Symbolic racism outweighs egalitarian beliefs in shaping White racial policy views

Evidence

Hypothesis 2 suggested that symbolic racism would prove the strongest of the racial attitudes. And it does, quite handily. It has by far the strongest bivariate correlation with policy preferences, averaging . across the nine tests shown in Tables 20.1–20.3. The average correlations for the other racial attitudes are lower: antiblack affect, r=.27; antiblack stereotypes, r=.23; and old-fashioned racism, r=.16. In the regression analyses, the strength of symbolic racism emerges still more clearly. In all nine cases its effects are at least double the size of any other, with an average coefficient of .39. Antiblack affect also has significant effects in every case, though substantially weaker, averaging .13. Stereotypes and old-fashioned racism have virtually no residual effect, with significant effects in only two of 12 cases (and average coefficients of only . and −.01, respectively). All racial attitudes are not alike; symbolic racism has consistently more political power than do antiblack affect, stereotypes, or old-fashioned racism. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3647

To be sure, the survey evidence shows that the correlations of egalitarianism with symbolic racism are always negative and substantial, suggesting that they are in conflict. And many Whites today seem to hold beliefs analogous to the “Myrdal ambivalents” of Allport’s day. In the 2000 NES, 38 percent of all Whites fell simultaneously above the absolute midpoints of both the symbolic racism and the “equal treatment” scales. But among Whites as a whole, symbolic racism dominates egalitarianism as a determinant of attitudes toward racial policies such as affirmative action and busing (Sears & Henry, in press). Still, people whose egalitarian beliefs conflict with their racial animosity might have different political preferences than those who have consistent attitudes, because of the psychological tension produced by their conflict. But among today’s versions of the “Myrdal ambivalents,” symbolic racism has a much stronger effect on policy attitudes than do beliefs in equal treatment. In other words, symbolic racism does not seem to be widely perceived as inconsistent with support for equal treatment in the abstract. And it dominates Whites’ responses to concrete public policies. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2187

But among today’s versions of the “Myrdal ambivalents,” symbolic racism has a much stronger effect on policy attitudes than do beliefs in equal treatment. In other words, symbolic racism does not seem to be widely perceived as inconsistent with support for equal treatment in the abstract. And it dominates Whites’ responses to concrete public policies. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2188

Still, people whose egalitarian beliefs conflict with their racial animosity might have different political preferences than those who have consistent attitudes, because of the psychological tension produced by their conflict. But among today’s versions of the “Myrdal ambivalents,” symbolic racism has a much stronger effect on policy attitudes than do beliefs in equal treatment. In other words, symbolic racism does not seem to be widely perceived as inconsistent with support for equal treatment in the abstract. And it dominates Whites’ responses to concrete public policies. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2188

Categorization

• QUESTION: The symbolic racism concept’s operationalization overlap with the dependent variable is flagged as a threat; worth chasing whether later work resolved this measurement critique.
• XREF: The 38% ‘Myrdal ambivalents’ figure echoes the ambivalent-prejudice literature (Katz and Hass) also covered in this volume. — connects to: Whether racism or conservatism drives white policy opposition determines who must change — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 34; Most whites endorse new symbolic racism beliefs while rejecting old-fashioned racism — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 41; Whites sustain equality-in-principle while delegitimizing redistributive measures as a coherent ideology — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 3339 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3647; John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2187; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2188