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Apologies for not having read the book, but is there evidence that unconscious favoritism is actually at the root of various economic and social disparities in

Apologies for not having read the book, but is there evidence that unconscious favoritism is actually at the root of various economic and social disparities in the U.S.? How does it account for disparities amongst similarly "different" groups? Asian median income in the U.S. is higher than non-Hispanic-whites (god I hate these categories...), while Hispanic is lower. It seems to me that the vast majority of the difference is rooted elsewhere, because you'd have to tell a pretty good "just so" story to suggest that "modern prejudice" simultaneously helped Asians and punished Hispanics.

bcoates 14y ago
If the theory is in-group favoritism, then the disparity is self-perpetuating: if one group has more income it presumably has more favor to give disproportionately within the group, and vice versa. I'm guessing it's mostly a black-white thing though, for most other US minorities I would be surprised if the effects weren't dominated by the differences on quantity and wealth of immigrants.
- twoodfin 14y ago
  I'm inclined to believe that culture matters. A lot. I bet it swamps any effects of in-group favoritism. Of course, "culture" is hard to define and even harder to design good controlled experiments to test. On the other hand, I'd be interested to see the results of something like the authors' IAT testing, but looking for "hidden" responses to cultural traits (value of work vs. leisure, family vs. friends) rather than racial images.
chromaform 14y ago
Yes, there is. An established area of research -- ethnology, and related fields like ethnomathematics and ethnography -- exists in social science disciplines to generate qualitative data in response to exactly these kinds of questions.
- twoodfin 14y ago
  And that evidence is? The IAT researchers' bibliography goes back to the mid-'80s. Have they found any correlation between changing unconscious associations and changing socioeconomic disparities over the past 20+ years?
  - chromaform 14y ago
    I must assume you are referring to the bibliography of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, although perhaps not, as the publishing dates of sources likely relevant to your query go back to at least the 1920s -- ex. Bogardus (1928, 1925). If you haven't accessed this bibliography I heartily recommend that you do, as cursory examination of the sources included therein reveals a multitude that would likely address both your first and second challenges.

bcoates 14y ago

If the theory is in-group favoritism, then the disparity is self-perpetuating: if one group has more income it presumably has more favor to give disproportionately within the group, and vice versa. I'm guessing it's mostly a black-white thing though, for most other US minorities I would be surprised if the effects weren't dominated by the differences on quantity and wealth of immigrants.

twoodfin 14y ago
I'm inclined to believe that culture matters. A lot. I bet it swamps any effects of in-group favoritism. Of course, "culture" is hard to define and even harder to design good controlled experiments to test. On the other hand, I'd be interested to see the results of something like the authors' IAT testing, but looking for "hidden" responses to cultural traits (value of work vs. leisure, family vs. friends) rather than racial images.

chromaform 14y ago

Yes, there is. An established area of research -- ethnology, and related fields like ethnomathematics and ethnography -- exists in social science disciplines to generate qualitative data in response to exactly these kinds of questions.

twoodfin 14y ago
And that evidence is? The IAT researchers' bibliography goes back to the mid-'80s. Have they found any correlation between changing unconscious associations and changing socioeconomic disparities over the past 20+ years?
- chromaform 14y ago
  I must assume you are referring to the bibliography of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, although perhaps not, as the publishing dates of sources likely relevant to your query go back to at least the 1920s -- ex. Bogardus (1928, 1925). If you haven't accessed this bibliography I heartily recommend that you do, as cursory examination of the sources included therein reveals a multitude that would likely address both your first and second challenges.