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Endorsing Obama licenses favoring Whites

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Abstract

Three studies tested whether the opportunity to endorse Barack Obama made individuals subsequently more likely to favor Whites over Blacks. In Study 1, participants were more willing to describe a job as better suited for Whites than for Blacks after expressing support for Obama. Study 2 replicated this effect and ruled out alternative explanations: participants favored Whites for the job after endorsing Obama, but not after endorsing a White Democrat, nor after seeing Obama’s photo without having an opportunity to endorse him. Study 3 demonstrated that racial attitudes moderated this effect: endorsing Obama increased the amount of money allocated to an organization serving Whites at the expense of an organization serving Blacks only for participants high in a measure of racial prejudice. These three studies suggest that expressing support for Obama grants people moral credentials [Monin, B., & Miller, D. T. (2001). Moral credentials and the expression of prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 33–43], thus reducing their concern with appearing prejudiced.

Section snippets

Participants

In February 2008, 99 undergraduates (52 females and 47 males; mean age = 19.28 years, SD = 1.67; 45% White, 23% Asian–American, 7% African–American, 7% other races, and 6% multiracial) completed a study in campus eateries in exchange for candy. On average, these students rated themselves as likely voters (M = 5.81, SD = 1.84; 1 = Not at all likely, 7 = Extremely likely); eighty-two were already registered to vote.

Procedure

Participants indicated for whom they would vote (by circling his picture) if candidates Barack

Study 2

Endorsing Obama licensed Study 1 participants to favor a White applicant for a police job. Two alternatives to credentials could account for this result, however. First, simply expressing one’s preference for a Democrat may have been sufficient to produce the effect (political expression account). Second, perhaps seeing Obama activated stereotypes about Blacks that biased participants’ decision towards a White applicant (priming account). We conducted Study 2 to rule out these alternatives.

Study 3

If endorsing Obama licenses favoring Whites, then it should have an especially strong effect on individuals whose preexisting attitudes dispose them towards White favoritism, and who should thus be most inhibited in the absence of credentials. We tested this prediction in Study 3 by including a standard measure of prejudice: the Modern Racism Scale (MRS; McConahay, Hardee, & Batts, 1981). We predicted that participants with higher MRS scores would be more likely to take advantage of credentials

General discussion

Our three studies demonstrated that expressing support for an African–American candidate licenses people to favor Whites at the expense of Blacks. In Study 1, Obama supporters were more willing to say that a job was better suited for Whites than for Blacks after they had expressed support for Obama. Study 2 replicated this effect, and showed that just seeing Obama or endorsing a White Democratic presidential candidate did not yield similar results. Study 3 showed that after endorsing Obama,

Acknowledgments

We thank Daniel Tuller and Chelsea Groves Kuhnle for their assistance throughout the research process, and Elizabeth Mullen, Alexander H. Jordan, Julia Tobias, and members of the Stanford Moral Self Lab for their helpful comments on previous drafts.

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