New forms of explicit racism find their way on social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, through hate speech and social exclusion. This study looks at mechanisms behind social judgment...Show moreNew forms of explicit racism find their way on social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, through hate speech and social exclusion. This study looks at mechanisms behind social judgment online and the influence of race and emotion. An online experiment was designed to test whether Black faces are rated as less friendly compared to White (hypothesis 1) and whether positive Tweets lead to a higher friendliness rating compared to negative or neutral (hypothesis 2). Further, an interaction effect between race and emotionality on friendliness judgment was assessed assuming that the difference between friendliness rating of Black and White faces depends on the emotionality of the Tweet (hypothesis 3). Finally, a questionnaire was administered to test for cultural diversity awareness (CDA), assuming heightened CDA is connected to less racial bias (hypothesis 4). Findings indicate that there is a significant effect of race on friendliness decision, but contrasting hypothesis 1 it was revealed that Black faces were instead rated as more friendly. The effect of emotionality was found significant, indicating that positive Tweets lead to higher friendliness ratings. The interaction effect was non-significant and no difference in friendliness judgment between the two races across the emotionality categories was found. Lastly, a significant negative correlation was found between CDA and racial bias, suggesting a positive influence of CDA. The findings give an important indication for the role racial biases and emotionality play in judgment formation.Show less
