Racial attitudes form several distinct dimensions rather than one unitary prejudice

Evidence

These clear-cut findings and contributions do not, however, firmly substantiate the main theory. Early research on symbolic racism treated prejudice as a single unitary dimension (Sears, Hensler, & Speer, 1979, 1980). Subsequent research has shown that racial attitudes have several reasonably distinct but correlated dimensions (Bobo, 1983). The most important of these dimensions for predicting school busing opposition is attitude toward black political activism. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3430

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the multidimensionality debate in attitudes research, echoing work on racial resentment and affect toward outgroups in other chapters of this book. — connects to: Symbolic racism may decompose into separate attitude factors rather than one coherent belief system — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 22; Racial appeals do not generally amplify the effect of racial attitudes on welfare support — Rachel Wetts and Robb Willer, Who Is Called by the Dog Whistle?…, 54; Social desirability bias makes present-day racial preference measurement difficult — Ilyana Kuziemko and Ebonya Washington, Why Did the Democrats Lose the South?…, 986 (+1 more)