Appeasement: Whites' strategic support for affirmative action

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Sociology
• Political Psychology

Background:

• Dominant group members often seek to maintain social hierarchies.
• Intergroup relations can be influenced by perceived threats and status concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether dominant group members appease subordinate groups to protect social hierarchies.
• To examine the conditions under which support for redistributive policies serves as a hierarchy-enhancing strategy.

Main Methods:

• Four experimental studies were conducted.
• Participants were categorized as prohierarchy White individuals.
• Perceptions of intergroup threat, ethnic minority regard, and hierarchy stability were manipulated and measured.

Main Results:

• Prohierarchy Whites perceived greater intergroup threat when ethnic minorities viewed Whites negatively.
• This threat perception led to increased support for redistributive policies (e.g., affirmative action) when hierarchy stability was low.
• Support for redistributive policies was perceived to enhance hierarchy stability.

Conclusions:

• Support for redistributive policies by dominant group members can be motivated by a desire to maintain the status quo.
• Appeasement strategies, including support for certain policies, can function to preserve social hierarchies.