The Effects of Black Identity on Candidate Evaluations

Abstract

Although Barack Obama’s entrance into the 2008 presidential campaign has been warmly received by Whites, Blacks have been somewhat ambivalent. Some even have claimed that Obama is not “Black.” The case of Barack Obama brings to the forefront the prospect of intragroup identity differences that exist among Blacks and the potential importance of a candidate’s racial background in elections. Consequently, the authors ask the following questions: (a) Does the racial background of a political candidate affect Black voters’ support and evaluation of a candidate’s personal attributes (i.e., trust, concern, strength, and qualification)? and (b) Focusing purely on the treatment groups separately (White, biracial, and Black candidates), does Black identity affect Blacks’ support and evaluation of a candidate’s personal attributes? The experimental results of this exploratory study find race does make a difference on candidate support, and Black identity influences the way in which Black respondents perceive White, biracial, and Black candidates. As a result, these findings suggest that differences in how Blacks feel about a candidate will depend on the candidate’s racial background, their own attitudes and beliefs about being Black, and where they fall on various demographic and political measures.