White Liberals Present Themselves as Less Competent with Minorities
insights.som.yale.edu
insights.som.yale.edu
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18488711
Someone commented that the headline is inaccurate:
> Headline is wildly misleading. The research actually says that they are less likely to use "words related to competence (that is, words about ability or status, such as 'assertive' or 'competitive')." Something like "White liberals use less assertive/forceful language when interacting with African-Americans" would be more appropriate.
> I agree that this could be seen as patronizing and problematic, however well-intentioned. But the headline is just awful.
It is not inaccurate. My reply to that person, which cannot go through because this submission was flagged:
No, the article covers what you just said in terms of political speeches, but the article also continues. They designed an experiment where people were given a task that involved word use, and certain words were associated with higher or lower competence (not to be confused with being related to competence). Example: sad vs. melancholy. Note that neither word has to do with competence, but the use of "melancholy" would be associated with someone who is more competent with the English language.
> The researchers found that liberal individuals were less likely to use words that would make them appear highly competent when the person they were addressing was presumed to be black rather than white. No significant differences were seen in the word selection of conservatives based on the presumed race of their partner. “It was kind of an unpleasant surprise to see this subtle but persistent effect,” Dupree says. “Even if it’s ultimately well-intentioned, it could be seen as patronizing.”