Threat vs. Empathy: Distinct Causal Impacts of White Identity by Partisanship

• In Event: Political Mobilization and Race

Abstract

White identity is generally associated with racial bias, particularly towards African Americans and policies that benefit them, such as affirmative action. However, I find that the meaning of White identification is constructed differently for Democrats and Republicans. Consequently, when racial and partisan identification are both experimentally increased, Democrats become more aware of White privilege, more sympathetic to other races, and more willing to support candidates of color. However, when partisanship and White identity are increased for Republicans in the same experiment, racial resentment and opposition to candidates of color increase. Personality traits and longer-term predispositions such as authoritarianism, openness and ethnocentrism are unaffected. Thus, when we talk about the ramifications of White identity on politics, it is important to take the distinctions between White Democrats and White Republicans into account. This study also reveals the malleability of the meaning of race, such that racial identification does not necessarily breed intergroup conflict; in fact it can actually facilitate intergroup cooperation.

Author

• Kristine Kay, University of California, Berkeley