Making Sense of Misfortune

Abstract

One of the most striking features of stereotypes is their extreme durability. This study focuses on the role played by cultural schemas and perceptions of low-status others’ adversities in stereotype perpetuation. Social psychological theories of legitimacy and justice point to the role of stereotypes as one means through which individuals make sense of others’ undeserved misfortunes by redefining the victim. This study connects this work with insights from cognitive cultural sociology to propose that stereotypes act as cultural schemas used to justify others’ experiences of adversity. Consistent with this hypothesis, findings from a cultural transmission experiment show that participants include more negative stereotype-consistent content when retelling narratives with undeserved negative outcomes than with positive outcomes. Cognitive cultural sociology and the cultural transmission methodology offer tools for understanding victim redefinition processes, with important implications for the reproduction of stereotype bias and social inequalities.

Integrating Social Justice into the Practice of CBFT: A Critical Look at Family Schemas

“…Individuals, couples, and families are deeply affected by these processes in their communities, work settings, and intimate relationships, often unwittingly adhering to schemas that reflect and support unjust social arrangements (Hunzaker, 2014). For example, systems of patriarchy, which contribute to privileging men in politics and the workplace, are often echoed in family structures (Dickerson, 2013).…”

“…What we are suggesting here is that family therapists take a broader perspective that includes viewing their own (Ridley, Chih, & Olivera, 2000) and their clients' schemas as reflective of the politics of social structures and social location within those structures. This includes how social (including family) schemas stem from and maintain an unjust distribution of power and resources (Hunzaker, 2014), which in turn directly affects our individual and relational well-being. PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION: THE THINKING AND DOING OF SOCIAL INEQUITY Hagan and Donnison (1999) argued that it is imperative for cognitive behavioral practitioners to attend to problematic schemas and cognitive distortions that support racism, classism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination.…”

“…While typically viewed as an individual attitudinal problem, assigning negative attributes to members of traditionally marginalized groups and positive attributes to members of the most privileged and centered groups may serve a cognitive function on a social level. Prejudice allows us to maintain schemas that value fairness by reconciling as just the unjust distribution of resources and opportunities that privilege the most centered and dominant groups (Hunzaker, 2014). In turn, these processes justify and maintain existing systems of power and privilege that are shared laterally as well as passed down from one generation to the next.…”

Formation of Stereotypes

“…The media's influence on stereotype formation perpetuates certain values held within society. These stereotypical values may be used as tools to maintain beliefs about justice and to make sense of others' misfortunes (Hunzaker, 2014). Otgaar and colleagues (2011) found that that the activation of socially held stereotypes can actually boost or deteriorate memory performance.…”

“…Alternatively, in a study in which participants were to think of a college professor and write down everything that they considered typical professor characteristics, participants answered more Trivial Pursuit questions correctly than participants without a prime condition, enhancing recall. Hunzaker (2014) hypothesized that individuals may apply attributions about the target to determine the cause of the target's outcome. Perceiving the target to be a member of a particular social group, for example, the poor, activates other information, such as traits, characteristics and attitudes.…”