UCLA

Black and White Americans show relative agreement on the extent of anti-Black racism before the 1960s but diverge in perceptions of racial progress made since. Here, I propose how Black and White Americans perceive the self in relation to others influences cognitive representations (temporal distance, indirect consequences) of history highlighting anti-Black racism (critical Black history). Overall, I propose that when engaging with critical Black history, Black Americans construe the self more interdependently with familial ancestors, while White Americans construe the self less interdependently. And, I propose this self-construal difference mediates racial differences in the perceived temporal distance and indirect consequences of critical Black history. Study Set 1 examined how (a) manipulating self-construal shapes temporal perceptions of past events and (b) how manipulating the racial content of history motivates White Americans to defensively shift perceptions of self and history. Results indicated that participants made to think about their connection to family perceived one year ago (Pilot Study) and, to an extent, certain recent race-relevant events (Study 1) as closer to the present. Further, White Americans with strong anti-Black attitudes who engaged with critical Black history reported less interdependence with familial ancestors and perceived this history as further from the present (Study 2). Study Set 2 tested for—and examined whether self-construal explained—racial differences in perceptions of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Engaging with this critical Black history elicited Black Americans to perceive more interdependence with familial ancestors, but White Americans to perceive more interdependence with non-specific others—and this differential shift in interdependence focus mediated Black Americans perceiving this history as more temporally proximal and consequential than White Americans (Study 3). While manipulating the critical content of this history had minimal effects on history cognitions (Study 4), manipulating critical Black history to appear proximal to the present threatened White Americans, reflected in their history cognitions and restorative justice support (Study 5). These results highlight new insights into how the temporal location and perceived indirect consequences of critical racial histories are motivated social cognitions, in part facilitated by perceived connection to familial ancestors, with implications for support for restorative justice.