specifically asks (a) how Black respondents perceive media presentation of in-group members, and (b) how these perceived images are related to Blacks' opinions on affirmative action. It gives special attention to Black respondents' ethnic identity and proposes that media presentation of Blacks may trigger African American respondents' ethnic identity, which is related to their perceptions of public attitudes towards Blacks and endorsement of affirmative action. The study utilizes survey data to examine the proposed association among key variables that will be discussed later.

Literature Review

Ethnic Identity and Mediated Information

Ethnic identity is a group-based identity formed and developed through a variety of socialization processes, including both personal experiences (e.g., interaction with family and community) and mediated experiences (Allen, 1993, 2001; Berry & Mitchell-Kernan, 1982; Gecas, 1992). People learn the meanings of the self and salient identities via reflected appraisals--the appraisals and responses of others about the self. In comparison to family and friends who are identified as "significant" others, the media have been referred to as "generalized" others that present societal expectations and views about the members of the society (Gecas, 1992). Similarly, Berry and Mitchell-Kernan pointed out that mainstream television informs us of where each ethnic group stands in the social structure and presents "societal attitudes" toward minority members.

Allen (2001) suggested that, for African Americans, mainstream media as well as the Black-oriented (ethnic) media serve as one of the influential sources of information about in-group through which African American concepts and identity are developed and negotiated. In general, the ethnic, not the mainstream, media foster and embrace Black ethnic socialization. Although many have criticized distasteful treatment of Blacks presented in the mainstream media and warned of their possible aversive influence on Black self-concepts and identity formation, recent empirical research has indicated mixed support for this claim (e.g., Allen, 2001; Stroman, 1986; Tan & Tan, 1979). Scholars point out that Blacks' ethnic identity is indeed a product of Black socialization processes, yet it is also a way to cope with aversive racial experiences (Davis & Gandy, 1999). Davis and Gandy, for example, asserted that Black identity becomes salient when Black audience members confront distasteful media presentations of Blacks, which in turn heightens their criticism of Black media images. The importance of Black identity in relation to media presentations of Black images can be understood in a framework of social identity and self-categorization.

Social Identity and Self-Categorization Theories

According to Tajfel and Turner (1986), social identity refers to a group-based identity motivating people to perceive their own group favorably and distinctively from other out-groups. Social identity theory claims that (a) the group memberships people hold contribute to their group-based (collective) esteem, and (b) positive social identity is derived from a favorable view of the in-group (the group to which people belong) relative to other out-groups. Thus, social group members are motivated to obtain and maintain positive social identity by engaging in intergroup comparisons that help create favorable attitudes and evaluation of their in-group (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). According to the theory, the mechanism of social identity involves the processes of self-categorization and depersonalization. Social identity will be activated as soon as people categorize self and others into a certain social group (self-categorization) and establish a sense of "us" versus "them." Upon self-categorization, people perceive themselves as members of the in-group rather than as unique individuals (depersonalization), which leads people to perceive in-group similarity (similarity between the self and in-group members), yet feel more distance from out-group members (out-group difference). Self-categorization depends on a given social context, yet some social categories such as race and gender are highly salient and can be activated automatically with a subtle cue because of their pervasiveness and frequency of activation (Banaji & Hardin, 1996; Branscombe & Ellemers, 1998; Devine, 1989). Moreover, race is one of the most salient social categories for most members of minority groups (e.g., Branscombe & Ellemers, 1998; Phinney & Alipuria, 1990). For example, Phinney and Alipuria examined the ethnic identity held by college students from four different ethnic backgrounds and found that ethnic minority students considered ethnic identity substantially more important than did White students. Recent research also demonstrated that racial cues presented in the media had little influence on Whites' responses due to the lack of significance Whites put on their ethnicity (Coover, 2001; Mastro, 2003). (1)

It is then highly likely that media presentations of Black images may activate a Black audience's ethnic identity. Once ethnic identity is activated, Black images in the media become "self- (in-group) referencing," and a crucial piece of information for a Black respondent's self. People are sensitive and receptive to self-referencing information given by others because it serves as a basis of self-evaluation and self-regard (Gecas, 1992; Rosenberg, 1976; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). As such, Black media images may draw great attention from Black respondents. As suggested by social identity theory, Black respondents' desires to hold positive views of their in-group may lead them to exhibit several forms of coping responses to Black media images, particularly when they are perceived as "aversive" or "threatening" to Black identity.

