An fMRI Investigation of Attributing Negative Social Treatment to Racial Discrimination

■ We used fMRI to examine the neural responses that occur during experiences of perceived racial discrimination. Previous neuroimaging studies have focused exclusively on the processes underlying racial bias from the perpetratorʼs perspective and have yet to examine the processes that occur when individuals are being discriminated against. To extend this work, we examined the neural correlates associated with attributing negative social treatment to racial discrimination to explore the cognitive and affective processes that occur as discrimination is being experienced. To do this, we scanned Black participants while they were ostensibly excluded by Whites and then measured distress levels and racebased attributions for exclusion. In response to being socially excluded by Whites, Black participants who appeared to be more distressed showed greater social pain-related neural activity and reduced emotion regulatory neural activity. In addition, those who attributed exclusion to racial...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: JOCN
• Authors: Carrie L. Masten, Eva H. Telzer, Naomi I. Eisenberger
• Keywords: JOCN 2011, Negative Social Treatment, Neural Activity, Racial Discrimination