Intergroup discrimination is driven by rational self-interest and control, not hatred

Evidence

I propose instead that discrimination and violence are driven by self-interested, rational, political motives. The central motivator for dominant groups in unequal social relations is not hatred, but the desire to control. As they seek to lock in the social, economic, and political benefits of long-term relations of inequality, indiscriminate hostility is too incendiary to be effective. By contrast, positive beliefs and feelings – when offered on a conditional basis – have an unrivaled potency. Contrary to Allport’s model, privileged groups thus strive to maintain amicable relations with subordinates. The dominant group’s success in this endeavor is constrained by the institutional structure of their relations with subordinates. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 641

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the author’s own earlier chapter on Allport’s hostility-causes-prejudice model; also echoes the ‘social dominance’ literature and Milgrom/Shapiro work on institutions constraining behavior. — connects to: the MOC “The Enemy-Making Machine: Ours, True, and the Identity That Defends Both”
• QUESTION: How does ‘conditional positive beliefs’ reconcile with actual historical instances of overt hatred? Which conditions of institutional structure make conditional positivity versus open hostility the winning strategy?
• ADDENDUM: Parallels the ‘On Sacrifice’ piece: both argue that apparent sentiment is actually a rational instrument of stratification maintenance.