Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T20:30:44.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MULTIPLE GROUP THREAT AND MALLEABLE WHITE ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACADEMIC MERIT1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2013

Frank L. Samson
Frank L. Samson*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Miami
*
Frank L. Samson, Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146. E-mail: flsamson@miami.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

As the White populace in the United States moves toward numerical minority status by 2042, how might Whites respond to impending threat of losing their dominant group position? In particular, how will Whites react at selective, elite universities, where Asians are increasingly prominent and other non-Whites are maintaining or capturing a larger share of enrollments? Drawing on group position theory, I test White commitment to meritocracy as a public policy, using a survey-based experiment (599 California adult residents) to examine the importance grade point average should have in public university admissions. Whites decrease the importance that grade point average should have when Asian group threat is primed. However, White Californians increase the importance that grade point average should have when thinking about group threat from either Blacks or Blacks and Asians simultaneously. Ethnoracial outgroup threat shifts White support for meritocracy in different directions.

Keywords

Group ThreatMeritocracyUniversity AdmissionsAsian AmericanRace
Type
State of the Art
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , Spring 2013 , pp. 233 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

The author thanks David Grusky, Monica McDermott, and participants of the Social Psychology Workshop, Inequality Workshop, and affiliates of Stanford University's Research Institute for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (RICSRE) for their helpful feedback on various aspects of this paper. This research was partly funded by a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant SES-080264, and a Stanford University Graduate Research Opportunity Grant and Sociology Research Opportunity Grant. A RICSRE Graduate Dissertation Fellowship and a Ford Foundation Diversity Dissertation Fellowship supported the author during various stages of the data collection, analyses, and writing.

