Causal attribution of discrimination and favoritism in a disadvantaged group

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the hypothesis that the need to protect positive self-regards mediates the causal attribution of one's failure to discrimination. Female undergraduates read a scenario in which either the participant herself or another woman (in-group member) took a job interview. The outcome was depicted either as failing (Studies 1 and 2) or passing the interview (Study 2). Participants attributed the failure to gender discrimination only when the interviewers were unanimously sexists. The attribution to discrimination was negatively correlated with the state self-esteem in the social domain. When the protagonist was an in-group member, a moderate level of discrimination was sufficient to elicit the participant' s discrimination attribution. For the positive outcome scenario, the participants were more likely to acknowledge the influence of favoritism on their own success than on other's success. These results suggest that the unwillingness for attributing a failure to discrimination functions for the protection of the self-esteem among the members of a disadvantaged group. Implications for the study of coping strategies used by victims of discrimination are discussed.