Egalitarian values clash internally with prejudice, producing conflicted rather than pure attitudes.
Evidence
Allport recognized that high-minded national and Christian egalitarian precepts often conflict with the realities of life on the ground; that is, with the self-interests, jealousies, and conformity to conventional prejudices that drive discrimination in practice. As a result, the influence of the school may conflict with parental influence, and religious teachings may contradict established social hierarchies. Sometimes bias predominates, but, in Allport’s view, prejudice with compunction, in which positive attitudes alternate with negative attitudes, is far more common. This inconsistency is awkward to live with, because, as Allport (1954/1979) noted, even if it is “defeated intellectually, prejudice lingers emotionally” (p. 328). Allport further observed, “The average [White] American, therefore, experiences moral uneasiness and ‘a feeling of individual and collective guilt.’ He lives in a state of conflict” (p. 330). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2160 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Aversive racism pits sincere egalitarian values against unacknowledged anti-Black feelings. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 198; Prejudice targets are caught between heritage and dominant worldviews, destabilizing meaning. — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory: Implications…, 73; Contradictory cultural norms force individuals into conflicting prejudiced and egalitarian stances. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1904 (+9 more)
Broader Connections
- Most prejudice coexists with egalitarian values in a conflicted state, not pure hostility.
#corroborates(0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2160 - Uniformly prejudiced people can exhibit integrated egalitarian behavior when norms differ by context.
#complicates(0.74)