The Cookie Effect: Race, the Media, and Perception

• In Event: Entertainment Media's Effects on Political Perspectives

Abstract

Folk wisdom and Nobel Prize Winning research agree: appearances matter. When one person sees another, they naturally make a snap judgement about that person’s character and motivations. The same may be true for the people we see on television. Characters and the groups they represent disseminate important information for the context and plot of their shows, but they may also inform viewers about those groups and their representation in reality. The problem, however, is that human employ a variety of cognitive mechanisms that effect the ways in which these representations manifest themselves in our attitudes. In this study we explore how the presentation of fictional characters in primetime television programs influences attitudes toward that character’s racial group. Building on the insights from social identity theory and aversive racism, we explore how representations of African American characters generate unintuitive and differential responses to questions measuring symbolic racism and other attitudes about minorities. Specifically, we expect the portrayal of “urban” African American characters (e.g., "Cookie Lyon" in Empire) will positively influence racial perceptions of other African-Americans, particularly among White respondents. However, when African American characters are shown as middle class or otherwise "typical" Americans (e.g., "Claire Huxtable" in The Cosby Show), respondents may display more racial animus--especially among White respondents. We test this proposition using a survey experiment at two universities in the Southeastern United States.

Authors

• Ashley Garcia, University of Texas, Austin

• James Benjamin Taylor, Kennesaw State University

• Jeffrey Glas