Living in Paradise: Social Perceptions of the Major Racial/Ethnic Groups in Hawai‘i

Abstract

We examined the racial positioning and stereotype content of the major racial/ethnic groups within the understudied context of Hawai‘i. Across two studies (Study 1: 185 participants, 64% women, 36% men, M_age = 21.50 years, SD = 4.63; Study 2: 175 participants, 69 % women, 30% men, and 1% non-binary, M_age = 20.79 years, SD = 4.16) we examine the social perceptions of six racial/ethnic groups in Hawai‘i: Japanese, Filipino, White, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Micronesian. We examined perceptions of socioeconomic status (SES), community status, and stereotype content (e.g., warmth and competence) toward these six groups. We found a reversal in typical warmth attributions to White and Japanese people, such that Japanese people were perceived as warm and high in both socioeconomic and community status, whereas White people were perceived as cold and low in community status. Micronesian people were perceived as low in both warmth and competence, whereas other groups were mixed in their stereotype content. These results shed light on the racial hierarchy and stereotypes of underrepresented groups in the literature, as well as highlight the importance of contextual (e.g., majority-minority context) considerations in social perception research.