Binocular Resolution and Perception of Race in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID5268825
AuthorsT F Pettigrew (0000-0002-2440-7150, Harvard University Press), Gordon W Allport (Harvard University Press), Eric O Barnett
Year1958
Volume49
Issue4
Pages265-278
Publication date1958-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.2044-8295.1958.tb00665.x
PMID13596569
OpenAlexW2091493047
LanguageEN
Citations received33

Our experiment uses a newly developed method for research in social perception: a brief stereoscopic presentation of pairs of racial photographs. Members of the four major racial groups in South Africa-Europeans, Coloureds, Indians, and Africans-serve both as judges and as photographic stimulus material. The factor of eye dominance is controlled.While the stimulus material itself accounts for many of the findings, there is clear evidence that 'directed state' factors are also at work. White South Africans, especially the Afrikaners, seem to manifest a 'perceptual vigilance' in their judgements. They report racially mixed photographs to be either pure European or full-blooded African more often than do judges of other races. This tendency is consistent with the bifurcation (judgements of 'black' or 'white') known to be characteristic of people who are apprehensive concerning race relations.The use of meaningful stimuli presented in a setting of binocular rivalry offers new promise for the study of cultural and personal determinants in perception

Binocular rivalry · Cognitive psychology · Perception · Social perception · Stimulus (psychology) · Visual perception · Cultural Differences and Values · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub