System-justification is underemphasized, not inevitable, in stereotyping research

Evidence

While our aim has been to suggest the importance of system-justification, we recognize that people do not always (consciously or unconsciously) subscribe to beliefs that reinforce the status quo. That is, we do not claim that system-justification always takes place, or that false consciousness is unavoidable in the face of inequality. We do think, however, that psychologists in general and stereotyping researchers in particular have underemphasized the degree to which people persist in explaining and justifying social systems that disadvantage them. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2938

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to the broader system-justification theory literature and to critiques that accuse it of overreach. — connects to: System justification theory attributes stereotype endorsement to status-quo legitimization — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 140; the MOC “The Wound of the Label: When Knowing Someone Becomes a Way of Erasing Them”