Media

Selected media coverage of our work

Racial Bias in Perceptions of Others' Pain

  • Nov. 20, 2020: The magical negro: Tackling the 'Blacks can take more pain' theory (interview on the Sick Empire podcast)

  • Aug. 18, 2019: Bias in medicine (main story featuring our research on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver)

  • Aug. 14, 2019: Myths about physical racial differences were used to justify slavery — and are still believed by doctors today (included in a 1619 Project feature piece from The New York Times Magazine)

  • Apr. 13, 2018: Pain and prejudice: Understanding Black pain (special segment featuring our research on BET's The Rundown with Robin Thede)

  • Apr. 5, 2016: UVA study links disparities in pain management to racial bias (All Things Considered)

  • Apr. 5, 2016: Is there a racial 'care gap' in medical treatment? (PBS Newshour)

  • Apr. 4, 2016: The disturbing reason some African American patients may be undertreated for pain (Washington Post)

  • Jun. 15, 2014: I don't feel your pain (Boston Globe)

  • May 1, 2014: Interview -- Discussing our work on racial bias in children's perceptions of others' pain with co-authors Rebecca Dore and Sophie Trawalter on Virginia Insight

  • Oct. 17, 2013: Why Can't We Feel Minorities' Pain? (Huffpost Live)

  • Jun. 27, 2013: I Don't Feel Your Pain: A failure of empathy perpretuates racial disparities (Slate)

  • Nov. 15, 2012: Why We Expect Black Football Players to Return From Injury Faster Than White Players (Deadspin)


The Superhumanization of Black People

  • Apr. 30, 2015: Why Do So Many People See Black Protestors Different From White Ones? The troubling social psychology of urban violence (Pacific Standard)

  • Nov. 30, 2014: Interview -- Discussing our superhumanization work on NPR's All Things Considered

  • Nov. 26, 2014: The Racial Bias Embedded in Darren Wilson's Testimony (Invited piece with co-authors Adam Waytz and Sophie Trawalter) (Washington Post)

  • Nov. 26, 2014: African Americans and 'superhumanization bias' (All in with Chris Hayes (MSNBC))

  • Nov. 26, 2014: In Darren Wilson's Testimony, Familiar Themes About Black Men (NPR.com)

  • Nov. 25, 2014: The terrifying racial stereotypes laced through Darren Wilson's testimony (Vox)

  • Nov. 25, 2014: The Pathology of the Magical Negro Narrative in Mike Brown Ruling (Huffington Post)

  • Nov. 18, 2014: Black Magic, Literally: White People Think Blacks are More Likely to Have Supernatural Abilities and Magical Powers (Medical Daily)

  • Nov. 14, 2014: Whites see Blacks as Superhuman (And that's not exactly a compliment) (Slate)

  • Oct. 10, 2014: Our Problematic Belief in the Magical, Mystical Negro (Pacific Standard)


Inattentional Blindness to Black People