Social Categories and Business Ethics

ruffin_darden ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 149-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Messick ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
People Group ◽  
Ingroup Favoritism

In this article, I want to draw attention to one strand ofthe complex web of processes that are involved when people group others, including themselves, into social categories. I will focus on the tendency to treat members of one's own group more favorably than nonmembers, a tendency that has been called ingroup favoritism. The structure of the article has three parts. First I will offer anevolutionary argument as to why ingroup favoritism, or something very much like it, is required by theories of the evolution of altruism. I will then review some of the basic social psychological research findings dealing with social categorization generally, and ingroup favoritism specifically. Finally, I will examine two problems in business ethics from the point of view of ingroup favoritism to suggest ways in which social psychological principles and findings may be mobilized to help solve problems of racial or gender discrimination in business contexts.

Social Categories and Business Ethics

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (S1) ◽  
pp. 149-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Messick
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
People Group ◽  
Ingroup Favoritism

In this article, I want to draw attention to one strand of the complex web of processes that are involved when people group others, including themselves, into social categories. I will focus on the tendency to treat members of one’s own group more favorably than nonmembers, a tendency that has been called ingroup favoritism. The structure of the article has three parts. First I will offer an evolutionary argument as to why ingroup favoritism, or something very much like it, is required by theories of the evolution of altruism. I will then review some of the basic social psychological research findings dealing with social categorization generally, and ingroup favoritism specifically. Finally, I will examine two problems in business ethics from the point of view of ingroup favoritism to suggest ways in which social psychological principles and findings may be mobilized to help solve problems of racial or gender discrimination in business contexts.

Narrative Approaches within a Social Psychology of Social Justice: The Potential Utility of Narrative Evidence

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Frost
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Narrative Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Social Psychological Research

This chapter illustrates the utility of narrative approaches within the social psychological study of social justice. By providing an overview of narrative approaches within social psychology, the potential for narrative research to generate knowledge of interest to social justice researchers is highlighted. In efforts to further promote the utility of narrative approaches in social justice research, the concept of narrative evidence is introduced in order to encourage the translation of knowledge gained from social psychological research on social justice concerns into attempts to inform and provoke social change. An illustrative example is discussed drawn from the author’s own research. The work of translating narrative research findings into narrative evidence is an important next step within a social psychology of social justice that seeks to produce knowledge of social justice concerns and has the potential to inform and inspire social change efforts.

scholarly journals Prejudice Reduction and Collective Action: A Conflict or Confluence of Interests?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas B. Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Prejudice Reduction ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Current Thinking ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Social Psychological Research

There is a growing body of research findings suggesting that prejudice reduction strategies can have unintended negative consequences, particularly by helping to stabilize systems of inequality. In light of these findings, a handful of scholars have suggested that the field be guided less by the prejudice reduction tradition, so as to focus more on collective action. While agreeing with the recent critiques of prejudice reduction, I argue that in more robustly embracing a collective action approach we should be careful not to abandon the notion of perceptualism that colored original thinking on prejudice reduction, lest we artificially narrow the scope of social psychological research and unintentionally ignore communities that do not fit well within current thinking in the collective action tradition.

The Elderly's Reactions toward the Dying: The Effects of Perceived Age Similarity

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Smith ◽  
Martin F. Sherman ◽  
Nancy C. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Just World ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
Perceived Age ◽  
Dying Patient

A 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted to investigate the elderly's feelings about and willingness to help (by telephoning or visiting) a similar (old) or dissimilar (young) aged dying patient versus a non-dying patient. Based on reasoning from experimental and clinical research, it was predicted and confirmed that elderly respondents would exhibit less positive affect and greater avoidance (decreased willingness to volunteer) towards a patient dying of cancer compared to a patient with a broken leg. In addition, it was predicted, based upon the social-psychological research findings of the sometimes negative effects of perceived similarity, that elderly respondents would exhibit less positive affect and greater avoidance towards a similar aged dying patient, while no such differences would be expected for the non-dying patient. No support was obtained for this prediction. However, data from supplementary analyses and explanations from the Just World Model were provided as to why this prediction was not confirmed.

Rethinking the Link Between Categorization and Prejudice Within the Social Cognition Perspective

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Park ◽  
Charles M. Judd
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Intergroup Bias ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Psychological Research

For the past 40 years, social psychological research on stereotyping and prejudice in the United States has been dominated by the social cognition perspective, which has emphasized the important role of basic categorization processes in intergroup dynamics. An inadvertent consequence of this approach has been a disproportionate focus on social categorization as a causal factor in intergroup animosity and, accordingly, an emphasis on approaches that minimize category distinctions as the solution to intergroup conflict. Though recognizing the crucial function of categorization, we question existing support for the hypothesis that the perception of strong group differences necessarily results in greater intergroup bias. Given that it is neither feasible nor ultimately desirable to imagine that social categories can be eliminated, we suggest that a more useful approach is one that promotes intergroup harmony even while recognizing and valuing the distinctions that define our social world.

scholarly journals Understanding How and Why Spatial Segregation Endures: A Systematic Review of Recent Research on Intergroup Relations at a Micro-Ecological Scale

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonor Bettencourt ◽  
John Dixon ◽  
Paula Castro
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Ecological Scale ◽  
Ecological Patterns ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
Urban Places

Social psychological research has increasingly extolled the benefits of intergroup contact as a means of promoting positive relations. However, a growing body of research suggests that formal policies of desegregation are often offset by informal ‘micro-ecological’ practices of (re)-segregation, in everyday life spaces. This paper presents a systematic literature review of recent evidence on this topic (2001-2017), outlining key findings about how, when, where, and why micro-ecological divisions are reproduced. Informal segregation can happen based on ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, or gender and ethnicity, despite people being in a shared place. People generally maintain patterns of ingroup isolation as a result of: a) negative attitudes and stereotypes; b) ingroup identification and threat; or c) feelings of anxiety, fear and insecurity. Educational settings have been the main context studied, followed by leisure and recreational places, public urban places and public transport. The paper also identifies three areas of potential future research, highlighting the need to: (1) capitalise on methodological innovations; (2) explore systematically how, when and why the intersectionality of social categories may shape micro-ecological practices of contact and separation; and (3) understand more fully why micro-ecological patterns of segregation are apparently so persistent, as well as how they might be reduced.

Interculturalism and the Acceptance of Minority Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maykel Verkuyten ◽  
Kumar Yogeeswaran
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Situational Effect

Abstract. Multiculturalism has been criticized and rejected by an increasing number of politicians, and social psychological research has shown that it can lead to outgroup stereotyping, essentialist thinking, and negative attitudes. Interculturalism has been proposed as an alternative diversity ideology, but there is almost no systematic empirical evidence about the impact of interculturalism on the acceptance of migrants and minority groups. Using data from a survey experiment conducted in the Netherlands, we examined the situational effect of promoting interculturalism on acceptance. The results show that for liberals, but not for conservatives, interculturalism leads to more positive attitudes toward immigrant-origin groups and increased willingness to engage in contact, relative to multiculturalism.

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