Meritocratic individualism, cultural differentiation and racism

Abstract

This paper analyses the effect of values of meritocratic individualism, of cultural change, and of the color of two groups (white vs. black) in the representation of those same groups. 108 white undergraduate students were distributed by six experimental conditions: 2 (skin color: white/black) x 2 (cultural change: becoming individualistic/remaining collectivist) x 2 (adhesion to meritocratic individualism values: high vs. low). The dependent variables were: a) the content of traits attributed to the groups (nature versus culture) and b) the valence of the traits (positive vs. negative). Results showed that blacks are more represented by «natural» traits than whites. Results also showed that the adhesion to the values of meritocratic individualism was associated to a larger naturalization of the blacks. In agreement with social identity theory, the blacks that didn't change their culture (that remain collectivist) were evaluated more positively than blacks that become individualistic, i. e., that turn similar to the culture of white majority.