The Influence of the Terms We Use on Measures of Racial Attitudes

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Principal investigators:

Ashley Jardina

Duke University

Email: ajardina@gmail.com

LaFleur Stephens-Dougan

Princeton University

Email: lafleurs@princeton.edu

Homepage: http://www.lafleurstephensdougan.com


Sample size: 2116

Field period: 05/25/2020-03/23/2021

Abstract
There is a long history of public opinion scholars studying attitudes toward Americans of African descent (henceforth AADs). These attitudinal measures have been used to investigate a plethora of topics, including explanations for racial inequality, support for various public policies, and of course, the prevalence of racist attitudes over time. Less known, however, is whether the terminology used to refer to AADs in these attitudinal measures influences how people evaluate AADs. We fielded an experiment to test whether using the term “African American” versus “Black” in the traditional measure of racial resentment or the racial stereotype index—the constructs most commonly employed by political scientists and routinely featured on the American National Election Study—yields more positive or negative evaluations of AADs. Our results indicate that White Americans who were exposed to the “Black” version of the racial resentment scale reported lower levels of racial resentment, as compared to White Americans who were exposed to the “African American” version of the racial resentment scale. This result was almost entirely driven by the White Democrats in the sample. In addition, we obtained negligible results for the stereotype index for White Americans, as well as null results among African Americans in the sample for both the racial resentment scale and the stereotype index.
Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1: People exposed to the African American versions of the treatments will express lower levels of racial resentment and negative stereotype endorsement, relative to people exposed to the Black versions of the treatments.

Hypothesis 2: People exposed to the African American versions of the treatments will express higher levels of racial resentment and negative stereotype endorsement, relative to people exposed to the Black versions of the treatments.

Previous research (Hall et al. 2021) indicates that some White Americans associate the term “Black” with more racial bias and discrimination. It is plausible that this association is more likely to be concentrated among White Democrats. Thus, White Democrats exposed to the “Black” version of the racial resentment scale might be more likely to attribute racial inequality to racial bias and discrimination, and as a result, report lower levels of racial resentment in the “Black” condition. We express this expectation in Hypothesis 2a.

Hypothesis 2a: White Democrats exposed to the African American versions of the treatments will express higher levels of racial resentment and negative stereotype endorsement, relative to White Democrats exposed to the Black versions of the treatments.

Hypothesis 2b: White Republicans exposed to the African American versions of the treatments will express similar levels of racial resentment and negative stereotype endorsement, relative to White Republicans exposed to the Black versions of the treatments.

Experimental Manipulations

Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the following four conditions (Racial Resentment Blacks, Racial Resentment African Americans, Stereotype Blacks, Stereotype African Americans):

Racial Resentment Blacks/African Americans
a. Irish, Italians, Jewish, and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks/African Americans should do the same without any special favors.
b. Generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for Blacks/African Americans to work their way out of the lower class.
c. Over the past few years, Blacks/African Americans have gotten less than they deserve.
d. It’s really a matter of some people not trying hard enough. If Blacks/African Americans would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites.

Stereotype Blacks/African Americans
Now we have some questions about different groups in our society. I'm going to show you a seven-point scale on which the characteristics of the people in a group can be rated. In the first statement a score of '1' means that you think almost all of the people in that group tend to be ‘lazy’.' A score of '7' means that you think most people in the group are 'hardworking.' A score of '4' means that you think that most people in the group are not closer to one end or the other, and of course, you may choose any number in between.
a. Whites
b. Blacks/African Americans

01 1-Lazy
02 2
03 3
04 4
05 5
06 6
07 7-Hardworking

We are going to again show you a seven-point scale on which the characteristics of the people in a group can be rated. In the first statement a score of '1' means that you think almost all of the people in that group tend to be ‘unintelligent’.' A score of '7' means that you think most people in the group are 'intelligent.' A score of '4' means that you think that most people in the group are not closer to one end or the other, and of course, you may choose any number in between.
a. Whites
b. Blacks/African Americans

01 1-Unintelligent
02 2
03 3
04 4
05 5
06 6
07 7 Intelligent

Outcomes
Racial Resentment Scores and Stereotype Index Scores
Summary of Results

We find support for hypothesis 2 with respect to racial resentment (but not the stereotype index), but not hypothesis 1. Exposure to the “Black” condition was associated with a lower racial resentment score for White Americans relative to White Americans in the “African American” condition. (Racial resentment is coded to range from zero to one. Higher values indicate greater resentment.) The mean level of racial resentment for White Americans in the “Black” condition was 0.43 as compared to 0.52 in the “African American” condition (p=0.00). In keeping with expectations in hypotheses 2a and 2b, this result was driven by the White Democrats in the sample. The mean level of racial resentment for White Democrats in the “Black” condition was 0.23 as compared to 0.35 in the “African American” condition (p=0.00).

A negligible difference between the two conditions was obtained for White Americans on the stereotype index outcome. (The stereotype index is coded to range from zero to one. Higher values indicate a more positive evaluation of whites, on average, compared to Blacks or African Americans.) The mean stereotype index was .51 in the “Black” condition and .50 in the “African American” condition (p=0.03). While statistically significant, this result is not substantively meaningful.

Finally, for African American respondents, their racial resentment and stereotype index scores did not vary across the two conditions. The mean level of racial resentment was .20 in the “Black” condition and 0.24 in the “African American” condition (p=0.45). In the case of the stereotype index, the mean was 0.43 in the “Black” condition and .41 in the “African American” condition (p=0.40). We plan to conduct additional analyses to further explore these results.