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Systems of Privilege: Intersections, Awareness, and Applications

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Abstract

As research on privilege increased in the last two decades, a clear need for a social psychological perspective to examine the topic has emerged. In this special issue of JSI, scholars provide a framework for understanding the psychology of privilege, considering the policy implications of privilege, and imagining the future of privilege studies. The contributors emphasize multidisciplinary approaches, mixed methods, and the benefits of intersectional theory for studying privilege. © 2012 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

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... (Collins, 1993, pp. 42-43) In the previous quote, Black feminist sociologist Patricia Hill Collins explains that it is difficult for members of advantaged groups (e.g., men, White Americans, heterosexuals, and nondisabled individuals) to confront their group-based privilege, defined here as unearned advantages due to membership in a socially dominant group (Case et al., 2012;McIntosh, 1988). Privilege represents a threat to advantaged group members' identities. ...
... In the present studies, we consider one such factor: denial of group-based privilege. Several researchers and theorists have emphasized advantaged group members' willingness to acknowledge their privilege as a key component of effective allyship (e.g., Case et al., 2012;Droogendyk et al., 2016;Louis et al., 2019;Ostrove & Brown, 2018). According to Droogendyk et al. (2016; see also Case et al., 2012;Louis et al., 2019), advantaged group allies who fail to attend to their groupbased privilege are more likely to engage in harmful behaviors that erode solidarity and trust. ...
... Several researchers and theorists have emphasized advantaged group members' willingness to acknowledge their privilege as a key component of effective allyship (e.g., Case et al., 2012;Droogendyk et al., 2016;Louis et al., 2019;Ostrove & Brown, 2018). According to Droogendyk et al. (2016; see also Case et al., 2012;Louis et al., 2019), advantaged group allies who fail to attend to their groupbased privilege are more likely to engage in harmful behaviors that erode solidarity and trust. They may expect positions of power and influence without having earned them, for example, or they may ignore the stakes of their inaction (or inconsistent action) for members of disadvantaged groups. ...
Article
Members of advantaged groups can play a role in addressing discrimination and inequality. Sometimes, members of advantaged groups are motivated to deny their group-based privilege, however. In two studies (Ns = 196, 600), we examined how privilege denial affects disadvantaged group members' (i.e., women's) evaluations of advantaged group members (i.e., men) who engage in collective action to support equality. We sampled women attending colleges or universities in the United States and randomly assigned them to read about a man who attended a rally to support gender equality and either denied his male privilege, acknowledged it, or said nothing about his privilege at all. We found that women evaluated a man who attended a rally to support gender equality less positively and were less willing to work with him for gender equality if he denied his male privilege. This pattern was either fully (Study 1) or partly (Study 2) statistically mediated by women rating a man who denied his male privilege as less moral, an effect that was stronger among women who identified more highly as feminists. Our findings indicate that advantaged group allies who deny their group-based privilege diminish their potential contributions to movements for equality.
... Conversely, the discrimination experienced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and women creates barriers affecting various areas of their lives. Building on McIntosh (1989), other scholars have defined the construct of privilege as 1) unearned social benefits based on dominant group membership; 2) relational in nature; and 3) influenced by intersectionality of identities (Case, 2013;Case et al., 2012). Motherscholars fit into these three facets of privilege in specific ways. ...
... However, research has documented women academics' struggle for equality with their male colleagues in terms of job security, status, and pay (Cardozo, 2017;Coin, 2018;Gonzales, 2018). The motherscholar designation inherently implies involvement in the relational nature of privilege that Case (2013) and Case et al. (2012) emphasize. Motherscholars are in relation with their children, their partners, their former partners, and their professional colleagues. ...
... The intersectional identities of motherscholars are further highlighted when considered within the context of varying sexual orientations, marital status, and race. Case et al. (2012) call for the need to better understand how group privilege operates at the individual level. Focusing on motherscholars' personal experiences of privilege and the interruption of social benefits can lead to recognition of systems through which privilege is distributed, interrupted, or withheld. ...
... Intersectional discrimination suggests that a person can be oppressed, while also having advantages that others do not, all at the same time . Intersectional discrimination is rooted in the Black feminist perspective of intersectionality that postulates there are interworking systems of oppression and domination within society that set the status quo and are much more complicated than the simplistic presentation that other perspectives of discrimination have presented (i.e., gender and race rather than just gender or just race) (Alexander-Floyd, 2012;Carbado, 2013;Carbado et al., 2014;Case et al., 2012;Crenshaw, 1989Crenshaw, , 1991Lopez et al., 2017;Nash, 2011). In simple terms, intersectionality suggests the problem is not just racism, sexism, or ableism that created problems within society, rather it is all of those (and more) working together to create complex issues that are faced by people in varying ways. ...
... As a system, intersectional discrimination has two core components: systems of oppression and hierarchy of power. Carbada (2013), Carboda et al. (2014), Case et al. (2012), and Lopez et al. (2017) explained that intersecting systems of oppression include, but are not limited to, class/capitalism, gender/patriarchy, settler colonialism, race/structural racism, orientation/heterosexism, disability/ableism, ethnicity/ethnocentrism, Christianity/other religion or atheism, and age/ageism. These systems of oppression create a society where people may or may not have advantages based on the rules set forth by those in power positions. ...
... Research suggests that discrimination is a multilayered social construct that has shown to have dramatic effects on individuals and groups in society. Although research within psychology related to intersectional discrimination is limited, Case et al. (2012) argued that psychology has more to give in terms of intersectionality consideration, research, and application, to promote understanding of position or circumstance on a multidimensional level, thus deepening knowledge on the subject. The following literature review represents a summary of the current understanding of intersectionality in a psychological context encompassing intersectional discrimination, self-efficacy, and colorism (i.e., skin tone variation and the resulting discrimination). ...
Thesis
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Discrimination is a dynamic multifaceted issue within the world, especially in the present time in the United States. Research shows that psychologically, discrimination can have deleterious effects on the individual’s psyche which can have lifelong and/or generational impact. Research shows discrimination, through emphasis of Eurocentric standard over other nationality standards, for things like beauty, marriageability, and intelligence, can impact the individual’s likelihood for success in life (employment, college, wealth). Until late, quantitatively, discrimination has been studied in a one- or two-dimensional way, providing a one- or two-dimensional result. The current study sought to push discrimination research forward by considering discrimination through an intersectional (multidimensional) lens utilizing quantitative self-report measures. Results of 440 participants responses showed statistically significant correlations between intersectional discrimination, self-efficacy, and skin tone. More in-depth results are discussed within, along with implications for the results of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed
... In this case, the combination of these dual or multiple identities might be compatible, or they may be in conflict with one another. In particular, multiple social identities might differentially provide advantaged or disadvantaged positions in society to the individual depending on the context (Case et al., 2012). For instance, while being a male can be easily perceived as compatible with being heterosexual, it may be seen as incompatible with homosexuality in various cultural contexts including Turkey where this study was conducted (Connell, 2005;Eslen-Ziya & Koc, 2016;Koc & Vignoles, 2016). ...
... Specifically, high-esteem group memberships enhanced wellbeing whereas low-esteem group memberships undermined wellbeing. Similarly, in a given context, when one identity is a privileged or high-esteem one (e.g., the Muslim identity in a religious country) and the other one is a disadvantaged or low esteem one (e.g., the gay identity in the face of cultural and religious stigma), we argue that the identity could be threatened more severely, and the associated identity conflict could be even stronger (see Case et al., 2012). Therefore, it is important to understand how Muslim gay men negotiate their identities when each identity (and their integration) may require different cognition, affect, and behavior from them. ...
... As people with dual identities need to respond to the expectations from both groups, they are likely to experience conflicting demands from each outgroup. However, some identities are in a more privileged position than others (Case et al., 2012), and in this case, religious identity can be seen as more important especially in the context of Turkey. Therefore, in this study, we examined the role of acceptance from the privileged outgroup (i.e., Muslim). ...
Article
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Reconciling religious beliefs with a sexual minority identity can be challenging. After coming out, many gay men report to have renounced their religious identity or experienced increased identity conflict between their religious and sexual identities. Giving up one’s own identity or identity conflict are known to predict negative wellbeing outcomes, and it is important to find ways to reduce this conflict and increase identity integration. In this experiment, we conceptualized identity integration as a social creativity strategy, and we examined whether societal acceptance (vs rejection) and ingroup experience (e.g., whether gay community feels stability or improvement about their status) would alter one’s level of Muslim-gay identity integration. We found that Muslim-gay identity integration was highest among highly religious gay men when societal acceptance was present and ingroup experience was stable. Overall, we discuss our findings by drawing parallels between social identity theory and bicultural identity integration framework, and provide implications to increase identity integration for those who have multiple conflicting identities.
... The fact that those who rejected the stereotypes were Non-Asian students who perceive themselves as more proficient in English might actually be viewed as a sign of their superior position in the 'hierarchy of languages' (Gaibrois and Nentwich 2020). Their empathy for their Asian fellow students could actually be interpreted as a form of privilege, as being aware of a privileged position is closely connected to the experience of guilt (Case, Iuzzini, and Hopkins 2012). From this vantage point, the Asian students as those who are in the subaltern position due to their more limited self-and other-perceived English proficiency are unable to resist (Mahadevan 2017). ...
... The Asian students as those who are in the subaltern position due to their self-and other-perceived more limited English proficiency, however, seem unable to resist (Mahadevan 2017). The Non-Asian students' empathy for their Asian fellow students could be interpreted as a form of privilege, as being aware of a privileged position is closely connected to the experience of guilt (Case, Iuzzini, and Hopkins 2012). This form of privilege markedly differs from the one that the Non-Asian students, who position themselves as 'world citizens', enjoy. ...
