Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Liberals--Attitudes; Conservatives--Attitudes; College students--Attitudes; Racism--Political aspects; Dovidio, John F--On the nature of contemporary prejudice; Academic theses;
Abstract
Although the direct expression of racial prejudice is no longer accepted in society, it has not altogether disappeared. Aversive racism is characterized by pro and anti-Black attitudes, which have been largely socialized, creating an intrapsychic conflict sometimes causing overcompensation in favor of minorities (Nail, Harton, & Decker, 2003). Modern racism stems from traditional values and the Protestant work ethic, and is expressed through attitudes about social policies yet remains fundamentally racist (Kinder & Sears, 1981; Sears & McConahay, 1973). This study extended Dovidio and Gaertner's (1998) Integrated Model of Racism, which links political liberals with the expression of aversive racism and political conservatives with the expression of modern racism. It was hypothesized that political liberals would rate African Americans as more attractive than European Americans and show an increased heart rate while doing so, indicative of cognitive dissonance. It was predicted that political conservatives, on the other hand, would rate African American targets as less attractive than European American targets, and show no increase in physiological arousal. Sixty-four college students viewed potential dating partners on a computer screen, and were asked questions related to how likely they were to date each person. Inconsistent with my hypotheses, political conservatives did not rate African American targets as lower in attractiveness. Political liberals did not show the hypothesized intrapsychic conflict and overcompensation, in fact, rating African American faces as less attractive and having no increase in arousal. The results, implications, and direction for future research are discussed.
Year of Submission
2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Psychology
First Advisor
Helen Harton
Second Advisor
Carolyn Hildebrandt
Third Advisor
Andrew Gilpin
Date Original
2009
Object Description
1 PDF file (76 leaves)
Copyright
©2009 Abbie Anne Chalupnik
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Chalupnik, Abbie Anne, "Racial Prejudice and Political Orientation: A Test of Dovidio and Gaertner’s Integrated Model of Racism" (2009). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2315.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2315
Comments
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