The Anger Gap

Abstract

Anger in Black and White I Never Thought I'd See the Day: Black Joy in the Good TimesThe sun barely peered through a sea of clouds on this frigid morning in January 2009, overlooking the expanse of people in front of the Capitol steps in Washington, DC. To this day I remember the sensations I felt as I stood in that crowd, frantically shifting my weight from one leg to the other in the vain hope of warming my feet on the cold brown dirt surface along the National Mall. The bitter wintry cold of that day was overwhelmed by the enveloping warmth I felt from the throngs of black folks that had been gathering since before dawn. They proudly displayed their elation at the historical moment that was about to unfold. Older people exclaimed to anyone within earshot that they had thought they would never see this moment in their lifetimes. Younger folks swayed in exuberance, alternating shouts of yes we can! and yes we did! The emotions expressed by the gatherings of jubilant black people on the Mall were palpable. The pride in the sense of collective accomplishment. We really did it. We elected a black president. The surreal sense of joyous disbelief at a long-delayed dream finally realized. Is this really happening? I almost can't believe it. These feelings would undergird black people's longstanding support of Obama long after the honeymoon period would end for white members of Obama's support coalition. 1 These feelings would elevate black participation to new heights. In 2010, the first midterm election of the Obama era, African Americans were the 1 Newport (2014).

Not every dissatisfaction is the same: The impact of electoral regret, disappointment, and anger on subsequent electoral behavior.

“…Additional studies, in other countries and political contexts, will help us further understand the boundary conditions and generalizability of regret, disappointment, and anger on electoral behaviors. For example, some work suggests that the different political experiences of racial groups in the United States affect the link between anger and political behaviors (Phoenix, 2019) and the link between anger and electoral participation is highly context-dependent (Van Zomeren et al, 2018); whether similar effects emerge in other countries or in the case for regret and disappointment is currently unknown.…”

Empathic and counter-empathic emotions shape social hierarchy based on group positionality

“…For example, research on ingroup and outgroup empathy gaps often use social groups that are also characterized by different levels of societal power, making it unclear as to whether the patterns of results are due to group membership, power differentials, or a combination of both (Hudson et al, 2019). As another example, while all groups can experience group level emotions, many groups are constrained in which emotions they can verbalize and/or act on due to their lower level of societal power (Phoenix, 2019). Contextualizing emotions within power structures has primarily been done with anger, and it is clear that additional research is needed on the consequences of asymmetry of emotional expression for empathy and counter-empathy.…”

“…Davis & Wilson, 2022;Norton & Sommers, 2011). However, given the historical asymmetry in power such that White Americans enjoy disproportionate amounts of social, political, and economic power (Roberts & Rizzo, 2021;Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) compared to other racial groups, White Americans' anger/resentment (Outten et al, 2012) has farther-reaching consequences than the same emotions felt by Black Americans (Anderson, 2016;Phoenix, 2019). These consequences can be hierarchy enhancing, such as the Tulsa Massacre which occurred because armed White Americans grew resentful of the growing prosperity of the Greenwood Black community (Fenwick, 2020).…”

Bayesian Multilevel Modeling for the Intersections of Race and Gender

“…Scholars have long been interested in the influence of social identities on American politics (Berelson, Lazarsfeld and McPhee 1954;Converse et al 1961;Dawson 1994;Kinder and Sanders 1996;Mason 2018). The salience of race during Barack Obama's presidency and the racialized and gendered politics of the Trump era have made understanding the complex nature of intersecting identities all the more important for researchers (Tesler 2016;Sides, Tesler and Vavreck 2018;Jardina 2019;Phoenix 2019).…”