scholarly journals Invisibility of Social Privilege to Those Who Have It

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaidi Wu ◽  
David Alan Dunning

The U.S. faces deep social divides, with socially dominant and subordinate groups clashing in their views about how much privilege the former enjoys and hardship the latter endures. We suggest that these differences arise because privilege is invisible to those who have it. Compared to disadvantaged groups, socially dominant groups are hypocognitive of privilege, having only sparse cognitive representations of the concept. This deficit leads to poor cognitive performance when thinking about privilege and predicts group differences in privilege awareness and beliefs about the prevalence of discrimination. Across 8 studies, participants from advantaged groups showed cognitive signatures of hypocognition. Right-handers generated fewer handedness- related hassles than left-handers (Study 1). Men generated fewer instances of gender discrimination than women, recalled fewer previously presented items describing actions people take to defend themselves against violence, and showed poorer recall and recognition in memory of gender discrimination examples described in a TEDx talk (Studies 2a-2c). Whites generated fewer racial discrimination instances than Blacks and recalled fewer such instances from a presented list (Studies 3a-3b). Whites also generated fewer examples of racial discrimination than Asians and reacted more slowly when classifying examples as discriminatory behavior (Study 4). After watching a transgender woman describe her discrimination experience living as a woman, both men and women showed increased awareness of male privilege and gender discrimination (Study 5). Findings suggest that the invisibility of one’s privilege need not solely reflect identity-defensive motivations, but may also stem from cognitive deficits in conceptual knowledge about privilege and discrimination.

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Atiba Goff ◽  
Kimberly Barsamian Kahn

AbstractPsychological science that examines racial and gender bias, primarily located within social psychology, has tended to discount the ways in which race and gender mutually construct each other. Lay conceptions of racial and gender discrimination tend to see racism as primarily afflicting men and sexism primarily afflicting White women, when in fact race and gender are interrelated and work together intersectionally. Ignoring women's experiences of racial discrimination produces androcentric conceptions of racisms—in other words, many definitions of racial discrimination are to some degree sexist (Goff et al., 2008). Similarly, privileging the experiences of White women produces narrow definitions of gender discrimination—in other words, many definitions of gender discrimination are to some degree racist, such that they serve to reinforce the current societal hierarchies. Psychological science sometimes appears to reflect such conceptions. The result is that the social science principally responsible for explaining individual-level biases has developed a body of research that can undervalue the experiences of non-White women (Goff et al., 2008). This article examines features of social psychological science and its research processes to answer a question suggested by this framing: is the current psychological understanding of racism, to some extent, sexist and the understanding of sexism, to some extent, racist? We argue here that the instruments that much of social psychological science uses to measure racial and gender discrimination may play a role in producing inaccurate understandings of racial and gender discrimination. We also present original experimental data to suggest that lay conceptions parallel social psychology's biases: with lay persons also assuming that racism is about Black men and sexism is about White women.2 Finally, we provide some suggestions to increase the inclusivity of psychology's study of discrimination as well as reasons for optimism in this area.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine B. Coffman ◽  
Christine L. Exley ◽  
Muriel Niederle

Although there is ample evidence of discrimination against women in the workplace, it can be difficult to understand what factors contribute to discriminatory behavior. We use an experiment to both document discrimination and unpack its sources. First, we show that, on average, employers prefer to hire male over female workers for male-typed tasks, even when the two workers have identical résumés. Second, and most critically, we use a control condition to identify that this discrimination is not specific to gender. Employers are simply less willing to hire a worker from a group that performs worse on average, even when this group is, instead, defined by a nonstereotypical characteristic. In this way, beliefs about average group differences are the key driver of discrimination against women in our setting. We also document some evidence for in-group preferences that contribute to the gender discrimination observed. Finally, our design allows us to understand and quantify the extent to which image concerns mitigate discriminatory behavior. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, decision analysis.


