Lec March 21: The Psychology of Group-Based Privilege Flashcards
What is group-based privilege?
Not about individuals but happens to individuals
- The benefits are based on group memberships.
- We experience these things as individual experiences (oh, I did well because I am a hard- worker, not because I am white) (benefits even though we can show that they are partly due to privilege (being a group member).
- Things that could be available to all groups but are not…
- Marrying the person you love (gay marriage, etc.) (not a limited amount of marriage licenses- but for some reasons, laws are different– get this privilege on the basis of some group membership).
Things that cannot be available to everyone but are reserved for members of only some groups.
- The unequal distribution of limited resources is not based only on individual merit or effort
- safety could be for everyone (not a limited resource), but it’s not for everyone because of society (but it doesn’t have to be this way)
- It is hard to see privilege in our daily lives– privilege leads to positive treatment (question when things go wrong, not when they go right).
- Hard to call out privilege
- (privilege comes easily to some people, they are just getting things so its hard to call out because it just comes to them but its easier to call out discrimination)
What are the two types or forms of group-based privilege?
Two types or forms of group-based privilege
- Unearned (personally) advantage:
- Receiving opportunities and resources not tied to personal achievement or contribution.
- Being a man, no one questions the legitimacy of achievement.
- Unearned (personally) Dominance/Power/Control (Conferred Dominance): made easier for you. No questions asked because the privilege is the expectation for u (conferred)
- Having the ability to control others that is not tied to personal achievement or contribution.
Men In powerful positions are not questioned to the extent as women are (privilege is the expectation for men).
BUT…
- Collectively “Earned”
- (in the cynical sense of “earned” -they result from a history of group-based oppression and dominance)
- winning the war argo they deserve to be at the top (it was earned by the solider to have this privilege.
In a given situation, members of a group have privilege when the group has…
Indicator: members of their ingroup have/ are…
- more power, influence
- better opportunities and outcomes
- overrepresented in dominant local culture (dominant culture synonymous with the culture of privileged groups) (i.e., Christianity- Christmas is a holiday, but Eid isn’t)
- overrepresented across a variety of positions of power
-Dominance over other groups.
- Both interpersonal and institutional discrimination in their favour.
- Explicit and implicit stereotypes of groups that justify their advantaged position.
How can the psychology of privileged groups lead to the perpetuation of group-based inequality even in the absence of prejudiced attitudes towards the disadvantaged group and its members?
- Seeing oneself as an individual
- Building an Ideology of Individualism
- Justifying Inequality
- Justifying & Maintaining Inequality
The invisibility of group-based privilege?
- Thus, privilege is hard for people with privilege to see.
It is “the air we breathe.” It is “just how life is.”
- Ideology and stereotypes support the view that it is not a privilege at all.
- Others often treat people with privilege as though they deserve their privilege.
Social Comparisons:
- People tend to make Intragroup comparisons
- Those with privilege can make comparisons that can reduce perceptions of inequality
- seeing oneself as an individual
a. One element of group-based privilege is having the freedom to define oneself (and to be seen by others) as an individual.
b. The freedom to be unaware of how your group membership is influencing your experiences and to focus on personal identity.
c. This starts from seeing our ingroup as the prototype for the larger social category – as “the default” group.
d. This can be understood through the process of Ingroup Projection.
The ingroup Projection
- See the ingroup as “the default” (through the process of Ingroup Projection).
- The ingroup is less visible because it is closely tied to the prototype for the larger category.
→
Thus, we are free to focus on our personal identity.
Building an Ideology of Individualism
- See the ingroup as “the default” (through the process of Ingroup Projection)
- The ingroup is less visible because it is closely tied to the prototype for the larger category.
→ - Thus, we are free to focus on our personal identity.
→ - Develop and endorse an ideology of individualism.
Individualism
- A strong belief in individual determinism & individual responsibility “If things are bad for you, it’s your fault and your responsibility to fix it.”
- Endorsement of a “colourblind” orientation towards groups.
- Deflects attention away from structural inequalities.
- Removes responsibility for being part of the solution.
Justifying Inequality
a. downplay the role of group-based differences in opportunities because the personal position is seen to be the result of individual ability and responsibility (colour-blind orientation).
justifying and maintaining inequality
a. → Members of advantaged groups support policies and maintain their group’s privileges and oppose policies that would reduce it.
In the broader society, group members have privilege when the group has…
Indicators: Members of their ingroup have/are…
- More power and influence in a wider range of contexts.
- Better opportunities and outcomes across a range of situations.
- Over-represented in the dominant culture. (dominant culture synonymous with the culture of privileged groups)
- Over-represented across a variety of positions of power.
- History and continued dominance/oppression of other groups.
- Both interpersonal and institutional discrimination in their favour across a variety of institutional settings.
- Generalized (not context-specific) stereotypes of groups that justify their advantaged position.
