Symbolic racism in candidate evaluation: An experiment

Colleau, Sophie M.; Glynn, Kevin; Lybrand, Steven; Merelman, Richard M.; Mohan, Paula; Wall, James E.

doi:10.1007/bf00992795

Cited by 48 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In brief, in every survey all symbolic racism items loaded on a factor separate from those on which the older forms of racial antagonism loaded. 27 A second critique is that symbolic racism may not be internally very homogeneous (Colleau et al, 1990;Sniderman & Tetlock, 1986). However, the factor analyses of racial attitudes just described, yielding a distinctive factor for symbolic racism in each survey, along with the quite reasonable levels of scale reliability for symbolic racism cited earlier, averaging about .70, sustain the view that symbolic racism is a reasonably internally homogenous construct.…”

Section: The Role Of Racismmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…We here repeat these assessments of the effects of older forms of racism, but adding an explicit comparison to symbolic racism, expecting that it resonates better with whites' contemporary political resentments of blacks. In doing so we also specifically respond to several prior critiques of research on symbolic racism (e.g., Colleau et al, 1990;Sniderman & Tetlock, 1986): that we do not distinguish sharply between measures of old-fashioned racism and symbolic racism, that symbolic racism is not internally homogeneous, that it is confounded with authoritarianism or non-racial conservatism, and that mere content overlap between measures of symbolic racism and those of racial policy preferences largely explain any link between the two.…”

Section: Symbolic Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Is It Really Racism? The Origins of White Americans' Opposition to Race-Targeted Policies

Sears¹,

Laar²,

Carrillo³

et al. 2004

Political Psychology

129

160

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Section: The Role Of Racismmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Symbolic Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is It Really Racism? The Origins of White Americans' Opposition to Race-Targeted Policies

Sears¹,

Laar²,

Carrillo³

et al. 2004

Political Psychology

129

160

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A second critique is that symbolic racism may not be internally very homogeneous (Colleau et al, 1990;. However, the factor analyses of racial attitudes just described, yielding a distinctive factor for symbolic racism in each survey, along with the quite reasonable levels of scale reliability for symbolic racism cited earlier, averaging about .70, sustain the view that symbolic racism is a reasonably internally homogenous construct.…”

mentioning

confidence: 84%

“…In doing so we also specifically respond to several prior critiques of research on symbolic racism (e.g., Colleau et al, 1990;): that we do not distinguish sharply between measures of old-fashioned racism and symbolic racism, that symbolic racism is not internally homogeneous, that it is confounded with authoritarianism or non-racial conservatism, and that mere content overlap between measures of symbolic racism and those of racial policy preferences largely explain any link between the two.…”

Section: Symbolic Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is It Really Racism?: The Origins of White Americans' Opposition to Race-Targeted Policies

Sears¹,

Laar²,

Carrillo³

et al. 1997

Public Opinion Quarterly

343

295

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We address the role of racial antagonism in whites' opposition to racially-targeted policies. The data come from four surveys selected for their unusually rich measurement of both policy preferences and other racial attitudes: the 1986 and 1992 National Election Studies, the 1994 General Social Survey, and the 1995 Los Angeles County Social Survey. They indicate that such opposition is more strongly rooted in racial antagonism than in non-racial conservatism, that whites tend to respond to quite different racial policies in similar fashion, that racial attitudes affect evaluations of black and ethnocentric white presidential candidates, and that their effects are just as strong among college graduates as among those with no college education. Second, we present evidence that symbolic racism is consistently more powerful than older forms of racial antagonism, and its greater strength does not diminish with controls on non-racial ideology, partisanship, and values. The origins of symbolic racism lie partly in both anti-black antagonism and non-racial conservative attitudes and values, and so mediates their effects on policy preferences, but it explains substantial additional variance by itself, suggesting that it does represent a new form of racism independent of older racial and political attitudes. The findings are each replicated several times with different measures, in different surveys conducted at different times. We also provide new evidence in response to earlier critiques of research on symbolic racism.Race relations in the United States have had a long history, but one that is marked by significant discontinuities over time. The period of slavery was followed by the brief but radically 3 different window of the Reconstruction. The Jim Crow system that developed over the following century legalized racial segregation and discrimination, especially but not exclusively in the South.The civil rights revolution effectively ended that two-caste system of race relations, replacing it with a universal system of formal legal equality. Nevertheless, considerable racial inequality remains in many areas of the society, such as in income, wealth, educational attainment, health, vulnerability to crime, and so forth.The demise of Jim Crow was accompanied by a sharp decline in the prevalence of its supporting belief system, sometimes described as "old-fashioned racism," incorporating both a biologically-based theory of African racial inferiority and support for racial segregation and formal racial discrimination (McConahay, 1986). This theory of white racial superiority has now largely been replaced by general support for the abstract principle of racial equality (Schuman, Steeh, & Bobo, 1985;Sears & Kinder, 1971). However, there is much evidence that whites do not fully support the implications of these general principles of equality. They have often strongly opposed policies implementing that general principle, such as busing or affirmative action, leading to what Schuman, et al. (1985) have called the "princ...

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“…The first generation of studies concerned with whether the race of candidates affects voters provided mixed evidence, often disagreeing about the extent of bias towards black candidates; some studies found that whites were much less likely to vote for a candidate if he was black, while others found that this was operating largely through a liberal stereotype, while still others found that it depended on context (Colleau et al 1990;McDermott 1998;Terkildsen 1993;Sigelman et al 1995;Reeves 1997;Moskowitz and Stroh 1994;Citrin et al 1990;Strickland and Whicker 1992;Highton 2004;Jones and Clemons 1993). 7 While its invisibility in political discourse likely masks its role in politics, at least a few campaigns have recognized its potential to affect the subconscious evaluations of voters, including several examples of deliberate attempts at exaggerating the dark color of opponents in visual campaign material in competitive races.…”

Section: Why Color and Phenotype?mentioning

confidence: 96%

The Electoral Consequences of Skin Color: The “Hidden” Side of Race in Politics

Weaver

2011

Polit Behav

151

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Despite the significant role that skin color plays in material well-being and social perceptions, scholars know little if anything about whether skin color and afrocentric features influence political cognition and behavior and specifically, if intraracial variation in addition to categorical difference affects the choices of voters. Do more phenotypically black minorities suffer an electoral penalty as they do in most aspects of life? This study investigates the impact of color and phenotypically black facial features on candidate evaluation, using a nationally representative survey experiment of over 2000 whites. Subjects were randomly assigned to campaign literature of two opposing candidates, in which the race, skin color and features, and issue stance of candidates was varied. I find that afrocentric phenotype is an important, albeit hidden, form of bias in racial attitudes and that the importance of race on candidate evaluation depends largely on skin color and afrocentric features. However, like other racial cues, color and black phenotype don't influence voters' evaluations uniformly but vary in magnitude and direction across the gender and partisan makeup of the electorate in theoretically explicable ways. Ultimately, I argue, scholars of race politics, implicit racial bias, and minority candidates are missing an important aspect of racial bias.

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Symbolic racism in candidate evaluation: An experiment

Cited by 48 publications

References 14 publications

Is It Really Racism? The Origins of White Americans' Opposition to Race-Targeted Policies

Is It Really Racism? The Origins of White Americans' Opposition to Race-Targeted Policies

Is It Really Racism?: The Origins of White Americans' Opposition to Race-Targeted Policies

The Electoral Consequences of Skin Color: The “Hidden” Side of Race in Politics

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