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When do high and low status group members support confrontation? The role of perceived pervasiveness of prejudice
Author(s) -
Kahn Kimberly Barsamian,
Barreto Manuela,
Kaiser Cheryl R.,
Rego Marco Silva
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/bjso.12117
Subject(s) - prejudice (legal term) , psychology , social psychology , impression management , impression formation , social perception , perception , neuroscience
This paper examines how perceived pervasiveness of prejudice differentially affects high and low status group members’ support for a low status group member who confronts. In Experiment 1 ( N = 228), men and women read a text describing sexism as rare or as pervasive and subsequently indicated their support for a woman who confronted or did not confront a sexist remark. Experiment 2 ( N = 324) specified the underlying process using a self‐affirmation manipulation. Results show that men were more supportive of confrontation when sexism was perceived to be rare than when it was pervasive. By contrast, women tended to prefer confrontation when sexism was pervasive relative to when it was rare. Personal self‐affirmation decreased men's and increased women's support for confrontation when prejudice was rare, suggesting that men's and women's support for confrontation when prejudice is rare is driven by personal impression management considerations. Implications for understanding how members of low and high status groups respond to prejudice are discussed.