Coping Responses to Perceived Threats

Motivational implications of ethnic identity may be contextually determined by the existence of perceived threats (Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002). The threats in an intergroup context can be either realistic (e.g., threats to the physical existence or the economic power of the in-group) or symbolic (e.g., threats to perceived group differences in values and the worldview; Ellemers et al., 2002; Stephan & Stephan, 2000). According to Stephan and Stephan, in-group members feel threatened when (a) perceiving the out-group (Whites) as threatening the distinct way of life and well-being of the in-group (Blacks), (b) seeing negative views and expectations posed by out-groups to in-group members, and (c) anticipating unpleasant outcomes (being prejudiced) during intergroup interaction. When people face these group threats, they may show coping responses to protect in-group identity from possible aversive influence (see Ellemers et al., 2002, for a complete review).

Some of the coping strategies pertaining to this study include (a) asserting stronger group identity (Doosje, Spears, & Ellemers, 2002), (b) engaging in competitive behavior that contributes to the improvement of the in-group's status (e.g., support for affirmative action), and (c) exhibiting defensive reactions (e.g., degrading the credibility of the unfavorable group information; e.g., Branscombe & Wann, 1994). Those who are highly committed to the group exhibit these coping responses more than do the less committed individuals whose responses to the threats are more passive, including decreasing group identification and distancing self from the group (Ellemers et al., 2002).

In the literature reviewed thus far, it is clear that coping responses are bound to a specific context (e.g., Black media imagery) and a specific audience who perceives the context (e.g., Black audience). It is also important to consider these contextual variables in order to make a case in which media presentation of Blacks could be seen as a source of threats to Black identity.

Black Media Images and Black Audiences

Although Black news anchors and leading characters have been gradually increasing in number, the vast majority of media decision makers are still White (Heider, 2000). That voices of color are not being heard has been a serious concern in the Black community (Entman & Rojecki, 2000; Heider, 2000) because it affects the nature of media content that penetrates a society and its people. For example, the pervasiveness of negative images of Blacks as criminals in the news media has been controversial (e.g., Dixon & Linz, 2000; Entman, 1992; Entman & Rojecki, 2000; Gilliam & Iyengar, 2000).

Black responses to the news coverage about in-group members are typically very critical--in fact, the most critical compared to other minority groups (Hispanics and Asian Americans; McAneny, 1994). A national survey based on representative samples of ethnic groups revealed that about half of the Black respondents felt they were unfairly treated in televised crime news, and 62% of them felt upset at least once a week with news coverage about Blacks. Black respondents also pointed out that the news media presented Blacks in only two extreme ways, either good, the rare token, or bad, the more common, reflecting the same dichotomy of the house Negro or the field Negro in slavery (Wood, 2003).

African Americans have played different roles and characters, including professional roles in the entertainment media (e.g., Armstrong, Neuendorf, & Brentar, 1992; Mastro & Greenberg, 2000). Scholars and the Black community, however, have expressed ambivalent feelings (e.g., Entman & Rojecki, 2000; Inniss & Feagin, 1995). The Cosby Show, for instance, gained a positive evaluation and high popularity among White viewers, yet many Blacks felt dissatisfied and uneasy with the assimilated Black family because it did not reflect perspectives and realities most Black individuals experience in their lives (Gates, 1992; Inniss & Feagin, 1995; Jhally & Lewis, 1992; Lewis, 1991).

Some African American viewers were simply happy to see Black diversity and Black possibility in the media that had been largely neglected in the past (Innis & Feagin, 1995), hoping that these positive images might neutralize the many negative Black images. Some Black viewers, however, expressed their uneasiness when encountering highly assimilated Blacks by describing the family, the Huxtables, as "being white people in blackface," which is a "false" image (Inniss & Feagin, 1995, p. 700). Similarly, Oprah Winfrey projects the image of a highly successful African American, yet this image has been described as a "decoy" for African Americans (Wood, 2003). That is, for many Black viewers, media depictions of African Americans bear little resemblance to reality (Jhally & Lewis, 1992).

