PSYC 363 march 28 privilege Flashcards
Solutions to privilege
-Large-scale social solutions involve the redistribution of power across groups - collective action/ social change.
-Small-scale societal solutions involve reflecting on one’s own privilege, but this can be threatening.
- reflecting on one’s privilege can be threatening (i received things i don’t deserve-b we get defensive bc we like to think we’re good people and that we deserve the things we have- we don’t just get them- we work for them, etc- get defensive)
- a threat can lead to resentment, fear and anger
- these emotions can lead to increased defensiveness.
Defensive response to threat…
- system defence: defence of ideology of individualism and justification of the status quo
- group defence: defence of social identity and justification of group status
- ego defence: defence of personal identity and justification of the personal status
- reality constraints: the need for an accurate perception of reality.
Threats to Privileged Status Outten, Schmitt, Miller, & Garcia
- White Canadian students in Vancouver read two different projections for the ethnic demographics of Vancouver in 2058:
- Measured the privilege to be the majority
- What Vancouver would look like in 2058
Conditions
- IN ONE CONDITION; WHITE WILL BE MAJORITY till at least 2058 (bogus chart)
- Another condition; whites will become part of a plurality; among the majority but not the top one (real chart).
Responses
- Significant feelings of white threat
- Show increases in anger at ethnic outgroups
- Fear towards ethnic outgroups
- Less Liking of East Asian Canadian
- Future white minority → white identity threat → anger, fear, less liking of East Asian Canadians
How do we feel even when we acknowledge privilege?
- guilt/ shame
- for the things my group has done in the past
- for having opportunities denied to others.
helplessness
- it is the result of the system/ the culture/ the history- all things I cannot control
Frustrated (resentful)
- I am made to feel like the villain for something I personally did not do.
While helplessness and frustration (resentful) are not usually productive, some level of guilt might, at times, be useful.
acknowledging privilege (Powell et al., 2005)
When the legitimacy of the inequality is questioned, thinking about inequality as a privilege (rather than as a disadvantage) can make Collective Guilt useful as it can lead to improved intergroup attitudes (e.g., less racism)
White privilege condition (compared to the black disadvantage condition) → increased collective guilt –> decreased modern racism.
- Focusing on white privilege rather than on black disadvantage
- PRODUCED higher levels of collective guilt, which…
- PRODUCED lower levels of modern racism.
benefits of acknowledging privilege
- greater knowledge of self (and society)
- reduce the chances of unintentionally offending others.
- more comfort and ease in diverse situations
- motivation to address system-level inequality
- and be a better ally/ Accomplice when you do.
What was the economic inequality and privilege study done by Kelter, piff, et al. about?
- wealth as another example of privilege
- Justification: “I deserve what I have”
- Ideology of Individualism: Leads to “selfish” behaviour
- The reality of power and influence: Those with power don’t need to pay attention to others.
- Empathy: the ability to read others’ emotions, take their perspective and share their emotional experiences.
What is the psychology of scarcity: Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function: The Psychology of Scarcity (Shafir et al.)
- community sample in New Jersey
- Given a scenario “your car is having trouble and must decide what to do”
- manipulated IV/ conditions- Decision Difficulty
- expensive (hard) - $1500
-Inexpensive (Easy)- $150
measured IV- Self-reported Income - Rich or Poor
outcome (DV) - completed two cognitive Tasks - Spatial IQ Test: Raven’s Matric
- cognitive control task
Results:
- Scarcity and Cognitive Resources
- Poor people make poorer decisions because the scarcity of resources creates cognitive pressures that undermine decision-making.
- Poor people make poorer decisions because they are poor.
- NOT People are poor because they make poorer decisions.
What are other Other pieces of evidence on scarcity and poor decisions?
- scarcity of time (being poor on time)
- Scarcity and borrowing from the future
- scarcity and Splurging
Social Class & Economic Inequality Conclusions
- income and inequality is high and growing, and it has a variety of negative consequences.
- wealth as a case of privilege
scarcity causes decision-making problems more than bas decision-making causing poverty
When does Prejudice become an “ISM”?
Racism, Sexism, Classism, Heterosexism, Ableism:
- ◼ are not only about holding negative attitudes about the outgroup (not just negative prejudice) and/or
- ◼ are not only about holding very positive attitudes about the ingroup (not just ingroup bias/ingroup preference)
BUT
- ◼ are also about having the power to discriminate against the outgroup and to build institutional practices that perpetuate that discrimination.
Prejudice + Power = “…ism” (+ ingroup bias)
What is “Power vs. Unequal Power”?
- if you can change someone’s behaviour- you have power, if you can make someone happy, you have power over them. Power can be a good thing, without it, life will be meaningless.
- Infant child & parent: a parent has enormous power- so does the child, when they pee themselves, the parent cleans them- they have control (power) over them the parent.
The disproportionate ability to control others’ outcomes.
- ◼ (dependence versus interdependence)
How does Power effect intergroup relations?
- ◼ Those with Power have more influence over when a given category will be relevant.
- ◼Those with Power can create institutions, policies and rules that maintain unequal and unfair treatment.
- ◼ Power + Prejudice transforms a universal psychological process (prejudice) into an asymmetrical relationship and societal structure that maintain unequal and unfair treatment- power + prejudice create an ‘ism.
Privilege Summary
Privilege is a context-dependent (we each belong to multiple groups that have different positions/statuses in different contexts)
- Some privileges are brought out in different scenarios and hidden in some.
But there is also generalized privilege helped broader society
Privilege is conferred upon (given to) individuals, but it is not about individuals. Thus, it is not easily “given up.”
- We can engage in personal leverage to reduce guilt
Privilege is also about dominance (having control over others)
- This might sometimes be easier to give up
Privilege is about being able to see oneself as an individual, which can lead to the endorsement of an ideology of individualism.
Strong endorsement of individualism leads to support for policies and practices that maintain privilege.
