scholarly journals Do Members of Disadvantaged Groups Explain Group Status With Group Stereotypes?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Degner ◽  
Joelle-Cathrin Floether ◽  
Iniobong Essien
Keyword(s):  
System Justification ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Group Status ◽  
Stigma Consciousness ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
Outgroup Favoritism ◽  
Status Differences ◽  
Societal Stigma

Recent research on group attitudes in members of disadvantaged groups has provided evidence that group evaluations closely align with societal stigma, reflecting outgroup favoritism in members of those groups that are most strongly stigmatized. While outgroup favoritism is clearly evident among some groups, there is still debate about the psychological mechanisms underlying outgroup favoritism. The current research focuses on a less intensively examined aspect of outgroup favoritism, namely the use of status-legitimizing group stereotypes. We present data from members of four disadvantaged groups (i.e., persons who self-categorize as gay or lesbian, n = 205; Black or African American, n = 209; overweight n = 200, or are aged 60–75 years n = 205), who reported the perceived status of their ingroup and a comparison majority outgroup and provided explanations for their status perceptions. Contrary to assumptions from System Justification Theory, participants rarely explained perceived group status differences with group stereotypes, whereas they frequently explained ingroup disadvantage with perceived stigmatization and/or systemic reasons. Further exploratory analyses indicated that participants’ status explanations were related to measures of intergroup attitudes, ideological beliefs, stigma consciousness, and experienced discrimination. Our results highlight the need to develop a better understanding whether, under what circumstances, and with which consequences members of disadvantaged groups use group stereotypes as attributions of ingroup status and status differences.

scholarly journals A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Jost ◽  
Mahzarin R. Banaji ◽  
Brian A. Nosek
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Ingroup Bias ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Outgroup Favoritism

Most theories in social and political psychology stress self-interest, intergroup conflict, ethnocentrism, homophily, ingroup bias, outgroup antipathy, dominance, and resistance. System justification theory is influenced by these perspectives—including social identity and social dominance theories—but it departs from them in several respects. Specifically, we argue that (a) there is a general ideological motive to justify the existing social order, (b) this motive is at least partially responsible for the internalization of inferiority among members of disadvantaged groups, and (c) paradoxically, it is sometimes strongest among those who are most harmed by the status quo. In this article, we review and integrate 10 years of research on 20 hypotheses derived from a system justification perspective, focusing especially on the phenomenon of implicit outgroup favoritism among members of disadvantaged groups (including African Americans, the elderly, and gays/lesbians) and its relation to political ideology (especially liberalism-conservatism).

Advancing a Social Identity Model of System Attitudes

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 114-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Group Identification ◽  
System Justification ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Identity Model ◽  
The Government

AbstractThe connection between social identity and attitudes toward the criminal justice system (CJS) is an area of interest among criminologists and legitimacy scholars. Previous work has proposed a social identity theory of legitimation, positing that individuals categorize CJS officials as either in-group (i.e. legitimate authority) or out-group (i.e. illegitimate enforcer). Subsequently, how individuals perceive their CJS – including the sincerity of its commitment to the rule of law – is tied to this relationship. Those viewing the government as an out-group oppressor are less likely to accept its legitimacy. This article explores this thesis. From the perspective of system justification theory, how the CJS is categorized should depend on how strongly an individual identifies as belonging to a group disadvantaged by the CJS. System justification theorists hypothesize that system justification (including acceptance of system legitimacy) is more likely when members of disadvantaged groups believe that group interests are less important. Alternative models that explain attitudes toward the system by using social identity theory suggest the opposite: Those who identify more strongly with disadvantaged groups and hold their interests to be more important nonetheless justify oppositional systems and view them legitimately. The present study uses a sample of Black Americans (a disadvantaged group in the American CJS) to determine whether group identification predicts system justification.

scholarly journals System Threat during a Pandemic: How Conspiracy Theories Help to Justify the System

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 183449092110570
Author(s):  
Jia-Yan Mao ◽  
Jan-Willem van Prooijen ◽  
Shen-Long Yang ◽  
Yong-Yu Guo
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Threat Model ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
System Threat

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have endorsed conspiracy theories about foreign governments yet shown increased trust and support for their own government. Whether there is a potential correlation between these social phenomena and the psychological mechanisms behind them is still unclear. Integrating insights from the existential threat model of conspiracy theories and system justification theory, two experimental studies were conducted to investigate whether belief in out-group conspiracy theories can play a mediating role in the effects of system threat on people's system justification beliefs against the background of the pandemic. The results show that system threat positively predicts individuals’ system-justifying belief, and belief in out-group conspiracy theories mediated this relationship.

scholarly journals A Critical Review of the (Un)conscious Basis for System Supporting Attitudes of the Disadvantaged

