Racism, conservatism, Affirmative Action, and intellectual sophistication: A matter of principled conservatism or group dominance?

Using data from 3 different samples, the authors found that: (a) the relationships between political conservatism and racism generally increases as a function of educational sophistication; however, the relationship between political conservatism and anti-Black affect did not increase with educational sophistication. (b) The correlation between political conservatism and racism could be entirely accounted for by their mutual relationship with social dominance orientation. (c) Generally, the net effect of political conservatism, racism, and social dominance orientation on opposition to affirmative action increased with increasing education. These findings contradict much of the case for the principled conservatism hypothesis, which maintains that political values that are largely devoid of racism, especially among highly educated people, are the major source of White's opposition to affirmative action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racism, ideology, and affirmative action revisited: The antecedents and consequences of "principled objections" to affirmative action.

In 2 studies, the antecedents and consequences of "principled objections" to affirmative action (specific, "race-neutral" reasons for opposing the policy) among Whites were examined. In Study 1, data from a probability sample of Los Angeles adults indicated the following: (1) that principled-objection endorsement was driven not merely by race-neutral values but also by dominance-related concerns like racism; (2) that principled objections mediated the effects of group dominance; and (3) that education strengthened-rather than attenuated-the relationship between dominance-related concerns and principled objections, whereas it left the relationship between race-neutral values and the latter essentially unchanged. In Study 2, the education findings were conceptually replicated in a panel study of undergraduates: The completion of additional years of college boosted the correlation between racism and principled objections, whereas it had no effect on the predictive power of conservatism. These results provide support for a general group-dominance approach, which suggests that factors like racism continue to shape White opposition to race-targeted policies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A two-dimensional model that employs explicit and implicit attitudes to characterize prejudice.

In the authors' 2-dimensional model of prejudice, explicit and implicit attitudes are used to create 4 profiles: truly low prejudiced (TLP: double lows), aversive racists (AR: low explicit modern racism/high implicit prejudice), principled conservatives (PC: high explicit modern racism/low implicit prejudice), and modern racists (MR: double highs). Students completed an Asian Modern Racism Scale and an Asian/White Implicit Association Test. The authors compared the 4 groups' prejudice-related ideologies (i.e., egalitarianism/humanism and social conservatism) and economic/political conservatism (Study 1, N=132). The authors also tested whether MR but not PC (Study 2, N=65) and AR but not TLP (Study 3, N=143) are more likely to negatively evaluate an Asian target when attributional ambiguity is high (vs. low). In support of the model, TLP did not hold prejudice-related ideologies and did not discriminate; AR were low in conservatism and demonstrated the attributional-ambiguity effect; PC did not strongly endorse prejudice-related ideologies and did not discriminate; MR strongly endorsed prejudice-related ideologies, were conservative, and demonstrated the attributional-ambiguity effect. The authors discuss implications for operationalizing and understanding the nature of prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beliefs about affirmative action: A test of the group self-interest and racism beliefs models.

Two models of affirmative action attitudes (i.e., group self-interest and racism beliefs) were examined among a sample of racially diverse college students. Open-ended questions were included to provide students an opportunity to elaborate on their beliefs about affirmative action and beliefs about the existence of racial discrimination. Findings from logistic regression analysis on a subsample (n = 376) provide support for both models; race (a proxy for group self-interest) and racism beliefs (as measured by the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale [CoBRAS] and an the open-ended question) helped predict endorsement of affirmative action in theoretically expected ways. Asian, Latino, and Black students were more likely to view affirmative action as helpful compared to their White counterparts, and limited awareness of institutional racism (i.e., higher CoBRAS scores) was associated with antiaffirmative action arguments. Follow-up analysis, however, provided support for the superiority of the racism beliefs model as measured by the CoBRAS in predicting affirmative action beliefs over the group-interest model. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is Affirmative Action Fair? Comment.