... Specifically, the PE curriculum and pedagogy is rooted in militaristic exercises, rules, and games. It has also been used as a tool of assimilation centering white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, and middle to upper class students (Case et al., 2012;Chinn et al., 2022;Ennis, 1999;Flintoff et al., 2014;Laker et al., 2003). In four pieces of literature (Halas, 2011;Hohepa et al., 2006;Jones, 2015;and Williams, 2018;) out of the fifteen (33%) the sub-theme of a Eurocentric PE curriculum was identified. ...
Article
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Positive experiences in Physical Education (PE) throughout one’s childhood encourages life-long interest and participation in exercise and movement, as well as increased mental and physical well-being (Akbar & Tsuji, 2020). However, for many Indigenous students’ a positive PE experience may not be a reality. Research has demonstrated that Indigenous students have negative experiences in traditional Western education programs (McHugh et al., 2019). Therefore, this study aimed to gain a better understanding of Indigenous students’ experiences in public school PE across Canada, the United States of America (USA), Australia, and New Zealand. This scoping review was conducted guided by Arksey & O’Malley’s (2005) framework. Fifteen pieces of literature were identified that met the inclusion criteria for the scoping review. A descriptive analysis of these pieces of literature identified key descriptors from each and a Thematic analysis was conducted, and two overarching themes were identified: (1) Experiencing a cultural disconnect in the PE curriculum and the content being taught and (2) Connections between students’ and the PE environment. The results of this study demonstrate that although research presently exists with regards to Indigenous students’ sharing their experiences in PE, there is still a need for more work specifically focused on this topic.
... Moreover, echoing an emergent conversation in organization studies which problematizes the tendency of diversity research to focus solely on the most disadvantaged and marginalized (Dennissen, Benschop, & van den Brink, 2020;Tatli & Özbilgin, 2012), this stream of research reorients scholars' attention towards the study of privilege and how it is constructed as a useful analytical lens to better understand regimes of inequality in creative platform work. Moving beyond earlier conceptions of privilege as an invisible package of unearned advantages conferred on individuals belonging to a predefined social identity (for a review, see Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins, 2012), the above studies relate privilege to social positions and the associated differential possibilities of access to and accrual of resources (e.g. Dy et al., 2017) and argue that privilege hides the existing systems of oppression in creative platform work (e.g. ...
Article
This study examines how diversity shapes creative platform workers’ access to and exercise of voice within the precarious landscape of platform capitalism. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of capital and field, we explore unique qualitative materials collected from 40 Brazilian literary content creators. The findings show that creative platform workers’ access to and exercise of voice is based on three conditions of privilege: playing the rules of the game; drawing on bundles of resources; and leveraging intermediation capacity. We identify four forms of voice among creative platform workers – shielding, demonstrating, ingroup-focused gatekeeping, and affirmative voices – and highlight the relational dynamics of power in this context. This research contributes to understanding diversity in creative platform work through a privilege lens, thereby revealing the complex dynamics of power and dependence that creative platform workers experience with different industry stakeholders. This study contributes to the literature about diversity and voice by: showing that online prestige alone does not ensure voice opportunities; unveiling the variety of targets and agents in the four forms of voice in creative platform work; and highlighting the limitations of collective voice in challenging existing privilege and disadvantage systems.
... Critical consciousness promotes an understanding of large structural biases, which helps advantaged individuals to recognize intersectional oppression and the fact that people can face distinct and compounded mistreatment and marginalization owing to multiple identities (for example, being both Black and a woman or being gay and having a disability) 86 . Knowing that a group experiences marginalization can make it challenging to recognize that individual members of that group might also be advantaged by their other identities 89 ; possessing critical consciousness ensures that advantaged individuals recognize the unique harm experienced by multiply marginalized individuals [90][91][92] . ...
... are reconstructed, queer students cannot exist freely as societal norms of heterosexism are deeply engrained in the foundations of education (Case et al., 2012;Meyer, 2007;Walters & Hayes, 1998). While progress has been made toward acceptance in post-secondary settings (Woodford et al., 2018), queer youth overwhelmingly report hostile school environments (Kosciw et al., 2022). ...
Article
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Heterosexism, the belief that heterosexual identities are superior to homosexual identities, is deeply embedded in educational institutions, including school-based agricultural education (SBAE). Negligible research exists developing impactful practices for queer students in SBAE programs. This study sought to describe the attitudes of post-secondary agricultural education students toward lesbian and gay identities to identify potential barriers to the inclusion of queer students in SBAE. A total of 119 students from 21 higher education institutions across 12 states completed the Multidimensional Scale of Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men. The questionnaire evaluated attitudes related to rejection of proximity, pathologizing of homosexuality, modern heterosexism, and support. Findings from this study reveal students are relatively supportive of lesbian and gay individuals, but do not challenge heterosexist beliefs. Recommendations include further qualitative and intersectional investigations, greater curricular inclusion of queer experiences, and providing opportunities to challenge homophobic and heterosexist group norms.
... In seeking to understand the formation of these subgroups and subcultures and their role in atrocity perpetuation, we borrow from the scholarship of intersectionality (Case et al., 2012;Cole, 2009;Collins & Bilge, 2020;Crenshaw, 1989;Rosenthal, 2016). The concept of intersectionality was originally put forward by Black feminist scholars and advocates to make the point that experiences of privilege and disadvantage for group memberships such as gender and race are not additive. ...
Article
Academic Abstract The present article discusses victimization, perpetration, and denial in mass atrocities, using four recent case studies from Southeast Asia. The four cases include Indonesia (in which hundreds of thousands died in anti-Communist violence), Cambodia (in which the Khmer Rouge killed more than one million civilians), East Timor (in which more than one hundred thousand civilians died during the Indonesian occupation), and Myanmar (in which the state/army is accused of genocide toward the Rohingyas). Our aim is to bring a psychological lens to these histories, with a focus on three processes relevant to genocide. We examine, first, how the victims were targeted; second, how the perpetrators were mobilized; and third, the denial, justification, meaning-making, and commemoration of the atrocities. We propose a novel theoretical model, TOPASC: A Theory of the Psychology of Atrocities in Societal Contexts, highlighting the psychology of atrocities as involving factors across the macro, meso, and micro contexts. Public Abstract We introduce a new model, “TOPASC: A Theory of the Psychology of Atrocities in Societal Contexts,” to explain why people justify mass killings and why certain group members are consistently targeted. In our model, we explore how mass atrocities against specific groups are influenced by psychological dynamics in intergroup situations which, in turn, are shaped by socio-historical contexts and individual psychologies. To illustrate these ideas, we analyze four cases of mass atrocities in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Cambodia, East Timor, and Myanmar. These cases highlight how different social groups, characterized by diverse ideologies, ethnicities, genders, or religions, exhibit varying vulnerabilities as perpetrators or victims based on their social and power status. Mass atrocities are not sudden occurrences but rather result from a series of complex processes and events.
... Social privilege is an essential, implicit component of an oppressive system, and thus awareness of social privilege can elucidate the mechanisms that scaffold inequity and ultimately serve a social justice mission. kept the conversation one-sided (Case, 2013;Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins, 2012;Helms, 1984;Pinterits, Poteat, & Spanierman, 2009). Kurt Lewin (1946) implicated paralysis of "groups in power" (p. ...
Chapter
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Inequities still exist in today's society, and this book advances awareness, an equitable mindset, and transformative change toward the goal of eliminating inequities and promoting inclusiveness and social justice. Racialized inequity is injustice or unfairness and exists when prejudice or discrimination based on any aspect of difference precludes access of certain groups to the resources and benefits of society. This volume takes a new look at the psychology of inequity today. Have we progressed or regressed since the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s? Through an examination of the motivations and beliefs behind inequities and injustices, this text aims to answer this question and any others that a scholar or general reader interested in social inequities and multiculturalism may have. Chapters address the motives that sustain inequity and reflect on the beliefs and behaviors linked to implicit responses to threats of change and loss of privilege posed by the inclusion of "others."
... To take this term more seriously, psychologists have to move beyond categorical approaches and comprehend how intersectionality ties to social justice (Buchanan et al., 2020;Case et al., 2012). Social movement settings Conceptualize intersectionality as a dynamic and complex process because members typically hold multiple social identities. ...
Conference Paper
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Idiomatic phrasal verbs, which are typically dealt with during the latter phase of second language apprenticeship, have been the source of frustration for Iranian EFL learners. This study investigates the effect of extensive vs. intensive reading on Iranian advanced English Language learners' knowledge of idiomatic phrasal-verbs. It aims to determine whether providing EFL learners with extensive or intensive reading might have any effect on their knowledge of idiomatic phrasal-verbs or not. To answer the question, 60 advanced-level language learners from Tehran Technical and Educational Institute in Chalous town participated in the study. The subjects took a standard OPT test to demonstrate their English proficiency. They were also assigned to two experimental and comparison groups; 30 in each group. A pretest of idiomatic phrasal-verbs was administered in each group. After 16 sessions of treatment a post-test of idiomatic phrasal-verbs was administered again. The treatment comprised intensive reading for the experimental group, while the comparison group received extensive reading. The data was analyzed using independent samples t-test and Paired sample t-test. The results showed that both groups improved but the experimental group improved a lot more which was significantly different. This study aimed to raise teachers’ and learners' awareness towards using idiomatic phrasal verbs and suggests that a balanced approach of extensive and intensive reading will provide learners’ maximum benefit. Keywords: Collocations, Extensive Reading, Idiomatic Phrasal verbs, Intensive Reading
... Marginalised identities are the ones we tend to think about most often, whereas privileged identities -"unearned benefits afforded to powerful social groups within systems of oppression" -are the ones we think about less often (Case et al., 2012). Our marginalised and privileged identities shift depending on context. ...
