Tag Archives | Empathy

Racial Differences in Women’s Role-Taking Accuracy: How Status Matters

Tony P. Love, Jenny L. Davis

Sociological Science June 7, 2021
10.15195/v8.a8


Role-taking is the process of mentally and affectively placing the self in the position of another, understanding the world from the other’s perspective. Role-taking serves an expressive function within interpersonal interaction, supporting others to pursue instrumental tasks that are recognized, valued, and rewarded. In the present work, we compare role-taking accuracy between white women and black women across status-varying interactional arrangements. Data for this study come from a series of two laboratory experiments. Experiment 1 establishes racial differences in white and black women’s role-taking accuracy, showing that women of color are significantly more attuned to others within social encounters. Experiment 2 implements an intervention to undermine racial disparities in role-taking accuracy, showing that expressive labors equalize when black women are empowered within the social structure. Findings highlight the entwinement of status structures with interpersonal processes while demonstrating the efficacy and value of structural reforms.
Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Tony P. Love: Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky; School of Sociology, Australian National University
E-mail: tony.love@uky.edu

Jenny L. Davis: School of Sociology, Australian National University
E-mail: jennifer.davis@anu.edu.au

Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank the American Sociological Association for their funding of this research through the Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline (FAD) and the Australian National University for their funding through the Futures Scheme. Additional gratitude is due to Paige Adkins and Rachel Barczak for their assistance in conducting these studies.

  • Citation: Love, Tony P., and Jenny L. Davis. 2021. “Racial Differences in Women’s Role-Taking Accuracy: How Status Matters.” Sociological Science 8: 150-169.
  • Received: February 2, 2021
  • Accepted: March 6, 2021
  • Editors: Jesper Sørensen, Sarah Soule
  • DOI: 10.15195/v8.a8


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