Yet in many Americans' minds these objective notions of citizenship are a little fuzzy, as social and developmental psychologists like me have documented. Psychologically, some people may just seem a little more American than others, based on factors such as race, ethnicity or language. Many people who explicitly endorse egalitarian ideals, such as the notion that all Americans are deserving of the rights of citizenship regardless of race, still implicitly harbor prejudices over who's 'really' American. In a classic 2005 study, American adults across racial groups were fastest to associate the concept of 'American' with white people. White, Black and Asian American adults were asked whether they endorse equality for all citizens. They were then presented with an implicit association test in which participants matched different faces with the categories 'American' or 'foreign.' They were told that every face was a U.S. citizen. White and Asian participants responded most quickly in...
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