Effects of Levels of Implicit Association, Symbolic Racism, and Explicit Racial Resentment on Evaluation of White and Black Candidates

Abstract

For decades, scholars have struggled to measure levels of racism. The question is characterized by unique complexity as a result of the “norm of equality.” Because Americans overwhelmingly believe in racial equality in the abstract, capturing latent racism is challenging. In this paper, we examine the relationship of three measures — Implicit Associations, Symbolic Racism, and Explicit Racial — on evaluation of Black and White candidates in a fictitious biracial legislative election. This initial examination focuses on evaluation of candidates by participants who saw ads from both candidates, neither of which contained a racial appeal. Results are inconclusive and preliminary, serving as a baseline for future analysis of ads that contain both implicit and explicit race-based messages.

Keywords: elections, race, racism, candidate, political psychology