AI Article Synopsis
- The article explores how legitimizing discriminatory behavior can protect self-esteem by analyzing how perceived threats can justify such behavior.
- In three studies, participants reported lower self-esteem after realizing their own discrimination, but this effect was diminished when they perceived their actions as justified by threats.
- Results indicated that more egalitarian individuals experienced a decrease in self-esteem due to discrimination awareness, while less egalitarian individuals were more concerned about their social image instead.
Article Abstract
This article analyzes the ego-defensive role played by legitimation, by examining the hypothesis that threat-based justifications attenuate the negative effect on an individual's self-esteem caused by his or her becoming aware of his or her own discriminatory behavior. Across three studies (including a pilot experiment), participants who were led to believe that they had acted in a discriminatory way experienced a decrease in their self-esteem. In Study 1 ( N = 116), this effect was nullified when discrimination was justified by either symbolic or realistic threat perceptions. Study 2 ( N = 250) replicated this pattern of results and went further by showing that discrimination affects self-esteem only in more egalitarian individuals, whereas for those less egalitarian, it affects their social image. According to the ego-defensive role of legitimation, a meta-analytical integration of the results confirmed that the influence of discrimination in depressing self-esteem is moderated by threat-based justifications.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167218771007 | DOI Listing |
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