Inequality - It's all in the way you look at it

The influence of race, education, and information seeking are explored as factors determining perceptions of the nature and extent of racial inequality. African Americans and Whites are seen to differ significantly in their estimates of White and Black poverty, the extent to which African Americans are worse off than Whites, and the circumstances that explain this disparity. Exposure to news and other information about race and affirmative action has a significant main effect on social comparisons and attributions, consistent with the cultivation hypothesis. Tendencies toward mainstreaming or convergence of opinion under conditions of close attention to racial news and information are observed only with regard to estimates of the proportions of racial groups in poverty.