Remember white people? Once upon a time, they dominated American life. But at some point in the 21st century, beset by low birth rates, they gradually died out.
Yes, that’s an absurd notion. But new research suggests that, for some white Americans, it’s a real fear—one that stimulates racial bias and political conservatism.
“White population decline does not merely trigger the threat considered in most studies of demographic change—that is, status threat,” write University of Minnesota psychologists Hui Bai and Christopher Federico. “Our work suggests that it may additionally elicit fears that the in-group will actually cease to exist.”…