Voter Evaluations of Biracial-Identified Political Candidates

Gregory John Leslie, Natalie Masuoka, Sarah E. Gaither, Jessica D. Remedios and A. Chyei Vinluan
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Gregory John Leslie: Department of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Natalie Masuoka: Department of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Sarah E. Gaither: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, Duke University, Durham, NC 27701, USA
Jessica D. Remedios: Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
A. Chyei Vinluan: Negotiation, Organizations, and Markets Unit, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA 02163, USA

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-31

Abstract: Today, identity expression and acceptance represent an important area of political advocacy and representation. Yet, how responsive are voters to new racial identity cues promoted by political leaders? Using candidates with interracial backgrounds as a case study, we assess whether voters are responsive to candidates who assert a mixed-race identity or if voters primarily rely on other traits, such as the candidate’s family background, in determining their support of that candidate. Using an experimental design, this study presents participants with various hypothetical candidates who vary both in their racial heritages (i.e., candidates with Asian and White interracial parents or Black and White interracial parents) and identity choices (i.e., as single-race minority, single-race White, or biracial). We then compare how the mixed-race, single-race minority, and White participants evaluate the candidate. We expect that the mixed-race participants will be most supportive of candidates who signal a common in-group identity by identifying specifically as “biracial”. On the other hand, the single-race minority and White participants should be more likely to adhere to the one-drop rule or hypodescent in their evaluations, meaning they will provide more positive evaluations of interracial candidates who identify as a single-race minority. Our study finds that the single-race minority and White participants completely overlook racial identity cues and instead focus on the description of the candidate’s family heritage along with their own assumptions about hypodescent. The mixed-race participants, on the other hand, show strong support for biracial-identified, in-group political candidates This study adds to a burgeoning literature on racial perception and on political representation.

Keywords: mixed race; biracial; identity; electoral politics; racial categorization; hypodescent (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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