Understanding the Rise of Anti-Political Correctness Sentiment: The Curious Role of Education

Abstract

The anti-politically correct (PC) stance has been a key defensive position held by many conservative Americans for more than three decades. This position holds that being forced to be politically correct hinders open dialogue and debate on important yet sensitive issues, especially those around race and racism. However, scholars have questioned this anti-PC orientation and tied it to political orientation and racism. One caveat that stands as the basis of this paper is the role of education in moderating the impact of racial emotions on various outcomes. While some scholars, such as Seymour Lipset, highlight the liberalizing impact of education, others question such impact. Accordingly, this research examines how educational attainment, racial resentment, and White guilt concerning racial injustice interact to impact the likelihood of White Americans taking an anti-PC stance. Our data is drawn from the American National Election Study 2016 pilot survey. In line with past research, we find that racial resentment and White guilt indeed predict views toward political correctness; however, we find educational attainment does not change the effect of these variables on views toward political correctness. We discuss the importance of these findings in relation to prominent social theories on race and social dominance.