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuma Kevin Owuamalam ◽  
Mark Rubin ◽  
Russell Spears
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Affirmative Answer ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Group Interests

Is support for societal systems amongst the disadvantaged driven by an (un)conscious system justification motive that is independent from self-interests? System justification theory (SJT; Jost & Banaji, 1994) is unique in its affirmative answer to this question. SJT proposes (a) that support for societal systems operates in the service of maintaining the status quo, (b) that the evidence for this system justification motive lies with the fact that members of disadvantaged groups (un)consciously support societal systems that are detrimental to their interests, and (c) that these processes are most apparent when group interests are weak. The present article reviews emerging evidence for these propositions and concludes that: (a) an unconscious manifestation of system justification is unlikely based on SJT’s “strong” dissonance-based predictions, which assumes that competing group and system motives are cognitively salient, and (b) a conscious system justification motive is also unlikely amongst the disadvantaged when group interests are weak. In addition, we suggest ways in which to explain system justification effects amongst the disadvantaged without recourse to an (un)conscious system justification motive.

Antecedents and Consequences of System-Justifying Ideologies

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 260-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Jost ◽  
Orsolya Hunyady
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
System Threat

According to system justification theory, there is a psychological motive to defend and justify the status quo. There are both dispositional antecedents (e.g., need for closure, openness to experience) and situational antecedents (e.g., system threat, mortality salience) of the tendency to embrace system-justifying ideologies. Consequences of system justification sometimes differ for members of advantaged versus disadvantaged groups, with the former experiencing increased and the latter decreased self-esteem, well-being, and in-group favoritism. In accordance with the palliative function of system justification, endorsement of such ideologies is associated with reduced negative affect for everyone, as well as weakened support for social change and redistribution of resources.

scholarly journals Revisiting the status-legitimacy hypothesis: Concepts, boundary conditions, and psychological mechanisms

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen-Long Yang ◽  
Bu-Xiao Xu ◽  
Feng Yu ◽  
Yong-Yu Guo
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
System Justification ◽  
High Status ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Moderator Variables ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe status-legitimacy hypothesis proposes that low-status groups are more inclined to justify the status quo as fair and legitimate than high-status groups. Although there are some research evidences for this hypothesis, many studies have found the opposite result, that disadvantaged groups are more dissatisfied with the social system. To resolve this disagreement, this article integrates relevant ideas and empirical research in three aspects. First, the conceptual approach emphasises that the controversy is a result of different operational definitions of social status and system justification in previous studies. The second approach, focusing on moderator variables, proposes that the disputes over past studies are probably due to moderator variables, which can influence the relationship between status and system justification. The third approach, based on psychological mechanisms, proposes that system justification theory cannot completely explain the psychological underpinnings of status differences in system justification, and in order to clarify this, it is necessary to explore other psychological processes. Future studies should continue to examine the mediation mechanisms and boundary conditions of the status-legitimacy hypothesis and may try to establish a nonlinear hypothesis. Moreover, researchers should also pay attention to the application of experimental methods and big-data methods.

scholarly journals Can mindfulness meditation reduce the tendency to justify the status quo?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mollie A. Price-Blackshear
Keyword(s):  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Compassion Meditation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Mindfulness Practices ◽  
Outgroup Favoritism ◽  
System Threat

System justification theory suggests that advantaged groups in society frequently express ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias, whereas disadvantaged groups express outgroup favoritism. These tendencies are likely to occur when individuals are motivated to perceive the system as legitimate. This motivation is driven by uncertainty regarding unstable systems. Mindfulness practices emphasize open acceptance and awareness of thoughts and experiences. Participation in mindfulness can engender, among other things, greater acceptance of outgroup members. The current study examined whether mindfulcompassion practice reduced system justification, and whether system threat undermined this influence. Unexpectedly, the results suggest that mindful-compassion lead to more favorable intergroup attitudes under high system threat (i.e., lower race-system justification, lower negative attitudes, and higher othergroup orientation). In addition, interactions for negative racial attitudes and othergroup orientation were qualified by internal motivation to control prejudice. This study was the first to experimentally test them impact of mindfulness on system justification. In addition, it is the first to examine empirically whether compassion meditation is associated with assessments of unjust social systems and attitudes toward ethnic outgroup members, and the extent to which system threat undermines this effect. Key words: mindfulness, compassion meditation, system justification, system threat, intergroup relations, outgroup attitudes

Ethnic Group Status Differences in the Ethnic Identity--> Prejudice Relationship

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Soto ◽  
Dawn Fassih ◽  
Debby Martin ◽  
James Hsiao ◽  
Michele Wittig
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Group Status ◽  
Status Differences
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document