Victims of inequality can unknowingly adopt beliefs that perpetuate their own disadvantage

Evidence

A recently identified problem for prejudice victims stems from false consciousness – the idea that one may hold a complex set of beliefs that are both false and contrary to one’s social interest. In general, these beliefs justify a system of inequality in which victims find themselves (see Jackman and Jost & Hamilton, chs. 6 and 13 this volume). The net result is that actions based on such beliefs further one’s disadvantaged position in society. System justification is characterized by psychological tendencies that include failure to perceive injustice and disadvantage, justification of social roles, false attribution of blame, identification with the oppressor, and resistance to change. System justification helps to explain negative self-stereotyping by disadvantaged group members and implicates an unwitting complicity of victims in their victimization. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1071 (#expands, via linked claim)

Central to this discussion is the concept of false consciousness, defined here as the holding of beliefs that are contrary to one’s personal or group interest and which thereby contribute to the maintenance of the disadvantaged position of the self or the group (cf. Cunningham, 1987; Eagleton, 1991; Elster, 1982; Meyerson, 1991). Examples might include “accommodation to material insecurity or deprivation” (Parkin, 1971, p. 90), developing “needs which perpetuate toil, aggressiveness, misery, and injustice” (Marcuse, 1964, p. 5), deriving a “kind of comfort from believing that [one’s] sufferings are unavoidable or deserved” (Wood, 1988, p. 359), and thinking that “whatever rank is held by individuals in the social order represents their intrinsic worth” (McMurtry, 1978, p. 149). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2876 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Victims of persecution develop distorting stereotypes that endanger their own survival chances; Meritocracy belief blames excluded individuals for their own exclusion — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 711; Development economics RCTs blame individuals while ignoring poverty’s structural causes — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 289 (+19 more)

Broader Connections

• Victims can internalize beliefs that actively worsen their own disadvantage. #expands (0.93) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1071
• Disadvantaged groups routinely adopt beliefs that perpetuate their own subordination #expands (0.92) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2876