Comments on the article by Crosby et al (see record 2003-03405-003) which attempts to bring psychological research to bear on an examination of the policy of affirmative action. In their article, the authors support affirmative action on the grounds of fairness, merit, and equality. It is the current author's belief, however, that Crosby et al have failed to address the world of affirmative action as it is practiced today. Discussion focuses on 4 problem areas: discrepancies in affirmative action policies and practices, especially as they relate to "blind racial preference" practices; the premise that the underrepresentation of certain groups is mainly the result of societal prejudice when this underrepresentation is the complex result of countless factors-cultural, psychological, historical, biological-all of which are not fully understood; the push for affirmative action for all members of the group, even if many members have not experienced prejudice; and the fact that psychological science, empirical studies, and theory cannot decide among these values or between differing conceptions of justice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whites' opposition to busing: On conceptualizing and operationalizing group conflict.

L. Bobo (see record 1984-14820-001) concluded that Whites' opposition to racial busing is rooted in their perception that Blacks pose tangible threats to their own interests, a conclusion that supports realistic group conflict theory and contradicts the present authors' (see record 1981-32636-001) conclusion that threats posed by Blacks to Whites' private lives did not spill over into opposition to racial busing. It is shown that Bobo reported results entirely consistent with those of the present authors and that he failed to distinguish group interest from self-interest, symbolic racism, or other plausible causes of opposition to busing. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to two versions of affirmative action action among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.

Houston-area Whites (n?=?414), Blacks (n?=? 392), American-born Hispanics (n?=?162), and Hispanic immigrants (n?=?177) evaluated a self-defined "typical" affirmative action plan (AAP) and a tiebreak AAP that applies under conditions of equal qualifications and underrepresentation. Whites preferred Tiebreak; Blacks and Hispanics preferred the typical AAP. The groups differed in beliefs about the procedures and fairness of affirmative action (AA), perceptions of workplace discrimination, and political orientations. Perceived fairness predicted support for both AAPs in all American-born groups, but the impact of other predictors varied greatly across AAPs and ethnic groups. The results clarify the bases for Whites' opposition to AA as they construe it. The results also underscore the importance of specifying the AAP procedures, of uncovering the predictors of AA attitudes among target-group members, and of conducting separate analyses in each ethnic community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political orientation and modern versus aversive racism: Tests of Dovidio and Gaertner's (1998) integrated model.

According to J. F. Dovidio and S. L. Gaertner's (1998) integrated model of racism, politically liberal European Americans tend to express racism differently than conservative European Americans, with liberals demonstrating aversive racism and conservatives, symbolic or modern racism. In support of the model, in Experiment 1 liberals showed bias in favor of a twice-prosecuted African American relative to a European American in their judgment of double jeopardy, whereas conservatives did the reverse. Experiment 2 replicated these effects while eliminating a confound in the design of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 found evidence for the intrapsychic conflict hypothesized to underlie aversive racism. Specifically, only liberals displayed greater physiological arousal to the touch of an African American versus a European American experimenter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life experience and mode of coping: Relation to moral judgment in adulthood.

Two studies examining Gibbs's (1977, 1979) hypothesis on the relation between mode of coping with human needs and moral development in adulthood are presented. It was hypothesized that mature levels of moral reasoning would be related to affirmative coping, whereas conventional reasoning would be related to abortive coping. In Study 1, 70 adults (M?=?44.3 years of age) were given the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and classified as either principled or conventional moral reasoners. From this original sample, 13 principled and 15 conventional women were administered an Existential Coping Interview (ECI), designed to assess affirmative and abortive coping with human needs (after Fromm, 1955) arising from an experience of loss. Results indicated that conventional moral reasoners dealt abortively with Fromm's existential needs, whereas principled reasoners exhibited affirmative coping strategies. In Study 2, 75 adults 20 to 78 years of age were administered the ECI; measures of moral reasoning (DIT), openness to experience, and coping; and an impact of life events scale. A positive relationship was demonstrated between existential coping and principled reasoning, openness to experience, and problem-focused coping strategies. Discussion focuses on the cognitive definition of life experience and situational and contextual variability influencing moral development in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating political correctness: Anecdotes vs. research.

