Victim Characteristics and Stereotypes in Evaluations of Anti-Asian Hate Crime: Results from a National Survey Experiment

• In Event: Public Perceptions of Victims and Defendants: Identity, Traits, and Stereotypes

Abstract

This study explores the sources of public perceptions of hate crimes in the context of violence perpetrated against Asian women. We examine two overarching research questions: 1) whether victim characteristics associated with stereotypes of Asian women are associated with public responses to such incidents; and 2) whether respondent beliefs in stereotypes of Asian women are associated with responses to such incidents. We draw on data from a national YouGov survey (N = 1300) with an oversample of Asian respondents (N = 200), which included two experimental vignettes describing racialized incidents of assault against Asian women. Each vignette included manipulations for the victim’s country of origin (U.S. or non-U.S.) and whether the victim was described as having stereotype-aligned traits. The survey also included a novel measure of stereotypes of Asian women. Results from the nationally representative sample indicated that victim characteristics were inconsistently related to classifications of offenses as hate crimes, punitiveness toward perpetrators, and blame toward victims. Endorsement of stereotypes of Asian women was, however, associated with reduced punishment toward the perpetrator and greater blame toward the victim in both vignettes, and with a greater chance of classifying the offense as a hate crime in one vignette. In contrast to our expectations, stereotypes of Asian women did not moderate the effects of either experimental manipulation.

Authors

• Jason Silver, Rutgers University - Newark

• Luzi Shi, University of Rhode Island