... However, men did not differ in their perceived legitimacy regardless of their role, and their legitimacy perceptions did not mediate the relationship between role and status. Although speculative, men would not need to reflect on their legitimacy of a role, unlike women who self-monitor, given the male privilege (Case et al., 2012). Legitimacy could be a concept that is accepted by default and only questioned when there are lingering problems like one's identity being non-prototypical to the position. ...
Article
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The present study examined the difference between women and men in perceiving leadership roles. Two experiments, one conducted online and the other in a lab, investigated the subjective experiences of Japanese men and women when they are assigned with different roles (e.g., leader vs. subordinate). Both studies revealed that women perceived their role as less legitimate when they were assigned leader role (vs. subordinate role). In contrast, men did not differ in their perceived legitimacy according to the assigned roles. This discrepancy in legitimacy perception in response to different roles between men and women accounted for a significant variance in women’s lower sense of status when they were a leader (vs. subordinate), but not among men. Our study results illustrate the psychological barrier operating for women in organizations that are embedded in a cultural context in which women leaders are highly underrepresented.
... It is the intersection of disadvantaged and advantaged identities that better predict politicized identification and activist commitment toward promoting social change to overcome discrimination and social injustices (Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins, 2012). Indeed, the process of identity politics is shaped by the multiplicity of available identities and their intersections, as well as experiences of marginalization and privilege connected to one's identities. ...
Article
The purpose of this paper is to explore how individuals with disabilities establish and maintain a social identity that incorporates meaning and context into a personal and collective perspective defined as disability identity. Beginning with a broad lens, the concepts of identity and social identity are explored. Theories and concepts that have shaped and refined the concept of social identity, specifically within a context of disability, are introduced. Disability Identity development is explored as to the key components and constructs that bring forth a comprehensive view of identity development for individuals with disabilities. Finally, these components are brought together within the context of Independent Living in order to show how this movement supports a positive, life-enhancing worldview of disability.
... Although empirical research on the sources of biases and potential interventions for unlearning biases has a long tradition (Axelrod, 1997;Freeman, Penner, Saperstein, Scheutz, & Ambady, 2011;Serban et al., 2015;Schelling, 1971), it is still unclear when, why, and how privilege and bias arise (Colella, Hebl, & King, 2017). Specifically, we are interested in how privilege, defined as unearned access to rewards and resources for specific groups (Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins, 2012;Crevani, 2019), hinders the emergence of marginalized leaders (Badura, Galvin, & Lee, 2022). Here, to integrate theories on leader emergence and social influence, we use agentbased simulations which are a computational approach still rarely applied to the leadership context (but see Cao et al., 2020). ...
Preprint
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Bias exists in how we pick leaders, who we perceive as being influential, and who we interact with, not only in society, but in organizational contexts. Drawing from leadership emergence and social influence theories, we investigate potential interventions that support diverse leaders. Using agent-based simulations, we model a collective search process on a fitness landscape. Agents combine individual and social learning, and are represented as a feature vector blending relevant (e.g., individual learning characteristics) and irrelevant (e.g., race or gender) features. Agents use rational principles of learning to estimate feature weights on the basis of performance predictions, which are used to dynamically define social influence in their network. We show how biases arise based on historic privilege, but can be drastically reduced through the use of an intervention (e.g. mentorship). This work provides important insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying bias construction and deconstruction, while pointing towards real-world interventions to be tested in future empirical work.
... To take this term more seriously, psychologists have to move beyond categorical approaches and comprehend how intersectionality ties to social justice (Buchanan et al., 2020;Case et al., 2012). Social movement settings Conceptualize intersectionality as a dynamic and complex process because members typically hold multiple social identities. ...
... Expectations regarding an individual's potential to contribute to group goals influence their social position (Bernstein, 1981), and such expectations tend to be informed by socially learned stereotypes (Phelan et al., 2014). The "think manager-think male" stereotype (Schein, 1975, p. 340), whereby lay people tend to automatically associate leadership qualities with masculine characteristics, shows how masculinity can favourably influence performance expectations of others (Case et al., 2012;Koenig et al., 2011;Rudman et al., 2012). This association between masculinity and status endowment has complex implications for gay men, given the prevailing stereotype that they are more feminine compared to heterosexual men (Kite & Deux, 1987;Lippa, 2000;Mitchell & Ellis, 2011;Sanchez et al., 2009). ...
Article
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There is increased acceptance of gay men in most Western societies. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that feminine-presenting gay men are still disadvantaged compared to gay men who present in a more traditionally masculine way. Though gay men themselves may be complicit in perpetuating this bias, studies that demonstrate this possibility are scant. Whereas most studies on perceptions of feminine-presenting gay men have manipulated gender nonconformity via written descriptions, research suggests that behavioural cues such as voice and body-language can mitigate or exacerbate prejudice toward a stereotyped individual. In the current study, audio-visual stimuli were created to investigate how masculine versus feminine behaviour would impact status endowment from other gay and heterosexual men. In total, 256 men ( M age = 42.73, SD = 14.48: half gay; half heterosexual) cast, from a selection of six video-taped candidates, one gay man to play a lead role in a purported ad for a tourism campaign. In the videos, the actors delivered a script related to the tourism campaign in a manner where their voice and body-language was manipulated to come across as either masculine or feminine-presenting. Findings indicated that gay and heterosexual participants showed a significant preference for the masculine videoclips. For heterosexual men, the preference for masculine-presenting actors was predicted by greater anti-gay sentiment, whereas internalised anti-gay prejudice did not predict a preference for masculine-presentation among gay men. Implications of the findings for discourse and education on intraminority prejudice and suggestions for future research are offered.
... Focusing on just one factor (e.g. race) cannot explain the complexities of discrimination and privilege impacting individual's positionality (Crenshaw 1989, Collins 2015, Case et al. 2012. ...
Thesis
Recipient agency has been theorised in different ways in development discourses and practices; but it is widely recognised that development settings have always been uneven fields of power, in which recipient agency faces various forms of constraint and limitation. Since the 1970s, ‘participatory development’, aiming to engage local populations in development projects, has become popular among development practitioners working on the ground. In ‘mainstream’ development aid approaches since the late 1990s, the idea of state-led recipient ownership and participation in development has gained popularity among international financial institutions, donor and recipient governments, and aid practitioners. At the same time, with the ‘rise of the South’, the development cooperation landscape became much more polycentric; including around ideational claims on non-conditionality and respect for the sovereign authority of partner states. At least in theory, there is now more choice, giving recipients more bargaining power and thus more agency. Whereas studies of recipient agency have focused so far on structural inequalities between recipients and donors in North-South relations, and on new opportunities offered by the Southern partners, this thesis proposes looking beyond the North/South categories and identifies what in practical terms affects recipient agency. The thesis explores recipient agency through detailed, field-based research in Haiti, analysing the complexities of donor-recipient interactions. In a case-study analysis, the research compares agricultural development projects of Brazil, Cuba, France, and the United States, to explore how the assertions of Northern donors (such as participation and ownership) and Southern partners (solidarity, demand-driven approach, mutual respect) unfold in practice. A systematic analysis of recipient perceptions provides an empirically led analysis of the ways in which dichotomous categories of North and South are problematic, and in this case, are certainly not necessarily categories that are meaningful to recipients. By looking beyond these binary categories the thesis points to particular factors related to recipient agency that can be identified within and across the two categories, which offers a more nuance understanding of the subject. To better understand these factors, the thesis proposes a three-level of analysis model that looks at recipient agency on a project level, on an interpersonal level and on the state level.
... These intersections between gender/sex and race/ethnicity, in addition to gendered experiences of racism, suggest that gender pleasure may be inflected with race/ethnicity and racism for gender/sex/ual minorities of color. Of course, white LGBTQ+ people's identities are also co-constituted with their race/ethnicity, though the ways in which white people's experiences are inflected by their whiteness is often invisible or ignored by them (Case et al., 2012;Pratto & Stewart, 2012) and thus may not be as easily or willingly articulated. ...
Thesis
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This dissertation proposes and explores the construct of “gender pleasure,” or the positive affective experience of gender/sex. Although much of the research in psychology concerns the negatives of gender/sex, such as sexism, transphobia, and gender dysphoria, gender pleasure highlights how gender/sex can also be a source of joy and affirmation. In Chapter 1, I situate this dissertation within gender/sex research in psychology, particularly research centering gender/sex diversity and gender/sex as a social process. I then review literature relevant to people’s positive gender/sex experiences, particularly for people minoritized on the basis of their gender/sexes and/or sexualities. In Chapter 2, I describe a study that aimed to explore “gender euphoria,” a term related to gender pleasure that originated within gender/sex minority communities as a positive contrast to gender dysphoria. Despite gender euphoria’s importance to many people, no psychological research had directly explored this term’s meanings and related experiences. I therefore administered a qualitative survey to community members (N = 47) about where they had heard the term being used, how they would define gender euphoria and gender dysphoria, the relation between these terms, and their gender euphoric experiences. Analyses generated five themes: (1) gender euphoria describes a joyful feeling of rightness in one’s gender/sex, (2) gender euphoric experiences can be external, internal, and/or social, (3) “gender euphoria” originated in and circulates in online and in-person gender/sex minority communities, (4) dysphoria describes a negative feeling of conflict between gender/sexed aspects of one’s self, and (5) the relationship between euphoria and dysphoria is complex. I conclude that these results can inform qualitative and quantitative research, gender affirmative clinical practice, political fights for transgender rights, and understandings of gender/sex experiences for people of many identities. In Chapter 3, I describe my second study that extended understandings of gender pleasure beyond gender euphoria. To do this, I conducted focus groups with gender/sex/ual minorities diverse in terms of race/ethnicity (N = 64). Analyses generated four themes: (1) Accepting one’s self and living in authenticity and freedom provide joy, relief, and comfort; (2) Interpersonal gendered experiences that are affirming and free from judgement provide validation and belonging; (3) Gender norms and intersecting social locations and systems of power shape experiences of gender pleasure; and (4) Gender pleasure involves purely positive experiences, relief from negative experiences, and increases in positive affect. These results have implications for positive psychology research with gender/sex/ual minorities, thinking of gender/sex as a process, and clinical practice. In Chapter 4, I propose a model of gender pleasure as resonance between people’s gender/sex orientations, identities, and statuses (van Anders, 2015). I also demonstrate how the study of gender pleasure can contribute to gender/sex diversity research and more by attending to the ways gender/sex/ual minorities find enjoyment and happiness within their gender/sexes despite oppression. I conclude with the many potential avenues that this dissertation opens for understanding gender/sex in more comprehensive ways, ultimately in service of supporting the flourishing of people of all gender/sexes and sexualities.
