Prejudice surges against group members who seek new social roles

Evidence

When social, political, or economic circumstances change, group members may attempt to gain access to roles they have not previously occupied. For example, the decline of birth rates in industrialized countries (United Nations, 2001) and the mechanization and commercialization of domestic labor has changed the status of women. Similarly, African Americans’ status changed when they migrated from the rural South to the urban North in the United States (Lemann, 1991). As large numbers of group members attempt to move into nontraditional roles, prejudice becomes a recognized social issue. Group members are thought to fit their traditional niches – that is, to have special qualities that enable them to do the work their group has always done. For example, 44 percent of survey respondents in the United States believed that it would be “worse for society” if most family providers were women and most of their spouses stayed home to raise children (Roper Center, 2000), presumably because of widely held beliefs that women are better suited to childrearing than men are. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 206 (#expands, via linked claim)

The role-incongruity perspective suggests that even apparently inflexible stereotypes eventually change to the extent that change occurs in the roles that group members typically occupy. … Work on dynamic stereotypes (Diekman & Eagly, 2000) has documented that people perceive women as increasing in masculine characteristics from the past to the present; these new beliefs correspond to women’s shift into traditionally male-dominated roles. … Moreover, perceivers anticipate that the evaluation of women’s male-stereotypical attributes will become more positive over time (Diekman & Goodfriend, 2004). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 222 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Despite this emphasis on inflexibility, Allport (1954/1979) also acknowledged groups’ mobility and indeed argued that a social system itself can contribute to social change: “Our very gusto for change may bring it about, if anything can. A social system does not necessarily retard change; sometimes it encourages it” (p. 507). As a society becomes acclimated to new economic, political, social, and technological realities, new qualities are cultivated and valued in its citizens. As we have argued, new realities lead individuals to seek out new roles – often roles for which members of their group are thought to be unsuited. Group members who succeed in their new roles contribute to the redefinition of their group stereotype and a reduction of prejudice. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 226 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Prejudice surfaces when groups seek roles they have not previously held — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 206; Prejudice strikes groups entering roles incongruent with their stereotypes; Prejudice targets individuals whose group stereotypes clash with role requirements. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 198 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Prejudice surfaces when groups seek roles they have not previously held #expands (0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 206
• Group members succeeding in new roles redefine stereotypes and reduce prejudice #complicates (0.82) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 222
• New economic realities push group members into novel roles that reduce prejudice #complicates (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 226
• Negative overall stereotypes block group access to desirable social roles. #complicates (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 213