A study suggests that liberals are more likely than conservatives to publicize minority accomplishments. Campaigns such as #OscarsSoWhite and #WomenAlsoKnowStuff highlight that minority underrepresentation extends to accolades. Nour S. Kteily, Matthew D. Rocklage, and colleagues conducted three studies examining how liberals and conservatives differ in highlighting successful minorities. In one study, the authors analyzed 554,337 tweets about the 2016 Olympics from 160,639 Twitter users. Users' political leanings were determined based on whom they followed. Liberals were more likely than conservatives to post about the accomplishments of female rather than male, black rather than white, and black female rather than white male gold medalists. In another study, 788 participants were asked whom they would choose for a panel after reading one of two newspaper articles: a neutral article or an article suggesting that minorities receive less recognition than equally successful white peers. After reading about how minorities' accomplishments are overlooked, all participants were more likely to select a black female instead of a white male for the panel; the tendency was pronounced among liberals. In yet another study including 2,387 participants, the authors found that conservatives were equally likely to tweet about a talk featuring a black female or a white male astrophysicist, whereas liberals preferentially tweeted the talk by the black female. The findings suggest links between political ideology and spotlighting of minority accomplishments, according to the authors.
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Article #18-18545: "Political ideology shapes the amplification of the accomplishments of disadvantaged vs. advantaged group members," by Nour S. Kteily, Matthew Rocklage, Kaylene McClanahan, and Arnold K. Ho.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Nour S. Kteily, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; tel: 617-800-3565; email: < n-kteily@kellogg.northwestern.edu >; Matthew D. Rocklage, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; tel: 605-929-7173; email: < m.rocklage@northeastern.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences