title: Perceiving social inequity: when subordinate-group positioning on one dimension of social hierarchy enhances privilege recognition on another.
abstract: Researchers have suggested that viewing social inequity as dominant-group privilege (rather than subordinate-group disadvantage) enhances dominant-group members' support for social policies aimed at lessening such inequity. However, because viewing inequity as dominant-group privilege can be damaging to dominant-group members' self-images, this perspective is frequently resisted. In the research reported here, we explored the circumstances that enhance the likelihood of dominant-group members' viewing inequity as privilege. Because social hierarchies have multiple vertical dimensions, individuals may have high status on one dimension but low status on another. We predicted that occupying a subordinate position on one dimension of social hierarchy could enhance perceptions of one's own privilege on a different dimension of hierarchy, but that this tendency would be diminished among individuals who felt they had achieved a particularly high level of success. Results from three studies that considered gender-based and race-based hierarchies in organizational settings supported our hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0120, USA. arosette@duke.edu
authors.forename: Ashleigh Shelby
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rosette
authors.forename: Leigh Plunkett
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Tost
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D044469:Racial Groups; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012930:Social Dominance; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: disadvantage; gender; hierarchy; privilege; race; racial and ethnic attitudes and relations; social perception; status