Author(s):  
Lawrence M. Kahn

This article uses basketball as the laboratory to look at discrimination in pay, hiring, and retention against black National Basketball Association (NBA) players and coaches, and gender discrimination among college coaches. It describes Gary Becker's analysis of the possible sources of discrimination in labor markets. It then outlines the evidence on each of the possible forms of discrimination in basketball, including both a discussion of methodological issues and substantive findings. Racial discrimination in professional basketball seemed more prevalent in the 1980s than is the case today. The issue of whether a gender difference in revenue produced is a legitimate factor upon which to base a gender difference in coaching salaries is an open question from the legal point of view. The evidence for customer discrimination in the NBA in the 1990s and 2000s seems weaker than it was during the 1980s.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097168582110159
Author(s):  
Sital Mohanty ◽  
Subhasis Sahoo ◽  
Pranay Kumar Swain

Science, technology and human values have been the subject of enquiry in the last few years for social scientists and eventually the relationship between science and gender is the subject of an ongoing debate. This is due to the event of globalization which led to the exponential growth of new technologies like assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART, one of the most iconic technological innovations of the twentieth century, has become increasingly a normal social fact of life. Since ART invades multiple human discourses—thereby transforming culture, society and politics—it is important what is sociological about ART as well as what is biological. This article argues in commendation of sociology of technology, which is alert to its democratic potential but does not concurrently conceal the historical and continuing role of technology in legitimizing gender discrimination. The article draws the empirical insights from local articulations (i.e., Odisha state in eastern India) for the understandings of motherhood, freedom and choice, reproductive right and rights over the body to which ART has contributed. Sociologically, the article has been supplemented within the broader perspectives of determinism, compatibilism alongside feminism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Shanna K. Kattari ◽  
Brittanie Atteberry-Ash ◽  
Christopher Collins ◽  
Leonardo Kattari ◽  
Vern Harner

Forced sex and dating violence are too common among young people and rates are higher for young transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. However, the TGD youth population has differential experiences across gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and other identity factors. This study, using data from the 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, explores these differential within-group experiences of forced sex and dating violence. Findings indicate that sexual minorities who are also TGD are 2.45–3.73 times more likely to experience forced sex and physical dating violence than their TGD heterosexual peers. Individuals who are transfeminine (4.49 times), transmasculine (2.52 times), and nonbinary (3.86 times) are more likely to experience forced sex, as well as physical dating violence (transfeminine (4.01 times), transmasculine (2.91 times), and nonbinary (4.77 times)), as compared to those individuals questioning their gender. Black individuals (3.93 times) and Multiracial individuals (2.39 times) are more likely to experience dating violence than their White counterparts. Age was related to increased experience of forced sex, with individuals being 1.34 times more likely to have experienced this per year increase of age. These findings indicate the need for more trans-inclusive youth programing around sexual violence and dating violence, as well as taking a more intersectional and personalized approach to prevention work.


10.1068/a3781 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda McDowell ◽  
Diane Perrons ◽  
Colette Fagan ◽  
Kath Ray ◽  
Kevin Ward

In this paper we examine the relationships between class and gender in the context of current debates about economic change in Greater London. It is a common contention of the global city thesis that new patterns of inequality and class polarisation are apparent as the expansion of high-status employment brings in its wake rising employment in low-status, poorly paid ‘servicing’ occupations. Whereas urban theorists tend to ignore gender divisions, feminist scholars have argued that new class and income inequalities are opening up between women as growing numbers of highly credentialised women enter full-time, permanent employment and others are restricted to casualised, low-paid work. However, it is also argued that working women's interests coincide because of their continued responsibility for domestic obligations and still-evident gender discrimination in the labour market. In this paper we counterpose these debates, assessing the consequences for income inequality, for patterns of childcare and for work–life balance policies of rising rates of labour-market participation among women in Greater London. We conclude by outlining a new research agenda.


1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A. Holtsberg ◽  
Leonard W. Poon ◽  
Carol A. Noble ◽  
Peter Martin

Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores for 247 community-dwelling, well-functioning individuals in their 60s (n = 88), in their 80s (n = 92), and 100 or older (n = 67) were compared to examine overall and component MMSE differences. The concomitant influences of visual or literacy deficits, gender, education, race, income, and activities of daily living on MMSE performance were analyzed. Mean MMSE scores of 27.8, 27.1, and 24.8, respectively, for the three cohorts were significantly different, even when all concomitant variables were controlled. After the concomitant variables were controlled, results indicated that there were no age group differences on five MMSE items: naming, repeating, listening and obeying, reading and obeying, and writing sentences. Participants with visual or literacy deficits scored 1.5 points lower than other partimcipants, and displayed performance deficits in four items form the Read & Write MMSE division: naming, reading and obeying, writing sentences, and praxis. Education and gender were significant covariates for total and divisional MMSE scores.


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