"Antecedents and Consequences of Racial Group Status Threat Among White" by Xanni Brown

Date of Award

Spring 2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Richeson, Jennifer

Abstract

The United States is becoming increasingly racially diverse, with non-Hispanic White Americans expected to comprise less than 50% of the population beginning sometime between 2040 and 2050. The prospect of this racial demographic shift has been shown to cause feelings of threat among White Americans, as well as negative intergroup outcomes like increased racial bias and decreased support for integration. This work examines racial group status threat in the U.S., with an eye toward mitigating its negative consequences. Chapter 1 presents a theoretical framework for predicting the antecedents of potential consequences of racial group status threat, arguing that the US racial hierarchy is comprised of (at least) five dimensions: group size, socio-cultural centrality, political power, material resources, and moral authority. Events that appear to affect the racial hierarchy along any of these dimensions can cue perceptions of racial group status change (i.e., hierarchy instability). The perception of racial group status change is, in turn, experienced as threatening, at least for some dominant group members. For instance, individual differences and ideologies that prefer hierarchy maintenance are likely to find the prospect of group status change threatening. Consistent with classic theoretical work (Blumer, 1958), racial group status threat is expected to lead to hostile intergroup attitudes and behaviors. This dissertation extends prior research on the likely consequences of group status threat to consider its potential implications for democratic practices and principles. Chapter 2 examines how exposure to the prospect of shifting racial demographics affects perceptions of racial group status change and feelings of racial group status threat. Three studies experimentally manipulate exposure to information about a decline in White Americans’ population percentage. When White Americans, regardless of political beliefs, read that the population percentage of people of color is increasing, they believe that the status of White Americans is likely to decrease. However, White conservatives express high levels of threat over their racial group’s status (which is unaffected or slightly heightened by exposure to shifting demographics information), while White liberals express lower levels of racial group status threat, which are further decreased by exposure to a racial demographic shift. The chapter concludes by commenting on when this divergence by political orientation emerged, as well as its consequences for intergroup attitudes in a diversifying U.S. In Chapter 3, three correlational studies assess lay perceptions of and expectations about racial demographic change, as well as its likely impact on the socio-cultural centrality and political power of White Americans. Analyses reveal mixed evidence that all three factors predict feelings of racial group status threat among White Americans, albeit differentially as a function of political ideology. In this chapter we also begin to explore consequences of group status threat for democracy, specifically attitudes about speech. Chapter 4 manipulates exposure to the prospect of increasing racial diversity in American media and culture in two studies to test its impact on racial group status threat and anti-democratic attitudes. Though the manipulation focuses on the socio-cultural domain, the same pattern of political moderation of racial group status threat found in response to shifting national racial population demographics in Chapter 2 emerges. Moreover, exposure to the prospect of increased racial diversity in media reduces support for free speech. Chapter 5 discusses theoretical and practical implications of these findings, along with limitations and future directions.The United States is becoming increasingly racially diverse, with non-Hispanic White Americans expected to comprise less than 50% of the population by between 2040 and 2050. The prospect of this racial demographic shift has been shown to cause feelings of threat among White Americans, as well as negative intergroup outcomes like increased racial bias and decreased support for integration. This work examines racial group status threat among White Americans, with an eye toward mitigating its negative consequences. Chapter 1 presents a theoretical framework for predicting the antecedents of potential consequences of racial group status threat, arguing that the US racial hierarchy is comprised of (at least) five dimensions: group size, socio-cultural centrality, political power, material resources, and moral authority. Events that appear to affect the racial hierarchy along any of these dimensions can cue perceptions of racial group status change (i.e., hierarchy instability). The perception of racial group status change is, in turn, experienced as threatening, at least for some dominant group members. For instance, individual differences and ideologies that prefer hierarchy maintenance are likely to find the prospect of group status change threating. Consistent with classic theoretical work (Blumer, 1958), racial group status threat is expected to lead to hostile intergroup attitudes and behaviors. This dissertation extends prior research on the likely consequences of group status threat among White Americans to consider its implications for democratic principles and practices. Chapter 2 examines how exposure to the prospect of shifting racial demographics affects perceptions of racial group status change and feelings of racial group status threat. Three studies experimentally manipulate exposure to information about a decline in White Americans’ population percentage. When White Americans, regardless of political beliefs, read that the population percentage of people of color is increasing, they believe that the status of White Americans is likely to decrease. However, White conservatives express high levels of threat over their racial group’s status (which is unaffected or slightly heightened by exposure to shifting demographics information), while White liberals express lower levels of racial group status threat, which are further decreased by exposure to a racial demographic shift. The chapter concludes by commenting on when this divergence by political orientation emerged, as well as its consequences for intergroup attitudes in a diversifying U.S. In Chapter 3, three correlational studies assess lay perceptions of and expectations about racial demographic change, as well as its likely impact on the socio-cultural centrality and political power of White Americans. Analyses reveal mixed evidence that all three factors predict feelings of racial group status threat among White Americans, albeit differentially as a function of political ideology. In this chapter we also begin to explore consequences of group status threat for democracy, specifically attitudes about speech. Chapter 4 manipulates exposure to the prospect of increasing racial diversity in American media and culture in two studies to test its impact on racial group status threat and anti-democratic attitudes. Though the manipulation focuses on the socio-cultural domain, the same pattern of political moderation of racial group status threat found in response to shifting national racial population demographics in Chapter 2 emerges. Moreover, exposure to the prospect of increased racial diversity in media reduces support for free speech. Chapter 5 discusses theoretical and practical implications of these findings, along with limitations and future directions.

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