Attributions to Discrimination Against Black Victims in a Multiracial Society: Isolating the Effect of Perpetrator Group Membership.

Abstract

As the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, interactions between Black people and other minority groups have become increasingly common. The present research examined how a perpetrator's group membership affects judgments of employment discrimination against a Black victim. Four experiments (combined N = 1,016) tested predictions derived from the prototype model of discrimination. Participants reviewed a case file where a Black, Latino, Asian, or White manager rejected a Black job applicant. Attributions to discrimination were much stronger for a Latino, Asian, or White manager compared with a Black manager. Attributions to discrimination were slightly stronger for a White manager compared with an Asian or Latino manager; however, effect sizes for these differences were small. Attributions to discrimination were similar for the Asian and Latino managers. Whether the perpetrator had outgroup standing relative to the victim was the strongest factor influencing attributions to discrimination for a Black victim of employment discrimination.