Results from the British Social Attitudes survey 2013 indicate higher self-declaration of racial prejudice which varies by demographics such as age, gender, education and occupation. Does 3 in 10 people saying they are very or a little prejudiced against people of other races mean that Britain is becoming a more racially prejudiced society?

Every year NatCen quiz 3000 people on their thoughts on and attitude towards life in Britain as part of their British Social Attitudes survey which has been carried out annually since 1983. One question their researchers put to respondents is – “Would you describe yourself as very prejudiced/a little prejudiced against people of other races?” There have of course been changes in responses to this question over time but this year it made headlines because more people self-declared racial prejudice this year than in over a decade.

According to the British Social Attitudes survey of 2013, 30% people self-declared prejudice on the basis of race, as compared to 26% in the golden year of the Olympics 2012 and 38% in 1987. Dr Grace Lordan, from the London School of Economics, said her own research based on BSA data going back to 1983 showed a clear correlation between recession and the numbers who self-described as prejudiced.

While the Guardian went with the headline ‘Racism on rise in Britain’, others were not so sure about this interpretation. Co-author of the British Social Attitudes survey report, Alison Park, herself questioned whether it’s possible to measure racial prejudice but concluded that “Racial prejudice, in whatever guise, is undoubtedly still part of the national psyche.” Further, if the data is interpreted to examine the longer term average (rather than year on year), it would look like (self-reported) racial prejudice in Britain has been declining over the years.

The survey results are nevertheless interesting, especially if broken down by various demographics. Broadly speaking, older men in manual occupations seem to be more likely to self-report racial prejudice.

There is of course the question of what racial prejudice means to people and what this self-declaration signifies. Is racial prejudice the same as racism? Would people who self-declared racial prejudice admit to be racist? Or does self-declaration of racial prejudice mean that people are willing to acknowledge their ‘harmless’ conscious/unconscious bias?

These are questions that cannot be answered through statistical analysis because of their subjective nature but they indicate the need for more sophisticated sociological analysis of the prevalence of racial prejudice and racism in British society.

Would you declare prejudice against other races in a survey?

Source for graphs: British Social Attitudes survey 2013 report