Antidiversity rhetoric attracts status-threatened Whites toward the most extreme candidate

Evidence

We expected that reminding White Americans of changing racial demographics would increase support for Republican candidates (Trump, Cruz, and Kasich) and decrease support for Democratic candidates (Clinton and Sanders) by increasing group status threat. We hypothesized that reminding Whites of the racial demographic shift would be especially likely to increase support for Trump compared to the other Republican candidates because of Trump’s more explicit anti-immigrant and antidiversity rhetoric. Such rhetoric should make him an especially appealing candidate to people experiencing group status threat because his positions promise to assuage that threat. — Brenda Major and Alison Blodorn and Gregory Major Blascovich, The threat of increasing diversity, 18

Categorization

• XREF: The claim that extreme rhetoric promises to assuage status threat is the psychological mechanism the reader is testing for generalizability across identity axes. — connects to: Racial-shift reminders shift highly identified Whites toward Trump and against Sanders via status threat. — Brenda Major and Alison Blodorn and Gregory Major Blascovich, The threat of increasing diversity: Why…, 53; Ethnic identification amplifies white support for anti-immigrant policies under diversity threat cues — Brenda Major and Alison Blodorn and Gregory Major Blascovich, The threat of increasing diversity: Why…, 48; Dog-whistle appeals mobilize racially resentful white liberals, not conservatives — Rachel Wetts and Robb Willer, Who Is Called by the Dog Whistle?…, 11
• SEED: The idea that the most strident anti-outgroup rhetoric wins precisely because it promises relief from threat offers an essay angle on why radical framing outcompetes moderate alternatives within a threatened in-group.

Related

• Racial-shift reminders shift highly identified Whites toward Trump and against Sanders via status threat. (similarity 0.88)
• Perceived racial demographic shift raises White group status threat that drives Trump support. (similarity 0.87)
• Racial demographic shift threatens Whites only when they identify strongly with their ethnic group. (similarity 0.87)
• Ethnic identification, not party affiliation, moderates Whites’ threat response. (similarity 0.86)
• Demographic shift reminders backfire among low-identification Whites, shrinking Trump support. (similarity 0.86)
• Low-identification Whites show a puzzling backlash AGAINST Trump under racial-shift framing. (similarity 0.86)
• Brenda Major and Alison Blodorn and Gregory Major Blascovich — The threat of increasing diversity Why many White Americans support Trump in the 2016 presidential election (similarity 0.85)
• Ethnic identification amplifies white support for anti-immigrant policies under diversity threat cues (similarity 0.84)
• Status threat from diversity shifts whites rightward regardless of party affiliation. (similarity 0.82)
• Racial status threat may drive conservative shifts even among minorities (similarity 0.81)
• Reminding White Americans of shifting racial demographics raises their group status threat. (similarity 0.81)
• Shrinking numerical majority makes White identity salient and politically mobilizing (similarity 0.80)
• Exposure to information about racial demographic change raises Whites’ status threat and conservatism (similarity 0.80)
• Perceived racial demographic shift may push White Americans toward conservatism. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Racial-shift reminders shift highly identified Whites toward Trump and against Sanders via status threat. #corroborates (0.95) — Brenda Major and Alison Blodorn and Gregory Major Blascovich, The threat of increasing diversity, 53
• Ethnic identification amplifies white support for anti-immigrant policies under diversity threat cues #corroborates (0.72) — Brenda Major and Alison Blodorn and Gregory Major Blascovich, The threat of increasing diversity, 48