The immigrant experience: Houstonians’ family attitudes and behaviors

ABSTRACT

Although there is extensive scholarship that examines differences in family behaviors and attitudes between whites and blacks, there are very few studies that examine these differences across whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians in the United States. In the current study, we do so by examining data from the 2011 Houston Area Survey. We explore Houstonians’ likelihood of engaging in interracial relationships, attitudes toward working mothers, and attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Houston was selected as the target of the study given its rise as the most racially and ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the nation. Non-white Houstonians are more likely to date members of other racial/ethnic groups. With regard to attitudes toward working mothers, only Latino and Asian immigrants hold less accepting views than whites. Finally, the results with regard to same-sex marriage equality suggest that increased migration and diversity within Houston could hasten social change and acceptance.     

The Distinction Between Social Distance and Stereotyping

An analysis of survey data from a large city in the Southwest shows that social distance and stereotyping are distinct components of prejudice in white attitudes toward both blacks and American Indians. Further, whites perceive more social distance between themselves and blacks than between themselves and Indians. There is evidence of a smaller difference in the levels of stereotyping of Indians and blacks by whites.     

Ambivalence Toward Integration: the Sequence of Response to Six Interracial Situations*

White liberals (N=204) believing in integration and living in Los Angeles County expressed their attitudes toward six interracial situations: (1) busing in the schools for the purpose of ending de facto segregation; (2) the entrance of blacks into the respondents' occupational fields; (3) blacks moving into the respondents' neighborhoods; (4) the quota system as the basis for college admission for minorities; (5) rentals to blacks in white-occupied apartment buildings; and (6) hiring of blacks. A scalogram analysis indicates that the attitudes common to white liberals as a group form a systematic ordering of adherence to or retreat from anti-discriminatory principles, with the underlying dimension being the degree of attitudinal favorableness toward the situations and integration in general. We found a predictable pattern of complexity of attitudes toward the situations, with progression from the most difficult to the least difficult situation as follows: quota, busing, residence, apartment, hiring, and occupation. We reject a situational, direct threat hypothesis in favor of a general attitude hypothesis since retreats from anti-discriminatory beliefs follow a cumulative sequence, irrespective of the respondents' particular life circumstances or the nature of the specific situation. We conclude that the cultural definitions of the situations and the degree of clarity of emergent norms are primary factors determining attitudinal expressions which are consistent or inconsistent with a general belief in integration.     

People Like Us: Dominance-oriented Racial Affiliation Preferences and the White Greek System on a Southern U.S. Campus

Studying in-group affiliation preferences can be a valuable tool for understanding race relations in the contemporary United States. We draw on theories of social dominance and social identity to analyze racial attitudes, as measured by the Social Distance Scale, for a subset of black and white students at the University of Mississippi. While both black and white students expressed strong in-group preference, this preference was stronger for whites than for blacks, especially for white women presently affiliated or planning to affiliate with campus Greek organizations. Social dominance orientation, a measure describing whether social inequalities are accepted and justified, mediated the greater in-group preference of many whites, especially for intimate or high-power relationships. We discuss possible individual and institutional causes for the differences we observe, and we draw implications for understanding continued self-segregation both on- and off-campus in a society that implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, espouses “color-blind” ideals.     

THE EFFECTS OF THE RACE OF THE INTERVIEWER ON RACE-RELATED ATTITUDES OF BLACK RESPONDENTS IN SRC/CPS NATIONAL ELECTION STUDIES

Previous research found substantial effects of the race of theinterviewer on measures of civic attitudes and electoral participationof blacks in NES surveys from 1964, 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1984.This study extends the previous analysis in two ways: it usesdata from two additional NES surveys, 1982 and 1986; and itfocuses on the effects of the race of the interviewer on race-relatedattitudes. Blacks interviewed by whites were much more likelyto express warmth and closeness toward whites than were blacksinterviewed by blacks. But whereas there is no race-of-interviewereffect on blacks' expressions of warmth toward blacks, thereis a clear race-of-interviewer effect on blacks' expressionsof closeness toward blacks. The pattern of responses to thecloseness items appears to result from the format of the question.The observed trend of decreasing expressed closeness of blackstoward blacks in NES surveys between 1976 and 1984 is an artifactof changes in the racial composition of the interviewer staff.     

