Data from: Awareness programs and change in taste-based caste prejudice

Becker's theory of taste-based discrimination predicts that relative employment of the discriminated social group will improve if there is a decrease in the level of prejudice for the marginally discriminating employer. In this paper we experimentally test this prediction offered by Garry Becker in his seminal work on taste based discrimination, in the context of caste in India, with management students (potential employers in the near future) as subjects. First, we measure caste prejudice and show that awareness through a TV social program reduces implicit prejudice against the lower caste and the reduction is sustained over time. Second, we find that the treatment reduces the prejudice levels of those in the left tail of the prejudice distribution - the group which can potentially affect real outcomes as predicted by the theory. And finally, a larger share of the treatment group subjects exhibit favorable opinion about reservation in jobs for the lower caste.加里·贝克尔（Garry Becker）的口味型歧视（taste-based discrimination）理论预测，当边际歧视雇主的偏见水平降低时，受歧视社会群体的相对就业状况将得到改善。本文以印度种姓制度为研究场景，以商科学生（未来潜在雇主）作为实验被试，对贝克尔在其口味型歧视领域开创性著作中提出的这一理论预测开展实验检验。首先，我们对种姓偏见进行测量，结果表明：电视社会传播节目所传递的认知教育能够降低针对低种姓群体的内隐偏见，且该减损效应可长期维持。其次，我们发现实验干预降低了偏见分布左尾群体的偏见水平——该群体正是理论预测中能够对现实结果产生潜在影响的对象。最后，实验组中有更高比例的被试对低种姓群体的就业保留政策持支持态度。