You deplete me: The cognitive costs of colorblindness on ethnic minorities

This study examined how priming Whites with colorblind or multicultural approaches to diversity prior to an interracial interaction affects ethnic minoritiesʹ cognitive functioning. Although ethnic minorities did not explicitly know which prime their White partner received, ethnic minorities paired with Whites primed with colorblindness (vs. multiculturalism) showed poorer cognitive performance on the Stroop (1935) color-naming task following the interaction. Furthermore, Whites in interracial interactions primed with colorblindness exhibited more behavioral prejudice, which mediated ethnic minoritiesʹ decreased cognitive performance. These findings suggest that Whitesʹ exposure to certain ideologies may affect the cognitive performance of the ethnic minorities they encounter.