Status-based coalitions: Hispanic growth affects Whites’ perceptions of political support from Asian Americans

Abstract

Three experiments test whether considering a stereotypically lower status group’s social gains leads White Americans to expect political solidarity among stereotypically higher status groups. Information about Hispanic population growth (vs. current demographics) led White Americans to expect relative losses to both White and Asian Americans’ statuses (Study 1). Making growing Hispanic political power (vs. control information) salient led Whites to report that Asian Americans and White Americans would support one another’s policy positions more (Studies 2 and 3). Importantly, presenting information that Asian Americans oppose (vs. support) the racial status quo reduced Whites’ perceptions of a White–Asian status-based coalition in response to growing Hispanic power (Study 3), suggesting that disrupting beliefs that Asian Americans will maintain the racial hierarchy reduces expectations of a White–Asian coalition in response to Hispanic growth. This work highlights the utility of moving beyond dyadic conceptualizations of intergroup relations to understand how one group’s gains can shift coalitional expectations in diverse social hierarchies.