Dynamic stereotypes of African, Latinx, and White Americans.

Abstract

Two studies examined how young adults from historically advantaged (Study 1) and disadvantaged (Studies 1 and 2) racial groups perceived agentic and communal traits of their group over time. Consistent with previous research on dynamic stereotypes of gender, disadvantaged groups were expected to perceive significant gains in agentic traits from the past to the present. This tendency was expected to increase with ethnic identification. In Study 1, White American (n = 226) and African and Latinx American (n = 60) students at a predominantly White private college in the Midwestern United States participated in an online survey. In Study 2, African American (n = 137) and Latinx American (n = 167) young adults were recruited primarily via an online platform (www.prolific.co) to complete an online survey. In both studies, African and Latinx Americans attributed significantly lower levels of agency to past ingroup members than to present members. Although ethnic identification was not correlated with the difference between present and past agencies, it was more strongly correlated with present agency than with past agency for both groups. These patterns were not observed among White Americans. Similar to women, African and Latinx Americans perceived significant gains in agentic traits of their group members from the past to the present. These perceptions may serve the needs of historically disadvantaged groups for a positive social identity by affirming how far the ingroup has come. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).