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đŸȘ” The Threshold

Allport underestimated backlash against women's advancement

Properties1
tagsja-picks, contrarian_or_surprising, singleton, xref, category/contrarian-or-surprising

2 min read

Allport underestimated backlash against women’s advancement

Evidence

Interestingly, Allport (1954/1979) also acknowledged possible resistance to efforts aimed at eliminating prejudicial social dynamics, which might “stiffen opposition in defense of existing attitudes”; he called it the boomerang effect (p. 508). However, his treatment of boomerang was optimistically naive. He wrote, “Such evidence as we have indicates that this effect is relatively slight 
 it seems probable, too, that ‘boomerangs’ occur chieïŹ‚y in minds with paranoid trends” (p. 508). Clearly, Allport missed not only the systemic oppression of women, but also the possibility that women’s efforts to overcome it (e.g., by adopting agency) would incur backlash from psychologically healthy men and women alike. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of
, 765 (#expands, via linked claim)

Nevertheless, in part because of the social conditions at the time he wrote his book (see Eagly & Diekman’s chapter 2 in this volume), there are aspects of prejudice that Allport completely overlooked. In particular, although Allport considered biases toward many groups (e.g., based on race, religion, and occupation), he largely ignored gender bias. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of
, 739 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • XREF: connects to: Allport’s prejudice framework largely ignored gender bias — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of
, 739; Allport underestimated backlash as a normal, not paranoid, response to prejudice-reduction — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of
, 765; Allport ignored sexism though it targets about half the population — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years
, 176 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

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