Avowals of egalitarianism signal hidden prejudice even under conservative tests

Evidence

Across three experiments, we investigated whether White Ameri­ cans’ declarations of egalitarian values unintentionally signal inegali­ tarian racial attitudes and how such signals affect perceptions and attitudes of ingroup perceivers. In line with our predictions, White American perceivers were able to infer ingroup members’ prejudice against Black Americans and motivation to be nonprejudiced based solely on their claims of egalitarianism (Experiments 1 & 2). Notably, we provided perceivers only with written statements in which the writer avowed their egalitarianism. By utilizing White American targets who actively attempted to emphasize that they were egalitarian, and allow­ ing them to express themselves in a deliberative manner, our design provided an especially conservative test of our hypothesis. Likely reflecting this approach, the observed effects were small (0.143 > rs > 0.115), suggesting considerable variation in perceivers’ inferences. Future research should explore how more naturalistic and spontaneous expressions of egalitarianism are perceived and whether perceivers’ inferences are more accurate under these conditions. — Drew S. Jacoby-Senghor and Michael Rosenblum and N. Derek Brown, Not all egalitarianism is created equal, 87

Categorization

• XREF: Backfire effect central to the reader’s question about egalitarian rhetoric inadvertently communicating prejudice within the ingroup. — connects to: White listeners detect bias concealed in egalitarian self-claims. — Drew S. Jacoby-Senghor and Michael Rosenblum and N. Derek Brown, Not all egalitarianism is created…, 33; Egalitarian statements can transmit prejudice between group members — Drew S. Jacoby-Senghor and Michael Rosenblum and N. Derek Brown, Not all egalitarianism is created…, 63; Perceivers infer others’ hidden prejudice from egalitarian claims regardless of liking — Drew S. Jacoby-Senghor and Michael Rosenblum and N. Derek Brown, Not all egalitarianism is created…, 86 (+7 more)
• QUESTION: Would spontaneous, non-deliberative statements yield larger effects, as authors speculate? Poses a replicable follow-up.
• SHARE: A colleague studying moral licensing or hypocrisy detection in social psychology would find the ‘deliberative conservatism’ design point sharp.

Related

• Egalitarian statements can transmit prejudice between group members (similarity 0.89)
• Perceivers infer others’ hidden prejudice from egalitarian claims regardless of liking (similarity 0.89)
• White listeners detect bias concealed in egalitarian self-claims. (similarity 0.86)
• When prejudice hides behind professed conviction, implicit measures expose it (similarity 0.83)
• Drew S. Jacoby-Senghor and Michael Rosenblum and N. Derek Brown — Not all egalitarianism is created equal Claims of nonprejudice inadvertently communicate prejudice between ingroup members (similarity 0.82)
• Egalitarian self-presentation conceals the true relationship between prejudice and bias (similarity 0.80)
• Aversive racism pits sincere egalitarian values against unacknowledged anti-Black feelings. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• When prejudice hides behind professed conviction, implicit measures expose it #corroborates (0.90) — Wade C. Rowatt and Lewis M. Franklin, Christian Orthodoxy, Religious…, 80
• Consciously egalitarian values fail to prevent racially disparate behavior #corroborates (0.85)
• Implicit bias operates without intention and can contradict conscious egalitarian values #expands (0.85) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 393
• Adopting egalitarian values does not immediately eliminate automatic prejudice #expands (0.82)
• Color-blind ideology masks ongoing discrimination while appearing egalitarian #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1850
• Individual-difference theories cannot explain how prejudice reproduces as collective ideology #expands (0.75) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 289
• Prejudiced rationalizations can be socially validated ideology rather than irrationality #expands (0.75)