Race and Social Class as Intersecting Social Categories

Abstract. Race and social class are inherently confounded; however, much of the literature focuses on only one of these categories at a time during attitude assessment. Across three studies, we examined the influence of race and social class on implicit and explicit attitudes. Results indicated that participants had more positive attitudes toward high social class White and high social class Black people than low social class White and low social class Black people. Attitudes for high social class White versus high social class Black people and low social class White versus low social class Black people were more nuanced and attitude/measure dependent. Thus, this research highlights the intricacy of attitudes when considering intersectional categories.