A study led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with the University of Michigan, has found that people who strongly believe in racial biases about intelligence are more likely to dismiss brilliant Black characters as unrealistic, even when the characters are based on real people. A similar result was found among people who endorse gender stereotypes regarding intelligence.
The study authors recruited a sample of 1,000 participants to view one of four video clips from an American TV show or movie they had not previously seen, each featuring a brilliant protagonist. The participants were then asked if the portrayals aligned with their perceptions of real-life geniuses. The participants were also asked to review 16 photographs (four each of Black and White men and women) and indicate whether the individuals could successfully portray six different traits in a TV show: intelligent, logical, assertive, friendly, hardworking, and emotional.
The participants who strongly believed in racial and gender stereotypes regarding intelligence and logic were less likely to perceive Black women, Black men, and White women protagonists as believable geniuses, compared to White men actors, even when these characters were based on real-life stories, such as the Black mathematicians who helped launch the U.S. space program depicted in the film Hidden Figures.
Furthermore, participants who held strong racial biases regarding intelligence were more likely to think movies featuring a Black male genius were filmed with the intent to persuade their viewers to think a certain way or change their personal beliefs. However, the viewers’ associated persuasive intent regarding films with Black male geniuses did not diminish those viewers’ sense of realism.
According to the authors, prior studies have found counter-stereotypical characters in entertainment media can positively effect viewers’ perceptions of marginalized communities. However, they argue these new findings suggest that strongly held gender and racial biases may undermine the potential for character portrayals to positively impact viewers’ attitudes and beliefs.
TV portrayals are not going to help when the lived experience of viewers is that black Americans are always at the bottom tier for performance in real life on exams such as the SAT or similar quantifiable tests.