Inter-minority Relations: Factors Shaping Cognitive and Affective Intergroup Attitudes between Asian and Black Americans

Abstract Rising anti-Asian racism and the recent police killings of unarmed Black people have called attention to how Asian and Black Americans experience racism and how they perceive one another. Using data from a recent national sample of Asian (n = 1078) and Black Americans (n = 367), we explored socio-demographic (demographic, socioeconomic, political, and immigration) as well as group-relevant predictors of intergroup attitudes between Asian and Black Americans. Measures of intergroup attitudes included feelings of warmth and negative outgroup sentiment. Regression analyses showed that income, educational attainment level, employment status, immigration status, gender, age, ethnicity, political ideology, and political party affiliation were significant socio-demographic predictors of Asian Americans’ attitudes toward Black Americans. In contrast, only age and ethnicity emerged as significant socio-demographic predictors of Black Americans’ attitudes toward Asian Americans. The explanatory power of beliefs about group relations–such as endorsement of zero-sum, nationalist, and oppressed minority ideologies–as well as the degree of intergroup contact was quite strong for predicting intergroup attitudes for both groups. The findings reveal the complexity behind Asian-Black intergroup dynamics and highlight pathways and barriers toward cultivating more positive attitudes and intergroup relations.