Diversity management from a target’s perspective: a pre-registered experiment on Latinos, multiculturalism, and colorblindness

Abstract

ABSTRACT Political elites have formulated multiculturalism and colorblindness to manage intergroup relations in diverse polities. Multiculturalism celebrates intergroup differences, while colorblindness emphasizes intergroup commonalities. Prior research finds varied effects for these ideologies but primarily focuses on majority groups. We report a pre-registered experiment that evaluates these ideologies among Latinos – America’s largest ethnically minoritized group. We hypothesized that multiculturalism and colorblindness would increase (decrease) one’s inclination to view oneself as Latino, with downstream consequences for their political views. We also explored whether each ideology’s impact was moderated by individual differences in preferences towards cultural assimilation. We find that multiculturalism has no measurable effects, yet colorblindness undermines participants’ sense of being Latino. This effect emerges among Latinos who strongly prefer to remain culturally distinct and is associated with greater ingroup favoritism and stronger support for policies that broadly improve the life chances of people of color (e.g., affirmative action). We discuss how our results improve our understanding of intergroup politics in a diversifying United States.