Social distance attitudes, educational mobility, and European ancestry groups in the post‐World‐War II United States

• Published in: Social science quarterly Vol. 102; no. 6; pp. 2985 - 2995
• Main Author: Boyd, Robert L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Assimilation; Attitudes; Educational attainment; Educational mobility; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; European cultural groups; Intergenerational mobility; Mobility; Modernization; Prejudice; Racism; Social attitudes; Social classes; Social distance; Social groups; World War II; United States > US
• ISSN: 0038-4941; 1540-6237
• DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.13076

Objective This study examines the improvement of U.S. natives’ social distance attitudes toward Southern, Central, and Eastern (SCE) European ancestry groups in the post‐World‐War II United States, applying the idea that prejudice against these groups was due to racial/ethnic prejudice and social class prejudice. Methods Analyzing data from the Bogardus surveys and other published sources, the study tests the proposition that U.S. natives’ social distance attitudes toward SCE European ancestry groups improved because social class prejudice against these groups diminished as the groups’ educational attainment levels increased from the second‐ to third‐generations. Results Contrary to modernization and classical assimilation theories, the favorable trend in U.S. natives’ social distance attitudes toward SCE European ancestry groups was unaffected by the groups’ intergenerational educational mobility. Conclusion The decline in prejudice against SCE European ancestry groups in the postwar United States resulted from a decrease in racial/ethnic prejudice against these groups, independently of social class prejudice.