Are Class-Based Affirmative Action Policies More Supported than Race-Based Policies?

In response to bans of race-based affirmative action (AA) policies in admissions, universities have started implementing class-based AA policies to promote diversity and equality. The premise behind this movement is that class-based AA policies will be less controversial and more supported than race-based AA policies. Drawing on system justification theory, we argue that this premise may be flawed, as class-based AA policies may appear to violate legitimate social hierarchies and hence may be seen as immoral. In Study 1 we found that class-based AA policies were perceived as less moral and were less supported than identity-blind policies, and were no more likely to be supported than race-based AA policies. In Study 2, we found that negative reactions to a class-based AA policy were exacerbated among individuals with economic system-justifying beliefs. Contrary to policy makers’ hopes, our results suggest that class-based AA policies may not be well supported.