Geographic Distribution of Prejudice Toward African Americans: Applying the Two-Dimensional Model

Using the two-dimensional model (Son Hing et al., 2008) of prejudice as a guide, we sampled 10,522 people to examine the geographic distribution of prejudice toward African Americans in the United States. We found the East South Central, West South Central, and South Atlantic regions were associated with modern racism (MR), principled conservatism (PC) characterized the Mountain region, aversive racism (AR) was prevalent in the East North Central region, and finally, truly low in prejudice (TLP) was found in the Pacific, West North Central, Mid Atlantic, and New England regions. Consistent with the two-dimensional model, those high in MR and PC self-identified as more politically conservative than those high in AR or TLP. On social conservatism, MR scored higher than AR, and AR and PC were higher than TLP. In addition, MR scored lower in egalitarianism than AR, while PC and AR scored lower in egalitarianism than TLP. However, contrary to the two-dimensional model, MR and PC did not differ on egalitarianism or social conservatism. Therefore, results generally supported the distinctions made by the two-dimensional model, although further investigations are needed to determine whether there is sufficient theoretical justification for distinguishing MR and PC. This preliminary mapping of the different types of prejudice toward African Americans provides researchers with a tool to test theoretical differences between unique types of prejudice and examine multiple outcomes related to regional prejudice. Given that regional prejudice can be identified, prejudice reduction efforts may benefit from targeting both the individual and the community.