Initial Interaction of American Blacks and Whites in Interracial and Intraracial Dyads

Abstract

Summary The study explores racial differences in initial interaction by focusing on the first four minutes of conversation in interracial and intraracial interactions. A repeated measures design was used, with black male, black female, white male, and white female American Ss interacting with four stimulus persons orthogonally varied by race and sex. The Ss’ conversations were unobtrusively recorded and the content analyzed to determine the number and types of questions asked and the length of Ss speaking time. The results indicate that blacks and whites significantly change initial interaction depending on the composition of the dyad. In addition, males and females varied question patterns depending on the partner's race. The results suggest that initial interaction for blacks and whites may be governed by different conversational rules.