Representations and Preferences of Responses to Housing and Employment Discrimination

Abstract

In two studies, the behavioral preferences of majority (White) and visible minority (non-White) individuals in response to a hypothetical situation of discrimination were examined. In addition, the characteristics and dimensions perceived to relate to these behaviors were also examined. In the first study, 120 primarily White undergraduate students first rated the likelihood of engaging in each of 14 behaviors in response to a situation of discrimination, and then rated each behavior on a number of attributes representing key dimensions of behavior identified in intergroup theories (individual-collective; active-passive; non-normative-normative) and phenomenological studies on the experience of discrimination (e.g. risk). A multimode factor analysis of the behaviors and attributes provided a three-component solution. While the dimensions underlying these components reflected dimensions of behavior identified by intergroup theorists, they were also qualitatively different from them. Further analysis revealed that behaviors associated with higher preference ratings were perceived as more normative, preparatory, and low in cost and risk. The behavioral preferences, and the dimensions underlying these preferences were replicated in a second study, which comprised 70 Black and South Asian participants. The patterns of results were similar for the White and non-White participants, although these two groups did differ in their endorsement and ratings of some of the behaviors.