Competing Rubrics: Racial Group Differences in Defining Americanness and Structuring the National Hierarchy

• In Event: Putting Social Psychology to Work in Challenging Times

Abstract

This paper examines how Americans define who counts as “truly American” and argues that these definitions are structured by group-based status concerns rather than shared civic principles. Elite discourse reflects this divide, ranging from heritage-based conceptions to civic universalism, but these competing frames correspond to deeper divergences in mass opinion. Building on social identity theory and group position theory, the paper introduces Motivated National Identity, which conceptualizes definitions of Americanness as strategic, status-relevant judgments. Groups facing status inconsistency prioritize criteria that accentuate their strengths and downplay vulnerabilities.
The empirical analysis draws on the Truly American Project (TrAP), including a 2022 nationally representative survey of 3,000 Black, Latino, and Asian respondents, supplemented by a separate sample of 1,067 White respondents. Respondents completed a ranking task that required them to order ten traits by importance in defining Americanness, capturing relative priorities across ascriptive, creedal, formal, and subjective dimensions. Additional measures assess how respondents rate the Americanness of racial groups and evaluate group traits such as work ethic and law-abidingness.
Results show no shared definition of Americanness across racial groups beyond agreement that citizenship is most important and Christianity least important. Black respondents place greater weight on nativity, while Latino and Asian respondents prioritize creedal traits such as hard work and respect for laws. These differences align with perceived group strengths: Asians and Latinos are rated highest on creedal dimensions, while Black Americans are rated lowest. Correspondingly, groups emphasize criteria that elevate their relative standing. These definitional differences map onto distinct perceptions of the national hierarchy, with no group placing itself at the bottom.
Among White Americans, partisan divisions are similarly pronounced. Democrats prioritize institutional respect and minimize ascriptive criteria, while Republicans elevate nativity and language. Overall, the findings demonstrate that Americanness is a contested, status-laden construct shaped by motivated group positioning.

Author

• Victoria Asbury-Kimmel, New York University