Group prejudice collides with deeply socialized fairness values, exposing holders as hypocrites

Evidence

In recognition of the very real possibility that prejudice may be viewed as unacceptable, Allport opened the “Inner Conflict” chapter, chapter 20, with the following observation: “The course of prejudice in a life seldom runs smoothly. For prejudiced attitudes are almost certain to collide with deep-seated values that are often equally or more central to the personality” (1954/1979, p. 326). The types of deep-seated values that create problems for prejudice are those of fairness, justice, and the humane treatment of others as prescribed by the American Creed and Judeo-Christian values – values that Allport claimed are integral in our socialization as Americans. To the extent that people subscribe to these values, possessing group-based prejudices would by definition collide with them and would reveal those with such prejudices to be hypocrites. Being exposed as a hypocrite is, according to Allport, discomforting to people. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2081 (#expands, via linked claim)

In 1958, Blumer sketched out a tentatively political argument about prejudice – that it was driven by dominant groups’ feelings of threat and sustained by powerful, group-level cultural depictions of subordinates that were designed to protect the dominant group’s “sense of group position” (p. 3). Blumer still emphasized hostility as an intrinsic element of prejudice and the importance of stereotypes in feeding that hostility (albeit at the societal/cultural level rather than at the individual level), and he fell short of an unambiguous political argument (see Jackman, 1994), but he vehemently made the case that prejudice was not the product of individual hostility but a cultural, group-level phenomenon designed to protect the dominant group’s claims to privileged status. His argument was out of step with the Allport paradigm. It was a sleeper. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 653 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Modern prejudice fuses moral values with anti-outgroup affect; Internalized fairness values make group prejudice psychologically intolerable as hypocrisy — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2081; Deep-seated fairness values create inner conflict with prejudice (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Internalized fairness values make group prejudice psychologically intolerable as hypocrisy #expands (0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2081
• Deep-seated fairness values create inner conflict with prejudice #corroborates (0.92)
• Prejudice is a cultural mechanism protecting dominant groups’ privileges #complicates (0.74) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 653