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Black Like Me: The Malleability of African American Political Racial Group Identification

Laird, Chryl Nicole

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2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Political Science.
Prior research in political behavior illustrates that individuals rely upon group identities in political decision-making. People who are highly identified with a particular group are likely to make choices in line with that group’s interest. Despite advancements in the literature, we still know considerably little about how identification with a certain group transforms into a salient political identification. Additionally, the existing literature does not provide or explain the mechanism that facilitates this transition? My argument is that political context significantly shapes not only the salience of the political attachment, but also the strength of that attachment. I use experimental methods to establish the malleability of political attachment to a group. In particular, I focus on Black Americans as the main test case due to the strong empirical evidence that demonstrates that their Black political attachment with the racial group, or linked fate, is fundamental to explaining political decisions and behavior. In my first study (Chapter 2), I test the contextual effects of racialized political discourse by varying explicit racial messages about which segments of the Black community are defined as a part of the broader “Black” interest. I find that Blacks that are not chronically included or excluded in political discourse—moveable Blacks—show significant increases in their linked fate when their interests are being framed as the major interest for the group. In the second study (Chapter 3), I argue that Blacks rely upon their political attachment with the racial group when they are exposed to a political context in which there is a conflict between their simple self-interest and the group-interest as a means to manage the cognitive dissonance. I conduct an experiment in which personal incentives are only received by opting out of the expected group norm of behavior. I find that Blacks respond with increases in their expressions of linked fate. In the third study (Chapter 4), I argue that self-reports of linked fate are significantly influenced by the presence of explicitly racial information in survey instruments. I test the effect of survey context by varying the location of explicitly racial information in a survey. I find that explicitly racial survey introductions did not lead to changes in linked fate attitudes but, the placement of the linked fate question in the survey instrument resulted in significant variation. Finally, in my last chapter, I discuss the implications of my results on our understanding of linked fate politics and future directions to consider in this line of research.
Ismail White (Committee Co-Chair)
Corrine McConnaughy (Committee Co-Chair)
Thomas Nelson (Committee Member)
215 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Laird, C. N. (2014). Black Like Me: The Malleability of African American Political Racial Group Identification [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398801214

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Laird, Chryl. Black Like Me: The Malleability of African American Political Racial Group Identification. 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398801214.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Laird, Chryl. "Black Like Me: The Malleability of African American Political Racial Group Identification." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398801214

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)