Vigilance about bias can be adaptive and self-esteem protective

Evidence

It appears that internalizing stigma either does not occur or does not have the negative effects previously theorized. A fairly robust debate has arisen about whether stigma can itself be self-protective (see Crocker & Major, 1989; Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000; see also Major & Vick, ch. 9 this volume). That is, if people perceive, as Allport proposed, that others generally devalue their social group, and by extension themselves, it could lead them either to internalize that devaluation (thus diminishing selfesteem) or to reject the prejudiced other as a standard of evaluation or comparison. In the latter case, negative feedback from people believed to be prejudiced is discounted; victims of discrimination can dismiss the other’s views as irrational and unfounded because they can be attributed to bias (Crocker & Major, 1989). By this analysis, being sensitive to and vigilant about biased perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors is adaptive and preserves self-esteem against a backdrop of prevalent discrimination (see Major & Vick, ch. 9 this volume). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1066 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

What is now known as “institutional racism” more broadly implicates the effects of systemic bias that are not necessarily linked to a given person or even racial group ( Jones, 1997). In particular, system blaming and justification are two types of systems perception that have been investigated. System blame, the tendency to perceive structural inequalities as a source of individual and group disadvantage, has been associated with positive self-esteem in Blacks (Crocker, Luhtanen, Brodnax & Blaine, 1999). Targets of discrimination are more likely to believe that outcomes (positive or negative) are due more to structural determinants than personal character (Kleugel & Smith, 1986). Whether this perception is an ego-defensive projection or ideological perception, it is not one of the defenses proposed by Allport. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1070 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Fein and Spencer (1997) found that people who did not have the opportunity to affirm some positive aspect of their self-concepts following self-image threat were more likely than others to derogate and dislike members of stigmatized groups, which, in turn, boosted their selfesteem (see also Kunda & Sinclair, 1999). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2377 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Giving others the benefit of the doubt extends vigilance against one’s own blind spots — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 333; Self-esteem operates implicitly through self-serving judgment biases that also buttress the self. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 152; Attributing disadvantage to structural causes boosts self-esteem in Blacks (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Attributing negative feedback to prejudice protects rather than damages self-esteem #corroborates (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1066
• Attributing disadvantage to structural causes rather than personal character protects self-esteem. #corroborates (0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1070
• Self-image threat increases derogation of stigmatized groups as esteem repair #complicates (0.75) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2377