Hi Pete:

Thanks for your comments.

No indicator is perfect, but this effect (poor Whites being more egalitarian than you’d expect) shows up on lots of indicators. Also, there is a great deal of research by Bill Swann and Angel Gomez that shows that things like “identity fusion” and “including the other in the self” (whether the other is a nation or a specific person) predicts making sacrifices for that “other.”

I also think that almost everyone in America HAS met or heard a lot about Black people, Latinos, and Native Americans. So, I’m not so sure Mongolians is a fair application. People who say they feel close to a known group report being much more willing to make sacrifices to help that group. And in some studies they’ve been shown to make such sacrifices.

Having said all that, I cannot deny that, for you, the question doesn’t make sense. Your experience is obviously real for you. This is why, in social science, an effect is always more impressive if it can be demonstrated true in a lot of different ways.

Cheers,

Brett