At the Intersection of Social Hierarchies and Interracial Couples: The Relationship Between Ambivalent Sexism, SDO, and Acceptance of Interracial Couples

The current research expands upon the sparse existing literature on the attitudes underlying bias against interracial relationships. In two studies, we find a negative relationship between hierarchy-enhancing beliefs and acceptance of interracial relationships. Given the challenge that interracial relationships may pose to traditional gender norms, hostile and benevolent sexism were expected to be associated with increased bias against interracial relationships. Study 1 shows that increased endorsement of hostile, but not benevolent, sexism and Social Dominance Orientation is associated with less positive attitudes towards interracial couples. In a between-subjects experiment manipulating White men’s perceived masculinity, no evidence of less positive attitudes towards interracial couples. However, when White men’s masculinity was affirmed, attitudes towards the self-relevant pairing (White man-Black woman couple) were least positive. We discuss implications and future directions.