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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5878-5398
Access Type
Campus-Only Access for One (1) Year
Document Type
thesis
Embargo Period
9-10-2023
Degree Program
Psychology
Degree Type
Master of Science (M.S.)
Year Degree Awarded
2023
Month Degree Awarded
September
Abstract
People often express essentialist beliefs about race and nationality, viewing each as causally powerful and stable over time. However, do essentialist intuitions apply across intersectional categories? Here, across White-non-Latine (n = 197), White-Latine (n = 202) and non-White-Latine (n = 151) Americans, we find that essentialist beliefs about nationality differ based on participant race-ethnicity and the skin-color of the target American. In White-Latines and non-Latines, both white-skinned and brown-skinned targets’ “Americanness” were essentialized above chance, but white-skinned targets were essentialized at higher rates. However, non-White-Latines essentialized Americanness similarly in both white and brown-skinned targets. Further, only participants who essentialized Americanness in white-skinned, but not brown-skinned, Americans expressed greater warmth toward White immigrants over Latine immigrants. Those who essentialized Americanness equally in white- and brown-skinned targets showed no difference in warmth. These findings illustrate the importance of investigating cognitive precursors to prejudice through an intersectional perspective in ethnically diverse samples.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/36029097.0
First Advisor
Tara Mandalaywala
Second Advisor
John Tawa
Third Advisor
Linda Tropp
Recommended Citation
Legaspi, Jordan, ""Should they be Allowed to Stay?": The Consequences of Essentializing the "American = white" Stereotype in white and Latino Americans" (2023). Masters Theses. 1388.
https://doi.org/10.7275/36029097.0
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/1388