Abstract
Boutwell, Nedelec, Winegard, Shackelford, Beaver, Vaughn, Barnes, & Wright (2017) published an article in this journal that interprets data from the Add Health dataset as showing that only one-quarter of individuals in the United States experience discrimination. In Study 1, we attempted to replicate Boutwell et al.’s findings using a more direct measure of discrimination. Using data from the Pew Research Center, we examined a large sample of American respondents (N = 3,716) and explored the prevalence of discrimination experiences among various racial groups. Our findings stand in contrast to Boutwell et al.’s estimates, revealing that between 50% and 75% of Black, Hispanic, and Asian respondents (depending on the group and analytic approach) reported discriminatory treatment. In Study 2, we explored whether question framing affected how participants responded to Boutwell’s question about experiencing less respect and courtesy. Regardless of question framing, non-White participants reported more experiences than White participants. Further, there was an interaction of participant race and question framing such that when participants were asked about experiences of less respect or courtesy broadly, there were no differences between non-White participants and White participants, but when they were asked about experiences that were specifically race-based, non-White participants reported more experiences than White participants. The current research provides a counterweight to the claim that discrimination is not a prevalent feature of the lives of minority groups and the serious implications this claim poses for research and public policy.
Highlights
A recent article by Boutwell, Nedelec, Winegard, Shackelford, Beaver, Vaughn, Barnes, & Wright [1] published in PLOS ONE on the prevalence of discrimination across racial groups has received a fair amount of attention [1,2,3,4]
The findings suggest that the overall prevalence rate of racial discrimination is likely over 25% in the United States, and that the prevalence rate should vary significantly by racial groups
In our most conservative estimates, we find 63.10% of minorities experience racial discrimination compared to 29.61% of Whites
Summary
A recent article by Boutwell, Nedelec, Winegard, Shackelford, Beaver, Vaughn, Barnes, & Wright [1] published in PLOS ONE on the prevalence of discrimination across racial groups has received a fair amount of attention [1,2,3,4]. Findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the Ford Foundation
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