Author Race, Essay Quality, and Reverse Discrimination

This study examines the interaction between author race and essay quality on evaluations of essays by experienced teachers and student teachers. Subjects ( n = 160) were told that they were reading essays written by high school seniors applying for university admission and that their evaluations would result in the authors' admission and class assignment to remedial, normal, or advanced composition classes. Four preselected and prerated essays: one poor, two moderate, and one excellent were presented to the subjects in a booklet, each with a bogus admissions form, an essay rating scale, and a class assignment form. The attribution of author race was accomplished surreptitiously. Results showed that both the essay quality manipulation and author race attribution were successful. Subjects easily discriminated the difference in quality among the essays. They also showed a significant tendency to use reverse discrimination in rating black authors higher than authors whose race was not indicated. An interesting finding was that reverse discrimination was greatest for the moderate essays. Class assignments showed a similar trend, but differences in assignment of black and non‐black authors were not generally significant. Discussion focuses on the distinction between ambiguity and ambivalence as psychological constructs in explaining prejudice and discrimination. The significance of these findings for minority education is also examined.