Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: What people say and what they feel subconsciously can diverge, especially in the area of race and politics (Anderson et al. 1988, Fazio et al. 1995, Kuklinski et al. 1997). Such social desirability effects are frequently attributed to self-monitoring (Snyder and Gangestad 1986, Terkildsen 1993, Berinsky 2004, Feldman and Huddy 2005). The finding is generally that white respondents who score high on the self monitoring scale express more favorable views of African Americans when they are in a social setting where they perceive racially tolerant views as socially desirable. This study suggests that there may be a social norm that leads people to understate rather than overstate their feelings of closeness towards other racial or ethnic outgroups (‘Norm of Ingroup Favoritism’)

By measuring feelings of closeness towards different racial groups both on the implicit and explicit levels, this study applies a more direct approach to the investigation of social desirability effects than traditional approaches such as Kuklinski’s et al. (1997) list experiment or Snyder and Gangestad’s (1986) Self Monitoring Scale. On the implicit level, closeness towards a racial group is measured using a reaction time based measure of cognitive overlap developed by Aron et al. (1991). On the explicit level, closeness is measured using standard survey questions. Both forms of closeness are highly predictive of political opinions on race related policy positions but dramatic discrepancies between the two measures emerge. Interestingly, the pro-Black effect of ‘political correctness’ is dwarfed by the effect of the older Norm of Ingroup Favoritism. A simulation study based on observed discrepancies between implicit and explicit feelings of closeness suggests that support for affirmative action may increase by as much as 15 percent if the Norm of Ingroup Favoritism would be fully replaced by a new pro Black norm. By suggesting that ingroup favoritism represents a social norm rather than a natural predisposition this study draws optimistic conclusions about the feasibility of interracial solidarity. This optimism is based on the idea that it may be easier to change a social norm than to change human nature. Challenging the Norm of Ingroup Favoritism may help to increase political support for minority groups regardless of an individual’s own group membership.