Measuring Beliefs about Economic, Proximity-based, and Stereotype Threat

• In Event: Poster Session: Women and Politics Research I

Abstract

Young Americans between the ages of 18 and 35 are a part of the largest, most racially diverse generation since the Baby Boomer generation. They comprise nearly one-third of the United States workforce and will soon become a majority of the voting-eligible population, supplanting aging voters. Still, we know little about political attitudes and ideas within this growing social group. Moreover, we have yet to fully uncover differences in opinions and behaviors across race and gender where young Amer! icans are concerned. In this study, I take up this concern by examining the role of threat in the formation of attitudes and behaviors of young Americans. Using questions from a nationally-representative survey, I examine attitudes about three forms of threat: economic threat, proximity-based threat, and stereotype threat. I also use survey experiments to examine how young Americans’ political behaviors are informed by concerns about threat. I find that young Black women are most concerned about economic and stereotype threat when compared with other racial and gender groups including young Black men. Further, from these analyses, I find that women, in general, are the most aware of the role of race in American Politics.

Author

• Jenn M. Jackson, Syracuse University