Biased expectations? An experimental test of which party selectors are more likely to stereotype ethnic minority aspirants as less favorable than ethnic majority aspirants

ABSTRACT This study examines a potential source of party selector discrimination against ethnic minority aspirants: stereotypes. By means of an original survey experiment conducted among Flemish local party chairs, it is tested whether some party selectors are more likely to adopt negative stereotypes about ethnic minority aspirants’ political characteristics. The results show that it is party selectors’ ideological position rather than their socio-demographic profile (in terms of gender, education, and age) that predicts how they view ethnic minority aspirants vis-à-vis ethnic majority aspirants. Whereas rightist party selectors perceived ethnic minority aspirants as ideologically more distant from themselves, less competent, and less trustworthy than the ethnic majority aspirants, leftist party selectors held opposite views. Party selectors’ stereotypes about ethnic minority aspirants’ political characteristics thus help to better understand why ethnic minorities are underrepresented in rightist parties.