Prejudice

A Politico-Psychological Analysis

Report generated

February 26, 2026

1 Study Characteristics

1.1 Items: Prejudice

Two facets:
- Homo-negativity
- Symbolic Racism

Items

Facet	Item	Item Description
Homo-negativity	homo-negativity1	Gay men should stop shoving their lifestyles down people’s throats
	homo-negativity2	Homosexuals have become far too confrontational in their demand for equal rights
	homo-negativity3	Many lesbian women use their sexual orientation so that they can obtain special privileges
Symbolic Racism	racism1	Blacks have become far too confrontational in their demand for equal rights
	racism2	It is easy to understand the anger of Black people in America
	racism3	Social movements such as ‘Black Lives Matters’ are detrimental to society
	racism4	There is a lot of discrimination against Blacks in America today, which limits their chances to get ahead

Possible values:
Strongly agree (1) - Neither agree nor disagree (5) - Strongly disagree (9)

1.2 Samples 2016

N=1500

To conduct a exploratory and a confirmatory large surveys during the general election, we hired a professional survey firm (SSI, a US-based market research company that recruits participants from a panel of 7,139,027 American citizens; more information can be found at www.surveysampling.com (now https://www.dynata.com/) to recruit a nationally representative sample of 1,500 Americans (50.7% women) who completed study materials during the general election from August 16-September 9, 2016. (Information about sampling and exclusion criteria is included in the Supplement). The age distribution was as follows: 18-24 (12.9%), 25-34 (17.6%), 35-44 (17.5%), 45-54 (19.5%), 55-65 (15.6%) and older than 65 (16.9%). The ethnic breakdown was: White/European American (82.5%), Black/African American (7.7%), Latino (5.9%) and “Other” (4.0%). Concerning religion, 67.6% identified as Christian, 17.1% as religiously affiliated but not Christian, and 15.3% as Atheist/Agnostic. With respect to education 35.1% indicated “high school only or lower,” 31.4 % indicated “some college,” and 33.6% indicated having received a “Bachelor” or “Graduate” degree. 2424 participants were directed to the survey,1885 of which finished the survey (attrition rate 22%).

We followed recommendations to minimize the problem of careless responding in online studies. Specifically, we employed 10 random attention questions and time controls to check for data quality. There were 385 participants who failed more than one attention check or finished the survey in under ~22 minutes and were therefore excluded from the sample. For the 1500 participants who successfully finished the survey, completion time was 67 minutes on average (MD: 51min).

N=2119

Also through SSI we also recruited 2,119 American adults (21.5% women), who completed study materials from August 20-September 13, 2016. (Information about sampling and exclusion criteria is included in the Supplement). Age was distributed as follows: 18-24 (9.1%), 25-34 (13.8%), 35-44 (11.4%), 45-54 (2.7%), 55-65(3.6%), 65 and older (59.3%). The ethnic breakdown was: White/European American (85.9%), Black/African American (5.1%), Latino (4.1%), and “Other” (5.0%). In terms of religion, 70.7% identified as Christian, 15.7% as religiously affiliated but not Christian, and 13.7% as Atheist/Agnostic. With respect to educational status, 16.2% chose “high school or lower,” 40.4% reported “some college” and 43.4% had attained a “Bachelor” or “Graduate” degree. The median income category was $50,000-$74,999. 3425 participants were directed to the survey, 2,262 of which finished the survey (attrition rate 22 %).

We followed recommendations to minimize the problem of careless responding in online studies (Meade & Craig, 2012). Specifically, we employed 10 random attention questions and time controls to check for data quality. There were 543 participants who failed more than one attention check or finished the survey in under ~22 minutes and were therefore excluded from the sample. For the 2,119 participants who successfully finished the survey, completion time was 92 minutes on average (MD: 57min).

