Abstract
Scholarship in American politics finds whites’ racial resentment and status threat predict their vote choice. However, research in social identity indicates that such variables should negatively correlate with participation, attenuating resentful whites’ political power. We resolve this contradiction by studying these variables interactively, using data from the 2012, 2016, and 2020 American National Election Studies. Our primary independent variables are racial resentment and a measure of relative discrimination that captures whites’ perceptions of inequality relative to other racial/ethnic groups. Both constituent variables are negatively associated with participation. Interactively, they are positively associated with political participation. These relationships persist when we predict voter turnout, an index measuring non-electoral participation, and an index measuring civic engagement. In 2012, our interaction term moderates the negative impact of racial resentment in relative discrimination. In elections contested by Donald Trump, our interaction term has a positive substantive effect. Our findings advance scholarship on white political behavior. First, they identify a relationship between whites’ racial attitudes and participation, advancing a research program that primarily examines vote choice. Second, they clarify the relationship between different white racial attitudes. Next, they detail the conditional relationship between whites’ prejudice and politics and how it has changed over time.
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Source: 2012 ANES
Source: 2016 ANES
Source: 2020 ANES
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29 March 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09791-5
Notes
Replication materials for this study, including code and data, are available on the.
Political Behavior Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IISRW5.
Throughout this article, we refer to non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. as “whites.”.
We do not argue that whites’ perceptions of discrimination capture the reality of American racial inequality: whites continue to benefit from institutionalized white supremacy. Rather, we argue that whites’ misperceptions of group inequality are politically meaningful. Extensive research indicates that misperceptions shape political behavior, for example: Cramer (2016) and Enders & Armaly (2019).
The sub-items for the non-voting political participation vary by year, but typically includes: persuading someone to vote for a candidate, going to political meetings, wearing campaign apparel, doing campaign work, donating to a campaign, donating to a political party, or donating to another political organization. From 2012 to 2020, the Cronbach’s αs for these variables are .66, .58, and .72, respectively. We discuss and interpret these results in Online Appendix B.
The sub-items for the civic engagement index vary, but includes: participation in a demonstration, attending a municipal board meeting, signing a petition, donating to a religious organization, donating to another organization, posting about politics, writing an op-ed, or contacting a politician. From 2012 to 2020, the Cronbach’s αs for these variables are .67, .72, and .73, respectively. We discuss and interpret these results in Online Appendix B.
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We thank the editor and two reviewers for their helpful suggestions. Ian Engstrom and Thomas Lichtenberg provided research assistance. We also thank Christine Hahn for constructive feedback.
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Cepuran, C.J.G., Berry, J. Whites’ Racial Resentment and Perceived Relative Discrimination Interactively Predict Participation. Polit Behav 44, 1003–1024 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09786-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09786-2