The Enterprising Self and Prejudices toward Unemployed Persons

Abstract

This research tries to build bridges between sociological and social psychological theoretical ideas for the study of social inequality in neoliberal societies. It adds to research on social inequality by examining amplifiers of prejudices toward unemployed persons. A conceptual model has been developed which draws upon social dominance theory and governmentality studies. The empirical analyses guided by this model assess the mediating effects of the enterprising self – a newly developed attitude measure based on sociological analyses of contemporary self-help literature – and the Protestant Work Ethic in the relationship between social dominance orientation and prejudices toward unemployed persons, both depending on social status. Conditional process models reveal the phenomenon of ideological asymmetry relevant for the enterprising self, indicating that this neoliberal guiding principle serves as a dominant driving force in reproducing social inequality through mechanisms at the intergroup-level.