System justification can outweigh both ego- and group-interest defense.

Evidence

We argue that justification of the status quo frequently appears to outweigh the individual’s defense of group interests. In cases such as these, negative stereotyping of the in-group seems to serve the function of justifying an unequal state of affairs, even at the expense of personal and group interest (cf. Sidanius & Pratto, 1993). For this reason and others, we postulate a third system-justifying function for the stereotype which is consistent with the idea of false consciousness and is supported by theory and data from experimental social psychology. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2905

Categorization

• XREF: The claim that people act against group interests to affirm the status quo parallels the Frankfurt School chapters on ‘racket theory’ and authoritarian personality studies. — connects to: System-justification motives can override even the defense of one’s own group interests. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2905; People justify the social structure even at the cost of self-enhancement — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 960
• QUESTION: If system-justification overrides group defense, does this close off the possibility that a subordinate group could collectively and strategically deploy essentialist identity claims, since such claims presume undamaged group agency?

Broader Connections

• System-justification motives can override even the defense of one’s own group interests. #corroborates (0.98) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2905
• People justify the social structure even at the cost of self-enhancement #corroborates (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 960