Some Black viewers have indicated that the consequences of the unrealistic Black images presented in the media goes beyond how Blacks feel about themselves. They have made a clear connection between Black media images and how Whites view and understand Blacks in real life and, thus, have anticipated negative consequences (such as being stereotyped) as a result of their interaction with other people (Jhally & Lewis, 1992).

These audience responses clearly indicate that African American audiences are very aware of the media presentation of in-group members and very critical when evaluating those images. The qualitative data also suggest the following patterns: (a) Black audiences often believe Black media images are "unrealistic" and "false" and feel uneasy with assimilated Black portrayals, (b) they tend to see Black media images as public expectations about them (assimilation to White culture), and (c) they tend to associate Black media images with public understanding of Blacks. These patterns seem comparable to at least some of the threatening conditions specified by Stephan and Stephan (2000), which suggest the idea of Black media images as a source of threats.

As Black media images may speak to Black audience members' identity, and relate to their perceived public views of Blacks, the Black media imagery may also relate to Black respondents' endorsement of affirmative action. Recent research findings suggest a key role of Black identity in Black decision making for affirmative action (Schmermund, Sellers, Mueller, & Crosby, 2001), which will be discussed below.

Black Identity and Endorsement of Affirmative Action

Although ethnic minorities find affirmative action more beneficial (e.g., providing more opportunities) and support affirmative action more strongly than do Whites (Bobo, 1998; Kinder & Sanders, 1990), Blacks held the most favorable views of affirmative action, followed by Latinos, Asians, and Whites (Bobo, 1998). Moreover, those Blacks who felt Black identity more salient supported the policy more strongly than those who felt it less salient (Schmermund et al., 2001). Scholars attribute Black endorsement of affirmative action to Black ethnic identity (Bobo, 1983, 1998; Schmermund et al., 2001) because it should promote long-term "group" interest. Thus, Black media images could be related to Black endorsement of affirmative action particularly when Black audience members see the Black imagery as a threat to Black identity.

An Integration of Key Variables: Black Responses to Media Images, Perceived Public Perceptions, and Endorsement of Affirmative Action

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Black media images (perceived by African American audiences) and Black endorsement of affirmative action, with a special attention to African American respondents' coping responses to the media imagery of in-group members. Prior research suggests that Black media images may serve as a source of threats to Black identity. When the negative media portrayals threaten a Black respondent's identity, one of the major coping strategies is to express group loyalty in stronger terms (Ellemers et al., 2002), such as asserting a stronger group membership, discounting the credibility of the negative media images, and supporting affirmative action. In addition, as suggested by the audience research findings, Black media portrayals (as evaluated by Black participants) may be linked to Black respondents' perceptions of how out-group (majority) members view Blacks and expect Blacks to be. That is, negative Black images are related to perceived negative public perception of Blacks, which may make Black participants think it important to have an affirmative-action policy. Therefore, the study formulates the following hypotheses:

[H.sub.1]: African American respondents' negative evaluation of Black images in the media will be associated with coping responses.

More specifically:

[H.sub.1a]: The more negative the respondents' affective evaluation of Black images in the news and the entertainment media, the higher the level of respondents' group identity.

[H.sub.1b]: The more negative the respondents' affective evaluation of Black images in the news and the entertainment media, the lower the perceived accuracy of Black images in the news and the entertainment media.

[H.sub.1c]: The more negative the respondents' affective evaluation of Black images in the news and the entertainment media, the stronger the respondents' endorsement of affirmative action.

[H.sub.2]: The more negative the respondents' affective evaluation of Black images in the news and entertainment media, the lower the perceived public perceptions of Blacks (Blacks were perceived as having lower status by other group members).

[H.sub.3]: The lower the perceived public perceptions of Blacks, the stronger the respondents' endorsement of affirmative action.

And finally, the study predicts:

[H.sub.4]: Black respondents who are highly committed to the group exhibit coping responses more strongly than those who are less committed.

