Moral Self-Image as a Predictor of Black History Knowledge (2023)

by

Faculty Sponsor: Michael J. Perez

Live Poster Session: Zoom Link

Samantha Hunnewell
Samantha Hunnewell

Samantha is a fourth-year student at Wesleyan University, where she is pursuing a degree in Psychology (BA). She is the current President of Wesleyan’s chapter of Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology, and she hopes that her work in the organization will help improve the psychology department for future students. Samantha interned with Doctors Without Borders during the summer and spring of 2022, where she used her education in psychology to improve the workplace and assist employees in receiving grants to further their own education. Samantha has been conducting research with Dr. Perez in his race and intergroup relations lab for two semesters now and is looking forward to continuing her studies in the field after she graduates this May.

Samantha’s LinkedIn Profile
Cole Zetterquist
Cole Zetterquist

Cole, class of ‘24, is a Psychology major at Wesleyan University. He works as a research assistant to Professor Michael Perez of the Psychology department, who specializes in the study of race and intergroup relations. Cole will be conducting his own research in the summer, under the guidance of Professor Perez, as part of the College of Integrative Sciences Summer in the Sciences program. Following graduation, Cole hopes to pursue his Master’s degree in Psychology. Outside of academics, Cole is a member of the Wesleyan Men’s Squash team and is involved in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Wesleyan athletics as a representative of his team.

Abstract: It has been established that the education of history, especially that which pertains to the United States, is taught from an extremely White-centric perspective/lens in the US, often brushing over or under-saturating many racially relevant historical events or patterns (Zinn, 2015). This pattern has complemented the Marley Hypothesis, which states that White people are more ignorant of racism in society due to their lack of knowledge of marginalized group histories (Bonam, 2019). However, little is known about the role of moral self-image in relation to one’s understanding of Black history, a gap that the present pilot study intends to help fill. Participants were provided with a survey containing multiple scales to measure several variables of interest, as well as open-response questions regarding the personal significance of two White historical figures and two Black historical figures. The response variables that participants were evaluated on include self-reported knowledge of Black history, the mean level of confidence when answering questions about Black history, and the actual score received on a Black history quiz. The explanatory variables of interest include national attachment, national glorification, overall collective guilt, and moral self-image. Overall, moral self-image was significantly related to higher levels of self-reported Black history knowledge and self-reported certainty in Black history knowledge, but was not related to better performance on a Black history quiz. Additionally, a qualitative investigation of open-response questions about the personal importance of historical figures revealed that more personal significance is attached to White historical figures in regards to the legacy/historical importance of said figures, while more emphasis is placed on Black figures’ embodiment of good values/qualities.

Video/Audio Component: Will post a screen recording of the presentation after 4/27/2023

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