In the eyes of the beholder: National identification predicts differential reactions to ethnic identity expressions.

Abstract

Two studies examined how perceivers' national identification influences their implicit and explicit attitudes toward White and non-White ethnic groups whose members express their ethnic identity overtly in public or discreetly in private spaces. Results revealed that at a conscious level, White American perceivers' national identification elicited more negative attitudes toward both White and non-White ethnic groups when members embraced their ethnic heritage in public rather than in private. However, at an unconscious level, White perceivers' identification with the national group led to less favorable attitudes toward non-White ethnic groups, but not White ethnic groups, when their group members embraced ethnic identity in public. By integrating research on national identification, ethnic identity expression, and prejudice, the present research highlights some conditions under which majority group members' national identification affects how they perceive ethnic subgroups within the nation.

Imagined contact with strongly identified outgroup members: Do religious trappings make the man?

“…Furthermore, imagined contact with different figures may have different consequences on different measures (i.e., intergroup anxiety and prejudice). Moreover, it has been shown previously that people conclude about the outgroups’ identification with their group from knowing about their values and faith (Kaiser & Pratt‐Hyatt, 2009) or knowing where they practice their native language (Yogeeswaran et al, 2014). In accordance with Kaiser and Spalding (2013), we found that it is the public manifestation of identity which elicited negative reactions.…”

“…Later, it was asserted that negative reactions toward the minority are elicited by minority members’ public expressions of identity more than by their private experiences (Kaiser & Spalding, 2013). Thus, for example, the overt ethnic group identity of an outgroup member was manipulated by presenting biographies of outgroup members speaking their native language in public and/or in private (Yogeeswaran, Adelman, Parker, & Dasgupta, 2014). It was found that Whites directed more negative attitudes toward minority members who were more ethnically identified with their group, that is toward those who spoke their language also in public spheres.…”

Striving While Accepting: Exploring the Relationship Between Identity and Implicit Bias Recognition and Management

“…Research by Yogeeswaran and colleagues explored how national identification affects attitudes-both explicit and implicit-toward a White ethnic group (e.g., Polish Americans) and a non-White ethnic group (e.g., Chinese Americans) depending on whether members of a given ethnic group expressed their ethnic identity in a private or public manner. In the study that examined perceivers' unconscious attitudes, findings indicated that White perceivers' national identification predicted more bias against a non-White ethnic group that expressed their ethnic identity via language in public (Yogeeswaran, Adelman, Parker, & Dasgupta, 2014). Conversely, national identification had no effect on White perceivers' implicit attitudes towards a White ethnic group, regardless of whether they were displaying their ethnic identity in public or private.…”

Conceptions of national identity in a globalised world: Antecedents and consequences

“…Several studies now demonstrate that Whites are implicitly perceived to be more American than Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and even Native Americans (e.g., Devos & Banaji, 2005;Devos & Ma, 2008;Devos et al, 2010;Nosek et al, 2007;Yogeeswaran, Adelman, Parker, & Dasgupta, 2014, 2011Yogeeswaran & Dasgupta, 2010). Using a process dissociation procedure, research reveals that the tendency to perceive Whites as more authentically American than ethnic minorities is driven by an automatic accessibility bias suggesting that associations between ethnicity and American identity come to mind effortlessly and with little awareness (Devos & Heng, 2009).…”