Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action.
The present experiments suggest that the desire to benefit the in-group drives dominant-group members' policy preferences, independent of concern for out-groups' outcomes. In Experiment 1, the effect of a manipulation of affirmative action procedures on policy support was mediated by how Whites expected the policy to affect fellow Whites, but not by the expected effect on minorities. In Experiments 2 and 3, when focused on losses for the White in-group, Whites' racial identity was negatively related to support for affirmative action. However, when focused on gains for the Black out-group or when participants were told that Whites were not affected by the policy, racial identity did not predict attitudes toward the policy. In Experiments 2 and 3, perceived fairness mediated these effects.
Lowery
Brian S
BS
Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA. blowery@stanford.edu
Unzueta
Miguel M
MM
Knowles
Eric D
ED
Goff
Phillip Atiba
PA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001290:Attitude; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D011640:Public Policy; D011822:Race Relations; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012930:Social Dominance; D012933:Social Identification; D012935:Social Justice; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*