... We interpret the interaction between label use and group membership in light of the privileged standpoint of heterosexual people. Heterosexual people are not as accustomed to thinking about their sexualities as sexual minorities are-a privilege of belonging to a dominant, prototypical group of social categories (Abed et al., 2019;Case et al., 2012;Pratto & Stewart, 2012). There is less need for heterosexual people to be vigilant to sexual orientation labeling. ...
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The social category label effect describes how labels influence people’s perceptions of social groups. Though the label “homosexual” versus “lesbian/gay” decreases some heterosexual people’s support for sexual minorities, it is unknown how lesbian and gay (LG) people respond to “homosexual” as a label used to describe them. Across three experiments in a largely U.S. context (Total N = 831), we examined how use of “homosexual” influenced people’s responses on psychological instruments, preferences for demographic questions, and evaluations of individuals who use “homosexual.” The use of different labels in psychological measures did not influence LG people’s responses (Study 1). However, LG people reacted less positively to “homosexual” compared to “lesbian/gay” in demographic questions and in interpersonal exchanges (Studies 2-3), whereas heterosexual people’s reactions were largely unaffected (Study 2). LG people’s more negative reactions to “homosexual” than “lesbian/gay” were partially explained by them perceiving the “homosexual” label user as less culturally competent (i.e., less inclusive, less engaged in LGBTQ activism). In this article, we make progress in new empirical territory (sexual orientation-based cues research), propose the notion of linguistic heterosexism, and discuss the sociopolitical implications of people’s language choices.
... Notably, privilege associated with race or ethnicity is only one possible area of privilege a person may hold. Individuals are encouraged to explore all areas of privilege to decrease the likelihood of discrimination (see, Case et al., 2012 for a review). While unpacking one's "invisible weightless knapsack" of white privilege is possibly the first step to effective mentorship, it remains a necessary but insufficient step toward fully supporting persons from HMC (Cory, 2021;McIntosh & Privilege, 1989, p. 10). ...
Article
Neuropsychology has struggled to recruit and retain trainees and early career professionals from historically marginalized communities (HMC). One of the primary strategies for retaining these individuals, and ensuring their success, is quality mentorship. Effective mentorship for trainees from HMC requires responsive attention to the unique training experiences that emerge from societal forces, such as structural racism and classism. Although not often discussed with mentors, trainees from these groups experience discrimination at substantial rates, which contributes to dissatisfaction, stress, and ultimately elevated attrition. One strategy to reduce attrition involves developing relational mentorship dynamics to encourage explicit conversations about instances of discrimination during training. However, a barrier to nurturing these types of dynamics is the difference in power and privilege across multiple axes in the dyad. Infusing techniques from the Difficult Dialogues framework offers mentors of HMC trainees a tangible route to reducing the impact of differential power, enhancing relational dynamics, and increasing the likelihood of retention in neuropsychology. The objectives of this manuscript are to elucidate the necessity of understanding one's power and privilege in the mentorship dyad by understanding barriers experienced by persons from HMC. This manuscript also outlines specific strategies through the lens of the Difficult Dialogues framework to ameliorate the negative impact of unaddressed differentials of power and privilege in the mentoring of training experiences in clinical neuropsychology. Finally, through the use of anonymized case examples, the manuscript offers effective strategies for responsive, professional development of trainees from HMC to facilitate supportive neuropsychological training experiences.
... The theoretical framework for this analysis is the concept of super-digitalization of professional activities as a privilege, available to selected individuals and social groups and, at the same time, excluding others. The concept of privilege has been a topic of numerous academic studies, allowing a better understanding of how various people have broader access to certain benefits, which perpetuates their leverage within social hierarchies (Black & Stone, 2005;Case et al., 2012;McIntosh, 2012). This analysis refers to Merton's concept of the Matthew effect, indicating that, for some individuals, certain resources and opportunities multiply while, at the same time, the disadvantages and risks accumulate for others (Merton, 1988). ...
Article
The Covid‐19 pandemic has brought about new patterns in labour market activities, including greater frequency, intensity and sectoral diversification of technology‐mediated online work (super‐digitalization). The development of online professional activities, accelerated by the pandemic, has a profound influence on migrant entrepreneurship in many dimensions. While the phenomenon also concerns the native population and is not limited to foreigners, in the case of migrant entrepreneurs it has additional unique meanings and consequences, resulting from a greater significance of mobility for migrants and its restriction during the pandemic. The analysis discusses new phenomena, such as the emergence of pandemic digital nomads and the development of migrant business ventures characterized by a de‐ethnicized approach to customers. The theoretical framework for this analysis is the concept of super‐digitalization of professional activities as a privilege. Digitalization is not available to everyone, but it affects everyone; it also has consequences for offline migrant entrepreneurs by creating and enhancing new mechanisms of exclusion. The article emphasizes the difference between super‐digitalization and digitalization, which result in different outcomes for migrant entrepreneurs. The analysis is based on in‐depth interviews with 53 Polish migrant entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom.
... We interpret the interaction between label use and group membership in light of the privileged standpoint of heterosexual people. Heterosexual people are not as accustomed to thinking about their sexualities as sexual minorities are-a privilege of belonging to a dominant, prototypical group of social categories (Abed et al., 2019;Case et al., 2012;Pratto & Stewart, 2012). There is less need for heterosexual people to be vigilant to sexual orientation labeling. ...
Preprint
The social category label effect describes how labels influence people’s perceptions of social groups. Though the label “homosexual” versus “lesbian/gay” decreases some heterosexual people’s support for sexual minorities, it is unknown how lesbian and gay (LG) people respond to “homosexual” as a label used to describe them. Across three experiments in a largely U.S. context (N=831), we examined how use of “homosexual” influenced people’s responses on psychological instruments, preferences for demographic questions, and evaluations of individuals who use “homosexual.” The use of different labels in psychological measures did not influence LG people’s responses (Study 1). However, LG people reacted less positively to “homosexual” compared to “lesbian/gay” in demographic questions and in interpersonal exchanges (Studies 2-3), whereas heterosexual people’s reactions were largely unaffected. LG people’s more negative reactions to “homosexual” than “lesbian/gay” were partially explained by them perceiving the “homosexual” label user as less culturally competent (i.e., less inclusive, less engaged in LGBTQ activism). In this article, we make progress in new empirical territory (sexual orientation-based cues research), propose the notion of linguistic heterosexism, and discuss the sociopolitical implications of people’s language choices.
... The term privilege refers to unearned or automatic special advantages that are largely invisible and afforded to historically dominant groups who enjoy the entitlements of preferred status, perhaps unknowingly, at the expense and detriment of marginalized groups (Barajas, 2021;Black & Stone, 2005). Privilege is a global phenomenon that can vary in relation to social norms, culture, and local institutions of oppression, but a core feature is that it challenges beliefs in the existence of meritocracy and group equality by suggesting that macro-systems create and maintain unearned benefits for certain groups (Case et al., 2012). From a dynamic ecological systems perspective, we suggest that privilege occurs in circumstances where macro-and exo-systems are aligned to promote meso-and micro-systems that support the adaptation of some youth over others. ...
Article
In this introduction to the special series, we examine the emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color from a dynamic developmental ecological systems perspective. Building on the concepts of the child-in-context, correlated constraints, systemic oppression, and the malleability of maladaptive patterns, we argue that current research approaches and intervention frameworks (e.g., Multitiered Systems of Support, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) are centered on the experiences and circumstances of youth from majority backgrounds. This creates a context in which the emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color reflect a continuum of services casualty in which routine daily supports, interventions, and services are not aligned with their developmental needs and their corresponding pathways to success. There is a need to establish a targeted-universalism approach in which interventions and supports are centered on the daily functioning and adaptation of underrepresented groups. We discuss how a tiered system of adaptive supports may be designed and implemented to address this need.
... Nor was it implying the work of consciousness raising and empowerment regarding marginalized identities is not important. However, what is clear is the process of privilege awareness is different than the process of marginalized identity awareness (Case, 2013;Case et al., 2012). The unique emotional reactions, the self-confrontation needed to acknowledge and address the holding of power, and the dismantling or relinquishing of power are unique. ...
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Part one of this study broadens the scope of privilege awareness of couple and family therapists (CFTs) to include any identity that holds power in society. CFTs were asked to complete timelines of privilege awareness experiences and participate in a semi-structured interview. In total, 12 therapists were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed that the influence of close relationships on the process was a consistent theme that facilitated the privilege awareness process. Other common themes included exposure to diverse populations and experiences, processing emotions like guilt, shame, and anger, reconciling the privilege awareness process through evaluating the past, and seeing privilege awareness as a constantly evolving process. Findings provide groundwork for a theoretical model of privilege awareness raising in clinical training settings. Clinical and training implications are discussed in greater length in part two of this study.
... Through explicit derogatory language [74], they are socially isolated, feared and/or hated by the ingroup and tend to feel similarly about themselves [75]. In any case, the aim is to keep these individuals away from the ingroup and the privileges available to its members as the norm [76]. Those who are othered in this way see the world as an unjust place based on harsh social attitudes [77]. ...
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The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted continuing constraints on the ability of students to interact with teachers and peers. Regarding this imposed segregation, what has not been considered is the effect of learners seeing self as other. With respect to augmentations of their body in interpersonal space by, (1) extending the body through witnessing themselves regularly in videoconferencing learning sessions, (2) isolating the body as a result of spending time apart from peers, social distancing at home, and (3) protecting the body through required mask-wearing where learners now consider who they represent in a mask, there are three important ways in which learners have felt unable to recognize themselves as they did pre-COVID-19. This migration from self to other, involving ingroup/outgroup distinctions, will be investigated from a number of perspectives—both sociological and psychological. Why the turning of self into other is problematic to the psyche will be discussed, as will the possible consequences for this ongoing lack of learner recognition long term, including focus on the new norms or embracing self-directed learning. Based on this analysis, the type of mentorship by teachers and parents that may be appropriate for helping learners contend with these changes will be recommended.
... A central premise of our work is that support from both Black Americans and allies increases the effectiveness of collective action (Case et al., 2012;Mallett et al., 2008). Our work focuses on White allies because their support may play an influential role in enacting social change for several reasons. ...
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Despite reductions in traditional racial prejudice among non-Hispanic and non-Latino White Americans, Black Americans regularly experience discrimination. We argue that bias persists because although many White Americans espouse nonracist beliefs, far fewer actively work to combat the societal and institutional discrimination that impedes social change. In the current work, we were interested in identifying and measuring the belief systems associated with White Americans’ active participation in the fight against racial discrimination. In six studies, we developed and validated a measure of antiracism to tap into the belief that White people should proactively fight racial discrimination. Results established the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure and confirmed that antiracism was related to, but distinct from, personal nonracist beliefs. Moreover, higher levels of antiracism were associated with greater perceptions of racial discrimination, collective action intentions, willingness to condemn an officer in a racially motivated shooting, support for diversity tax incentives, and likelihood of signing up to receive information about volunteering for an equal rights organization. Results suggest antiracist beliefs may be the key to understanding White Americans’ active support for social change.
... While academics espouse the support of diversity and equality, "academe rewards students who respect, admire, and emulate their teachers" (Marcus, 2018, p. 7), often mirroring the hierarchy of gender reinforced by the micro-culture within a college. Male-centric historic social norms and patriarchal systems persist as barriers to female academics (Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins, 2012;Coston & Kimmel, 2012). ...
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This chapter presents the lived experience of 10 doctoral students and recent graduates from a North American University, who like graduate students elsewhere, have faced upstream battles against excessive faculty entitlement. The six sections of this chapter, each by different authors, explore how entitlement in the University, is experienced from different perspectives. The first four sections explore the deleterious effects of excessive faculty/teacher entitlement which can lead to competitiveness, selfishness and aggression. Section five focuses on student entitlement as experienced by an immigrant graduate teaching assistant, and section six explores how both faculty and student entitlement may be experienced at different stages of the immigrant experience. It is hoped that this chapter will create a platform with which to highlight these topics for ourselves and other doctoral students attending other universities, so that relationships and opportunities may improve for everyone.
... Working through the diagrams also gave some of our participants a space to self-reflect that might not have occurred otherwise. Majority individuals tend not to reflect critically on their majority social identities to the same extent that minoritized individuals do, likely because majority identities are seen as the "default" and are more socially invisible (Case et al., 2012;Kolber, 2017;Pratto & Stewart, 2012). One of our majority participants in SCT In-Person said, "People don't normally talk about this stuff… I opened up a little bit." ...
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Diversity-focused research can provide important insights about gender/sex and sexual diversity, including in relation to oppression and privilege. To do so, it needs to critically engage with power and include minoritized and majoritized participants. But, the critical methods guiding this are typically aimed at empowering marginalized groups and may “overempower” majority participants. Here, we discuss three diversity-focused research projects about gender/sex and sexual diversity where our use of critical methods overempowered majority participants in ways that reinforced their privilege. We detail how diversity-focused research approaches thus need to be “majority-situating”: attending to and managing the privilege and power that majority participants carry to research. Yet, we also lay out how diversity-focused research still needs to be “minority-inclusive”: validating, welcoming, and empowering to people from marginalized social locations. We discuss these approaches working synergistically; minority-inclusive methods can also be majority-situating, providing majorities with opportunities for growth, learning, and seeing that they—and not just “others”—are socially situated. We conclude by laying out what a diversity-focused research program might look like that includes both majority-situating and minority-inclusive approaches, to work towards a more just and empirical scholarship that does not lead to majorities who are even more overempowered.
... With this article, we want to contribute to this endeavor by calling for a conceptual shift within studies on gender privilege. So far, a large number of studies have focused on finding evidence of gendered privileging and measuring its effects (Case et al., 2012;Mooney et al., 2017;Wingfield & Myles, 2014). Furthermore, privilege studies have centered on the problematic that gender privilege often remains invisible to those affected (Kimmel, 2018). ...
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Our article aims at refocussing the debate in privilege studies from tackling the invisibility to challenging justifications of gender privilege. Focusing on instances in which men acknowledge that they receive preferential treatment, this study sheds light on how privilege is perceived and talked about in interviews with men in female-dominated occupations. In contrast to existing literature on the invisibility of privilege to the privileged, our analysis shows that the privileging of men is indeed known to them. However, our interviewees then employ specific discursive strategies to actively reframe and thereby silence privilege. They either justify privilege as an individual achievement or as a natural advantage of male bodies. In our discussion, we show how these discursive reframings build on existing discourses on gendered bodies and neoliberal subjectivity. Based on our key argument that gendered privilege is not invisible, but it is acknowledged and then actively reframed and thereby silenced, we argue for expanding the focus of privilege studies: Instead of primarily investing in making privilege visible to those who have it, we need to challenge the discourses that allow for reframing and silencing it. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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The concepts of ableism and able privilege are critical for understanding how power and privilege operate in our society to disadvantage disabled people. In this article, we report the results of an exploratory study on the effects of an able privilege training on attitudes toward disability among undergraduate students. Using a posttest-only control, 147 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The control group completed measures of attitudes toward disability before the training, while the experimental group completed the measures afterward. Compared with the control group, the experimental group reported more positive attitudes toward disability equity and inclusion, but varied attitudes toward disability pathos and pity. Implications address able privilege as a threshold concept for understanding how institutional structures and ideologies shape the disability experience.
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This study examines the relationship among White antiracism, colorblind racial ideology (CBRI), and White privilege awareness. We use Critical Race Theory (CRT) to frame the historical context of racism in the U.S. and the emergence of racist ideologies. We examine the extent to which White privilege awareness mediates the relationship between CBRI and antiracist practices among White people. We found that (1) participants’ antiracist practices were increased the more they rejected power‐evasive forms of CBRI, (2) people who were more aware of their White privilege were also more driven toward antiracist practices, and (3) respondents’ awareness of their White privilege was enhanced as they rejected power evasive forms of CBRI. We also found that White people were more likely to participate in antiracist practices when they rejected power evasion CBRI partly because rejecting CBRI enhanced their awareness of White privilege. Our results suggest that the fight against racism requires White people to acknowledge and dismantle the privileges that come with being a member of a dominant group. We contend that CRT is a powerful framework for psychology because it helps resolve the problem of understanding how structural phenomena become ideologies that shape the way people believe and behave.
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In its early uptake and sweeping application of gender mainstreaming, the European Union (EU) sits in the vanguard. However, bringing a gender perspective to bear on policy has proven a stubborn challenge. Drawing on Bacchi’s “What’s the Problem Represented to Be?” approach and her conceptualization of policies as gendering practices, I critically interrogate how men have been implicated in the problem of gender inequality via policy discourse in the EU. I focus on violence against women/gender-based violence and gender inequalities in education. Analysis of these two issues serves to highlight some of the interpretive limits to the problem of gender inequality in the EU and likely beyond. The discursive elusiveness of men works to keep much of the workings of gender power obscured. Such discounting of ‘the man question’ signals a significant misstep that undercuts gender mainstreaming’s transformative prospects.
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Past studies found that when confronted with evidence of White privilege, White individuals claim life hardships to distance themselves from it. However, these effects were only barely significant, and samples were predominantly from the US, which is a unique context for White privilege. Merely presenting evidence of White privilege also overlooks its socio-historical embedding in colonialism. Drawing from collective memory research, we expected that contextualizing White privilege in national colonial history will trigger moral concerns. None of three experiments with White Germans (N = 646) replicated the effect on life hardships. Instead, the contextualized confrontation activated moral motives for social justice among White German students and White Germans with a migration background. We highlight the need for theoretical models that explicitly consider how cultural contexts shape reactions to White privilege even among "Western" nations. We discuss the social change potential of framing White privilege as a systemic rather than individualized issue.