Method

Sample

The convenience sample consisted of 202 African American college students (23% men, 77% women) recruited from a large southeastern state university. (2) The study used a college sample because of (a) the strong relevance of the affirmative-action issue in an academic setting, and (b) the high level of ethnic identity among college students suggested by the literature (Schmermund et al., 2001). In addition, this university is one of the most racially diverse universities in the United States, with a 30% African American undergraduate student population, where the racial policy should be highly relevant. These conditions meet the criteria for the appropriate use of a college sample suggested by Pingree et al. (2001). The mean age was 22.58 years (SD = 5.8, Mdn = 20.12). The relatively high mean age was due to the nature of the urban-city university, including some nontraditional students (25% freshmen, 38% sophomore, 26% junior, 11% senior). The respondents participated in this study on a voluntary basis.

Procedure

The participants were recruited from various undergraduate courses and majors, including communication, business, education, and other social science areas. The self-administered survey questionnaires were distributed to students who read an informed consent form and voluntarily agreed to participate in this study for extra credit. An extra credit option was given to those students who did not wish to participate in the study.

Measures

Dependent Variable. Respondents' level of endorsement of affirmative action was measured by the extent to which they agreed with the following statement on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree): "The United States still needs affirmative action to make sure that racial minorities are not discriminated against."

Independent Variables. Affective evaluation of the media portrayal of African Americans was measured by asking respondents to evaluate how African Americans were depicted in the following five content categories on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (very negatively) to 5 (very positively): (a) TV news, (b) TV drama, (c) TV sitcoms, (d) TV movies, and (e) newspapers. The study used mean scores of each category and created the two separate indexes--news media evaluation (a combined variable of TV news and newspaper; [alpha] = .75) and entertainment TV evaluation (a combined variable of TV drama, TV sitcoms, and TV movies; [alpha] = .75)--for the final analyses. The study analyzed news and entertainment content separately because recent studies suggest possible differences in Black images between the two types of content in that TV news frequently presents poor and criminal images of African Americans, whereas entertainment TV programs typically portray socioeconomically successful Blacks (e.g., Busselle & Crandall, 2002).

Accuracy of the media portrayals of African Americans was measured by asking respondents how accurately African Americans were depicted in the following content categories on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (not accurately at all) to 5 (very accurately): (a) TV news, (b) TV drama, (c) TV sitcoms, (d) TV movies, and (e) newspapers. The study took mean scores of each category and created the two separate indexes--news media accuracy ([alpha] = .80) and TV entertainment accuracy ([alpha] = .81)--for the final analyses.

Level of group identity, group salience, and perceived public perception was measured by the subscale of Collective Self-Esteem Scale developed by Crocker and Luhtanen (1990). The Collective Self-Esteem Scale measures the four dimensions of group-based esteem, including (a) group identity/membership, (b) group influence on self-images (group salience), and (c) public perceptions of in-group (perceived public perception). On a 7-point scale, respondents were asked to indicate to what extent they agree with the statements as to the ethnic group they identified themselves. Some of the statements include the following: "In general, I am a worthy member of the ethnic group I belong to" (an item for group membership); "In general, belonging to an ethnic group is an important part of my self-image" (an item for group salience); and "In general, others respect the ethnic group that I am a member of" (an item for perceived public perception). The responses were coded in a way that higher scores indicated higher group identity or more positive public perception.

The following variables were also included as control factors. Respondents' racial attitudes were measured by the Quick Discrimination Index (QDI) developed by Ponterotto and Burkard (1995). The QDI was designed to tap two dimensions of racial equality and diversity, including general racial attitudes and personal racial attitudes. This variable was included because recent study suggested that besides ethnic identity variables, a Black individual's attitudes toward other racial minorities affect his or her endorsement of affirmative action (Schmermund et al., 2001). The responses were coded in a way that higher scores indicated more positive racial attitudes (Cronbach's [alpha] = .80).

Evaluation of personal contact with Whites in general was measured by asking respondents to evaluate, on a scale from 1 (negative) to 5 (positive), how their personal interaction with Whites was in general. This variable was included because the previous research emphasized the quality of interaction, not the frequency of contact that affected interracial attitudes (e.g., Stephan & Stephan, 2000; Tan, Fujioka, & Lucht, 1997).

Two background variables of gender (1 = male, 2 = female) and political ideology (1 = liberal, 5 = conservative) were also used as control variables. The gender variable was controlled because more women participated in this study.

