Structural Solidarity: The Influence of Group Disadvantage on Intergroup Relations

美国人口的多样性正在增长。 与此同时，人们越来越意识到不同社会群体面临的歧视和不平等。 例子包括性别工资差距、基于种族的住房歧视和基于性别认同的偏见。 对于弱势群体中的人何时认同并支持同一群体的其他成员，我们已经了解得很多。 对于来自一个弱势群体的人如何看待面临不同类型不平等的其他弱势群体成员，人们所知甚少。 属于某一弱势社会群体的人可能认为，他们遭受歧视和不平等的经历与其他弱势群体相似。 因此，他们可能会认同其他群体的成员，并寻求支持他们。 然而，也有可能属于某一弱势群体的人认为他们的经历与其他弱势群体的经历截然不同，因此对支持他们不太感兴趣。 这个项目探讨了这些不同的观点是如何以及为什么发展的。 本研究的重点是人们如何看待自己的不平等以及这如何影响他们对其他群体成员的支持。一系列实验和实地研究的重点是人们对自己群体不平等原因的看法。 一种信仰模式可能将这种不平等归因于其他人的偏见和消极态度。 另一种不同的信念模式可能将不平等归因于社会及其机构的结构方式。 这项工作测试了一个人认为自己的群体由于体制性歧视而面临不平等的信念是否会导致人们支持采取行动减少另一个群体面临的不平等。一些实验还研究了为什么对歧视的体制性理解可能会导致对解决不同群体面临的不平等问题的更多支持的其他解释。 一个适用领域是考虑这种信念是否影响人们对来自另一个弱势社会群体的人提出的歧视案件的看法。这些研究问题和应用程序中的个人从几个不同的弱势群体中解决，检查对多个社会群体的态度和行为。该项目的成果将促进我们了解来自不同弱势社会群体的个人何时将共同努力减少不同类型的不平等。长期目标是了解歧视和不平等的经历如何影响来自不同社会群体的人彼此之间的关系。 获得这种更深入的科学理解将为如何在日益多样化的国家减少冲突和支持更健康的人际关系提供洞察力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The population of the United States is growing in its diversity. At the same time, people are increasingly aware of discrimination and inequality faced by different social groups. Examples include the gender pay gap, race-based housing discrimination, and prejudice based on gender identity. Much is known about when people within a disadvantaged group identify with and support other members of the same group. Less is known about how people from one disadvantaged group view members of other disadvantaged groups who face a different type of inequality. People who belong to one disadvantaged social group may think that their experiences with discrimination and inequality are similar to those of other disadvantaged groups. As a result, they may identify with members of the other group and seek to support them. However, it is also possible that people who belong to one disadvantaged group see their experiences as very different than those of other disadvantaged groups, and therefore take less interest in supporting them. This project explores how and why these different perspectives develop. This research focuses on the ways in which people think about their own inequality and how that may influence their support for members of other groups.A series of experiments and field studies focus on the beliefs that people have about the causes of their own group's inequality. One pattern of beliefs may attribute such inequality to the prejudices and negative attitudes of other individuals. A different pattern of beliefs may attribute inequality to the ways that society and its institutions are structured. This work tests if beliefs that one's own group faces inequality because of institutional discrimination will lead people to support action to reduce inequality faced by another group. Several experiments also examine alternative explanations for why institutional understandings of discrimination may lead to more support for addressing inequality faced by different groups. One area of application considers whether such beliefs influence people's opinions about discrimination cases brought by a person from another disadvantaged social group. These research questions and applications are addressed among individuals from several different disadvantaged groups, examining attitudes and behavior towards multiple social groups. The results of this project will advance our understanding of when individuals from different disadvantaged social groups will work together to reduce different types of inequalities. The long-term goal is to understand how experiences with discrimination and inequality may influence how people from different social groups relate to one another. Gaining this deeper scientific understanding will provide insight into how to reduce conflict and support healthier interpersonal relationships in an increasingly diverse nation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.