Previous work shows that while interracial interactions go poorly in some instances, under other conditions they go well. The current research examines the effect of a dyad's focus on the outcome of such interactions. Specifically, we predicted that interracial dyads focused on task performance would have more positive outcomes than dyads focused on the social aspect of their interaction. Participants were randomly assigned to same-gender dyads; half were interracial (one White participant and one Black participant) and half were same-race (two White participants). The dyad's focus during the interaction was manipulated by experimenter instructions. In the social focus condition, dyads were instructed to treat the tasks as icebreakers and told that they would be asked about their impressions of their partner afterwards. In the task focus condition, dyads were instructed to do as well as possible on the tasks, and were told that there was a $100 bonus for the pair that did the best. In the control condition, dyads were simply told that they would be working on four tasks together. Each dyad worked on the same problem-solving tasks. In interracial dyads, a task focus led to better outcomes in terms of cognitive depletion and pro-White bias. Ironically, focusing on task performance also led to better social outcomes than focusing on making a good impression. Results indicated that a dyad's focus during an interracial interaction can affect the way that both participants experience the interaction.