References

REFERENCES

Almaguer, Tomas (1994). Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Alon, Sigal and Tienda, Marta (2007). Diversity, Opportunity and the Shifting Meritocracy in Higher Education. American Sociological Review, 72(4): 487–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barreto, Matt A., Segura, Gary M., and Woods, Nathan D. (2004). The Mobilizing Effect of Majority-Minority Districts on Latino Turnout. American Political Science Review, 98: 65–75.Google Scholar
Blalock, Hubert M. (1967). Toward a Theory of Minority-Group Relations. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Blumer, Herbert (1958). Race Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position. The Pacific Sociological Review, 1: 3–7.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence (1983). Whites' Opposition to Busing: Symbolic Racism or Realistic Group Conflict? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45: 1196–1210.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence (1999). Prejudice as Group Position: Microfoundations of a Sociological Approach to Racism and Race Relations. Journal of Social Issues, 55: 445–472.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence (2000). Race and Beliefs about Affirmative Action: Assessing the Effects of Interests, Group Threat, Ideology, and Racism. In Sears, David O., Sidanius, Jim, and Bobo, Lawrence (Eds.), Racialized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America, pp. 137–164. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence and Hutchings, Vincent L. (1996). Perceptions of Racial Group Competition: Extending Blumer's Theory of Group Position to a Multiracial Social Context.” American Sociological Review, 61: 951–972.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence and Johnson, Devon (2000). “Racial Attitudes in a Prismatic Metropolis: Mapping Identity, Stereotypes, Competition and Views on Affirmative Action.” In Bobo, Lawrence, Oliver, Melvin. L., Johnson, James H. Jr., and Valenzuela, Abel Jr. (Eds.), Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angeles, pp. 81–163. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence and Smith, Ryan (1994). Antipoverty Policy, Affirmative Action, and Racial Attitudes. In Danziger, Sheldon, Sandefur, Gary D., and Weinberg, Daniel H. (Eds.), Confronting Poverty: Prescriptions for Change, pp. 365–395. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence and Zubrinsky, Camille L. (1996). Attitudes on Residential Integration: Perceived Status Differences, Mere In-Group Preference, or Racial Prejudice? Social Forces, 74: 883–909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2001). White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2003). Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Bowen, William G. and Bok, Derek C. (1998). The Shape of the River: Long-term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Brader, Ted, Valentino, Nicholas A., and Suhay, Elizabeth (2008). What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat. American Journal of Political Science, 52(4): 959–978.Google Scholar
Brand, David (1987). The New Whiz Kids. Time, August 31, 1987, pp. 42–46, 49, 51.Google Scholar
Castilla, Emilio J. (2008). Gender, Race, and Meritocracy in Organizational Careers. American Journal of Sociology, 113: 1479–1526.Google Scholar
Charles, Camille Zubrinsky (2006). Won't You Be My Neighbor? Class, Race, and Residence in a Prismatic Metropolis. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Eibach, Richard P. and Keegan, Thomas (2006). Free at Last? Social Dominance, Loss Aversion, and White and Black Americans' Differing Assessments of Racial Progress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3): 453–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Espenshade, Thomas J. and Radford, Alexandria (2009). No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Feagin, Joe and O'Brien, Eileen (2003). White Men on Race: Power, Privilege, and the Shaping of Cultural Consciousness. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Feldman, Stanley (1988). Structure and Consistency in Public Opinion: the Role of Core Beliefs and Values. American Journal of Political Science, 32(2): 416–440.Google Scholar
Feldman, Stanley and Huddy, Leonie (2005). Racial Resentment and White Opposition to Race-Conscious Programs: Principles or Prejudice? American Journal of Political Science, 49: 168–183.Google Scholar
Fiske, Susan T., Cuddy, Amy J. C., Glick, Peter, and Xu, Jun (2002). A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype Content: Competence and Warmth Respectively Follow From Perceived Status and Competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82: 878–902.Google Scholar
Fredrickson, George M. (1987). The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny, 1817–1914. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar
Gamson, William A. and Modigliani, Andre (1987). The Changing Culture of Affirmative Action. In Braungart, Richard G. and Braungart, Margaret M. (Eds.), Research in Political Sociology, pp. 137–177. Greenwich, CT: JAI.Google Scholar
Gay, Claudine (2006). Seeing Difference: The Effect of Economic Disparity on Black Attitudes toward Latinos. American Journal of Political Science, 50: 982–997.Google Scholar
Groves, Robert M. (2006). Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70(5): 646–675.Google Scholar
Huber, Joan and Form, William (1973). Income and Ideology: An Analysis of the American Political Formula. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Huddy, Leonie and Sears, David O. (1995). Opposition to Bilingual Education: Prejudice or the Defense of Realistic Interests? Social Psychology Quarterly, 58: 133–143.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (1996). The Individual, Society, or Both? A Comparison of Black, Latino, and White Beliefs about the Causes of Poverty. Social Forces, 75: 293–322.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (2004). Race/Ethnicity and Beliefs about Wealth and Poverty. Social Science Quarterly, 85: 827–853.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (2007). African-American, Hispanic, and White beliefs about Black/White Inequality, 1977–2004. American Sociological Review, 72: 390–415.Google Scholar
Jackman, Mary R. (1978). General and Applied Tolerance: Does Education Increase Commitment to Racial Integration? American Journal of Political Science, 22: 302–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackman, Mary R. (1994). The Velvet Glove: Paternalism and Conflict in Gender, Class, and Race Relations. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Jackman, Mary R. and Muha, Michael J. (1984). Education and Intergroup Attitudes: Moral Enlightenment, Superficial Democratic Commitment, or Ideological Refinement? American Sociological Review, 49: 751–769.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karabel, Jerome (2005). The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. New York: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Keeter, Scott, Kennedy, Courtney, Dimock, Michael, Best, Jonathan, and Craighill, Peyton (2006). Gauging the Impact of Growing Nonresponse on Estimates from a National RDD Telephone Survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70(5): 759–779.Google Scholar
Kim, Claire Jean (1999). The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans. Politics & Society, 27(1): 105–138.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R. and Mendelberg, Tali (2000). Individualism Reconsidered: Principles and Prejudice in Contemporary American Opinion. In Sears, David O., Sidanius, Jim, and Bobo, Lawrence (Eds.), Racialized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America, pp. 44–74. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kluegel, James and Smith, Eliot R. (1983). Affirmative Action Attitudes: Effects of Self-Interest, Racial Affect, and Stratification Beliefs on Whites' Views. Social Forces, 61: 797–824.Google Scholar
Krysan, Maria (2000). Prejudice, Politics, and Public Opinion: Understanding the Sources of Racial Policy Attitudes. Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 135–168.Google Scholar
Lin, Monica H., Kwan, Virginia S. Y., Cheung, Anna, and Fiske, Susan T. (2005). Stereotype Content Model Explains Prejudice for an Envied Outgroup: Scale of Anti-Asian American Stereotypes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31: 34–47.Google Scholar
Maddux, William W., Galinsky, Adam D., Cuddy, Amy J. C., and Polifroni, Mark (2008). When Being a Model Minority is Good … and Bad: Realistic Threat Explains Negativity Toward Asian Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34: 74–89.Google Scholar
McDermott, Monica (2006). Working Class White: The Making and Unmaking of Race Relations. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Norton, Michael I. and Sommers, Samuel R. (2011). Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(3): 215–218.Google Scholar
Oliver, J. Eric and Wong, Janelle (2003). Intergroup Prejudice in Multiethnic Settings. American Journal of Political Science, 47(4): 567–582.Google Scholar
Quillian, Lincoln (1995). Prejudice as a Response to Perceived Group Threat: Population Composition and Anti-Immigrant and Racial Prejudice in Europe. American Sociological Review, 60: 586–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quillian, Lincoln (1996). Group Threat and Regional Change in Attitudes toward African-Americans. American Journal of Sociology, 102: 816–860.Google Scholar
Royston, Patrick (2004). Multiple Imputation of Missing Values. Stata Journal, 4: 227–241.Google Scholar
Schuman, Howard and Bobo, Lawrence (1988). Survey-based Experiments on White Racial Attitudes toward Residential Integration. American Journal of Sociology, 94: 273–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sears, David, Sidanius, Jim, and Bobo, Lawrence (Eds.) (2000). Racialized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Smith, A. Wade (1981). Racial Tolerance as a Function of Group Position. American Sociological Review, 46: 558–573.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul and Carmines, Edward G. (1997). Reaching Beyond Race. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul and Piazza, Thomas (1993). The Scar of Race. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Stevens, Mitchell L. (2007). Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, Marylee C. (1998). How White Attitudes Vary with the Racial Composition of Local Populations: Numbers Count. American Sociological Review, 63: 512–535.Google Scholar
Tsay, Angela, Lamont, Michele, Abbott, Andrew, and Guetzkow, Joshua (2003). From Character to Intellect: Changing Conceptions of Merit in the Social Sciences and Humanities, 1951–1971. Poetics, 31: 23–49.Google Scholar
Tuch, Steven A. and Hughes, Michael (1996). Whites' Racial Policy Attitudes. Social Science Quarterly, 77: 723–745.Google Scholar