Academic Achievement and Identity of Low Status Group Members

This study investigated how social group status and group bias are related to adolescents' reasoning about social acceptance. Ninth and eleventh-grade students ( N = 379) were asked to make judgments about the inclusion of individuals in school activities based on their peer crowd membership. The results of the study revealed that both participants' and the targets' social reference group status were related to adolescents' judgments about participation in school activities. Overall, high status group members were chosen more than low status group members to participate in school activities. Adolescents who identified themselves with high status groups, however, were significantly more likely to choose a high status target than adolescents identifying with low status groups or those listing no group at all. Further, these adolescents were more likely than adolescents who identified themselves with low status groups or listed no group to use conventional reasoning and less likely to use moral reasoning when justifying their judgments.

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Social Status Affects the Causal Relationship Between Prejudice, Discrimination, Personality, Subjective Well-Being, and Self-Esteem

10.31234/osf.io/8jr4g ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rafael Valdece Sousa Bastos ◽

Víthor Rosa Franco ◽

Annalisa Myer

Keyword(s):

Social Status ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Esteem ◽

High Status ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Status Group ◽

Group Members ◽

Prejudice And Discrimination

People who repeatedly experience prejudice and discrimination are at greater risk for developing several negative consequences, such as low self-esteem (SE). However, scholars have not explored the role of social status as an important variable for this relationship, and its consequences. The current study is aimed at investigating the role of status on the relationship between self-perceived prejudice and discrimination (SPPD), subjective well-being (SWB), SE, and the Big-Five. In a Brazilian sample (N = 1,130), we found that social status affects the network structure among low- and high-status group members. We also found that not all causal relations are equal between groups, such that the influence of SPPD, SE, and neuroticism is different depending on participants’ social status. Our results demonstrate the importance of accounting for social status when crafting psychological interventions to mitigate the negative effects of prejudice and discrimination and dismantle systems of oppression for low-status group members.

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When status becomes essential: Developmental changes in the expression and consequences of essentialist beliefs about status

10.31234/osf.io/ce7wr ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tara M Mandalaywala ◽

Ryan Lei ◽

Josie Benitez ◽

Marjorie Rhodes

Keyword(s):

Social Status ◽

Developmental Changes ◽

Status Group ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

Lower Status ◽

Group Members ◽

And Behaviors

Beliefs about social status have far-reaching social and psychological implications; therefore, it is critical to understand their development. The present research used a novel groups paradigm to investigate whether children (N=121) and adults (N =89) hold essentialist beliefs about social status (thinking of status as shared among group members, stable, heritable, and derived from intrinsic causes) and whether these beliefs contribute to discrimination and bias toward members of a low-status novel group. Participants endorsed some aspects of status essentialism (viewing status as a group-linked property) but not others (not viewing status as stable, heritable, or inherent). Neither children nor adults displayed a behavioral or affective preference for the higher-status group, or prejudice toward the lower-status group, not even when status was viewed as a group-linked property. This study suggests that more complex and multi-dimensional essentialist beliefs about status might be necessary to engender discriminatory attitudes and behaviors toward lower-status groups.

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