Lib/Con: The Mental Roots of Racial Prejudice

Strange ...

Presented with a series of facts about members of two groups, Conservatives developed more negative impressions towards the minority group, which were reinforced by consistent memory biases, they report in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Strikingly, the researchers found this effect without making reference to race, religion or sexual orientation. All it needs to be activated, it seems, is the presence of a larger group and a smaller one.

In their first experiment, 234 students read a series of 39 sentences, each of which described an action of some sort. The person engaging in this behavior was identified as either a member of Group A or Group B.

Twenty-seven of the sentences described positive behavior (Jim gives up his seat on the bus to an elderly woman), while 12 described negative behavior (James often tells many lies).

Twenty-six of the sentences referred to someone from Group A, while only 13 referred to a member of Group B. The ratio between positive and negative behavior was the same for each group: 18 positive and 8 negative for Group A, 9 positive and 4 negative for Group B.

After reading the sentences, participants evaluated the two groups, rating the applicability of such adjectives as intelligent, sociable and lazy. They were then provided with all the sentences and asked to estimate how many of the described actions were performed by members of each group, and how many of each group's actions were negative.

Finally, the students' level of social conservativism was measured by having them give their views on five hot-button topics, including immigration and gay marriage.

The researchers found an illusory association between Group B and negative behaviors. Specifically, the perceived proportion of negative behaviors was significantly higher for Group B, although in fact the two groups were identical in this regard.

Increased levels of social conservativism were associated with more negative evaluations of Group B as compared to Group A, the researchers add. The illusory correlation between Group B and negativity was accentuated among conservatives.

[Emphasis added].

For more, see The Mental Roots of Racial Prejudice by Tom Jacobs, April 11, 2011 at Miller-McCune.