METAPHORS FOR PUBLIC OPINION IN LITERATURE

Previous research found substantial effects of the race of theinterviewer on measures of civic attitudes and electoral participationof blacks in NES surveys from 1964, 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1984.This study extends the previous analysis in two ways: it usesdata from two additional NES surveys, 1982 and 1986; and itfocuses on the effects of the race of the interviewer on race-relatedattitudes. Blacks interviewed by whites were much more likelyto express warmth and closeness toward whites than were blacksinterviewed by blacks. But whereas there is no race-of-interviewereffect on blacks' expressions of warmth toward blacks, thereis a clear race-of-interviewer effect on blacks' expressionsof closeness toward blacks. The pattern of responses to thecloseness items appears to result from the format of the question.The observed trend of decreasing expressed closeness of blackstoward blacks in NES surveys between 1976 and 1984 is an artifactof changes in the racial composition of the interviewer staff.     

“Every Place Has a Ghetto…”: The Significance of Whites' Social and Residential Segregation

The residential and social segregation of whites from blacks creates a socialization process we refer to as “white habitus.” This white habitus limits whites' chances for developing meaningful relationships with blacks and other minorities spatially and psychologically. Using data from the 1997 Survey of College Students' Social Attitudes and the 1998 Detroit Area Study, we show that the spatial segregation experienced by whites from blacks fosters segregated lifestyles and leads them to develop positive views about themselves and negative views about blacks. First, we document the high levels of whites' residential and social segregation. Next, we examine how whites interpret their own self‐segregation. Finally, we examine how whites' segregation shapes their racial expressions, attitudes, cognitions, and even their sense of aesthetics as illustrated by their views on the subject of interracial marriage.     

Adolescents' Willingness to Vote for a Woman for President:

During the past two decades there has been an increase in the number of women who campaign for and attain political office. This clearly has the potential to influence attitudes toward women in politics. In particular, it has the potential to influence the attitudes of adolescents, who, according to socialization theory, are especially affected by role models. In this study we used a quasiexperimental design to examine adolescents' attitudes toward female political candidates. We found that the junior and senior high school students we surveyed did not, as a group, use candidate sex as a voting cue. However, females were more willing than males and blacks were more willing than whites to vote for the female candidate.     

THE MEANING OF RACE TO EMPLOYERS:

The unemployment problems of blacks in the United States have been the subject of considerable research in the social sciences since the 1980s. One way of studying the barriers to employment faced by blacks has been to interview employers, face to face, and directly ask them about their racial attitudes. These studies have concluded that a majority of employers believe that blacks, compared with other racial and ethnic groups, are uncooperative, unreliable, and lack sufficient skills for entry-level employment. The present study critically reexamines employer racial attitudes toward blacks and other groups through a case study of employer hiring in the electronics industry in Los Angeles. Using a different set of interview questions, employers reported (1) that blacks are reluctant to accept unskilled jobs due to a higher reservation wage, not because they lacked skills or a work ethic, (2) that employer racial attitudes varied by level of occupational skill, and (3) that affirmative action regulations modified the hiring process such that employers were less likely to rely on negative racial stereotypes in their hiring and more likely to rely on objective criteria when screening job seekers. I conclude by suggesting that employer racial attitudes are dynamic and, in large measure, shaped by institutional relationships within the workplace.     

