Income source and race effects on new-neighbor evaluations

Two studies investigated the effect of income source and race on ratings of and objections to potential neighbors. Equivalent amounts of income from d ifferent sources included work only, work and public assistance, or work an d a small inheritance. The race variable included African American, Europea n American, or Hispanic. Subjects for Study 1 were undergraduate psychology students. Subjects for Study 2 were homeowners. Class bias was not a symbo lic way to express race bias. There was a clear distinction between class b ias and race bias in expression and function. Results indicate that class b ias was used when subjects gave ratings of new neighbors. These biased rati ngs do not correlate with measures of racism. Furthermore, results indicate that objections to the new neighbors were more frequent for those gaining income from sources other than work. The findings indicate that class preju dice based on income source is primary and openly expressed, whereas racial prejudice does not appear as an important contributing factor in this cont ext.