Intergroup biases as a function of reflected status appraisals and support for legitimizing ideologies: Evidence from the USA and Israel

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Abstract

Theory and research suggest that members of high-status groups feel more positively about their own group than members of low-status groups feel about their group. The studies presented here test two hypotheses derived from this general idea (1) that members of high-status groups will show greater bias in favor of the in-group when they believe that others perceive the status difference between their group and relevant low-status groups to be larger; and (2) that this relationship will be stronger when high-status group members also endorse ideologies legitimizing their privileged status. However, because low group status may have "self-protective" properties, it was hypothesized that imputed status differences would not relate to out-group bias among low-status group members, regardless of ideology endorsement. Two studies-using samples from the United States and Israel, respectively-provided clear support for these hypotheses. Implications for the study of both intergroup biases and legitimizing ideologies are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)47-73
Number of pages27
JournalSocial Justice Research
Volume17
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2004

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Data collection for Study 1 was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the UCLA Office of the Chancellor. Data collection for Study 2 was supported in part by a Lady Davis Graduate Fellowship and a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research. We are also grateful to Sonia Roccas and Lilach Sagiv for translating the Study 2 survey instrument into Hebrew; to Wisam Marie for translating it into Arabic; and to Yuen Huo, John Jost, Jim Sidanius, Heather Smith, and Tom Tyler for providing helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Ideology
  • Ingroup bias
  • Legitimacy
  • Status

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