Modern racial prejudice has four coherent measurement themes distinct from old-fashioned racism

Evidence

The concept of symbolic racism has evolved over time with accumulated evidence. In recent years, it has been conceptualized and measured in terms of four themes: (a) the denial of discrimination, (b) criticism of Blacks’ work ethic, (c) resentment of Blacks’ demands, and (d) resentment of unfair advantages given to Blacks by the broader society (Henry & Sears, 2002). Typical items include “If blacks would only try harder, they could be as well off as whites,” and “Blacks are getting too demanding for equal rights.” These are usually interpreted as sincere beliefs rather than as efforts to cloak underlying prejudice. Empirical evidence confirms that these four themes together form a logically, psychologically, and statistically coherent belief system (Tarman & Sears, in press). Symbolic racism is quite different from old-fashioned racism, which now receives far less support than in the past and whose political effects are now dwarfed by those of symbolic racism (Sears, van Laar, Carrillo, & Kosterman, 1997). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2178

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the four-theme operationalization of symbolic racism that the whole research tradition rests on.
• XREF: Connects to the general literature on covert/modern racism (e.g., McConahay’s modern racism scale, aversive racism) — connects to: Symbolic racism is defined as a four-theme belief system about racial disadvantage and demands — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 16; Early and recent symbolic racism studies both measured the same four themes — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 17