Does Asserting a Nonblack Identity Elicit Positive Evaluations? White Observers’ Reactions to Black,Biracial,Multiracial,and White Job Applicants

Abstract

How do white observers react when people with black heritage assert a biracial, multiracial, or white identity rather than a black identity? To address this question, I conducted two experiments in which participants evaluated a darker-skinned or a lighter-skinned job applicant who presented his identity as either black, biracial, multiracial, or white. The results show that identity assertions influenced how white observers categorized applicants but not how they evaluated applicants. Most white observers accepted the identity of both the lighter-skinned and darker-skinned applicant when they asserted that they were black, biracial, or multiracial, but observers did not accept the identity of the darker-skinned applicant who asserted a white identity. However, white observers did not perceive applicants who asserted that they were multiracial, biracial, or white as more hirable than applicants who asserted that they were black. Based on these results, I argue that racial identity assertions do not independently provide a pathway to racialized advantages.