"Political correctness", by being linked with anecdotal accounts of some extreme incidents, has become an epithet which is used by conservatives to discredit left-liberal policies, while conservative measures, which themselves endanger some of the most valuable academic traditions, are presented as economically necessary and inevitable. An even-handed evaluation of political influences on universities must abandon the anecdotal for a comprehensive examination of the overall positive and negative influences of all policies, regardless of their political colouration. Left-liberal and conservative policies are examined and compared in the contexts of women's studies, group difference research, affirmative action, and sexual harassment policies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

L'impact de valeurs conservatrices et de préjugés racistes sur l'ouverture à l'immigration.

This study differs from previous ones by evaluating the respective effect of racism and conservatism on reactions to immigration. More specifically, in this study the relevance of both factors in the determination of an acceptable number of immigrants to enter Canada is evaluated. According to the hypotheses, grouped in a predictive model, traditional racism is associated with neo-racism and it is only the latter that has a negative influence on estimations of an acceptable number of immigrants in Canada. According to the model, these estimations are also negatively influenced by conservative values. The model was tested among 230 university students. According to the results, being opened or closed to immigration is not arrived at via two distinctive pathways: Conservatism and traditional racism are positively associated. In the discussion, the importance of conservatism and racism in the development of reactions to immigration is underscored in view of the fact that visible minorities represent more than half of the immigrants entering Canada. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whites' opposition to busing: Symbolic racism or realistic group conflict?

The theory of symbolic racism contends that White individuals' opposition to busing springs from a basic underlying prejudiced or intolerant attitudinal predisposition toward Blacks, not self-interest or realistic group conflict motives. The present research argues that realistic group conflict motives do help explain Whites' opposition to busing. Two major criticisms of the symbolic racism approach are made: (a) that the tests of symbolic racism vs group conflict explanations of opposition to busing have not been fair because of a narrow definition of group interests that ignores the role of subjectively appreciated threat and challenges to group status; and (b) that by forcing racial attitudes onto a single continuum running from prejudice to tolerance, the symbolic racism researchers overlook the importance of the perception that the civil rights movement is a threatening force. By reanalyzing the Michigan National Election Study data (2,705 voting-age citizens in the 1972 phase and 2,248 in the 1976 phase) used by D. O. Sears et al (1979, 1980), the present research broadens the notion of self-interest and operates with a multidimensional conceptualization of racial attitudes. In so doing, the data demonstrate that Whites' opposition to busing reflects group conflict motives, not simply a new manifestation of prejudice. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meritocracy and opposition to affirmative action: Making concessions in the face of discrimination.

Typically, people who strongly endorse the merit principle and believe that outcomes should be given to those most deserving oppose affirmative action (AA) programs that violate this principle. However, how do they respond to AA when faced with a great deal of workplace discrimination? The authors hypothesized that people who care strongly about merit should be motivated to combat discrimination because it biases the assessment of merit. Consequently, these individuals should make concessions for AA. The authors found support for their hypothesis when investigating (a) participants' preexisting perceptions of workplace discrimination and (b) experimentally induced perceptions of discrimination. They discuss the implications of these results for the psychology of meritocracy and for resistance to AA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Values and Science: Reply.

Responds to Kendler (2004), Johnson (2004), and Zuriff (2004) who directed a number of criticisms against the authors' original article (see record 2003-03405-003) examining the psychological data and policy debates surrounding affirmative action. Kendler and Zuriff both chided the authors for interjecting values into the realm of science. The authors, however, state that both seriously misread the argument, imagining that they talked about "morality" when they did not. The authors claim to hold the same view as Kendler and Zuriff about the dichotomy between data and values and revisit portions of their argument further questioned. To Johnson, they state that the issues are not as clear cut as he has suggested. The authors do, however, reevaluate their original article in light of his criticisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of African American and European American adolescents' endorsement of race-conscious social policies.

