Priming the Sleeping Giant: The Dynamics of Latino Political Identity and Vote Choice

Abstract

Latinos are commonly referred to as the "sleeping giant" in American politics, and interest in the political potential of this fastest-growing American ethnic group has risen in recent years. This article examines the influence of Latino political identity on voting preferences in the 2006 California gubernatorial election. A survey experiment linking Latino identity to support for either the Democratic or Republican candidate finds that vote preferences were influenced by group cues and that this effect was strongest in increasing support for the Democratic candidate among Latino Republicans and independents. The influence of Latino political identity is modeled as a two-step process of social identification and group influence, both of which are found to interact with prior partisanship. These findings support a model of political identity that views identity as malleable and subject to contextual influences.

Negative Stereotypical Portrayals of Muslims in Right-Wing Populist Campaigns: Perceived Discrimination, Social Identity Threats, and Hostility Among Young Muslim Adults

“…This process is called priming —the psychological process by which a stimulus activates a particular knowledge structure, which in turn influences subsequent evaluation (Higgins, ). Priming effects have been documented in numerous attitudinal domains, ranging from racial attitudes (e.g., Mendelberg, ) to anti‐immigrant attitudes (e.g., Matthes & Schmuck, ), ethnic identity (e.g., Jackson, ), and religious attitudes (e.g., Weber & Thornton, ). Additionally, first research evidence suggests that hostile statements by political actors, which blatantly dehumanize Muslims, may harm Muslim minority members' attitudes toward majority members (Kteily & Bruneau, ).…”

“…Additionally, poster campaigns, which are typical for European political campaigns, are omnipresent in public space and cannot be avoided by minority members (Dumitrescu, ). There is first research evidence that religious cues in political campaigns play an important role in shaping religious (Weber & Thornton, ) or ethnic (Jackson, ) identities. Additionally, a survey‐based study by Kteily and Bruneau () suggests that degrading statements by politicians about minorities may mutually harm intergroup attitudes between majority and minority members.…”

Issues or Identity? Cognitive Foundations of Voter Choice

“…Research on personality and group membership from social psychology [25] – and more recently from economics [48] – has long inspired both empirical work and formal modeling [72]. And in recent years, scholars have examined the influence of Latino political identity on voter preferences [73]; candidate ethnicity and vote choice amongst white and ethnic minority groups in Britain [74]; the relationship between identity, emotion, and vote choice [75]; and the effects of ideology and issues on polarization [76]. …”

An Examination of U.S. Presidential Candidates and How They Mobilize Youth

“…The connection with a candidate's identity has been shown to increase the participation rates among women (Bassi, Morton, & Williams, 2011;Dolan, 1998;Matson & Fine, 2006), African Americans (Bobo & Gilliam Jr., 1990), Latinos (Jackson, 2011), and more recently youth (Pomante & Schraufnagel, 2015). Using SIT as a starting point, this article seeks to expand on previous research applying SIT to youth mobilization.…”