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Despite the traditional importance of Latinos in the U.S., the growing Latino population, and evidence of group-based disparities, psychological studies of discrimination against Latinos are surprisingly rare. The present research investigated the relationship between prejudice against Latinos and subtle bias, specifically the degree to which people offer autonomy-oriented relative to dependency-oriented assistance to a Latina in need. Participants read scenarios that described concrete social problems faced by particular Latinas, African Americans, or Whites and then indicated their support for forms of helping. Participants higher in prejudice against Latinos, assessed with an adaptation of the Modern Racism Scale, were less likely to offer autonomy-oriented help, and significantly more so after reading scenarios about a Latina than about an African American or a White woman. These findings extend previous work by identifying, experimentally, subtle bias against Latinas in helping and directly implicate the role of prejudice against Latinos in this process.

Roma people in Spain face situations of high deprivation, including high unemployment and early school leaving rates. The strategies to address this situation point to education as the means to overcome poverty and social exclusion. Although efforts have been made within compulsory education, scarce attention has been given to their performance once in higher education. Although young Roma people are reaching higher education more often than their parents, once at university they face specific barriers that hinder their opportunities. Using a mixed-methods approach, UNIROMA analyses those difficulties and formulates orientations to overcome them, thereby contributing to increasing the university graduation rates of Roma students. This paper presents the results of the quantitative fieldwork, consisting of an online questionnaire administered from May to July of 2020 to Roma students enrolled in Spanish universities. In the results, three main profiles were identified: traditional students, young students with other commitments (job and/or family responsibilities) and mature students. The results, concordant with research on other minority groups and higher education, provide evidence of the barriers that Roma students face in university due to the intersectionality of multiple factors of discrimination, namely, belonging to an ethnic minority and being more frequently first-generation, low SES and non-traditional students.

Psychological research and theory have traditionally focused on bias and conflict between separate groups. Our central thesis is that the processes that shape hierarchical group relations within a society are distinctive and typically operate in ways that are frequently subtle rather than blatant. The challenges of detecting new subtle forms of bias are receiving considerable attention in the field of social psychology, internationally. Although explicit hostility toward minority groups seems to have faded in modern societies, cross-cultural data show that the status, resources, and the power of women and ethnic/racial minorities remain unequal. The present literature review integrates the findings of cross-cultural research showing the role of paternalistic legitimizing ideas and behavior for establishing, maintaining, and reinforcing group hierarchy and the disadvantage of members of traditionally underrepresented groups. Specifically, we explain how intergroup helping relations can be used as a mechanism to maintain social advantage in racial and gender relations. These theoretical and experimental insights help illuminate the dynamics of relations between socially linked groups and the nature of contemporary bias. We also highlight how this perspective suggests novel and productive directions for future research.

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