Analyses

All the hypotheses were tested via path analyses and hierarchical regression analysis. The study used hierarchical regression analysis to examine the incremental contribution of each predictor to the explained variance in the outcome variable and utilized path analyses to observe the indirect influence of independent variables. For each analysis, respondents' racial attitudes (QDI), level of group salience, evaluation of personal contact, gender, and political ideology were accounted for first as a block, followed by the two evaluation variables (news/entertainment content), followed by the two accuracy judgment variables (accuracy of Black images in the news/entertainment), and followed by the perceived public perception and level of group membership. There was no indication of the existence of a multicollinearity problem based on the two tests, variance of inflation factors and zero-order correlation (Stevens, 1996). (3)

Results

Results of descriptive analyses are shown in Table 1. Black respondents indicated a relatively strong level of group membership (M = 6.20, SD = 0.86, 7 = strongest) and endorsement of affirmative action (M = 4.20, SD = 0.90, 5 = strongest), as suggested by the existing literature (e.g., Bobo, 1998; Phinny & Alipuria, 1990).

Testing Hypotheses

Results of regression analysis and path analyses are displayed in Figure 1. Hypothesis 1a stated negative evaluation of Black images is associated with a higher level of group identity. The study did not find any influence of affective evaluation on a Black respondent's level of group identity. Hypothesis 1a was not supported.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Hypothesis 1b predicted negative evaluation of Black images results in a lower level of perceived accuracy of Black images in both news and entertainment media. The study supported this hypothesis. The more negative the Black viewers' evaluation of Black images in the media was, the lower their judgment of accuracy of the Black images.

Hypothesis 1c stated that negative evaluation of the Black images is related to greater endorsement of affirmative action. The results did not support this hypothesis.

Hypothesis 2 stated that negative evaluation of Black images would predict a lower public perception of Blacks. This hypothesis was supported in both news and entertainment media content. More negative evaluation of Black images in the media resulted in more negative perceived public perception of Blacks in general (Black respondents think that the Black group is considered to be lower than other groups).

Hypothesis 3 stated that lower level of perceived public perception would predict greater endorsement of affirmative action. The negative sign of coefficient produced by the perceived public perception indicated (B = -.16) a negative relationship between endorsement of affirmative action and pubic perception (higher = more positive), which supported the prediction. Hypothesis 3 was supported.

Hypothesis 4 tested interaction between group salience and coping responses in that the highly committed respondents display stronger coping responses than the less committed. The study did not find any interaction effects. Hypothesis 4 was rejected.

Discussion

This study examined the influence of Black images in the news and entertainment media on Black respondents' endorsement of affirmative action. Based on theoretical work on group threats and coping that stem from social identity, the study hypothesized that perceived negative media images of Blacks were associated with coping responses among Black respondents. As Black respondents found Black media images more negative, they judged the images as less accurate. The perceived negative Black images also contributed to African American respondents' assessments of how their in-group was perceived and placed in an American racial hierarchy by other ethnic groups. The negative evaluation of media portrayals of Blacks predicted perceived lower evaluation of Blacks by other ethnic groups, which in turn encouraged Black respondents to endorse affirmative action.

The perceived negative Black images were, however, not directly related to Black respondents' group membership or their endorsement of affirmative action. Facing negative images of their in-group might serve as a threat to African American identity, and this threat thus could be related to their stronger group assertion as well as endorsement of affirmative action. Such an inference is tempered, however, by possible methodological constraints, such as an apparent ceiling effect and a lack of variability. That is, Black respondents' scores for the two variables of group identity and endorsement of affirmative action were relatively high with small standard deviations.

Alternatively, that negative media portrayals of Blacks (perceived by Blacks) were not related to respondents' level of Black identity or policy endorsement may be explained by the lack of credibility Black respondents gave to the media portrayals. When respondents evaluated Black media images as more negative, they also considered the images less accurate. African Americans have a rich knowledge about their in-group, and thus they can validate and negate the media presentation of Blacks (Cooks & Orbe, 1993). If this were the case, seeing negative Black images in the media had little influence on their group identity because these images were simply invalid. They were thus discarded.

Other unexpected results involved the absence of group salience effects on Black respondents' coping behavior. The study did not find a significant difference in coping responses between Black respondents who were highly committed to the group and those who were less committed. This may reflect that the moderating role of group salience in coping has been inconclusive to date, particularly when cross-sectional survey data were used (Hewstone, Rubin, & Willis, 2002).