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Barnasáttmáli Sameinuðu þjóðanna er alþjóðlegur mannréttindasamningur sem snertir börn. Sáttmálinn felur í sér viðurkenningu á að börn þarfnist sérstakrar verndar umfram fullorðna og á að tryggja börnum vernd gegn ofbeldi, tækifæri og áhrifamátt. Fræðimenn telja að sá réttur barna sem eigi hvað mest undir högg að sækja varði lýðræðisákvæði hans. Meðal annars er algengt að ákvarðanir sem tengjast málefnum barna séu teknar án samráðs við þau. Síaukin áhersla er lögð á réttindi og þátttöku barna en til að tryggja réttindi þeirra í samræmi við sáttmálann er mikilvægt að allir; börn og fullorðnir, þekki til hans. Fyrir árið 2030 eiga öll sveitarfélög hér á landi að hafa hafið markvissa innleiðingu Barnasáttmálans og er ein leið til þess að nýta hugmyndafræði svonefnds réttindaskóla. Samkvæmt rannsóknum getur innleiðing sáttmálans haft jákvæð áhrif á skólastarf í heild sinni og aukið þekkingu barna á réttindum sínum. Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að varpa ljósi á reynslu og þekkingu barna á lýðræðislegri þátttöku og ávinning af fræðslu í skólum um Barnasáttmálann. Tekin voru rýnihópaviðtöl við 43 börn úr 4. og 8. bekk fjögurra skóla á Akureyri og í Eyjafjarðarsveit. Helstu niðurstöður sýna að þátttakendur virðast kunna skil á innihaldi þeirra réttinda sem Barnasáttmálinn veitir og er skilningur þeirra almennt góður. Börn í réttindaskóla höfðu fengið meiri fræðslu sem skilaði sér í auknum skilningi. Þrátt fyrir góða viðleitni í skólastarfi til að auka þátttöku nemenda í ákvörðunum virtist hún í sumum tilfellum einungis fela í sér táknræna þátttöku þeirra. Álykta má að fræðsla sé forsenda þess að innleiðing Barnasáttmálans njóti velgengni og er von okkar að þessi rannsókn stuðli að jákvæðara viðhorfi til skoðana og þátttöku barna.
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Men’s reflection on gender-based privileges may foster more egalitarian attitudes, but can also undermine their personal and collective well-being. We tested whether gratitude—a positive emotional response to benefits resulting from someone else’s intervention—mitigated these adverse effects by exposing 245 men enrolled in a Canadian university to one of six combinations of benefit and male privilege salience reflection tasks. Salient male privilege led to lower gender group identification and increased impostor feelings, but gratitude buffered these effects as predicted. Gratitude therefore appears to neutralize the threat of privilege salience among men so that the prosocial consequences of such reflection may be easier to realize.
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Understanding the role of privilege in systemic oppression positions psychotherapists to engage in culturally oriented practice. Twenty‐five practising psychotherapists were asked: ‘How can psychotherapists increase their awareness of social privilege?’ Participants sorted 68 unique responses into six concepts. The concepts included: make yourself uncomfortable; embrace humility; learn from the community; involvement in social action; seek critical knowledge; and find like‐minded others in the profession. Recommendations for student training are offered.
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Introduction Activities that illuminate the psychological underpinnings of privilege and oppression are an important part of social justice pedagogy. Statement of Problem There are numerous issues with current simulations of privilege and oppression that leave social justice educators limited in the choice of activity. Literature Review Published research shows the positive impact of the use of simulation activities and the complexity of privilege and oppression activities. Literature also critiques current published activities and approaches to teaching these difficult topics. Teaching Implications Using the provided structural oppression activity circumvents many of the current issues and incorporates suggestions from previous literature. Feedback from students indicates that the activity is impactful, instructive, and engaging. Conclusion Careful consideration should be made when selecting simulation activities for social justice courses and diversity trainings, but using hands-on, experiential educational activities may be one way to effectively teach difficult topics in a way that inspires individuals to be more intrinsically motivated to confront and reduce oppression in their own lives and communities.
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When thinking of global education, sustainable development and culture of peace and non-violence, often, people think of theoretical frameworks and global strategies, forgetting about contextualizing these frameworks to national and local community contexts, hence, giving them adequate meaning and real sense. Focusing on the Egyptian context, this research examines an initiative for promoting global education that was undertaken in the years of 2016 and 2017 in a private university in Egypt. It is well known that since 2013 in the postrevolutionary Egypt, clashes, confrontations, and violent actions took place. Extremist violence and general insecurity led to a strong desire for social stability, economic recovery, and cultural transformation. Egypt’s Strategy for Sustainable Development 2030 Vision included four areas of the seven priority areas of the 2016 UN’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism. These four areas are community engagement for social solidarity; gender equality and empowering women; youth empowerment; and education, skill development and employment facilitation. A documentation research methodology, with literature review, was employed to analyze the process and outcomes of the global education initiative and the leading role of a team of national and international faculty members and experts (from Jordan, Tunisia-UNESCO Regional Office, and the United States). The leading team engaged with university colleagues and students in international dialogue on conflicting issues such as equity, justice, non-violence and peace building, and global citizenship. They also collaborated in developing a teaching module for integrating universal values in the university teaching and learning. The process and outcomes of this documentary research show case of using team leadership and international dialogue to promote global education in the university practice.
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The current studies aim to examine the underlying predictors of heterosexual feminist women's willingness to participate in solidarity-based collective action for LGBTQ+ rights. We hypothesized that feminist identification, perceived discrimination against LGBTQ+, and strategic intra-minority alliance between feminists and LGBTQ+ would predict their willingness to participate in solidarity-based collective action. Study 1 (N = 141) showed that higher feminist identification and more endorsement of the strategic intra-minority alliance predicted more willingness to participate in solidarity-based collective action among heterosexual feminist women in Turkey. Study 2 (N = 644) replicated and extended the findings of Study 1 with a larger sample by showing that higher awareness of sexual orientation privilege predicts more willingness to participate in solidarity-based collective action. By following an intersectional and multi-identity approach in Study 3 (N = 280), we showed that higher feminist identification predicted more willingness to participate in solidarity-based collective action, whereas higher heterosexual identification predicted less willingness.
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The present study describes the development and validation of an instrument to measure defensive reactions individuals display in difficult dialogues while exploring privileged identities and interacting across difference. The increased focus on difficult dialogues when exploring privileged social identities in educational environments points to a need for the Privileged Identity Exploration Scale (PIE-S). The Privileged Identity Exploration Model (PIE) (Watt, College Student Affairs Journal., 2007, 26, 114–126; Watt et al., Counselor Education and Supervision., 2009, 49, 86–105) identifies eight defensive reactions. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, we identified and confirmed four constructs of privileged identity exploration that students exhibit when interacting across social differences, the PIE Scale (PIE-S). We provide a brief overview of the development of the PIE-S, as well as future directions for research and applications to training and facilitation in various educational settings.
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This article puts privilege theory in conversation with childhood studies in order to create a richer understanding of privilege. Privilege describes the unearned, largely invisible advantages that historically dominant groups enjoy at the expense of marginalized groups. The field of childhood studies was created in part as a critique of adults’ positions of privilege relative to children. I argue that while the concept of privilege is a useful lens for understanding inequality, including in childhood studies, it has also been developed in a way that fails to capture certain aspects of adult hegemony. Specifically, the current understanding of privilege as ‘unearned’ is problematic because children as well as other marginalized groups often work without earning. This article proposes to think of privilege as automatic rather than unearned, and suggests future directions for privilege theory and childhood studies to better inform one another.
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In this paper, I reinterpret the classic concept of order position, as well as privilege and discrimination in the concept and types of order position. In the first part of the paper, I give a short survey of the classic conception of order position, with special regard to Max Weber's concept of social status or order position. In the second part, I define the concept of order position in my conception. Accordingly, order position is the real institutional position of the given individual (or group) as compared to the institutional position that can be occupied by the given individual (or group) in the general social institutional norm system assumed on the basis of the expressed values, especially the deviation between the two positions as related to the interests of the subject. In the third part, I typify order positions from the aspect of whether the institutional norm system that is valid or realized in reality deviates or does not deviate from the assumed general norm system, and if it does, whether it deviates in a direction corresponding or contrary to the interests of the individuals. In this way, I make a distinction between privileged, normativized and degraded order positions.
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The combination of my Taiwanese American male identity interacts with a profession that has challenged my cultural norms and has created an internal dialog around social location. In this chapter, I perceive my social location from an intersectionality perspective and detail how I use my academic position of power to interact with my program, students, and mental health community. Social power attribution as an MFT program director and clinical director is discussed along with the label as a “model minority.” I reflect on how my cultural heritage and gender combination have impacted the interactions with my students, the community, and the MFT culture. Finally, cultural pursuit of balance is discussed in moderating my academic responsibilities and social location.
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This qualitative study examines the development of intersectional solidarity among organizers of an academic workers’ union. Participants were 12 union organizers who participated in semistructured, in-depth interviews. This research is value-driven, examining in context how community organizers address the reproduction of systems of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism) in order to build power and make socially just change. Respectful and supportive relationships were required for participants to understand and make sense of their complicity in systems of oppression in proactive and potentially transformative ways. Additionally, individuals’ understanding of their complicity with oppressive structures occurred in a visceral, embodied manner. Thus, two overlapping practices, supportive relational labor and corporeal literacy, form the basis of a praxis model for intersectional solidarity. This study concludes with implications for organizing practices and organizations, which focus on accountability practices and praxis among group members. © 2020 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
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Based on Peggy McIntosh's (1988) pioneering investigations of white and male privilege, we can, by analogy, understand Christian privilege as constituting a seemingly invisible, unearned, and largely unacknowledged array of benefits accorded to Christians, with which they often unconsciously walk through life as if effortlessly carrying a knapsack tossed over their shoulders. This system of benefits confers dominance on Christians while subordinating members of other faith communities as well as nonbelievers. These systemic inequities are pervasive throughout societies of many nations across the globe. They are encoded into the individuals’ consciousness and woven into the very fabric of their many social institutions, including schools, having enormous implications on all students. The current exploratory qualitative study investigates the relative level of awareness of Christian privilege among preservice teachers who self‐define as “Christian” at a large Midwestern United States research university, and situates this awareness and level of resistance upon Watt's Privilege Identity Exploration (PIE) model (2007, 2009).
