| Left unchecked, motivated social cognition can distort scholarship. Trying to minimize that tendency, this thesis uses empirical data to examine three topics in historical, legal, and political sociology. The first study uses early American probate records to determine gun ownership levels and whether early America had a "gun culture." In eight collections of inventories (1636-1810), guns are found in 50-73% of male estates. Hierarchical loglinear modeling suggests that guns are more common in inventories where the decedent was male, Southern, rural, slave-owning, or above the lowest social class.;The second chapter tests a theory of racial stereotyping: that viewing Asian Americans as particularly smart, hard-working, and successful (a "Model Minority") reflects hostility to Asians and other minorities. An analysis of General Social Survey data (1990-2000) suggests that Non-Hispanic whites who view Asian Americans as hard working or intelligent are less likely to perceive discrimination against Asians in jobs and housing, just as one strand of the theory would predict. On the broader claim, however, canonical correlation analysis tends to show that those who view Asians as particularly smart or hard-working are, if anything, slightly less likely to be hostile to immigrants, Asians, and other minorities.;Using sixteen General Social Surveys (1980-2004), chapter 3 examines the psychological makeup of those who support capitalism and oppose income redistribution. Respondents who express traditionally racist views on segregation, interracial marriage, and inborn racial abilities tend to support greater income redistribution and to oppose the consequences of free-market capitalism: wanting the government to guarantee jobs for everyone and to fix prices, wages, and profits. Those who express less tolerance for unpopular groups (racists, homosexuals, communists, extreme militarists, and atheists) tend to favor income redistribution and oppose capitalism.;In an analysis of six full latent variable structural equation models, traditional racism and intolerance predict anti-capitalism and support for income redistribution, even after controlling for education, income, gender, and age. Also, strong redistributionists reported less altruistic behavior, less happiness, and more negative emotions, such as anger and plotting revenge. Thus, opposition to income redistribution appears to be misconceived as a part of an orientation toward social dominance. |
