Is ethnic prejudice declining in Britain? Change in social distance attitudes among ethnic majority and minority Britons. (29th April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Storm, Ingrid; Sobolewska, Maria; Ford, Robert
• Is Part Of: British journal of sociology. Volume 68:Number 3(2017:Sep.)
• Page Start: 410
• Page End: 434
• Publication Date: 2017-04-29
• Subjects: ethnic prejudice -- social distance -- interethnic marriage -- ethnic hierarchy -- anti‐Muslim bias -- racial discrimination -- social attitude trends -- Britain; Sociology -- Periodicals; 301.05
• DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12250
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-1315

Abstract

Abstract: Most literature on racial prejudice deals with the racial attitudes of the ethnic majority and ethnic minorities separately. This paper breaks this tradition. We examine the social distance attitudes of white and non‐white British residents to test if these attitudes follow the same trends over time, whether they are driven by the same social processes and whether they are inter‐related. We have three main findings. Firstly, social distance from other ethnic groups has declined over time for both white and ethnic minority Britons. For the white majority there are both period and cohort elements to this decline. Secondly, we see some evidence that social distance between the majority and minority groups is reciprocal. Specifically, minorities who experience rejection by the white British feel a greater sense of distance from them. Thirdly, we find that all groups share the perception of the same ethnic hierarchy. We see evidence of particularly widespread hostility towards Muslim Britons from all ethnic groups suggesting that Muslims are singled out for negative attention from many British residents of all other backgrounds, including a large number who do not express hostility to other groups.