From Consciousness to Action: Experiments on Threat and Latino Group Consciousness

Research in political science has argued that individuals who are group consciousness are also politically involved because they seek to help improve the standing of their group. However much of the research involving group consciousness relies on self reported survey measures rather than behavioral outcomes. By conducting a survey experiment on 257 Latino respondents, I seek to bring clarity to our understanding of how threatening political rhetoric may influence political behavior. After priming respondents with a message about immigration, I ask respondents to allocate resources between two groups and then measure who is willing to posting on social media on behalf of their group. This experiment allows me to causally test how respondents of varying levels of group consciousness respond behaviorally to different political primes. My findings indicate that respondents who are group conscious are always more likely to be motivated to engage in political behavior on behalf of their group, but threatening political rhetoric may increase some forms of political participation even among those low in group consciousness.