Protecting the Status Quo: Racial Resentment, Hostile Sexism and Christian Nationalism Predict Characterizing Black Lives Matter Protests as Criminal

ABSTRACT Using a national sample, this study explored whether individuals who were more ideologically aligned with an axis of power (e.g., the racial hierarchy, patriarchy, religious hierarchy) were more likely to view Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests as criminal. OLS regression results revealed that participants higher in racial resentment, hostile sexism and Christian nationalism characterized BLM as being more about vandalism and looting (vs. protesting unfair treatment of Black people) than their respective counterparts did. Conversely, participants higher in benevolent sexism characterized BLM as being less about vandalism and looting (vs. protesting unfair treatment of Black people) than participants lower in benevolent sexism did. Interaction effects showed that these relationships significantly differed for Black and white participants.