Negational identity may stem from low-status individuals’ need to feel superior

Evidence

One possibility is that negational identities are the result of a motivation to escape low status or a strategy for bolstering self-esteem (Fein & Spencer, 1997). That is, if people are not in a position to celebrate who or what they are (e.g., poor, uncultured, unskilled whites), then they might be more likely to resort to celebrating what they are not (e.g., black). This might explain why negational identities may be more closely tied to out-group derogation than in-group favoritism. However, it is not clear whether membership in racist groups is associated with low socioeconomic status. Although Ezekiel (2002) reported that many of the neo-Nazi activists he interviewed came from poor homes, other research (Green, Strolovitch, & Wong, 1998) has found no relationship between hate-crime incidents and neighborhood economic status. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1116

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• XREF: Relates to scapegoating theories and the frustration-aggression hypothesis in political psychology.
• QUESTION: Ambiguous evidence on whether white supremacist membership actually correlates with economic deprivation — worth chasing the Green, Strolovitch & Wong data.

Related

• Whites who cannot celebrate their own status may define themselves by not being black. (similarity 0.92)
• Negational identities produce both out-group derogation and in-group favoritism (similarity 0.82)
• Defining identity by who one is not produces out-group hate, not just in-group love (similarity 0.81)