The Role of Diversity Exposure in Whites’ Reduction in Race Essentialism Over Time

Abstract

Despite multidisciplinary theorizing on the consequences of the changing racial demographics in the United States, few studies have systematically examined how exposure to racial diversity may impact White individuals' lay beliefs about race. In a longitudinal study, we explored whether living in a racially diverse environment with a high multiracial population was related to White individuals' endorsement of race essentialism and its downstream consequences. Endorsement of race essentialism decreased over time, and greater diversity of acquaintances over time was associated with this decrease. Race essentialism reduction also corresponded with a decrease in modern racism and social dominance orientation, and an increase in cognitive flexibility, over time. These findings are consistent with the idea that a racially diverse social context can shape endorsement of race essentialism and lead to social and cognitive benefits for White individuals.

Black + White = Not White: A minority bias in categorizations of Black-White multiracials

“…Although our task precluded the possibility that participants could place a face into multiple racial groups, it does reflect the American lay theory that racial categories are mutually exclusive (e.g., Eberhardt & Randall, 1997;Rothbart & Taylor, 1992). It is possible that priming participants with a more flexible view of race, such as explicitly instructing them to consider that faces may go into multiple groups, could reduce their endorsement of racial categories as discrete and inflexible (see Pauker, Carpinella, Meyers, Young, & Sanchez, 2017).…”

A review of multiracial malleability: Identity, categorization, and shifting racial attitudes

“…Instead, patterns of multiracial categorization in other cultures should reflect the dominant narrative of race in that culture (Chen, Paula Couto, Sacco, & Dunham, 2017). Fully exploring the role of cultural conceptions of race will require conducting more research outside of the U.S. context or in U.S. contexts that may vary in their conceptions of race (e.g., Hawaii; Pauker et al, 2017).…”

An integrative review of impression formation processes for multiracial individuals

“…Moreover, the diversity of perceivers' social context may impact their lay theories about the nature of race and racial differences. Specifically, when perceivers regularly interact with people who blur racial or other social boundaries, they may revise their beliefs as to the legitimacy and immutability of those intergroup distinctions (see Pauker, Carpinella, Meyers, Young, & Sanchez, ; Young, Sanchez, & Wilton, ).…”