Perceived competence in envied outgroups fuels resentment-driven prejudice rather than reducing it.

Evidence

Social psychologists have tended to assume that prejudice involves simultaneous dislike and disrespect for an out-group. Our data suggest, however, that out-group prejudice often focuses on dislike or disrespect but not both. High-status out-groups may elicit an envious mixture of admiration (rather than disrespect) plus intense dislike motivated by a sense of threat (for dangerous competitors). Thus, a person’s belief that Asian Americans, Jews, and businesswomen are competent (perhaps even hypercompetent) may only add fuel to the fire of prejudice. Anti-Semites, for instance, often believe outrageous conspiracy theories of Jewish economic and social influence. In this case, positive stereotypes of an out-group’s competence (along with correspondingly negative stereotypes of the group’s lack of warmth and ill intentions) drive a particularly dangerous form of prejudice that all too often results in extreme forms of violence (Glick, in press; Glick & Fiske, 2001b). Agreeing that “Jews are extraordinarily clever” is at least as likely to indicate dangerously anti-Semitic prejudice as the lack of it (Wilson, 1996). — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 302

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the reader’s stated purpose: the bridge between respected-but-disliked (high-competence, low-warmth) groups and powerful-minority scapegoating. Also connects to conspiracy theories about elite minorities generally. — connects to: Perceived status drives competence judgments while perceived competition strips warmth from envied outgroups — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 42; Envied high-status groups are blamed for their position via perceived control over success. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 258; Envious and paternalistic prejudices are psychologically consistent mixed feelings, not ambivalent ones. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 301 (+10 more)
• CANDY: The point that calling Jews ‘extraordinarily clever’ is itself an anti-Semitic signal is a striking, quotable inversion.
• QUESTION: The competence-as-fuel claim invites the question of how this mechanism plays out locally - which groups would the reader’s own context designate hypercompetent-and-threatened?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 302

Broader Connections

• Perceived rather than actual conflict drives intergroup prejudice #expands (0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3317
• Prejudice motivates perceived group differences rather than emerging from them #complicates (0.82) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 892
• Intergroup hostility biases how people judge group differences by valence #corroborates (0.82) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 863
• Perceived resource scarcity combined with a competitive outgroup triggers instrumental prejudice. #expands (0.80) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1489
• Prejudice serves dual functions of lowering outgroup worth and boosting ingroup entitlement #expands (0.75)
• Groups respond to perceived competition through outgroup derogation, ingroup enhancement, and status-quo-preserving discrimination #complicates (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1509
• Individual and intergroup theories of prejudice may share underlying motivational mechanisms. #complicates (0.72) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2492