Self-views of disadvantage and success impact perceptions of privilege among White men

Sean Fath, Anyi Ma and Ashleigh Shelby Rosette

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2022, vol. 169, issue C

Abstract: When presented with evidence of their advantages, the privileged often either deny that their social system has accorded them any gains or that social inequity exists altogether. In this research, we draw on two literatures related to self-perception—multiple social categorization and self-image threat—to propose factors that may increase the racial privilege perceptions of White men, a group often in positions of power in the workplace. Across ten studies (N = 5,124) in a workplace context, we find that White men who self-report (Studies 1c, 2a-d, 3) or recall (Studies 1a-b, 4) experience(s) of disadvantage based on a social category (e.g., physical disability) perceive greater White privilege than those without exposure to such disadvantage. Additionally, we find mixed evidence that greater self-reported success at work corresponds to increased perceptions of privilege for White men who have experienced social category-based disadvantage. We discuss these findings, their implications, and future directions.

Keywords: Privilege perceptions; Social categorization; Self-image; Intergroup relations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597821001102
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:169:y:2022:i:c:s0749597821001102

DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.104114

Access Statistics for this article

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes is currently edited by John M. Schaubroeck

More articles in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().