Implications of the Findings and Future Research

Black Media Images and Racial Conflict. When the results of the current study are considered in light of previous research, they suggest the existence of differences between White and Black respondents' reactions to Black images in the media. Previous research documented that negative Black images in the media (perceived by White respondents) predicted negative African American stereotypes, which in turn resulted in White opposition to affirmative action (Fujioka & Tan, 2003; Tan et al., 2000).

In contrast, the current study found that negative Black images are related to Black endorsement of affirmative action. Both White and Black respondents might find Black media images to be negative. For Whites, negativity is associated with Black characters and their behaviors, which may result in White negative stereotypes of Blacks and in turn contribute to White disagreement with affirmative action. For Blacks, negativity may be related to their perceived public views of in-group members, which is associated with Black endorsement of affirmative action. These results suggest that minority media images may not only affect our racial environment (by providing information about in-group and out-groups) but also foster intergroup conflict by polarizing two positions.

Relevance of Findings to Other Minority Groups. In a similar vein, future research needs to address effects of minority media portrayals on members of other minority groups. That is, how do non-White Hispanics and Asian Americans, for example, evaluate and respond to media portrayals of African Americans? Does mediated information about other minority members foster intergroup conflict between or among different minority groups?

This study examines Black coping responses to media images of in-group members, but how do other people of color (e.g., Hispanics) respond to media presentation of their group members? Do they use the same coping strategies as Black respondents did in this study to deal with mediated images of in-group? If coping responses are due to identity-protective motives (ethnic identity), as suggested by the literature, we should expect, at least to some extent, similar findings. In practice, however, each group's ethnic identity may be unique due to the distinct immigration history and experiences each group has carried up to the present. In fact, one study ascribed ethnic differences in media criticism--Blacks were most critical followed by Hispanics and Asian Americans--to the difference in the length of each group's American experience: Blacks had the longest experience of all (McAneny, 1994). It is thus possible to see some variation in minority audiences' responses to the media portrayals of own group members. Recent experimental work, for example, reported Mexican American viewers' strong emotional responses to "positive" news stories rather than "negative" news stories featuring Mexican Americans (Fujioka, 2005). This Mexican American response can also be considered "coping" in that it makes Mexican American audiences feel good about themselves (by being excited about positive images). Future research, therefore, needs to explore the role of ethnic identity and coping responses in relation to different media content (negative or positive minority images) and with different segments of minority audiences.

Limitations of the Present Study

Some limitations included the use of a college sample with a greater number of women and possible measurement errors associated with a single-item measure of endorsement of affirmative action. Future research needs to examine a general minority population, including children and adolescents, in order to achieve a better understanding of minority portrayal effects on minority audiences. This study, based on the theoretical assumptions, examined a relationship among affective evaluation of Black media images, perceived public perception, and affirmative-action endorsement, which was correlational, not causal, in nature. It introduced five control variables (alternative explanations) when testing these proposed relationships, but there were other unmeasured variables, such as parent political involvement and peer influence, that could provide a different account of this data. In addition, the current study did not specifically address social cognitive variables (e.g., schema, implicit association) when examining coping responses to the mediated messages. The questions of whether and the extent to which the process involved in coping responses is explicit (conscious or controlled process) or implicit (automatic process), for example, should be investigated in an experimental setting where both explicit and implicit procedure can be executed.

Conclusion

This study examined the relationships among media portrayal variables, perceived public perception of the in-group, and opinion toward affirmative action from a minority perspective. Theoretically, the study demonstrated that concepts of coping and intergroup threats stemming from social identity might be useful when we examine the effects of minority media portrayals on minority audiences. The results of the study also suggested the important role of the "perceived" public in how minority members respond to mediated information about their in-group. The study found that negative Black images in the media predicted perceived lower public perception of Blacks, which was related to Black respondents' greater endorsement of affirmative action. Regardless of the accuracy and legitimacy of the minority images, the media are indeed an undeniable contributor to our racial environment in which people's attitudes and decisions for racial policies are based. At the same time, the findings of this study suggest that minority audiences--at least those who feel committed to their ethnic group--are "active" and skillful participants of their mediated environment, exercising coping strategies to protect and maintain their identity from possible harm. Nevertheless, this study's conclusions should be considered as merely preliminary due to a cross-sectional survey design with a nonrandomly selected sample. More research in this area would bolster confidence in the study's findings. Race-related issues are complex, and so is the mechanism involved in minority media effects, which calls for future investigation utilizing different research designs and different segments of minority audiences.

