Combating Race-Related Hate Speech: The Role of Symmetrical Communication in Addressing Racism through Perceptual and Behavioral Outcomes

ABSTRACT

This project examined the role of the symmetrical communication dimension in mitigating race-related hate speech. Integrating research in race, racism, DEI, symmetrical communication, cultural competency, and hate speech, a survey with 793 respondents in the U.S. supported cultural empathy as an important intercultural competency factor that facilitated symmetrical communication. Further, symmetrical communication was significantly associated with three critical perceptual outcomes in race relations (perceived connection with, perceived warmth of, and dehumanization of racially different others). Perceived warmth and dehumanization then predicted disapproval of race-related hate speech, the focal behavioral outcome in this study. This project contributed to research on race and DEI by testing a communicative approach to combating racism and enhancing DEI at the societal level. It also advanced theory development in symmetrical communication through extending its role to addressing broader social and cultural issues as well as identifying its specific mechanism and nuances in intercultural interactions. Practically, the study provided a theory-driven, empirically tested mechanism to mitigate race-related hate speech, helping public relations practitioners and social movement organizations to better address racism at the societal level.

KEYWORDS:

• cultural empathy
• dehumanization
• perceived connection
• perceived warmth
• race-related hate speech
• racism
• symmetrical communication

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the University of Houston President’s Grants to Enhance Research on Racism.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Early public relations research has proposed four public relations models: press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetrical communication, and two-way symmetrical communication (Grunig & Hunt, 1984).

2. For full reviews of the criticism and responses to the criticism, see Grunig et al. (2002) and Gower (2006).

3. Respondents were asked to provide consent online before completing the questionnaire. Information about all required elements of consent disclosure were displayed electronically on the screen of the device of choice of each participant. Respondents had unlimited time to review the content of the consent page. They would then click a button that indicated that they had read and were aware of all information of consent disclosure and that they gave consent to participating in the study. After consenting to take part in the study, subjects would be able to begin the survey immediately. During the research procedure, no questions were asked that required subjects to disclose identifying personal information, nor was there any metadata collected. For that purpose, within Qualtrics, the survey platform used to create the online questionnaire, the option “Anonymize Response. Do NOT record any personal information and remove contact association” was selected. By doing so, IP addresses would not be collected, making it impossible for researchers to match responses to any individual.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Houston [President’s Grants to Enhance Research on Racism].