We conducted two studies in order to analyze the manifestation and development of attitudes towards quotas. Study 1 (N = 220), carried out five years before the implementation of quotas, indicated that students were very opposed to quotas, especially to the racial ones. In Study 1, the argument most often used to justify being against quotas was that they increase the prejudice against blacks. Study 2 (N = 114), conducted two months after implementation, indicated that opposition to racial quotas increased, while the opposition to social quotas decreased. Importantly, after the implementation of the quota system, the main reason to be against quotas was that they are a discriminatory measure. These results are discussed as indicators of the relations between the ideologies of paternalism and the sense of group position in racial prejudice in Brazil.
racial and social quotas; position of groups; threat; prejudice
