Antecedents and consequences of attributions to discrimination: Theoretical and empirical advances

Major, Brenda; Quinton, Wendy J.; McCoy, Shannon K.

doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(02)80007-7

Cited by 563 publications

(683 citation statements)

References 147 publications

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“…In contrast, for other participants-Latino American and female participants who rejected a meritocracy worldviewperceived discrimination against their ethnic or gender group led to higher self-esteem. This pattern is consistent with theories that predict that perceiving others to be prejudiced against one's social identity can serve a self-esteem protective function for members of socially devalued groups to the extent that it provides a more external attribution for one's own or one's groups' social disadvantage (e.g., Crocker & Major, 1989;Major, Quinton, & McCoy, 2002). We believe that a worldview verification perspective provides a parsimonious explanation for these findings.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

Major¹,

Kaiser²,

O’Brien³

et al. 2007

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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273

312

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In 3 studies, the authors tested the hypothesis that discrimination targets' worldview moderates the impact of perceived discrimination on self-esteem among devalued groups. In Study 1, perceiving discrimination against the ingroup was negatively associated with self-esteem among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview (e.g., believed that individuals of any group can get ahead in America and that success stems from hard work) but was positively associated with self-esteem among those who rejected this worldview. Study 2 showed that exposure to discrimination against their ingroup (vs. a non-self-relevant group) led to lower self-esteem, greater feelings of personal vulnerability, and ingroup blame among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview but to higher selfesteem and decreased ingroup blame among Latino Americans who rejected it. Study 3 showed that compared with women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is pervasive, women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is rare had higher self-esteem if they endorsed a meritocracy worldview but lower self-esteem if they rejected this worldview. Findings support the idea that perceiving discrimination against one's ingroup threatens the worldview of individuals who believe that status in society is earned but confirms the worldview of individuals who do not.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

Major¹,

Kaiser²,

O’Brien³

et al. 2007

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

273

312

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On the other hand, minimization perspectives support the view that stigmatized members fail to perceive that they personally are targets of discrimination or fail to attribute negative outcomes to prejudice even when it is plausible to do so. We agree with Major, Quinton, and McCoy (2002) that there is no use in establishing whether one perspective supersedes the other. The evidence shows that both vigilance and minimization exist.…”

Section: The Need To Belong and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…From a theoretical perspective, the minimization of personal disadvantage also flies in the face of a large research literature that has emphasized that stigmatized members often protect the self by making attributions to discrimination, rather than minimizing or denying it (Allport, 1954;Crocker & Major, 1989;Crocker, Voelkl, Testa, & Major, 1991;Dion & Earn, 1975). According to this perspective, stigmatized group members are highly aware of the negative stereotypes others hold of their group and are likely to attribute negative feedback to discrimination whenever cues of prejudice and discrimination are present (Major, Quinton, & McCoy, 2002; see also Feldman Barrett & Swim, 1998).…”

Section: Why Does It Matter?mentioning

confidence: 99%

When fiends become friends: The need to belong and perceptions of personal and group discrimination.

Carvallo¹,

Pelham²

2006

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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The present article examines the role that the need to belong (NTB) plays in people's judgments of personal and group discrimination and in the attributions people make for potentially discriminatory evaluations. The authors hypothesized that the NTB motivates people to conclude that (a) whereas they rarely experience personal discrimination, (b) their fellow in-group members do experience discrimination. In Study 1, people high in the NTB reported experiencing lower than average levels of personal and higher than average levels of group discrimination. In Study 2, an experimental manipulation of the NTB yielded similar results. In Study 3, women who were motivated to be accepted by a bogus male participant were less likely to attribute his negative evaluations of their work to prejudice.

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“…This review showed that none of the reviewed instruments consider the attribution of differential treatments to discrimination as a primary appraisal of threat in one's environment, as previously proposed in the literature. 18 The attribution of differential treatment to discrimination (whether an event has the potential for harm or loss) was examined. Therefore, the experience of differential treatment and its attribution to discrimination were devised to be recorded separately, by different items of the present instrument, allowing to answering the following research question: Are the health effects of discrimination a consequence of the reported differential treatment or its attribution to discrimination by stigmatized individuals?…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explicit discrimination and health: development and psychometric properties of an assessment instrument

et al. 2012

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OBJECTIVE:To develop an instrument to assess discrimination effects on health outcomes and behaviors, capable of distinguishing harmful differential treatment effects from their interpretation as discriminatory events. METHODS:Successive versions of an instrument were developed based on a systematic review of instruments assessing racial discrimination, focus groups and review by a panel comprising seven experts. The instrument was refi ned using cognitive interviews and pilot-testing. The fi nal version of the instrument was administered to 424 undergraduate college students in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil, in 2010. Structural dimensionality, two types of reliability and construct validity were analyzed. RESULTS:Exploratory factor analysis corroborated the hypothesis of the instrument's unidimensionality, and seven experts verified its face and content validity. The internal consistency was 0.8, and test-retest reliability was higher than 0.5 for 14 out of 18 items. The overall score was higher among socially disadvantaged individuals and correlated with adverse health behaviors/conditions, particularly when differential treatments were attributed to discrimination. CONCLUSIONS:These fi ndings indicate the validity and reliability of the instrument developed. The proposed instrument enables the investigation of novel aspects of the relationship between discrimination and health. DESCRIPTORS:Prejudice. Interpersonal Relations. Socioeconomic Factors. Health Inequalities. Explicit discrimination and health Bastos JL et alThe discrimination construct is closely related to the idea of injustice and, as such, has been conceptualized as the "process by which a member, or members, of a socially defi ned group is, or are, treated differently (especially unfairly) because of his/ her/ their membership of that group." 15 It has been studied worldwide in several fi elds of knowledge, such as anthropology, epidemiology, sociology and psychology, with extensive literature documenting important discrimination effects on people's daily lives. For instance, discrimination has been associated with negative health outcomes, 25 diffi cult access to the labor market, 6 and residential segregation. 25 Disc riminatory practices may be based on characteristics such as gender, age, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, social class, and other socially ascribed or acquired characteristics. These multiple types of discrimination may also be combined and experienced all at once by their victims. 4 Yet, discriminatory practices and their behavioral and cognitive responses may vary depending on the social context and historical time period.A systematic review of instruments assessing racial discrimination 3 found no widely employed instrument RESUMO OBJETIVO: Desenvolver instrumento para avaliar os efeitos de experiências discriminatórias sobre condições e comportamentos em saúde, capaz de distinguir efeitos patológicos da exposição a tratamentos diferenciais de sua interpretação como eventos discriminatórios. MÉ...

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Antecedents and consequences of attributions to discrimination: Theoretical and empirical advances

Cited by 563 publications

References 147 publications

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

When fiends become friends: The need to belong and perceptions of personal and group discrimination.

Explicit discrimination and health: development and psychometric properties of an assessment instrument

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