System Justification theory: a new perspective on the problem of inequality

This article outlines the concept of system justification proposed by J. Jost and M. Banaji. Motivational basis of system justification as well as the core assumption that low-status individuals tend to justify the existing system more than high-status individuals are described thoroughly. The factors that enhance system justification motivation as well as the relations between system justification and behavioral patterns that preserve social inequality are described in specific paragraphs.

Police brutality and four other ways racism kills Black people

Purpose

This article was written in response to the #BlackLivesMatter social justice protests that erupted around the world in response to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery in 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

This article weaves personal experiences, published research and current events and social issues to build the case that there are many ways that racism kills Black people.

Findings

Although antiblack police brutality looms largely in people's minds of how racism kills Black people, less conspicuous ways that racism kills Black people are often overlooked.

Originality/value

In this article, the author highlights: (1) the perennial expectation that Black people cater to other people's needs and desires; (2) performative activism and allyship; (3) assigning Black people the responsibility for fixing racism and (4) thinking education, mentoring or wealth is the panacea for racism as these less conspicuous ways that racism kills Black people.

Primes and Consequences: A Systematic Review of Meritocracy in Intergroup Relations

Psychological interest in Meritocracy as an important social norm regulating most of the western democratic societies has significantly increased over the years. However, the way Meritocracy has been conceptualized and operationalized in experimental studies has advanced in significant ways. As a result, a variety of paradigms arose to understand the social consequences of Meritocracy for intergroup relations; in particular, to understand the adverse consequences of Meritocracy for disadvantaged group members. The present research seeks to understand whether there is strong support for the idea that (manipulated) Meritocracy disproportionally affects members of low status groups, and also to understand which specific components of this norm have been successfully manipulated and to what consequences. And this is particularly important given the recent call for greater transparency in how the success of experimental manipulations is reported. Thus, we carried out a systematic review examining the content of different prime tasks, summarizing prime manipulation checks' effectiveness, and analyzing whether priming Meritocracy leads to less favorable orientations toward low status groups. Results across 33 studies revealed that despite the existing differences in the components highlighted, the salience of any of the Meritocracy dimensions facilitates the use of internal causal attributions, negative evaluations and stereotyping toward low status groups, affecting negatively decisions involving low-status group members, particularly in specific domains, as organizational contexts. These results carry both practical and theoretical implications for future research on the role of Meritocracy in intergroup settings.

System justification moderates the relation between hostile (but not benevolent) sexism in the workplace and state anxiety: An experimental study

In an experimental vignette study performed with 92 Portuguese women, we analyzed the relations between exposure to hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) in a workplace context, system justification (SJ), and anxiety, measured after participants were exposed to an HS, a BS, or a neutral communication about the context of the industry they would have worked in, if selected. The results indicated that both HS and BS fostered participants' anxiety, and that SJ moderated the relation between HS and anxiety. Anxiety was highest among participants low in SJ. Main contributions of the study, limitations, and possible future research directions are discussed.

Perceived social support as a moderator between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among people with physical disabilities in Israel

PURPOSE

Perceived social support has gained importance as a significant preventive factor of depressive symptoms and as helpful for rebuilding feelings of self-worth and subjective well-being among people with physical disabilities. The current study examined whether perceived social support moderates the association between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among people with physical disabilities in Israel.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were collected by means of structured questionnaires among a convenience sample of 433 people with physical disabilities in Israel and hierarchical multiple regression was performed.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The findings reveal that perceived social support has a moderating role in the association between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among people with physical disabilities, such that those with low and moderate levels of perceived social support showed a negative association between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being, while those with high levels of perceived social support showed no association between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. Findings are discussed in light of the social model of disability, and practical implications are suggested. Implications for Rehabilitation A negative association was found between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among people with physical disabilities with low and moderate levels of perceived social support. Professionals working with people with physical disabilities must acknowledge the importance of social support for people with physical disabilities and for their families. Professionals working with people with physical disabilities should take a proactive approach to locating disabled people who do not receive or do not have adequate social support and offer them assistance. Professionals working with people with physical disabilities should engage in wide social activities aimed at providing resources and opportunities to service beneficiaries. Society bears the collective responsibility to act in order to reduce the social problem of discrimination against people with disabilities, as well as to raise public awareness of this issue.

