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Intuitive pathways into racist beliefs.

Mehr Latif¹, Pete Simi², Kathleen Blee³

¹University of Massachusetts Boston, USA.

Emotions and Society

|September 4, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

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This study explores the cognitive processes behind racist beliefs in former White supremacist group members. It reveals how social influences shape intuitive thinking, explaining belief persistence and judgment formation.

Area of Science:

Social Psychology
Cognitive Science
Sociology of Beliefs

Background:

Racist beliefs and judgments are significant societal issues.
Understanding the cognitive underpinnings of these beliefs is crucial for intervention.
Existing literature often lacks empirical analysis of the intuitive pathways involved.

Purpose of the Study:

To empirically investigate the cognitive processes underlying racist beliefs and judgments.
To examine how social interactions and environmental stimuli shape cognitive pathways.
To focus on the intuitive processing of extreme racist beliefs among former White supremacist group members.

Main Methods:

Conducted 47 in-depth life history interviews.
Focused on former members of White supremacist groups.

Keywords:

White supremacy belief intuition racism

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Analyzed both deliberate and intuitive cognitive pathways to racist belief.

Main Results:

Provided empirical evidence on the cognitive mechanisms of racist belief formation and maintenance.
Detailed how intuitive pathways are formed and reinforced within White supremacist movements.
Demonstrated the link between implicit beliefs and explicit judgments.

Conclusions:

Racist beliefs persist due to the encoding of explicit beliefs into intuitive pathways.
Implicit beliefs are drawn upon to make explicit judgments, reinforcing racist ideologies.
Understanding intuitive cognitive processing is key to addressing the persistence of racist beliefs.