A growing body of research has shown that phenotypes and skin pigmentation play a fundamental role in stratification dynamics in Latin American countries. However, the relevance of skin color on status attribution for different status groups has been little studied in the region. This article seeks to broaden the research on phenotypic status cues using Chile as a context for analysis – a Latin American country with a narrow although continuous spectrum of skin tones, marked status differences, and a mostly white elite. We draw on status construction theory to hypothesize that skin pigmentation in Chile has become a status cue, although its heuristic relevance could differ across status groups. Using visual stimuli and a repeated measure design, we studied this relationship and tested whether the use of skin pigmentation as a status cue is conditional upon the status of those categorizing others. The results reveal that participants attribute, on average, lower status to others of darker skin. Besides, skin pigmentation has a conditional effect on the social status of participants: whereas skin pigmentation does not work as a status cue for lower status participants, it is an important status marker for the categorizations that middle and especially higher status participants perform. The phenotypic composition of reference groups of low- and high-status individuals and system justification are discussed as potential explanations for these results.
Resumen: En este trabajo se explora el efecto de las instituciones electorales en la composición de los electorados, particularmente el tipo de inscripción y el carácter de voluntariedad/obligatoriedad del voto. Explotando la reciente reforma electoral en Chile a través de un diseño cuasi experimental, se compara la composición de los electorados antes y después de la reforma, en base a los principales predictores sugeridos por la literatura especializada. Entre los hallazgos centrales se encuentran un fuerte efecto de la edad en ambos contextos normativos, la importancia de la educación y de la atención política tras la reforma, y la heterogeneidad de estos efectos entre las generaciones políticas. Adicionalmente, se cuantifica el efecto de la reforma electoral para distintos grupos, mostrando que ésta no afectó a todos por igual. Finalmente, se concluye con una discusión sobre las implicancias democráticas de la reforma electoral y sus consecuencias en el sistema político. 1 El autor quisiera agradecer el apoyo permanente de Matías Bargsted durante el desarrollo de esta investigación y los valiosos comentarios
Several studies have consistently linked the Evangelical breakdown in Latin America as a mass movement mainly adopted by impoverished working class individuals. However, little is known about how religious inheritance and recruitment of Evangelical movements is affected when status conditions improve along individuals trajectories. Using Bicentenario Survey from 2006 to 2010 we analyze how intergenerational patterns of religious persistence in Chile relate to individuals’ educational attainment and intergenerational mobility. Two mechanisms are evaluated: first, the intergenerational persistence of Evangelicals compared to Catholics and “None's”; and second, the probability of conversion or reaffiliation to Evangelical Protestantism. Multinomial regression analysis shows that the greater an individual's educational credentials and upward mobility, the lesser their identification with Evangelical movements, regardless of their religious affiliation or educational attainment of origin. This evidence suggests there are obstacles for Evangelical movements’ vertical mobility, which could be related to Chile's strong social cleavage in terms of religion.
Although the literature on trust is vast, little is known about the attributes that trigger or inhibit trusting others we do not know. Using a vignette version of the trust game, we addressed the role that social standing plays in estimating trustworthiness of strangers in cross-status interactions in Chile, a non-WEIRD context also characterized by high inequality and social segregation. We found no relationship between the socioeconomic status of trustors and trusting behavior. However, trustees' income was the most important attribute for trustors to decide how much to trust. We also found that higher-income trustees are less trusted in general, particularly by lower-status trustors. Finally, the results revealed that the influence of income differences on trust was higher for lowerstatus participants: they are more trustful of others of similar status. We did not observe a similar effect of ingroup favoritism on trust among higher-status participants. These results suggest that income differences are decisive in the trust decisions of lower-status individuals.
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