Benevolent paternalism operates as a subtle mechanism of prejudice that antipathy-based accounts miss

Evidence

Allport’s most fundamental blindspot concerns his definition of prejudice as “an antipathy based upon a faulty and inflexible generalization” (p. 9). Chapters by Eagly and Diekman, Jackman, and Rudman in the current volume explore how this definition has obscured important aspects of prejudice, both pragmatically and theoretically. Allport’s emphasis on antipathy directed the field toward types of prejudice that produce exclusion and violence, but it distracted the field from other types of bias involving more subtle types of control and exploitation (e.g., affectionate paternalism). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 138 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Perhaps a victim of his time, he overlooked, as Rudman describes it, the “ordinariness of gender prejudice.” Only two pages of his book (pp. 33– 4) were dedicated to an analysis of sexism. Several chapters in our volume (Eagly & Diekman, Jackman, and Rudman) redress this oversight, drawing attention not only to the issue of sexism, but also to the inadequacy of defining prejudice solely as an antipathy. The consequence of this challenge to conceptions of the nature of prejudice is profound, suggesting that prejudice comes in qualitatively different forms, such as an ostensibly benevolent paternalism that disadvantages groups without apparent antipathy, that Allport and, for many years, the rest of the field, simply missed. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 139 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sentimentality toward animals is a disguised form of disdain — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 437; Paternalistic prejudice combines assumed superiority with caretaking toward warm but incompetent groups. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 257; Modern antiblack bias stems from perceived value violations, not biological inferiority claims — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 32 (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• Defining prejudice as antipathy blinds the field to paternalistic control forms #corroborates (0.97) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 138
• Prejudice takes benevolent paternalistic forms that disadvantage groups without antipathy #expands (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 139
• Defining prejudice solely as antipathy blindspots subtler forms of domination #corroborates (0.95)
• Prejudice can operate as benevolence, not only antipathy #corroborates (0.92)
• Prejudice is antipathy based on inflexible generalization, not mere misperception #complicates (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2565