The Past as an Appraisal: How Historical Representations Impact Racial Group Identification and Policy Support

• In Event: Joint Roundtables: Social Psychology Section and Sociology of Emotions Section
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 6 - Identity & Race

Abstract

This study assesses how the past as an appraisal affects racial group identification. Using reactions to The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Mongomery, Alabama—the first national memorial to victims of lynching in the United States—we ask how a memorial to historical events involving residents’ (self-identified) racial group impacts self-views of that racial identity across time, and how changes in such identity changes impact policy support. This effect is determined by comparing Montgomery residents and other residents of Alabama on levels of, and changes to, five aspects of racial identification—prominence, salience, private self-regard, public self-regard, and verification—as well as a combined measure of racial identification as well as support for multiple reparative policies. The findings reveal that Black respondents had a statistically significant increase in all aspects of racial identification, except public self-regard. However, these increases were moderated by residential status. Additionally, among those who experienced changes in identification, it was related to significant changes in policy support across four waves of data collection: increases in overall racial identification views among Black residents was associated with a decrease in overall support for a reparative scale, while increases in overall racial identification among white residents was associated with an increase in overall support for reparations. The design offers an empirical assessment of the Identity Control Theory model, while the findings probe questions about the stability of group identification in response to perceived external threats and its impacts on related policy support.

Authors

• Ashley Veronica Reichelmann, Virginia Tech

• Kunyuan Qiao, Northeastern University

• Matthew O. Hunt, Northeastern University