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RACE AND INEQUITY 1
Author(s) -
GrayLittle Bernadette
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1980.tb00726.x
Subject(s) - beneficiary , psychology , allocator , race (biology) , social psychology , perception , white (mutation) , inequality , developmental psychology , sociology , gender studies , political science , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , chemistry , mathematics , neuroscience , computer science , law , gene , operating system
Two experiments examined the effects of beneficiary‐victim status and race on the reactions of fifth‐ and sixth‐grade children to an inequitable allocation. In the first experiment, mixed‐race dyads of black and white children were subjected to profitable or unprofitable inequity by black or white allocators. Following this, they were allowed to request portions of a second reward and were interviewed in order to assess inequity distress and their cognitive reactions to the experience of being a beneficiary or victim. Allocator's race was found to have a significant impact on the efforts of black victims to redistribute rewards and to be relevant to all children's perceptions of the inequity. Although neither subject's race nor beneficiary‐victim status had a major impact on children's distributions, these factors did influence their interpretations of the initial allocation and the amount of distress experienced. The second experiment examined the impact of race of observer and participant on observers' perceptions of an inequitable allocation. The results of this study confirmed the pervasive and complex impact of racial identity on reactions to inequity, pointing to its influence even on persons who have nothing tangible to gain or lose by their ratings and allocations.