Final answer:
Gaertner and Dovidio's 1977 experiment examined aversive racism and its effect on helping behavior, finding that people with aversive racist tendencies were less likely to help others.
Step-by-step explanation:
The experiment by Gaertner and Dovidio in 1977 focused on the phenomenon known as aversive racism and its impact on helping behavior. Aversive racists are individuals who consciously endorse egalitarian values and believe they are non-prejudiced, yet unconsciously hold negative beliefs and feelings. Gaertner and Dovidio observed that these individuals may behave in ways that are inadvertently discriminatory, especially when their actions can be justified on the basis of nonracial factors. For example, aversively racist individuals might be less likely to offer help to a person of another race if they can justify their inaction by citing other reasons, such as being in a hurry. This form of racism is more subtle and indirect than overt expressions of racism, yet it can still lead to discriminatory behaviors.
A. Aversively racist individuals were less likely to help others. versus B. Aversively racist individuals demonstrated increased prosocial behavior. The answer correlates with option A, indicating that aversive racism negatively impacts prosocial behavior.