Self-esteem enhancement explains short-term but not chronic outgroup derogation

Evidence

Protecting self from threat and enhancing self constitute related but distinct phenomena. The first one maintains integrity of self and ingroup under threat; the second makes oneself and one’s group seem better than others. Allport certainly endorsed this latter kind of self-enhancement motive, noting, “The very act of affirming our way of life often leads us to the brink of prejudice” (1954/1979, p. 25). Antipathy toward outgroups thus allegedly expresses self-love. This hypothesis has had a rocky history. It seems obvious that people would derogate outgroups in order to enhance the self. But recent research on self-esteem and prejudgment suggests that this holds for state (short-term) more than trait (long-term) self-esteem. One direction (from ingroup favoritism to self-esteem) shows that ingroup favoritism may make people feel better temporarily (Rubin & Hewstone, 1998), but not in the long run (Brown, 1995). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 342

Categorization

• XREF: Directly revisits Allport’s self-love hypothesis from the base text; feeds the vault’s prejudice-psychology thread on motivational accounts of prejudice.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 342