Paying for Positive Group Esteem: How Inequity Frames Affect Whites' Responses to Redistributive Policies

This article finds that, when faced with racial inequity framed as White advantage, Whites’ desire to think well of their racial group increases their support for policies perceived to harm Whites. Across 4 studies, the article provides evidence that (a) relative to minority disadvantage, White advantage increases Whites’ support for policies perceived to reduce their group’s economic opportunities, but does not increase support for policies perceived to increase minority opportunities; and (b) the effect of White advantage on Whites’ esteem for their ingroup drives the effect of inequity frame on support for policies perceived to reduce Whites’ opportunities.