On the Intersection of Race, Class, and Gender

• In Event: Race, Class and Migration

Abstract

Individuals are members of multiple overlapping social groups (race, class, gender, religion, etc.). It is well established that these social group memberships shape partisanship, vote choice, and issue orientations. What is less well understood is how these group memberships interact with one another to collectively influence political decision making. In this paper, I assess how racial and ethnic group memberships condition the effect of gender and social class on key political attitudes and behaviors. Using ANES and GSS data, I show that the effect of both gender and class are highly conditional upon racial/ethnic identification. Both social class and gender influences whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians in profoundly different and in some cases, opposite ways. The results of this study imply that quantitative behavioral studies must be careful not to assume the effects of group identities are additive opposed to interactive. I conclude that quantitative scholars would be well served to account for intersectionality in their theoretical and empirical models.

Author

• Joshua N. Zingher, Old Dominion University