A comparison of the other-directed stigmatization produced by legal and illegal forms of affirmative action

Recent studies have begun to show that the stigma of incompetence sometimes directed toward the beneficiaries of affirmative action may be significantly reduced as the preferences granted to women and minorities become more moderate. The author examined whether the stigmatization of African Americans would differ under hiring policies that represented legal and illegal levels of racial preference according to federal regulations. Participants were 178 students and 161 corporate employees who rated fictitious Black and White target employees working under (a) an illegal policy of selection of unequal candidates, (b) a legal policy of selection of comparable candidates, or (c) equal opportunity. Participants rated Black targets' achievement-related traits lower than White targets only under the illegal policy. Under the legal policy, no such stigmatization was observed. Additional dependent measures and theoretical implications were explored.