Contraction as a Response to Group Threat: Demographic Decline and Whites’ Classification of People Who Are Ambiguously White

Abascal, Maria

doi:10.1177/0003122420905127

Cited by 84 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Overall, mothers have more alignment with the father around his status as "Hispanic" than how his Hispanic origin intersects with race (see also Porter et al, 2016); this finding underscores the need for understanding what race reports actually reflect for Latinx groups (Roth 2010). This has further implications for studies that explore patterns of racial inequality among the Hispanic category (see Abascal 2020;Frank et al, 2010;Golash-Boza and Darity, 2008), highlighting the fluidity of observed and reported race among Hispanics even within established relationships. While beyond the reach of this study, the racial classification of Latino fathers may be shaped in part by skin color (Garcia et al, 2015), which may play a role in the extent of mismatch among these fathers (Golash-Boza and Darity, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Notably, many choose to "opt-out" and declare "some other race" on their forms (Dowling 2014;Roth 2010). A small, but growing, body of literature attempts to understand the dynamic nature of racial and ethnic categories through the lens of outsiders (Abascal 2020;Roth 2018;Wade 2005). For example, Maria Abascal (2020) finds wide variability in whether an individual is classified as "Hispanic" by outsiders and that this perception is related to different contextual characteristics.…”

Section: Background Intimate Partnerships and Racial Ascription: A Multidimensional Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“If You Don’t Know Me by Now…”

2021

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The racial composition of couples is a salient indicator of race’s impact on mate selection, but how well do those in intimate partnerships know the racial identities of their partners? While prior research has revealed that an individual’s race may be perceived differently than how they identify, most of what is known comes from brief interactions, with less information on established relationships. This study examines whether discrepancies in the reports of a person’s race or ethnicity can be identified even within intimate relationships, as well as which relational, social, and attitudinal factors are predictive of divergent or concordant reports. We draw on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=3467), a U.S.-based dataset that uniquely provides both the father’s self-reported race and Hispanic origin and the mother’s report of the father’s race and ethnicity. We compare reports of the father’s race/Hispanic origin from both parents to assess the extent of mismatch, and we distinguish between whether mothers view the father’s race as similar to or different from her own. We find roughly 14% of mothers provide a race and Hispanic origin that is inconsistent with the father’s report, with a large share reflecting differences in the self-identified and perceived race of fathers who are reported as Hispanic. Among mismatched reports, mothers are more likely to report a race/ethnicity for the father that matches her own, depressing the number reporting interracial unions. Perceptions of racial homogamy are especially likely when mothers view racial sameness as important to marriage. Further, mismatches are more common in the midst of weak relational ties (i.e. non-marital relationships) and are less common when both parents are college-educated. These findings reveal that intimate unions are a site where race is socially constructed and provide insight into how norms of endogamy manifest within formed relationships.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Background Intimate Partnerships and Racial Ascription: A Multidimensional Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“If You Don’t Know Me by Now…”

2021

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“…For example, assessments of President Obama's skin tone were more tied to political attitudes during the election than after it was decided (Kemmelmeier and Chavez 2014). There is also recent research indicating that when presented with information about growing ethnic minority populations, whites are more selective about which phenotypes qualify as white-a defensive ingroup homogeneity effect (Abascal 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do White People See Variation in Black Skin Tones? Reexamining a Purported Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

et al. 2020

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Previous research has reported that white survey interviewers remember black respondents’ skin tones in a much narrower range than recollections by black interviewers. This finding has been used to suggest that, in line with the one-drop rule, whites do not perceive meaningful differences between light- and dark-skinned black people. The authors reanalyze evidence thought to demonstrate relative homogeneity in white interviewers’ evaluation of black skin tones. In contrast to previous studies, this examination of several data sources reveals significant heterogeneity in the ratings assigned by white interviewers when taking into account the ordinal nature of the skin tone measures. The results are consistent with theories of social cognition that emphasize that beyond formal racial classification schemes, skin tone is used to implicitly categorize others along a continuum of “blackness.” The findings also align with research suggesting that rather than nullifying within-race skin tone, increases in white racism intensify white colorism.

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“…Regarding the second explanation, the preponderance of non-White people in a community has been shown to heighten the salience of a White racial identity, drawing Whites to its defense [e.g., ( 30 , 31 )]. White racial identity may be especially salient to White people with conservative views, who are also more likely to view White people as disadvantaged and therefore worthy of protection in their own right ( 32 , 33 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

People use both heterogeneity and minority representation to evaluate diversity

Abascal

Baldassarri

2021

Sci. Adv.

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The term “diversity,” although widely used, can mean different things. Diversity can refer to heterogeneity, i.e., the distribution of people across groups, or to the representation of specific minority groups. We use a conjoint experiment with a race-balanced, national sample to uncover which properties, heterogeneity or minority representation, Americans use to evaluate the extent of racial diversity a neighborhood and whether this assessment varies by participants’ race. We show that perceived diversity is strongly associated with heterogeneity. This association is stronger for Whites than for Blacks, Latinos, or Asians. In addition, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians view neighborhoods where their own group is largest as more diverse. Whites vary in their tendency to associate diversity with representation, and Whites who report conservative stances on diversity-related policy issues view predominately White neighborhoods as more diverse than predominately Black neighborhoods. People can agree that diversity is desirable while disagreeing on what makes a community diverse.

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Contraction as a Response to Group Threat: Demographic Decline and Whites’ Classification of People Who Are Ambiguously White

Cited by 84 publications

References 85 publications

“If You Don’t Know Me by Now…”

“If You Don’t Know Me by Now…”

Do White People See Variation in Black Skin Tones? Reexamining a Purported Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

People use both heterogeneity and minority representation to evaluate diversity

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