Calling the Kettle White: How Material Stakes Impact External Racial Classification

Under what conditions do Americans use ascriptive criteria such as ancestry when classifying others into ethnic/racial groups? We generate hypotheses by joining realistic group conflict theory with research treating racial/ethnic classification as an outcome. We then report the results of two conjoint survey experiments, one with undergraduates from diverse backgrounds, the other with American adults. By randomly varying whether respondents classify hypothetical profiles completing a scholarship application or an anonymous survey, we examine the factors that lead people to classify others into various groups. Our experiments show that respondents rely more on ancestry when deciding whether scholarship candidates are white. However, for other classifications, the substantive differences between the scholarship and survey conditions are small, and respondents from different backgrounds behave similarly. Stakes do matter, and they do so in a way consistent with the role of widely shared concerns about fairness and claiming disadvantage inappropriately.