Black-White Differences in Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights

Black homophobia has been cited as a contributing factor inslowing mobilization against AIDS in the African-American community,as an obstacle to black lesbians and gay men in coming to termswith their sexuality, and as a challenge to the legitimacy ofthe gay rights movement. Yet evidence that blacks are more homophobicthan whites is quite limited. This article uses responses fromalmost seven thousand blacks and forty-three thousand whitesin 31 surveys conducted since 1973 to give more definitive answerson black-white attitudinal differences and their demographicroots. Despite their greater disapproval of homosexuality, blacks'opinions on sodomy laws, gay civil liberties, and employmentdiscrimination are quite similar to whites' opinions, and AfricanAmericans are more likely to support laws prohibiting antigaydiscrimination. Once religious and educational differences arecontrolled, blacks remain more disapproving of homosexualitybut are moderately more supportive of gay civil liberties andmarkedly more opposed to antigay employment discrimination thanare whites. Yet religion, education, gender, and age all haveweaker impacts on black than on white attitudes, suggestingthat black and white attitudes have different roots.     

Discursive Colorlines at Work: How Epithets and Stereotypes are Racially Unequal

In a racialized social system, racial slurs and stereotypes applied to whites by nonwhites do not carry the same meanings or outcomes as they do when these roles are swapped. That is, racial epithets directed toward whites are unlikely to affect their life chances in the same way that racial epithets directed toward minorities do. Our central question in this paper is in what ways are epithets and stereotypes racially unequal? To answer this question, we rely upon a case study to drive our analysis. We argue that the symbolic meanings and outcomes of epithets and stereotypes matter because they maintain white supremacy in both material and symbolic ways. Thus, they serve as resources that impose, confer, deny, and approve other capital rewards in everyday interactions that ultimately exclude racial minorities, blacks and Latinas/os in particular, from opportunities and resources while preserving white supremacy.     

The Role of Contact and Information in Racial Attitude Change among White College Students*

While much research has been done on the determinants of change in prejudice among whites, relatively little is known about the process of change in contemporary racial attitudes, variously described as symbolic racism, laissez‐faire racism, or color‐blind racism. This article uses data from a sample of white college students to examine the impact of intergroup contact and exposure to information about racial issues on changes in contemporary racial attitudes and feelings toward blacks (a key component of prejudice), using Pettigrew's (1998) model of the process by which contact produces change in racial attitudes. Results provide support for Pettigrew's model, showing while contact is important in changing whites’ feelings about blacks, both contact and exposure to information about race are important predictors of changes in contemporary racial attitudes. A comparison of longitudinal and cross‐sectional models of contemporary racial attitudes suggests that contact, especially in setting with “friendship potential,” has an impact on attitudes both directly and indirectly, through providing avenues through which racial information can be obtained as well as by providing motivation to pay attention to it.     

Whites’ Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy: Are Multiracial Individuals a Source of Group Threat or Intergroup Contact?

This study uses multilevel modeling with data from the 2010 U.S. Census and the Pew Research Center’s 2006 and 2011 surveys to examine the relationship between the relative size of the multiracial population, specifically mixed-race whites, in metropolitan areas and the immigration attitudes of native-born non-Hispanic whites. The results indicate that whites who live in metropolitan areas with higher percentages of mixed-race whites are more likely to hold comparatively immigrant-friendly attitudes in general and specifically toward immigration levels, taxes, and employment, supporting contact theory. With increases in the multiracial population, whites are likely to adopt a more complex conception of race over time, leading to context-specific and topic-centered attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy.     

Ethnic and class factors affecting mental health clinic service

Service delivery by a mental health clinic to clients from an older suburban catchment area containing both lower and middle class blacks and whites was studied. The epidemiologic method was employed, relating service delivery to the characteristics of the various population groups within the catchment. The findings indicate that low service rates for blacks were not related to ethnicity alone, but to the combination of black ethnicity and low social status; however, middle class blacks and middle class whites who entered treatment received similar service. Poor blacks had higher admission rates than poor whites with similar need indicators. In continued treatment, poor blacks received lowest service rates while minority status poor whites living in a predominantly black area received highest service rates. Social class mediated black service utilization. Severity of illness, interacting with social class and minority status mediated white service utilization. Outreach is suggested not only for poor blacks but also for poor whites, especially those living in areas in which they represent an ethnic minority.     

"Some of my best friends are black...": Interracial Friendship and Whites' Racial Attitudes

We examine the major tenets and assumptions of the well-knowncontact theory of prejudice, and we compare them with the morecynical reasoning implied by the infamous "Some of my best friendsare black, but..." expression. After assessing the extant evidencefor the contact theory, we use a unique set of national surveydata to address the central postulates of that theory. We examinethe racial beliefs, feelings, social dispositions, and policyviews of whites who have contact with blacks as friends, acquaintances,or neighbors. Our results suggest that personal interracialcontact is selective in its effects on whites' racial attitudes,that intimacy is less important than variety of contacts, andthat any effects are contingent on the relative socioeconomicstatus of black contacts. On the basis of our analysis, we reassessthe contact theory and propose a more political conception ofthe attitudes of dominant groups toward subordinates. We arguethat the message contained in the relationship between personalcontact with subordinates and intergroup attitudes is less benignthan is suggested by the contact theory.     

The efficacy of educational movies on AIDS knowledge and attitudes among college students

University students from five classes were randomly assigned to seeing either a movie on AIDS or a movie on first aid. Six weeks later, both groups of students filled out a questionnaire measuring their knowledge of AIDS, attitudes toward AIDS, and attitudes toward homosexuals. In general, the differences between the two groups on the knowledge and attitudes measures were slight. In particular, there was little effect on social attitudes. The showing of one educational movie on AIDS (particularly the movie that was used in this experiment) appears to be insufficient to educate students on this issue.     

HOW EDUCATION AFFECTS ATTITUDE TO PROTEST:

In a previous study, the authors found that among whites education affected attitude to protest in four ways: by raising commitment to civil liberties; by reducing support for violence; by increasing knowledge of protest justifications; and by altering a person's position in society, hence one's interests and identifications. This study shows that the same set of forces accounts for the variability of correlations between education and protest attitudes among samples of black respondents. Differences in the results among blacks as compared to whites chiefly relate to issue-specific protests. Here results diverge because black experience serves as an alternative to formal education for increasing awareness of protest justifications and identification with protestors.     

Racism, Rational Choice, and White Opposition to Racial Change: A Case Study of Busing

Despite significant declines in traditional prejudice, whiteresistance to desegregation and affirmative action has led someto argue that a new symbolic racism has emerged as the principalimpediment to racial change in America. Studies of oppositionto busing, however, suggest a nonracial or rational choice explanation;whites oppose busing because it is believed to have too manycosts and not enough benefits. Using data from a medium-sizedmidwestem city, this study estimates a multiple indicator modelfor the effects of traditional prejudice, symbolic racism, andrational choice on four types of opposition to busing—attitudestoward two-way busing, one-way busing, protest, and white flight.Traditional prejudice and symbolic racism are found to be partiallyindependent dimensions whose effects on busing opposition areentirely mediated by certain expected costs of busing. Thus,the findings support both racism and rational choice explanations.There is, however, no support for the notion that symbolic racismis a more important source of opposition to racial change thanis traditional prejudice.     

Homeless Affiliation,Location, and Sender Address in Return of Lost Letters

A field study used 1008 “lost letters” to test the hypotheses that the differences in returned responses would be attributable to the addressee (i.e., ending homelessnesscontrol or preventing it among youth, veterans, and lesbians) and especially to a socially deviant addressee, that cultural differences between distribution locations might influence returned responses of lost letters, and that sender address (i.e., urban, rural, control) would also influence returned responses. Both addressees’ affiliations and distribution location were associated with returned responses, with the lowest rates being for the Prevent Lesbian Homelessness Program affiliate overall and for the city of Pensacola, respectively. Antigay prejudice toward a deviant group may still be strong even when a helping act can be performed without intimate contact involving members of a deviant group. Neither distribution location nor the sender or return address conditions were associated with different returned responses. Further testing of the lost letter technique, as a measure of public response, may be warranted.