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Two psychological reasons that powerful groups are socially privileged are (1) powerful groups are culturally and mentally normalized, which disguises their privilege as “normal” while highlighting inferiority and stereotypes about other groups, and (2) affiliating with own‐groups and promoting their power are more psychologically compatible for dominant groups than for subordinated groups. Prior research concerning social categories defined by gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and race is summarized to illustrate how social category norms focus people's attention away from powerful groups and their privileges. The present research shows that, for race, gender, class, and sexual orientation in the U.S., own group membership is more salient, and works less well in promoting own group power and group dominance for members of subordinated than of dominant groups. Implications for why group privilege is not mutually recognized by dominant and subordinated groups, and for how this may translate into support for different social policies are discussed.
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Four studies examine the strength of feelings of White guilt, the relationship between White guilt and possible antecedents to this guilt, and the consequences of White guilt for attitudes toward affirmative action. Even though mean White guilt tended to be low, with the mean being just below the midpoint of the scale, the range and variability confirms the existence of feelings of White guilt for some. White guilt was associated with more negative personal evaluations of Whites and the theoretical antecedents of stronger beliefs in the existence of White privilege, greater estimates of the prevalence of discrimination against Blacks, and low prejudice against Blacks. Finally, results indicate that White guilt mediated the relationship from White privilege and beliefs about the prevalence of discrimination to attitudes toward affirmative action, and both White guilt and prejudice independently predicted attitudes toward affirmative action.
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Examines why stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination are enduring phenomena. Social psychological research, reviewed here in 4 major sections, explains that stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination have (1) some apparently automatic aspects and (2) some socially pragmatic aspects, both of which tend to sustain them. But, as research also indicates, change is possible, for (3) stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination seem individually controllable, and consequently, (4) social structure influences their occurrence. Past and present theoretical approaches to these issues are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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This article argues that the ideology of color-blind racism is part of a broader, overarching ideology of “oppression blindness.” Using an intersectional framework for understanding white privilege, color-blind racism is seen not as a distinct ideology, but one which overlaps with and reinforces other systems of inequality. This article specifically examines the interconnections and similarities among color-blindness, postfeminism, and christonormativity. Examining their similarities, I argue that we should approach each discourse as one strand in a larger tapestry that intertwine and work together to reinforce and defend the culture of privilege.
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Group-based privileges are supported and reproduced in part by control of discourse about identity and structural inequality. In the case of social class, this discourse is largely absent. This article explores the ways in which the lack of explicit and sanctioned discourse on social class affirms and reproduces class privileges. Qualitative thematic content analysis was used to analyze the final papers of students (N= 82) who participated in a semester long class-focused intergroup dialogue course. Content analysis found that students came into the dialogues with low levels of class salience. The dialogue course was an informative and fulfilling experience for most students, but the majority of students still had difficulty discussing class based privileges. This difficulty in engaging in an open and disruptive form of class discourse was in part due to the tendency to conflate discussions of class with race, taboos against discussing social class, and the presence of negative stereotypes about class groupings.
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The hypothesis that possessing multiple subordinate-group identities renders a person “invisible” relative to those with a single subordinate-group identity is developed. We propose that androcentric, ethnocentric, and heterocentric ideologies will cause people who have multiple subordinate-group identities to be defined as non-prototypical members of their respective identity groups. Because people with multiple subordinate-group identities (e.g., ethnic minority woman) do not fit the prototypes of their respective identity groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, women), they will experience what we have termed “intersectional invisibility.” In this article, our model of intersectional invisibility is developed and evidence from historical narratives, cultural representations, interest-group politics, and anti-discrimination legal frameworks is used to illustrate its utility. Implications for social psychological theory and research are discussed.
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We examined how the difficulty of making reparations for the harm done to another group affects the intensity of collective guilt. Men were confronted with information documenting male privilege and were told that they would have a chance to help women and reduce patriarchy by collecting signatures on a petition. We manipulated the difficulty of making reparations by asking participants to collect 5, 50, or 100 signatures. As predicted by Brehm's (1999) theory of emotional intensity, collective guilt was a non-monotonic function of the difficulty of making reparations. Men in the moderate difficulty (50 signatures) condition expressed greater collective guilt than participants in the low (5) or high (100) difficulty conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for the theory of emotional intensity, collective guilt, and collective emotions more generally.
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Among members of privileged groups, social inequality is often thought of in terms of the disadvantages associated with outgroup membership. Yet inequality also can be validly framed in terms of ingroup privilege. These different framings have important psychological and social implications. In Experiment 1 (N = 110), White American participants assessed 24 statements about racial inequality framed as either White privileges or Black disadvantages. In Experiment 2 (N = 122), White participants generated examples of White privileges or Black disadvantages. In both experiments, a White privilege framing resulted in greater collective guilt and lower racism compared to a Black disadvantage framing. Collective guilt mediated the manipulation's effect on racism. In addition, in Experiment 2, a White privilege framing decreased White racial identification compared to a Black disadvantage framing. These findings suggest that representing inequality in terms of outgroup disadvantage allows privileged group members to avoid the negative psychological implications of inequality and supports prejudicial attitudes.
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Emotion can result from interpreting group actions as reflecting on the self due to an association between the two. This volume considers the nature of collective guilt, the antecedent conditions necessary for it to be experienced, how it can be measured, as well as how collective guilt differs from other group based emotions. Research from Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, and the USA addresses critical questions concerning the who, when, and why of the experience of collective guilt. The political implications of collective guilt and forgiveness for the past are considered, and how those might depend on the national context. How collective guilt can be harnessed and used to create a more peaceful future for groups with a history of violence between then is emphasized.
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Johnson examines how privilege operates both to oppress dominated people and to benefit the privileged. Johnson sees privilege as an overarching system that encompasses oppression and benefits based on many different factors: race, sex, gender, class, education, religion, etc. These various forces work together to create a matrix of domination and privilege. He reveals a couple paradoxes within privilege: the tension between individual and social forces embedded within privilege and the divergent effects of privilege, including the potential to be privileged without feeling privileged. He also examines reasons why privileged people do not fight hard enough to challenge systems of privilege while laying out strategies for members of dominant categories to combat forces of domination and privilege.
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This book highlights the many ways in which concerned white people can play an active role in confronting white racism, and helps the reader understand racism and explore its manifestations in politics, work, community, and family life. The book suggests ways for individuals and groups move beyond the definition and unlearning of racism to address the many areas of privilege for white people and suggests ways for individuals and groups to challenge the structures of racism. Kivel explores how we learn racism, what effects it has on our lives, its costs and benefits to white people, and what we can do about it. In direct, accessible language, the book advances an agenda of "anti-racism" as a methodological challenge to racist hierarchies.
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Understanding White Privilege focuses squarely on white privilege and its implications by offering specific suggestions for what each person can do to bridge the racial divide. She goes through the process of what happens when white people realize the implications of the social forces that benefit them and attempts to outline steps to help white people respond to racial hierarchies in a productive manner. She seeks to build authentic relationships across race while giving white people the ability to take ownership of responsibility for racism and its negative effects. This will help white people talk about race without defaulting to defensiveness of guilt.
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The United States is known as a "melting pot" yet this mix tends to be volatile and contributes to a long history of oppression, racism, and bigotry. Emerging Intersections, an anthology of ten previously unpublished essays, looks at the problems of inequality and oppression from new angles and promotes intersectionality as an interpretive tool that can be utilized to better understand the ways in which race, class, gender, ethnicity, and other dimensions of difference shape our lives today. The book showcases innovative contributions that expand our understanding of how inequality affects people of color, demonstrates the ways public policies reinforce existing systems of inequality, and shows how research and teaching using an intersectional perspective compels scholars to become agents of change within institutions. By offering practical applications for using intersectional knowledge, Emerging Intersections will help bring us one step closer to achieving positive institutional change and social justice.
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Inequality and oppression are deeply woven into the tapestry of American life. As a result large disparities exist on measures of income, wealth, education, housing, occupation, and social benefits. These disparities are neither new nor randomly distributed throughout the population, but occur in patterns along such major social divisions as race, gender, class, sexuality, nationality, and physical ability. Social scientists have traditionally analyzed inequalities by isolating these factors and treating them as if they are independent of one another. Even when their interactions are discussed they are still conceptualized as if they are largely independent forces that happen to overlap under specific conditions. For example, studies of race often focus upon contrasting Whites with Blacks and other racially identifiable groups without taking into account historical modes of incorporation of each group. Historical linkages and systemic interrelationships that reveal the underlying ways any one dimension of inequality is shaped by another are rarely fully examined. A problematic result is that the experiences of whole groups are ignored, misunderstood, or erased, particularly those of women of color.
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Knowingly and unknowingly we all grapple with race every day. Understanding White Privilege delves into the complex interplay between race, power, and privilege in both organizations and private life. It offers an unflinching look at how ignorance can perpetuate privilege, and offers practical and thoughtful insights into how people of all races can work to break this cycle. Based on thirty years of work in diversity and colleges, universities, and corporations, Frances Kendall candidly invites readers to think personally about how race — theirs and others’ — frames experiences and relationships, focusing squarely on white privilege and its implications for building authentic relationships across race.
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Part I. From There to Here - Theoretical Background: 1. From visiousness to viciousness: theories of intergroup relations 2. Social dominance theory as a new synthesis Part II. Oppression and its Psycho-Ideological Elements: 3. The psychology of group dominance: social dominance orientation 4. Let's both agree that you're really stupid: the power of consensual ideology Part III. The Circle of Oppression - The Myriad Expressions of Institutional Discrimination: 5. You stay in your part of town and I'll stay in mine: discrimination in the housing and retail markets 6. They're just too lazy to work: discrimination in the labor market 7. They're just mentally and physically unfit: discrimination in education and health care 8. The more of 'them' in prison, the better: institutional terror, social control and the dynamics of the criminal justice system Part IV. Oppression as a Cooperative Game: 9. Social hierarchy and asymmetrical group behavior: social hierarchy and group difference in behavior 10. Sex and power: the intersecting political psychologies of patriarchy and empty-set hierarchy 11. Epilogue.
