W3 - Harrison et al Understanding attitudes toward AAP's

Question 1

AAPs: affirmative actio programs

Answer 1

Efforts to reduce discrimination based on demographics can unintentionally reinforce those same distinctions by emphasizing them.

Question 2

Structural features of affirmative action programs

Answer 2

Most important feature is the amount of consideration that an AAP gives to applicants’ demographic traits

1. Opportunity enhancement: AAPs offer some assistance to target group members prior to selection decisions
2. Equal opportunity: AAPs forbid selection decision makers from assigning a negative weight to membership in an AAP target group
3. Tiebreak AAPs: members of the target group are given preferance over others if their qualifications are equivalent
4. Strong preferential treatment AAPs: preference to target group

Question 3

Joint effects of structural features and perceiver characeristics

Answer 3

• Least perspective AAPs: require demographics status to be ignored in decisions and are viewed more favorably
• More perspective AAPs: genererate stronger negative responses due to perceived unfairness and self-interest conflicts

Question 4

Organizational justice theory

Answer 4

• Highly prescriptive AAPs: Strict policies that demand specific actions can seem unfair, making people focus more on their own self-interest.
• Self-interest increases: The more rigid the AAP, the stronger the self-interest attitude becomes
• Greater prescriptiveness can positively influence the effects of personal or perceived discrimination.

Question 5

Racism and sexism theories

Answer 5

• Old-fashioned racism: higher hostility toward prescriptive AAPs due to their benefit to target groups
• Modern racism: subtle opposition to avoid accusations of prejudice

Question 6

Findings on racism and sexism

Answer 6

• Racism and sexism associations with AAP attitudes increase with prescreptiveness
• Sexism effects did not differ across AAP types

Question 7

Political ideology and party affiliation

Answer 7

• Republicans: oppose AAPs emphasizing preferential treatment
• Democrats: support AAPs as mechanisms for eliminating discrimination and ensuring equity

Question 8

Presentation of AAPs

Answer 8

Implicit vs explicit presentation: implicit AAPs descriptions elicit stronger effects from perceiver characteristics

Question 9

Findings presentation of AAPs

Answer 9

AAP attitudes improve when justifications are provided, but justifications focused solely on underrepresentation may backfire