Concept and components
Kinder and Sears (1981) noted that in the United States after the 1960s, open racial supremacism declined sharply while opposition to Black candidates and policies such as busing remained strong. They argued that these attitudes stem less from direct personal interests such as jobs or schools than from symbolic beliefs combining early-learned antipathy with American values. Sears and Henry (2003) summarized four themes: that discrimination no longer exists, that Black Americans do not try hard enough, that they demand too much and that they receive undeserved advantages. A related concept is McConahay's (1986) modern racism.
Political effects
Kinder and Sears (1981) reported that in Los Angeles mayoral elections symbolic racism predicted White voters' choices better than perceptions of direct racial threat. Kinder and Sanders (1996) measured it as racial resentment and showed that it sharply divides opinion on welfare, affirmative action and crime policy. The approach connects to the symbolic threat concept in integrated threat theory. Henry and Sears (2002) refined the scale and confirmed that it predicts race-related policy attitudes even after controlling for party identification and general conservatism.
Measurement and critiques
Sniderman and Tetlock (1986) argued that symbolic racism items overlap with conservative principles such as preferring small government, risking the misreading of principled policy opposition as prejudice. Tarman and Sears (2005) responded with evidence that symbolic racism is a coherent belief system distinct from conservative ideology. The debate left the methodological challenge of separating principle from prejudice in measurement. Even so, together with aversive racism, the concept is widely used to understand prejudice after the decline of open discrimination.
FAQ
- What is symbolic racism in simple terms?
- A form of prejudice that avoids open discrimination but opposes support for minorities based on beliefs that discrimination is over and that they do not try hard enough.
- Why is it called symbolic?
- Because it rests on abstract values and feelings rather than direct personal loss or gain.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Kinder, D. R., & Sears, D. O. (1981). Prejudice and politics: Symbolic racism versus racial threats to the good life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40(3), 414–431. The founding empirical statement of symbolic racism.
- McConahay, J. B. (1986). Modern racism, ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale. In J. F. Dovidio & S. L. Gaertner (Eds.), Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism (pp. 91–125). Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Introduces the closely related Modern Racism Scale.
- Kinder, D. R., & Sanders, L. M. (1996). Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. A major book on racial resentment and policy opinion.
- Sniderman, P. M., & Tetlock, P. E. (1986). Symbolic racism: Problems of motive attribution in political analysis. Journal of Social Issues, 42(2), 129–150. A leading critique conflating symbolic racism with conservatism.
- Henry, P. J., & Sears, D. O. (2002). The Symbolic Racism 2000 Scale. Political Psychology, 23(2), 253–283. Validates the revised Symbolic Racism 2000 Scale.
- Sears, D. O., & Henry, P. J. (2003). The origins of symbolic racism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 259–275. Tests the origins in anti-Black affect and individualism.
- Tarman, C., & Sears, D. O. (2005). The conceptualization and measurement of symbolic racism. The Journal of Politics, 67(3), 731–761. Shows symbolic racism forms a coherent belief system.