Some symbolic racism items overlap tautologically with the policy attitudes they predict

Evidence

A third critique is that some symbolic racism items are “too close” in content to the policy dependent variables they purport to predict. If the same variable has indeed been placed on both sides of the equation, the coefficients for symbolic racism might better be interpreted as reflecting its tautological content overlap with policy preference measures, not the independent causal force of symbolic racism (Chong 2000; Hurwitz and Peffley 1998; Sniderman, Crosby, and Howell 2000; Schuman 2000; Sidanius et al. 1999). For example, Sniderman, Crosby, and Howell note that a racial resentment item asking whether “most blacks who receive money from welfare programs could get along without it if they tried” (2000, 269) was included in a scale predicting opposition to welfare (Kinder and Sanders 1996, p. 122), and symbolic racism items about government attention to blacks in general have been used to predict opposition to specific government policies providing special treatment to blacks (e.g., Sears et al. 1997). The critique seems well taken in both specific examples. To be sure, they are the exception rather than the rule in studies of symbolic racism. Still, even occasional instances could lead both to overestimating the effects of symbolic racism and to misinterpreting them as reflecting racism when they might just reflect opposition to big government on both sides of the equation. — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 24

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘tautological content overlap’ measurement critique of symbolic racism scales.
• XREF: Directly serves the reader’s stated question about whether threat perception is validly measured as distinct from the political outcomes it predicts. — connects to: Symbolic racism scales measure a construct distinct from the policy preferences they predict. — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 141; Symbolic racism measures may overlap conceptually with their outcome variables — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3659; Symbolic racism’s policy effects cannot be explained by mere question-content overlap — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3749 (+3 more)

Related

• Symbolic racism scales measure a construct distinct from the policy preferences they predict. (similarity 0.91)
• Controversy over symbolic racism measures is empirically moot since all variants predict equally. (similarity 0.87)
• Symbolic racism’s discriminant validity from allied constructs is empirically testable (similarity 0.87)
• Symbolic racism scales may measure opposition to big government, not racial attitudes. (similarity 0.87)
• Symbolic racism scales measure a distinct attitude rather than mere conservatism (similarity 0.86)
• Symbolic racism’s policy effects cannot be explained by mere question-content overlap (similarity 0.86)
• Symbolic racism measures may overlap conceptually with their outcome variables (similarity 0.86)
• Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears — The Conceptualization and Measurement of Symbolic Racism (similarity 0.85)
• Symbolic racism effects persist even after removing items about government programs (similarity 0.85)
• Response biases fail to explain symbolic racism’s predictive findings (similarity 0.85)
• Distinct consequences indicate whether symbolic-racism variants are truly separate constructs. (similarity 0.84)
• Symbolic racism explains racial policy preferences independent of conservatism. (similarity 0.83)
• Symbolic racism may decompose into separate attitude factors rather than one coherent belief system (similarity 0.83)
• Symbolic racism measurement is internally coherent and unified. (similarity 0.83)
• Social desirability bias does not inflate symbolic racism’s link to policy views (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Symbolic racism scales measure a construct distinct from the policy preferences they predict. #contradicts (0.95) — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 141
• Symbolic racism measures may overlap conceptually with their outcome variables #corroborates (0.95) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3659
• Symbolic racism’s policy effects cannot be explained by mere question-content overlap #contradicts (0.90) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3749
• Symbolic racism’s discriminant validity from allied constructs is empirically testable #expands (0.75) — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 147