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Being tolerated: Implications for well‐being among ethnic minorities
Author(s) -
Cvetkovska Sara,
Verkuyten Maykel,
Adelman Levi,
Yogeeswaran Kumar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/bjop.12492
Subject(s) - psychology , ethnic group , harm , social psychology , negotiation , well being , affect (linguistics) , developmental psychology , psychotherapist , communication , sociology , anthropology , political science , law
Tolerating or condoning practices that one finds objectionable is typically considered a positive way to negotiate intergroup differences. However, being the target of tolerance might harm well‐being, which we examined in three studies (a survey and two experiments) among a total of 1,054 members of various racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States. In Study 1, we found that perceiving oneself to be tolerated on the basis of one’s ethnic group membership was associated with more negative well‐being. In Study 2, we found that bringing to mind experiences of being tolerated results in less positive and more negative affect than thinking about experiences of acceptance, but more positive and less negative outcomes than thinking about overt discrimination experiences. In Study 3, we replicated the results of Study 2 while demonstrating that threat to social identity needs mediates the tolerance–well‐being link. These results suggest that being tolerated is related to minority targets’ well‐being in ways that are intermediate between being treated with outright discrimination and full acceptance, but that being tolerated follows a pattern closer to discrimination.