To examine the predictors of adolescents' evaluations of affirmative action and school desegregation policies, African American and European American students (ns = 94 and 116, respectively; aged 14 to 17 years) attending a racially diverse high school in the Midwestern United States completed measures of (a) implicit racial attitudes, (b) knowledge about historical racism, and (c) perceptions of and attributions for racial disparities. The following day, adolescents learned about either a proposed affirmative action policy (n = 101) or a school desegregation policy (n = 109) and completed measures of their attitudes toward the policy. Results indicated racial differences in policy support and in the factors predicting policy support. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins of symbolic racism.

The theory of symbolic racism places its origins in a blend of anti-Black affect and conservative values, particularly individualism. We clarify that hypothesis, test it directly, and report several findings consistent with it. Study 1 shows that racial prejudice and general political conservatism fall into 2 separate factors, with symbolic racism loading about equally on both. Study 2 found that the anti-Black affect and individualism significantly explain symbolic racism. The best-fitting model both fuses those 2 elements into a single construct (Black individualism) and includes them separately. The effects of Black individualism on racial policy preferences are mostly mediated by symbolic racism. Study 3 shows that Black individualism is distinctively racial, with effects distinctly different from either an analogous gender individualism or race-neutral individualism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affirmative action: Psychological data and the policy debates.

The authors bring psychological research to bear on an examination of the policy of affirmative action. They argue that data from many studies reveal that affirmative action as a policy has more benefits than costs. Although the majority of pro-affirmative action arguments in the social sciences stress diversity, the authors' argument focuses on issues of merit. The merit-based argument, grounded in empirical studies, concludes that the policy of affirmative action conforms to the American ideal of fairness and is a necessary policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of Canadian attitudes toward immigration: More than just racism?

Analyzed Canadian surveys between 1975 and 1995 (N?=?7,222) to evaluate the opposition to immigration. Contrary to the symbolic racism hypothesis, opposition to immigration was highly correlated with the unemployment rate, while a more traditional intolerance measure showed relative immunity to economic conditions. The most prejudiced groups were not the strongest immigration opponents (e.g., older respondents were the most intolerant but younger respondents were the most opposed to immigration). A 1989 survey suggests several factors determine support for immigration and that concerns vary logically in their impact (e.g., unemployment concerns matter most to unemployed Canadians and least to retirees, and crime concerns matter more to urban than rural residents). Comparing unemployed to other respondents suggests that becoming unemployed will foster the belief that immigrants take jobs from other Canadians, as well as increase this issue's importance as a determinant of the attitude toward the level of immigration. Overall, the results suggest that opposition to immigration is not simply racism in disguise but a complex attitude resulting from an interplay between various concerns and moderating beliefs about immigration's consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Justice-based opposition to social policies: Is it genuine?

Three studies examined whether the concern for justice can be a genuine determinant of attitudes toward affirmative action (AA) or whether justice-based opposition merely masks prejudice. In line with the hypothesis of justice as a cause, we found that, independent of their level of prejudice, people were opposed to AA programs that violate distributive and procedural justice norms, as a result of genuine beliefs in the principles of fairness that the programs violate. Nevertheless, in line with the hypothesis of justice as a rationalization, we also found that people's prejudice level was positively associated with opposition to AA programs that were not explicitly justice violating; moreover, the effect of prejudice was mediated through the tendency to construe these programs as justice violating. The present research has implications for understanding attitudes toward social policies where it is possible that justice concerns could be a genuine source of opposition or a rationalization of prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifying and measuring diversity's payoffs: Light at the end of the affirmative action tunnel.

Because affirmative action is a means for achieving diversity and is, the authors argue, not an end in and of itself, diversity as an end and a concept, along with diversity's payoffs, are highlighted here. Another reason for doing an end-run around affirmative action is that it is a code expression, conjuring up controversial and contentious affect, including reverse discrimination, quotas, and set-asides, which are anathema in the twilight of the 20th century. Hence, the authors' attention is on the bottom line, diversity, as a legitimate end whose payoffs are coveted by employers and institutions of higher learning. They then offer a scheme for selecting employees and students targeted for diversity's payoffs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)