Perceived proprietary right to resources and its role in reciprocal prejudices between Black and Asian Americans

I offer a new measure of perceived proprietary right (PPR) to resources as an operationalization of one critical aspect of Harold Blumer's group threat theory. Black (n = 82), Asian (n = 72), and White (n = 176) participants completed PPR items in the context of a residential resource allocation task designed to evoke competitive threat. A four-factor model of PPR was established through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. For Black participants, competitive threat was directly related to anti-Asian prejudice. For Asian participants, competitive threat was related to anti-Black prejudice indirectly, through belief in merit as a source of PPR. Moderated parallel mediation models also uncovered PPR beliefs - on the basis of past oppression and outsider status - as possible sources of allyship between Black and Asian community members. Findings are discussed in relation to Black and Asian relations specifically and the contribution of PPR to intergroup relations more generally.