Increasing Ethnic Diversity and Implicit American Identity

The present research examined whether temporal fluctuations in context ethnic diversity account for current levels of implicit ethnic-American associations. Temporal fluctuations in ethnic diversity at the metropolitan level were assessed using data from four decennial U.S. censuses (1980-2010) and distinguishing three dimensions of context ethnic diversity (minority representation, variety, and integration). Project Implicit data (2011-2017) indexed the extent to which American identity was implicitly associated with European Americans over Asian Americans (i.e., American = White associations). Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling (N = 152,011, nested within 226 metropolitan areas). Steeper increases in the proportion of Asian Americans were related to weaker implicit (but stronger explicit) American = White associations. Increases in ethnic integration accounted for stronger implicit American = White associations when integration fluctuations reflected accelerating rather than decelerating trends. These results suggest that current levels of implicit ethnic-national associations are linked to complex patterns of ethnic diversity fluctuations.