Only widely shared, large-scale frustrations produce consensual scapegoating of a group.
Evidence
Tajfel (1981) and Billig (1976) argue that only large-scale social changes are likely to produce scapegoating of a group. Idiosyncratic frustrations—events that primarily affect one individual, not many—do not lead to widespread, consensual scapegoating. If one individual is frustrated because of conflict in his marriage, another because she has not been promoted at work, and a third because of a tax audit, it is unlikely that these three will all independently decide to blame the Jews. Frustrations that are specific to individuals, not widely shared, typically demand explanations that fit into the context of each of those particular individuals’ lives (e.g., problems in one’s marriage will be blamed on one’s spouse or interfering in-laws, not on an outside social group). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 789
Categorization
- DEFINE: Operationalizes the distinction between idiosyncratic and socially shared frustration that determines whether blame lands on a group at all.
- SHARE: The marriage/work/tax-audit example — three unrelated personal grievances never converging on ‘the Jews’ — is a nerdy, precise illustration worth sending to someone working on blame attribution.
- XREF: connects to: Frustrated basic needs drive groups to scapegoat others for destructive fulfillment. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 79; Only groups perceived as powerful and hostile get scapegoated for frustrations — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1584; Scapegoating requires large shared frustrations plus a blaming ideology. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 794 (+8 more)
Broader Connections
- Individual-level frustration theories cannot explain why mass scapegoating spreads consensually across a whole society.
#corroborates(0.95) - Shared frustrations from difficult life conditions precede collective scapegoating.
#corroborates(0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1591 - Individual frustrations target persons while shared frustrations target groups.
#corroborates(0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1578 - Shared group-level frustrations, not individual ones, drive blame of outgroups
#corroborates(0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1578 - Mass scapegoating cannot be explained by millions sharing identical individual frustrations.
#corroborates(0.95) - Scapegoating requires large shared frustrations plus a blaming ideology.
#expands(0.90) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 794 - Individual frustrations produce personal blame; group frustrations produce outgroup blame.
#corroborates(0.90) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1578 - Only groups perceived as powerful and hostile get scapegoated for frustrations
#qualifies(0.85) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1584 - Scapegoating operates through collective frustrations and ideology, not individual aggression.
#expands(0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1573 - Group-level frustration explains when scapegoating starts but not who gets blamed.
#complicates(0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1583