Racial preference in relation to self esteem and other selected variables

Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-68)There is widespread popular support for the hypothesis that\ud high self esteem is accompanied by a reduction in racial prejudice\ud and therefore racial preferences. Yet most of the research to\ud date has failed to support this hypothesis. The present study\ud has taken another look at this relationship, employing a\ud behavioral measure of racial preference. In addition the following\ud variables,found by previous research to be correlated with\ud racial preference, were included: sex, dogmatism, religiosity,\ud and socio-economic class. The study used Ss from three different backgrounds: Black, Mexican-American, and White. These Ss were asked to complete a questionnaire containing measures for all the variables of\ud interest. The particular measure used to gauge differences in\ud racial preference was a sham computer dating study. The S\ud were led to believe that they were selecting characteristics of their future dates. One characteristic all Ss were asked to comment on was racial preference. A.similar construct was devised\ud relating to the selection of a counselor, and Ss were randomly\ud assigned to one of the two hypothetical situations. Self esteem\ud was measured by use of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale. The results failed to support the hypothesis that there is\ud a significant relationship between self esteem and racial preference\ud even when social desirability influences are minimized by the addition\ud of behavioral implications to the racial preference measure.\ud Although some of the other variables were significantly related\ud to racial preference, none exhibited very high correlation\ud with this type of measure. The three racial groups used in the stud~\ud each exhibited different patterns of racial preference