ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief account of intergroup encounters within the context of people biopsychosocial model and cardiovascular measures of challenge and threat. It examines perceivers' emotional and motivational reactions during social interactions with White and Black partners, which included both covert and overt measures. The chapter describes the results from a meta-analysis of these studies organized within a multi-method matrix that demonstrates convergences and divergences among covert and overt measures as a function of the interaction partner's race. The results of the meta-analysis and reviews the utility of different types of measures and describe some apparent advantages of emotion-oriented covert measures over overt measures for the study of intergroup interactions. Many theories suggest that intergroup interactions result in an increase in perceived demands. At an individual or interpersonal level, some theories suggest that intergroup interactions create anxiety or tension.
