Premium
How Affirmative Action Can Pass Consitutional and Social Psychological Muster
Author(s) -
Nacoste Rupert W.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1996.tb01854.x
Subject(s) - affirmative action , constitutionality , scrutiny , supreme court , social psychology , psychology , action (physics) , odds , law , political science , mathematics , statistics , logistic regression , physics , quantum mechanics
The United States Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of a number of affirmative action cases. An analysis of the reasoning used in the most significant cases shows that to formulate its decision, the Court has relied on an implicit theory of the psychology of affirmative action. Based on the judicial principle of “strict scrutiny,” the implicit theory is that use of group membership in a selection procedure causes the “reinforcement of common group stereotypes.” That theory is at odds with the conditions specified for reinforcement of common group stereotypes by formal theory and research on the social psychology of affirmative action procedures. The scientific work indicates that there are procedural conditions that the Court would find social psychologically acceptable and thus constitutionally acceptable.