Structural Solidarity: The Influence of Group Disadvantage on Intergroup Relations

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The population of the United States is growing in its diversity. At the same time, people are increasingly aware of discrimination and inequality faced by different social groups. Examples include the gender pay gap, race-based housing discrimination, and prejudice based on gender identity. Much is known about when people within a disadvantaged group identify with and support other members of the same group. Less is known about how people from one disadvantaged group view members of other disadvantaged groups who face a different type of inequality. People who belong to one disadvantaged social group may think that their experiences with discrimination and inequality are similar to those of other disadvantaged groups. As a result, they may identify with members of the other group and seek to support them. However, it is also possible that people who belong to one disadvantaged group see their experiences as very different than those of other disadvantaged groups, and therefore take less interest in supporting them. This project explores how and why these different perspectives develop. This research focuses on the ways in which people think about their own inequality and how that may influence their support for members of other groups. A series of experiments and field studies focus on the beliefs that people have about the causes of their own group's inequality. One pattern of beliefs may attribute such inequality to the prejudices and negative attitudes of other individuals. A different pattern of beliefs may attribute inequality to the ways that society and its institutions are structured. This work tests if beliefs that one's own group faces inequality because of institutional discrimination will lead people to support action to reduce inequality faced by another group. Several experiments also examine alternative explanations for why institutional understandings of discrimination may lead to more support for addressing inequality faced by different groups. One area of application considers whether such beliefs influence people's opinions about discrimination cases brought by a person from another disadvantaged social group. These research questions and applications are addressed among individuals from several different disadvantaged groups, examining attitudes and behavior towards multiple social groups. The results of this project will advance our understanding of when individuals from different disadvantaged social groups will work together to reduce different types of inequalities. The long-term goal is to understand how experiences with discrimination and inequality may influence how people from different social groups relate to one another. Gaining this deeper scientific understanding will provide insight into how to reduce conflict and support healthier interpersonal relationships in an increasingly diverse nation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.