2 Descriptives

2.1 Means, SD, Range, & SE

Descriptives for Prejudice, Construct and Facets
	vars	n	mean	sd	median	min	max	range	se
Homo_negativity_mean	1	1500	4.98	2.68	5.00	1	9	8	0.07
Symbolic_Racism_mean	2	1500	4.58	1.13	4.75	1	9	8	0.03

Descriptives for Prejudice at Item Level
	n	mean	sd	median	min	max	range	se
Homo_negativity1	1500	4.57	2.89	5.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Homo_negativity2	1500	4.99	2.91	5.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.08
Homo_negativity3	1500	5.37	2.76	5.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Symbolic_Racism1	1500	4.18	2.62	4.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Symbolic_Racism2	1500	4.85	2.68	5.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Symbolic_Racism3	1500	4.26	2.77	4.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Symbolic_Racism4	1500	5.03	2.62	5.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Prejudice	1500	4.75	1.38	4.86	1	8.43	7.43	0.04
Homo_negativity_mean	1500	4.98	2.68	5.00	1	9.00	8.00	0.07
Symbolic_Racism_mean	1500	4.58	1.13	4.75	1	9.00	8.00	0.03

2.2 Likert scale distribution

2.3 Distributions

2.4 Correlations

2.4.1 Correlation Plots

2.4.2 PIDF

2.4.3 Correlation Matrix

3 Demographics

3.1 Social Class

Note on the Raincloud Plots

Statistical summary (top): Welch’s t-test (or ANOVA) results, effect size, confidence intervals, p-values, and sample sizes are shown above each plot.
Bayesian analysis (bottom): Log Bayes factor and credible intervals are reported below each plot.

Homo_negativity grouped by SES
SES	N	Mean	SD
Poor	38	-0.18	1.13
Lower Middle Class	298	0.07	0.99
Middle Middle Class	679	-0.04	1.01
Upper Middle Class	395	0.02	0.98
Rich	90	0.06	0.97

Symbolic_Racism grouped by SES
SES	N	Mean	SD
Poor	38	0.19	0.86
Lower Middle Class	298	-0.07	1.07
Middle Middle Class	679	0.00	1.03
Upper Middle Class	395	0.04	0.91
Rich	90	0.00	0.99

3.2 Gender

Homo_negativity grouped by Sex
Sex	N	Mean	SD
Male	740	-0.25	0.93
Female	760	0.25	1.00

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Sex
Sex	N	Mean	SD
Male	740	-0.03	1.01
Female	760	0.03	0.99

3.3 Age

Homo_negativity grouped by Age
Age	N	Mean	SD
18-24 years	193	0.19	0.95
25-34 years	264	0.30	0.98
35-44 years	263	0.16	1.02
45-54 years	292	-0.06	0.95
55-64 years	234	-0.07	0.97
65+	254	-0.49	0.93

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Age
Age	N	Mean	SD
18-24 years	193	-0.01	1.03
25-34 years	264	0.05	0.96
35-44 years	263	-0.06	1.04
45-54 years	292	0.02	1.05
55-64 years	234	0.07	0.91
65+	254	-0.06	1.00

3.4 Education

Homo_negativity grouped by Education
Edu	N	Mean	SD
Less than High School	51	-0.02	1.07
High School	475	-0.05	0.98
Some College	471	-0.01	1.03
Bachelor	310	0.04	0.97
Graduate	193	0.10	1.00

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Education
Edu	N	Mean	SD
Less than High School	51	-0.07	0.98
High School	475	-0.03	1.09
Some College	471	-0.03	1.01
Bachelor	310	0.09	0.84
Graduate	193	0.00	0.97

3.5 Income Levels

Homo_negativity grouped by Income Levels
Income	N	Mean	SD
Less than $15,000	178	0.00	1.03
$15,000-$24,999	180	-0.01	1.05
$25,000-$34,999	176	-0.02	1.03
$35,000-$49,999	227	0.01	1.00
$50,000-$74,999	292	0.08	1.00
$75,000-$99,999	192	-0.06	0.93
$100,000-$149,999	160	-0.03	1.01
$150,000 +	95	-0.03	0.95

