Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to submit your manuscript to SPPS

Click here to browse PSPB online!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (16)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sommers, S. R.
Right arrow Articles by Norton, M. I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Lay Theories About White Racists: What Constitutes Racism (and What Doesn't)

Samuel R. Sommers

Tufts University

Michael I. Norton

Harvard Business School

Psychological theories of racial bias assume a pervasive motivation to avoid appearing racist, yet researchers know little regarding laypeople's theories about what constitutes racism. By investigating lay theories of White racism across both college and community samples, we seek to develop a more complete understanding of the nature of race-related norms, motivations, and processes of social perception in the contemporary United States. Factor analyses in Studies 1 and 1a indicated three factors underlying the traits laypeople associate with White racism: evaluative, psychological, and demographic. Studies 2 and 2a revealed a three-factor solution for behaviors associated with White racism: discomfort/unfamiliarity, overt racism, and denial of problem. For both traits and behaviors, lay theories varied by participants' race and their race-related attitudes and motivations. Specifically, support emerged for the prediction that lay theories of racism reflect a desire to distance the self from any aspect of the category ‘racist’.

Key Words: distancing • intergroup relations • lay theories • modern racism • racial attitudes • social perception • stereotyping

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Vol. 9, No. 1, 117-138 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1368430206059881
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Group Processes Intergroup RelationsHome page
L. T. O'Brien, A. Blodorn, A. Alsbrooks, R. Dube, G. Adams, and J. C. Nelson
Understanding White Americans' Perceptions of Racism in Hurricane Katrina-Related Events
Group Processes Intergroup Relations, July 1, 2009; 12(4): 431 - 444.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav Res MethodsHome page
N. S. Kim and E. Y. Park
ConceptBuilder: An open-source software tool for measuring, depicting, and quantifying causal models
Behav Res Methods, February 1, 2009; 41(1): 128 - 136.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Group Processes Intergroup RelationsHome page
A. J. C. Cuddy, M. S. Rock, and M. I. Norton
Aid in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: Inferences of Secondary Emotions and Intergroup Helping
Group Processes Intergroup Relations, January 1, 2007; 10(1): 107 - 118.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Group Processes Intergroup RelationsHome page
S. R. Levy, C.-y. Chiu, and Y.-y. Hong
Lay Theories and Intergroup Relations
Group Processes Intergroup Relations, January 1, 2006; 9(1): 5 - 24.
[Abstract] [PDF]