Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 2013
  • Article
  • Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

An fMRI Investigation of Racial Paralysis

By: Michael I. Norton, Malia F. Mason, Joseph A. Vandello, Andrew Biga and Rebecca Dyer
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We explore the existence and underlying neural mechanism of a new norm endorsed by both black and white Americans for managing interracial interactions: "racial paralysis," the tendency to opt out of decisions involving members of different races. We show that people are more willing to make choices—Who is more intelligent? Who is more polite?—between two white individuals (same-race decisions) than between a white and a black individual (cross-race decisions), a tendency that was enhanced when judgments involved traits related to black stereotypes. We use fMRI to examine the mechanisms underlying racial paralysis, revealing greater recruitment of brain regions implicated in socially appropriate behavior (VMPFC), conflict detection (ACC), deliberative processing (DLPFC), and inhibition (VLPFC). We discuss the impact of racial paralysis on the quality of interracial relations.

Keywords

Behavior; Race; Judgments; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Characteristics; United States

Citation

Norton, Michael I., Malia F. Mason, Joseph A. Vandello, Andrew Biga, and Rebecca Dyer. "An fMRI Investigation of Racial Paralysis." Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 8, no. 4 (April 2013): 387–393.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Michael I. Norton

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • April 2022
    • Journal of Consumer Research

    Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others

    By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams and Michael I. Norton
    • October 2021
    • Journal of Consumer Psychology

    Communicating Resource Scarcity and Interpersonal Connection

    By: Grant E. Donnelly, Anne V. Wilson, Ashley V. Whillans and Michael I. Norton
    • July 2021
    • Journal of Consumer Psychology

    Consumers—Especially Women—Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher Gender Pay Gaps

    By: Tobias Schlager, Bhavya Mohan, Katherine DeCelles and Michael I. Norton
More from the Authors
  • Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams and Michael I. Norton
  • Communicating Resource Scarcity and Interpersonal Connection By: Grant E. Donnelly, Anne V. Wilson, Ashley V. Whillans and Michael I. Norton
  • Consumers—Especially Women—Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher Gender Pay Gaps By: Tobias Schlager, Bhavya Mohan, Katherine DeCelles and Michael I. Norton
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College