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Income Levels
Income	N	Mean	SD
Less than $15,000	178	-0.07	0.99
$15,000-$24,999	180	-0.03	1.07
$25,000-$34,999	176	-0.02	1.06
$35,000-$49,999	227	-0.10	0.97
$50,000-$74,999	292	0.03	0.99
$75,000-$99,999	192	0.10	0.92
$100,000-$149,999	160	-0.01	1.11
$150,000 +	95	0.15	0.80

3.6 Ethnicity

Homo_negativity grouped by Ethnicity
Ethnicity	N	Mean	SD
Caucasian/European origin	1237	-0.04	1.01
Black/African American	115	0.18	0.97
Latino	88	0.13	0.91
Asian/Pacific Islander	29	0.25	0.82
Native American	13	-0.08	0.97
Other	18	0.35	1.08

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Ethnicity
Ethnicity	N	Mean	SD
Caucasian/European origin	1237	0.02	0.98
Black/African American	115	-0.19	1.00
Latino	88	-0.15	0.99
Asian/Pacific Islander	29	0.11	1.15
Native American	13	0.30	1.70
Other	18	-0.16	1.24

3.7 Occupation

Homo_negativity grouped by Occupation
Occupation	N	Mean	SD
Employed	768	0.06	0.99
Retired	268	-0.33	0.94
Unemployed	146	0.14	0.92
Parent	104	0.06	1.05
Disabled	98	-0.11	1.03
Student	85	0.31	1.06
Full-time caregiver	31	-0.04	1.06

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Occupation
Occupation	N	Mean	SD
Employed	768	0.02	0.98
Retired	268	-0.11	1.00
Unemployed	146	0.03	1.02
Parent	104	0.00	1.05
Disabled	98	0.08	1.08
Student	85	0.01	0.97
Full-time caregiver	31	0.00	1.00

3.8 Area

Homo_negativity grouped by Area
Area	N	Mean	SD
Urban	955	0.09	0.99
Rural	545	-0.16	1.00

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Area
Area	N	Mean	SD
Urban	955	0.01	1.00
Rural	545	-0.01	0.99

3.9 Religious Affiliation

Homo_negativity grouped by Religious Affiliation
Religious Affiliation	N	Mean	SD
Christian	1014	-0.20	0.95
Muslim	9	0.40	0.92
Jewish	52	0.21	1.06
Atheist/Agnostic	230	0.62	0.92
No religion	195	0.25	0.94

Symbolic_Racism grouped by Religious Affiliation
Religious Affiliation	N	Mean	SD
Christian	1014	-0.03	1.00
Muslim	9	-0.69	1.16
Jewish	52	0.18	0.76
Atheist/Agnostic	230	-0.01	0.97
No religion	195	0.13	1.07

4 Political Behavior

4.1 Political Orientation

Correlation with General Conservatism, Economic Conservatism, Social Conservatism

	Political Orientation			Social Political Orientation			Economic Political Orientation			Composite Political Orientation
Predictors	Estimates	CI	p	Estimates	CI	p	Estimates	CI	p	Estimates	CI	p
(Intercept)	5.31	5.20 – 5.41	<0.001	4.93	4.81 – 5.05	<0.001	5.48	5.36 – 5.60	<0.001	5.24	5.13 – 5.34	<0.001
Prejudice	-1.21	-1.32 – -1.10	<0.001	-1.40	-1.52 – -1.28	<0.001	-1.08	-1.20 – -0.96	<0.001	-1.23	-1.34 – -1.13	<0.001
Observations	1500			1500			1500			1500
R² / R² adjusted	0.244 / 0.244			0.258 / 0.257			0.169 / 0.168			0.258 / 0.258

