Psychologists defend correlation between racism and voting Republican (big surprise).

Another study presented at the conference,
which was in Palm Springs, Calif., explored relationships between
racial bias and political affiliation by analyzing self-reported
beliefs, voting patterns and the results of psychological tests that
measure implicit attitudes — subtle stereotypes people hold about
various groups.

{…}

Brian Jones, a
spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said he disagreed with
the study’s conclusions but that it was difficult to offer a detailed
critique, as the research had not yet been published and he could not
review the methodology. He also questioned whether the researchers
themselves had implicit biases — against Republicans — noting that
Nosek and Harvard psychologist Mahzarin Banaji had given campaign
contributions to Democrats.

"There are a lot of factors that go
into political affiliation, and snap determinations may be interesting
for an academic study, but the real-world application seems somewhat
murky," Jones said.

[…]

"Obviously,
such research does not speak at all to the question of the prejudice
level of the president," said Banaji, "but it does show that George W.
Bush is appealing as a leader to those Americans who harbor greater
anti-black prejudice."

Vincent Hutchings, a political
scientist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said the results
matched his own findings in a study he conducted ahead of the 2000
presidential election: Volunteers shown visual images of blacks in
contexts that implied they were getting welfare benefits were far more
receptive to Republican political ads decrying government waste than
volunteers shown ads with the same message but without images of black
people.

Jon Krosnick, a psychologist and political scientist at
Stanford University, who independently assessed the studies, said it
remains to be seen how significant the correlation is between racial
bias and political affiliation.

For example, he said, the study
could not tell whether racial bias was a better predictor of voting
preference than, say, policy preferences on gun control or abortion.
But while those issues would be addressed in subsequent studies —
Krosnick plans to get random groups of future voters to take the
psychological tests and discuss their policy preferences — he said the
basic correlation was not in doubt.

"If anyone in Washington is skeptical about these findings, they are in denial," he said. "We
have 50 years of evidence that racial prejudice predicts voting.
Republicans are supported by whites with prejudice against blacks. If people say, ‘This takes me aback,’ they are ignoring a huge volume of research."

As well as, for that matter, the GOP’s own pronouncements.

(Hat tip to Steve Gilliard.)