Individual Differences in the Resistance to Social Change and Acceptance of Inequality Predict System Legitimacy Differently Depending on the Social Structure

We propose that individual differences in the resistance to social change and the acceptance of inequality can have divergent effects on legitimacy depending on the context. This possibility was tested in a sample of 27 European countries (N = 144 367) and across four experiments (total N = 475). Individual differences in the resistance to social change were related to higher levels of perceived legitimacy no matter the level of inequality of the society. Conversely, individual differences in the acceptance of inequality were related to higher levels of perceived legitimacy in unequal societies, but either a relationship near zero or the opposite relationship was found in more equal societies. These studies highlight the importance of distinguishing between individual differences that make up political ideology, especially when making predictions in diverse settings. © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

Just World Beliefs Are Associated With Lower Levels of Metabolic Risk and Inflammation and Better Sleep After an Unfair Event

This study's goal was to conduct a preliminary test of the theory that just world beliefs can buffer against negative physiological outcomes after people experience certain types of negative life events by testing associations between just world beliefs and physiological outcomes among people with different life event histories. In a sample of 247 adults (M_age  = 46.01; 24.31% men; 60.78% White), this research investigated the relationship between just world beliefs and metabolic symptoms, inflammation, and sleep among people who had recently experienced an unfair event, another type of negative event, or no negative event. Stronger just world beliefs correlated with lower metabolic risk, lower inflammation, and better sleep among people who had recently experienced an unfair event, but not among those in the other two event groups. These findings suggest that people's beliefs about the world may interact with their life experiences in ways that have implications for health-relevant outcomes.

"We get what we deserve": the belief in a just world and its health consequences for Blacks

This study explored whether individual differences in the endorsement of the belief that the world is a just place (i.e., the just world belief) would predict individual differences in resilience/vulnerability to the negative health consequences of discrimination. One-hundred and thirty Blacks participated in a vital check and completed a computer-based questionnaire that included measures of the just world belief, perceived discrimination, physical and mental health, and the presence/absence of chronic illnesses. Endorsement of the just world belief was not associated with self-reported physical/mental health; however, it moderated the effects of perceived discrimination on the number of chronic illnesses and systolic blood pressure. These findings suggest that Blacks who believe that the world is a just place where they get what they deserve may be at a particularly higher risk for the negative health consequences of discrimination. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Emotional reactions to unequal payment: The impact of meritocratic ideology and salary negotiability

People respond to low-status inequality with feelings of anger and shame. This work investigates the impact of meritocracy beliefs and implied salary negotiability on individuals’ emotional reactions within a stable status hierarchy. When an unequal system appears negotiable, believing that hard work pays off may decrease anger felt in response to inequality. However, learning that a system is non-negotiable violates expectations associated with meritocratic beliefs, and may therefore increase negative emotion. In two experiments investigating participants’ emotional reactions to payment systems, the more participants endorsed meritocratic ideologies, the less anger they felt when unequal treatment appeared negotiable. Experiment 2 showed that endorsement of meritocracy beliefs increased negative emotions when individuals learned that the unequal payment was non-negotiable. Taken together, this work suggests that it is important to consider beliefs about individual agency alongside system parameters establishing opportunities for individual mobility to understand emotional reactions to unequal treatment.

Self-Reported Experiences of Discrimination and Cardiovascular Disease

Researchers have long speculated that exposure to discrimination may increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk but compared to other psychosocial risk factors, large-scale epidemiologic and community based studies examining associations between reports of discrimination and CVD risk have only emerged fairly recently. This review summarizes findings from studies of self-reported experiences of discrimination and CVD risk published between 2011-2013. We document the innovative advances in recent work, the notable heterogeneity in these studies, and the considerable need for additional work with objective clinical endpoints other than blood pressure. Implications for the study of racial disparities in CVD and clinical practice are also discussed.