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Previous literature on social identities focused largely on the oppression of people with marginalized identities without much attention paid to privileged, or dominant, group members. In conclusion to this special issue on privilege, I synthesize the authors’ contributions and current research on various forms of group privilege. The authors vary in their approach to dissecting privilege, either intersectionally or examining a single group's privilege. This body of work is imperative to the growing academic field of Privilege Studies, as well as encouraging more mainstream discourse about privilege and oppression.
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In two studies, we examined the relationship between resistance to heteronormativity and political engagement among heterosexuals. In the first, we examined the relationship between awareness of heterosexual privilege, resistance to heteronormativity, and engagement in lesbian and gay rights activism among contemporary heterosexual college students. As expected, women scored higher than men on both heterosexual privilege awareness and resistance to heteronormativity. For women, both heterosexual privilege awareness and resistance to heteronormativity were related to engagement in lesbian and gay rights activism. In the second study, we examined heteronormative attitudes in three cohorts of women spanning 40 years (college graduates in 1951/2, 1972, and 1992), looking at both generational differences in endorsement of heteronormative attitudes and the relationship of these attitudes to engagement in lesbian and gay rights activism. As expected, the two younger cohorts of women were significantly less heteronormative than the oldest cohort. Implications of these results are discussed.
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This article examines the public debate over marriage law to investigate how arguments based on claims about what is natural privilege some relationships while stigmatizing others and justifying discriminatory policies toward sexual minorities. Articles about same‐sex marriage appearing in major newspapers were content‐coded according to absence or presence of four dimensions of naturalness: change over time, norms, procreation, and welfare of children. Arguments invoking change over time were most frequent (39%), and procreation appeared least (10%). The use of arguments based on the moral status of marriage was associated with the use of each of the four dimensions based on naturalness. Mentions of race, including comparisons to racial struggles, appeared in 20% of the articles, making them just as common as child welfare. Results are discussed in terms of the power of the concept of naturalness to legitimize and maintain privilege, and the intersectionality of race and sexual orientation.
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Two experiments examined effects of heightened awareness of white privilege (illegitimate advantages held by White Americans) and efficacy to reduce racial inequality on White American college students’ attitudes toward African Americans and White Americans. Efficacy to reduce inequality was either measured (Experiment 1) or manipulated (Experiment 2), and heightened white privilege awareness (WPA) was either manipulated (Experiment 1) or held constant (Experiment 2). All participants, except control participants in Experiment 1, read a passage describing their university's under‐representation of African American faculty. Afterward, they wrote letters in support of hiring more African American faculty and were told there was either a 95% or 5% chance their actions would be effective (Experiment 2) or were simply thanked and their perceived efficacy concerning change measured (Experiment 1). Heightened WPA and higher efficacy (measured and manipulated) independently improved participants’ attitudes toward African Americans, but had no effect on their attitudes toward White Americans.
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This study examined diversity course influence on student prejudice against lesbians and gay men, awareness of heterosexual privilege, and support for gay marriage. The study included heterosexual female students in psychology of women, introduction to women's studies, and nondiversity psychology courses. Students in diversity courses expressed increased heterosexual privilege awareness and support for same-sex marriage across the semester compared with no changes among the nondiversity course students. Although diversity course students also exhibited reduced prejudice against lesbians and gay men, the changes did not differ significantly from students in comparison courses.
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We suggest that the need to maintain a positive self-image motivates White Americans to conceive of racism as a phenomenon rooted in individuals instead of institutions. They do so because an institutional conception of racism, more so than an individual conception of racism, raises their awareness of White privilege, a concept threatening to Whites’ self-image. In support of this idea, Experiment 1 found that a self-affirmation manipulation increased Whites’ willingness to conceive racism in institutional terms. Experiment 2 found that a self-image threat lowered Whites’ willingness to conceive racism in institutional terms. In neither experiment did the self-image maintenance manipulation affect Whites’ conceptions of individual racism, suggesting that the individual conception of racism may be a less ego-threatening way for Whites to conceive of racism.
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Many diversity courses in psychology originally aimed to reduce student racial bias and raise their awareness of racism. However, quantitative data testing the effectiveness of such courses are lacking. This study assessed a required diversity course's effectiveness in raising awareness of White privilege and racism; increasing support for affirmative action; and reducing prejudice, guilt, and fear of other races. Students (N = 146) completed identical surveys during the first and last weeks of the semester. Results indicated greater awareness of White privilege and racism and more support for affirmative action by the end of the term. White students (n = 131) also expressed greater White guilt after completing the course.
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This book turns the tables on the way prejudice has been looked at in the past. Almost all of the current information on prejudice focuses on the person holding prejudiced beliefs. This book, however, provides a summary of research focusing on the intended victims of prejudice. The 1st part discusses how people identify prejudice, what types of prejudice they encounter, and how people react to this prejudice in interpersonal and intergroup settings. The 2nd section discusses the effect of prejudice on task performance, assessment of one's own abilities, self-esteem, and stress. The final section examines how people cope with prejudice, including a discussion of coping mechanisms, reporting sexual harassment, and how identity is related to effective coping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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This case study focuses on policy change efforts to challenge gender-conforming privilege and gain protections for transgender individuals in higher education. This participatory action research centered on a faculty–student partnership in activism as the team worked to include the terms “gender identity and expression” in the university nondiscrimination policies to promote justice and equity for transgender students on campus. Using an approach we refer to as “critical liberatory feminist pedagogy,” this study examined the psychological, social, and institutional processes influencing student leadership for change and faculty pedagogical methods for encouraging student-initiated activism beyond the classroom. Student and faculty change agents described obstacles to change, action strategies, and the influence of privilege and power dynamics on the institutional change process. The insights gained from the collaborative faculty–student partnership are presented to inform others seeking innovative pedagogical practices and to create avenues for challenging privilege and power imbalances.
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When discussing privilege, we often consider it a zero-sum quantity, one either has it or one does not. Since privilege is distributed along a range of axes, we consider three sites in which male privilege is compromised by marginalization by other statuses: disability status, sexuality, and class. Employing a Symbolic Interactionist approach, derived from Erving Goffman's Stigma (1963), we observe strategies employed by disabled men, gay men and working class men to reduce, neutralize, or resist the problematization of masculinity as a constitutive element of their marginalization by class, sexuality, or disability.
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In the discussion group White Women Against Racism (WWAR), participants engaged in dialogue promoting self-examination of white privilege and anti-racist social action. Through qualitative analyses of field observations of group meetings and interviews, this study explores their engagement in the deconstruction of white privilege, white identity, and the challenges of anti-racist action for social change. The women examined whiteness through a lens of white privilege that opened new avenues to anti-racist white identity and activism. Participants also explored the influence of multiple identities and intersections with whiteness as sources of influence on their own anti-racism. The women conceptualized struggles with everyday anti-racist action as intertwined with privilege and social norms of silence. Although white privilege research typically focuses on classroom instruction or gaps in awareness, this study emphasizes the voices and experiences of White women to analyze white privilege awareness in relation to white anti-racist identity development and ally behavior.
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The construct of privilege has been undertheorized in the field of psychology. The discipline more commonly examines those who have been disenfranchised, marginalized, and discriminated against. However, psychologists concerned with social issues must also attend to questions of power and privilege. This article uses a collaborative research project with New York City youth and adults called Polling for Justice to engage in a discussion about privilege as it runs through three areas of that work: by design, in results, and through action. First, the paper argues that privilege is an epistemological standpoint of empirical psychology that has been disguised as objectivity. Next, that privilege is a set of material and social psychological conditions that protect adolescents as they develop, take risks, and mature. Finally, that those who hold privilege can embrace and model a sense of collective responsibility and solidarity, not retreat or passively empathize.
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Thinking about the benefits gained from a privileged group membership can threaten social identity and evoke justification of the existing status difference between the ingroup and a disadvantaged group. For White Americans, racial privilege may be justified by concurring with modern racist attitudes. In Experiment 1, White Americans randomly assigned to think about White privilege expressed greater modern racism compared to those assigned to think about White disadvantage or a race-irrelevant topic. In Experiment 2, we found that increased racism in response to thoughts of White privilege was limited to those who highly identified with their racial category. In contrast, when White racial identification was sufficiently low, thoughts of White privilege reliably reduced modern racism. We discuss the implications of these findings for the meaning of modern racism and prejudice reduction. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Research examining the impact of women's studies courses provides evidence of student changes such as greater agreement with feminist and egalitarian attitudes, lower prejudice against women, and increased activism. Using a pre- and posttest design, the current studies assess students' awareness of male privilege, prejudice against women, support for affirmative action, and identification as feminist following courses with and without gender content. In Study 1, students taking a course entitled Psychology of Race and Gender completed identical surveys during the first and last weeks of the semester. Study 2 included students in Psychology of Women, Introduction to Women's Studies, and courses not addressing gender. Participants in diversity and women's studies courses in both studies exhibited more male privilege awareness and support for affirmative action at the end of the semester compared to pretest. However, the change in women's studies students' support for affirmative action and sexism levels was not significantly different from students in comparison courses. Women's studies students completed their courses with greater self-identification with feminism in contrast to non–women's studies students.
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(from the chapter) Considers the social and psychological experience of stigma, from the perspective of both the stigmatizer and the stigmatized individual. The primary focus is on the experience of the stigmatized—how they understand and interpret their stigmatization, how they cope with it, and how it affects their psychological well-being, cognitive functioning, and interactions with nonstigmatized individuals. (chapter) To understand the predicaments of the stigmatized, and their consequences, one must first consider what it means to be stigmatized and why social stigma is so pervasive, and one must bear in mind some key findings on the nature of stereotyping and prejudice from the view of the stigmatizer. After exploring these issues, this chapter concludes with a consideration of the costs of stigma to the stigmatized individual, to the stigmatizer, and to the broader society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)