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Notes

(1) Lipsitz (1998) described Whiteness (White identity) as an "unmarked" category (p. 1) that is so dominant in social and cultural relations that Whites may not be aware of it but do benefit from it.

(2) The entire sample size of this project was 707, including 360 who identified themselves as White, 202 as Black, 61 as Asian, 14 as Hispanic, 24 as Middle Eastern, and 46 as "other." The current study used the subsample of 202 Blacks. Although college populations often exhibit limited media use, many theorists suggest that it is what an audience draws from the media, not the exposure, that determines media effects (e.g., Bandura, 1986). The primary focus of this study was internal validity, to examine theory-based relationships among Black "perceptions" of African Americans in the media, public views of Blacks, and the affirmative-action endorsement, rather than to produce generalizable results.

(3) The study found moderate zero-order correlations among evaluation variables (affective evaluation and accuracy) of Black media images with the highest scores of .58 (p = .001). These results indicate that the relationships are significant but moderate in magnitude. The study also checked variance inflation factors (VIF). According to Stevens (1996), observing any VIF exceeding 10 in a model should be treated as a multicollinearity case. In this data set, none of the VIFs exceeded 1.4. Together, neither the results from simple zero-order correlations nor the results from the VIF methods indicate substantial evidence that this study suffers from the problem of multicollinearity.

Yuki Fujioka (Ph.D., Washington State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Georgia State University. Her research interests include the role of intergroup processes (e.g., ethnic stereotyping, identity) in audience members' responses to mediated messages, cognitive processing, and the role of media and mediation in health decision making.

Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, and Reliabilities of Variables

Variables                            N     M     SD    Range   [alpha]

Index: Group salience               202   4.9    1.3    1-7      65
  My ethnic group membership ...
    Important reflection
      of who I am                   202   5.1    1.8
    Unimportant to me (a)           202   4.7    1.9
    Important to my self-image      202   4.9    1.8

Index: Public perception            202   3.3    1.1    1-7      68
  Others consider my
      ethnic group ...
    Generally good                  202   3.1    1.5
    More ineffective than
      other group (a)               202   3.2    1.6
    Generally respectful            202   3.3    1.6
    Generally unworthy (a)          202   3.6    1.6

Index: Membership assertion         202   6.2    0.9    1-7      62
  I am/feel ...
    A worthy member of my group     201   6.3    1.2
    Having little to offer
      to my group (a)               201   6.5    1.1
    A cooperative participant       201   5.5    1.5
    A useless member of my group    201   6.5    1.2

Index: Evaluation of Blacks (news)  195   1.8    0.8    1-5      .75
  African Americans in
    TV news                         195   1.7    0.8
    Newspaper                       195   2.0    0.9

Index: Evaluation of
    Blacks (entertainment)          194   2.7    0.8    1-5
  African Americans in
    TV drama                        194   2.6    0.9
    Sitcoms                         194   2.9    1.0
    Movies                          194   2.6    1.0

Index: Accuracy (news)              194   2.1    0.8    1-5      .80
  African Americans in
    TV news                         194   2.0    0.9
    Newspaper                       194   2.2    1.0

Index: Accuracy (entertainment)     196   2.4    0.8    1-5      .81
  African Americans in
    TV drama                        196   2.4    1.0
    Sitcoms                         196   2.5    1.0
    Movies                          196   2.4    1.0

Opinion: U.S. still needs
  affirmative action                202   4.2    0.9    1-5

Index: Quick discrimination index   202   3.7    0.4    1-5      .80

  Background
    Evaluation of contact
      with Whites                   202   3.2    1.0    1-5
    Political affiliation           202   3.0    0.9    1-5
    Age                             202   21.3   5.3

Note: High score indicates more favorable/positive, more accurate,
conservative, or greater support with minority position.

(a) Indicates reverse items.