Sociology Department Colloquium: Maria Abascal

Please join us for a colloquium being given by Maria Abascal from Princeton University.

"Black-White Relations in the Wake of Hispanic Population Growth: Evidence from a Behavioral Experiment"

The United States is undergoing a radical demographic transformation driven largely by the growth of the Hispanic population; these changes raise important questions about the future of US race relations. Previous research on Hispanic growth specifically and intergroup relations generally continues to operate within a two-group paradigm rooted in an outdated vision of a binary racial order. For example, we know that Hispanic growth adversely affects Whites’ attitudes toward Hispanics. We do not know whether or how Hispanic growth affects Whites’ attitudes toward other groups, such as Blacks (and vice versa). My dissertation tackles this question by drawing on Simmel’s theory of triads in combination with original experimental data and national survey data. I will present a chapter based on an original laboratory experiment conducted among a sample of non-students. The experiment uses behavioral game and survey methods to evaluate how perceptions of Hispanic growth affect Blacks’ and Whites’ a) generosity toward black and white strangers, and b) their identification along racial and national dimensions.