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At the Margins: A Distinctiveness Approach to the Social Identity and Social Networks of Underrepresented Groups

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Abstract

Using distinctiveness theory, research shows that the relative rarity of a group in a social context tended to promote members' use of that group as a basis for shared identity and social interaction. Relative majority group members, racial minorities and women in a master of business administration cohort were more likely to make identity and friendship choices within-group. The marginalization of racial minorities individuals' own preferences for same-race friends. By contrast, the marginalization of women resulted more for exclusionary pressures than from their preferences for woman friends.
... Stereotype threat, which arises from concerns about being judged according to negative stereotypes about social identity, occurs when individuals identify with social groups that are underrepresented in high-status positions (Spencer, Logel, and Davies 2016;Mehra, Kilduff, and Brass 1998). Stereotype threat concerns may be heightened for accounting students who identify with historically underrepresented social groups in accounting (Casad and Bryant 2016). ...
... Stereotype threat can arise when someone's social identity includes a social group with low social status within a given context (Major and Eccleston 2004;Leyens, D esert, Croizet, and Darcis 2000). Stereotype threat may also arise when individuals feel that representatives of their social group are outnumbered in a setting or when an individual perceives that a stereotype might be applied (Spencer et al. 2016;Mehra et al. 1998). ...
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