Self-Presentation in Interracial Settings: The Competence Downshift by White Liberals

• Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology Vol. 117; no. 3; pp. 579 - 604
• Main Authors: Dupree, Cydney H., Fiske, Susan T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01-09-2019
• Subjects: Adult; African Americans - psychology; Archival research; Audiences; Authoritarianism; Black People; Campaigns; Candidates; Competence; Conservatism; Dominance; European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Female; Hierarchies; Human; Humans; Interpersonal Interaction; Language shift; Male; Minority groups; Patronizing; Political campaigns; Political Candidates; Political Conservatism; Political identity; Political Liberalism; Political parties; Politics; Presidential elections; Presidents; Racial and Ethnic Differences; Racial inequality; Right wing politics; Self-Presentation; Selfpresentation; Social Behavior; Social Dominance; Social values; Speeches; Stereotypes; Stereotyping; Test Construction; Vocabulary; White People; Young Adult; interracial versus intraracial interactions; warmth and competence; conservatives and liberals; self-presentation
• ISSN: 0022-3514; 1939-1315
• DOI: 10.1037/pspi0000166

Most Whites, particularly sociopolitical liberals, now endorse racial equality. Archival and experimental research reveals a subtle but persistent ironic consequence: White liberals self-present less competence to minorities than to other Whites-that is, they patronize minorities stereotyped as lower status and less competent. In an initial archival demonstration of the competence downshift, Study 1 examined the content of White Republican and Democratic presidential candidates' campaign speeches. Although Republican candidates did not significantly shift language based on audience racial composition, Democratic candidates used less competence-related language to minority audiences than to White audiences. Across 5 experiments (total N = 2,157), White participants responded to a Black or White hypothetical (Studies 2, 3, 4, S1) or ostensibly real (Study 5) interaction partner. Three indicators of self-presentation converged: competence-signaling of vocabulary selected for an assignment, competence-related traits selected for an introduction, and competence-related content of brief, open-ended introductions. Conservatism indicators included self-reported political affiliation (liberal-conservative), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (values-based conservatism), and Social Dominance Orientation (hierarchy-based conservatism). Internal meta-analyses revealed that liberals-but not conservatives-presented less competence to Black interaction partners than to White ones. The simple effect was small but significant across studies, and most reliable for the self-reported measure of conservatism. This possibly unintentional but ultimately patronizing competence-downshift suggests that well-intentioned liberal Whites may draw on low-status/competence stereotypes to affiliate with minorities.