Symbolic Racism and Gun Ownership

In the past, I've mentioned the fact that a correlation between two variables does not necessarily mean that one causes the other. I'm usually reluctant to report correlational findings in this blog. However, since some variables are difficult or impossible to manipulate experimentally, simply disregarding correlational research is not an option. The question then becomes: How well does this particular correlational study control for alternative explanations? I think this one is worthy of our consideration.

I've also previously explained the difference between old-fashioned racism and modern or symbolic racism. Old-fashioned racism refers to the endorsement of statements that are obviously and blatantly racist, such as the belief that blacks are genetically less intelligent than whites, or that black and white people should be segregated. Because it is not socially acceptable to express these attitudes, whites typically score low in old-fashioned racism and it usually does not predict behavior very well--although it does predict membership in the Republican party.

Modern or symbolic racism (sometimes also called racial resentment) refers to prejudice that is revealed in subtle, indirect ways. In the present study by Kerry O'Brien and her colleagues, symbolic racism was measured using these four items from the Symbolic Racism 2000 Scale:

1. Irish, Italian, Jewish and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks should do the same.
2. Generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for blacks to work their way out of the lower class.
3. Over the past few years, blacks have gotten less than they deserve.
4. It's really a matter of people not trying hard enough; if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites.

As you can see, it is possible to endorse these items and still believe that you are not a racist. However, symbolic racism predicts policy preferences that whites (sometimes erroneously) think are harmful to blacks, such as opposition to welfare or support for punitive crime policies. These items were scored on a 5-point scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” with items 2 and 3 reverse-scored. A participant's symbolic racism was his or her average score on the four items.

The data come from the American National Election Study, a large, representative panel study of Americans conducted in 2008 and 2009. Only participants who identified themselves as white were included. Three gun-related questions were analyzed: having a gun in the home, opposition to a ban on having guns in the home, and support for permits to carry concealed weapons. Of the literally hundreds of questions that were asked in the survey, the following were deemed to be relevant to the research question and were included in the analysis as control variables: gender, age, education, income, region (the South vs. other states), political party, conservatism, and anti-goverment sentiment.

There was a significant relationship between symbolic racism and having a gun in the home, even after statistically eliminating the effects of all the control variables. For each 1-point (out of 5) increase in symbolic racism, there was a 50% increase in the likelihood of owning a gun. Symbolic racism also predicted support for concealed carry, after eliminating the effects of the control variables and gun ownership. In this case, a 1-point increase in symbolic racism was associated with a 28% increase in support for concealed weapon permits. The question measuring opposition to a handgun ban, however, turned out to be highly correlated with gun ownership. If you own a gun, you don't want it taken away. Therefore, if you eliminate the effect of gun ownership, opposition to gun control is not related to symbolic racism.

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What are we to make of the relationship between symbolic racism, on the one hand, and both gun ownership and opposition to gun control, on the other? Correlation does not mean causation. Whenever two variables, A and B, are correlated, there are three possibilities: A causes B, B causes A, or both A and B are jointly caused by a third variable, C. 

It is certainly plausible that being a racist might cause you to buy a gun for protection from black people. The association between symbolic racism and support for more punitive crime policies is consistent with these results.

Although it may be less obvious, I think there's a real possibility that gun ownership is a cause of racism. Most gun owners claims that their weapons are needed for protection. Could gun owners be trying to justify being armed by exaggerating the extent to which they are under threat by blacks, for example?

As noted, it's possible that some unmeasured third variable explains these results. The number of potential third variables is theoretically infinite. However, the authors have covered the variables that are traditionally associated with gun attitudes, and most of these control variables actually are associated with opposition to gun control or owning a gun. Being a male, from a southern state, a Republican, a conservative, and having anti-government views all individually predict opposition to gun control. Having less education means you are more likely to have a gun in the home. But symbolic racism has an effect over and above all these other variables.

Whites have twice the rate of gun ownership as blacks. As the authors note, the irony of these results is that whites seldom use handguns for self-protection, from blacks or anyone else, but are more likely to use them to commit suicide or shoot someone accidentally—usually a friend or family member. While white racists may think they are protecting themselves from hostile black people, they may actually be thinning their own herd.

You may also be interested in reading:

Suspicions Confirmed

Old-Fashioned Racism