	Political Orientation			Social Political Orientation			Economic Political Orientation			Composite Political Orientation
Predictors	Estimates	CI	p	Estimates	CI	p	Estimates	CI	p	Estimates	CI	p
(Intercept)	6.22	5.64 – 6.81	<0.001	6.06	5.43 – 6.69	<0.001	5.81	5.13 – 6.48	<0.001	6.03	5.46 – 6.60	<0.001
Prejudice	-0.65	-0.73 – -0.57	<0.001	-0.70	-0.79 – -0.62	<0.001	-0.60	-0.69 – -0.51	<0.001	-0.65	-0.73 – -0.58	<0.001
Age	0.15	0.08 – 0.21	<0.001	0.14	0.07 – 0.21	<0.001	0.16	0.09 – 0.24	<0.001	0.15	0.09 – 0.21	<0.001
Income	0.10	0.05 – 0.16	<0.001	0.02	-0.05 – 0.08	0.625	0.15	0.08 – 0.21	<0.001	0.09	0.03 – 0.14	0.001
Religiosity	0.28	0.24 – 0.32	<0.001	0.39	0.35 – 0.43	<0.001	0.21	0.17 – 0.25	<0.001	0.29	0.26 – 0.33	<0.001
Education	-0.08	-0.19 – 0.03	0.147	-0.11	-0.23 – 0.00	0.051	0.08	-0.05 – 0.20	0.231	-0.04	-0.14 – 0.06	0.454
Observations	1500			1500			1500			1500
R² / R² adjusted	0.357 / 0.355			0.408 / 0.406			0.253 / 0.251			0.383 / 0.381

4.2 Religiosity

4.3 Religiosity & Political Orientation

4.4 Candidate Preferences

4.4.1 Prejudice and Candidate Preferences [centered]

Candidate Preferences and Homo_negativity [centered]
Candidate Preference	N	Mean	SD
Donald Trump	444	-0.53	0.87
Hillary Clinton	371	0.34	0.91
Bernie Sanders	362	0.59	0.91
Ted Cruz	122	-0.69	0.72
Jeb Bush	83	-0.20	0.83
Gary Johnson	68	0.13	0.86
Rand Paul	44	-0.35	0.81

Candidate Preferences and Symbolic_Racism [centered]
Candidate Preference	N	Mean	SD
Donald Trump	444	0.03	1.08
Hillary Clinton	371	0.06	0.96
Bernie Sanders	362	-0.07	1.01
Ted Cruz	122	0.02	0.89
Jeb Bush	83	-0.06	0.85
Gary Johnson	68	-0.18	0.94
Rand Paul	44	0.04	1.15

4.4.2 Prejudice and Candidate Preferences [raw means]

4.5 Party Preferences

4.5.1 Party Preferences [centered]

Party Preferences and Homo_negativity [centered]
Party Preference	N	Mean	SD
Republican Party	508	-0.47	0.84
Democratic Party	560	0.50	0.92
Libertarian Party	100	0.10	0.90
Green Party	40	0.87	0.89
Constitution Party	14	-0.44	0.83
Tea Party	68	-0.95	0.59
None	120	-0.04	0.91
Don't know	90	-0.11	0.91

Party Preferences and Symbolic_Racism [centered]
Party Preference	N	Mean	SD
Republican Party	508	0.02	1.01
Democratic Party	560	-0.03	1.03
Libertarian Party	100	0.12	1.06
Green Party	40	0.18	0.98
Constitution Party	14	-0.36	0.80
Tea Party	68	0.03	0.85
None	120	-0.05	0.89
Don't know	90	-0.05	1.00

4.5.2 Party Preferences [raw means]

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Party Preferences and Homo_negativity [raw means]
Party Preference	N	Mean	SD
Republican Party	508	3.71	2.25
Democratic Party	560	6.31	2.47
Libertarian Party	100	5.26	2.42
Green Party	40	7.30	2.38
Constitution Party	14	3.79	2.23
Tea Party	68	2.43	1.58
None	120	4.87	2.44
Don’t know	90	4.69	2.45