Attributing negative feedback to prejudice protects rather than damages self-esteem

Evidence

It appears that internalizing stigma either does not occur or does not have the negative effects previously theorized. A fairly robust debate has arisen about whether stigma can itself be self-protective (see Crocker & Major, 1989; Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000; see also Major & Vick, ch. 9 this volume). That is, if people perceive, as Allport proposed, that others generally devalue their social group, and by extension themselves, it could lead them either to internalize that devaluation (thus diminishing selfesteem) or to reject the prejudiced other as a standard of evaluation or comparison. In the latter case, negative feedback from people believed to be prejudiced is discounted; victims of discrimination can dismiss the other’s views as irrational and unfounded because they can be attributed to bias (Crocker & Major, 1989). By this analysis, being sensitive to and vigilant about biased perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors is adaptive and preserves self-esteem against a backdrop of prevalent discrimination (see Major & Vick, ch. 9 this volume). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1066

Categorization

• XREF: The discounting-of-prejudiced-others mechanism directly contradicts Allport’s intropunitive internalization premise; core to the book’s reassessment thread. — connects to: Arguments linked to self gain credibility via generalized self-positivity. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 121; Similarity-attraction functions as an implicit shield for self-esteem — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 165
• DEEPTHINKING: The reframing of vigilance as adaptive protection scrambles the expected victim psychology — targets of bias fare better by distrusting the source rather than absorbing the verdict.