The White ceiling heuristic and the underestimation of Asian-American income

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 9; p. e108732
• Main Authors: Martin, Chris C, Nezlek, John B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 30.09.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Asian Americans; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Biology and Life Sciences; Culture; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Heuristic; Humans; Income; Income - statistics & numerical data; Knowledge; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; People and Places; Perceptions; Prejudice - psychology; Social Sciences; Stereotyping; Studies; United States; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108732

The belief that ethnic majorities dominate ethnic minorities informs research on intergroup processes. This belief can lead to the social heuristic that the ethnic majority sets an upper limit that minority groups cannot surpass, but this possibility has not received much attention. In three studies of perceived income, we examined how this heuristic, which we term the White ceiling heuristic leads people to inaccurately estimate the income of a minority group that surpasses the majority. We found that Asian Americans, whose median income has surpassed White median income for nearly three decades, are still perceived as making less than Whites, with the least accurate estimations being made by people who strongly believe that Whites are privileged. In contrast, income estimates for other minorities were fairly accurate. Thus, perceptions of minorities are shaped both by stereotype content and a heuristic.