Anti-egalitarians for Obama? Group-dominance motivation and the Obama vote

Eric D. Knowles; Brian S. Lowery; Rebecca L. Schaumberg

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.005

Anti-egalitarians for Obama? Group-dominance motivation and the Obama vote

Eric D. Knowles, Brian S. Lowery, Rebecca L. Schaumberg

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The election of the first Black president was a watershed moment in American race relations, and many Obama voters saw their choice as affirming and furthering the dream of racial equality. However, the present study provides evidence that Obama also garnered votes from an unlikely source: those wishing to maintain racial disparities. Data from a longitudinal study of the election suggest that, while some anti-egalitarian voters opposed Obama due to his perceived "foreignness," others voted for him in order to underwrite the hierarchy-enhancing claim that US racism has been eliminated. Anti-egalitarianism was only associated with an increased tendency to vote for Obama among individuals who claimed that his victory signals the end of racism.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	965-969
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume	45
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.005
State	Published - Jul 2009

Keywords

Color-blindness
Obama
Social dominance
Voting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Sociology and Political Science

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.005

Cite this

@article{b5e31164121d44b0bee50d9138519cc8,

title = "Anti-egalitarians for Obama? Group-dominance motivation and the Obama vote",

abstract = "The election of the first Black president was a watershed moment in American race relations, and many Obama voters saw their choice as affirming and furthering the dream of racial equality. However, the present study provides evidence that Obama also garnered votes from an unlikely source: those wishing to maintain racial disparities. Data from a longitudinal study of the election suggest that, while some anti-egalitarian voters opposed Obama due to his perceived {"}foreignness,{"} others voted for him in order to underwrite the hierarchy-enhancing claim that US racism has been eliminated. Anti-egalitarianism was only associated with an increased tendency to vote for Obama among individuals who claimed that his victory signals the end of racism.",

keywords = "Color-blindness, Obama, Social dominance, Voting",

author = "Knowles, {Eric D.} and Lowery, {Brian S.} and Schaumberg, {Rebecca L.}",

year = "2009",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.005",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "45",

pages = "965--969",

journal = "Journal of Experimental Social Psychology",

issn = "0022-1031",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Anti-egalitarians for Obama? Group-dominance motivation and the Obama vote

AU - Knowles, Eric D.

AU - Lowery, Brian S.

AU - Schaumberg, Rebecca L.

PY - 2009/7

Y1 - 2009/7

N2 - The election of the first Black president was a watershed moment in American race relations, and many Obama voters saw their choice as affirming and furthering the dream of racial equality. However, the present study provides evidence that Obama also garnered votes from an unlikely source: those wishing to maintain racial disparities. Data from a longitudinal study of the election suggest that, while some anti-egalitarian voters opposed Obama due to his perceived "foreignness," others voted for him in order to underwrite the hierarchy-enhancing claim that US racism has been eliminated. Anti-egalitarianism was only associated with an increased tendency to vote for Obama among individuals who claimed that his victory signals the end of racism.

AB - The election of the first Black president was a watershed moment in American race relations, and many Obama voters saw their choice as affirming and furthering the dream of racial equality. However, the present study provides evidence that Obama also garnered votes from an unlikely source: those wishing to maintain racial disparities. Data from a longitudinal study of the election suggest that, while some anti-egalitarian voters opposed Obama due to his perceived "foreignness," others voted for him in order to underwrite the hierarchy-enhancing claim that US racism has been eliminated. Anti-egalitarianism was only associated with an increased tendency to vote for Obama among individuals who claimed that his victory signals the end of racism.

KW - Color-blindness

KW - Obama

KW - Social dominance

KW - Voting

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67651061189&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=67651061189&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.005

DO - 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.005

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:67651061189

SN - 0022-1031

VL - 45

SP - 965

EP - 969

JO - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

JF - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

IS - 4

ER -

Anti-egalitarians for Obama? Group-dominance motivation and the Obama vote

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this