Fathali M. Moghaddam

Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: From acceptance to collective protest.

The question addressed is, when do disadvantaged-group members accept their situation, take individual action, or attempt to instigate collective action? Ss attempted to move from a low-status group into an advantaged, high-status group and were asked to respond to their subsequent rejecxad tion. Ss who believed that the high-status group was open to members of their group endorsed acceptance and individual actions. When access to the high-status group was restricted, even to the point of being almost closed (tokenism), Ss still preferred individual action. Disruptive forms of collective action were only favored by Ss who were told that the high-status group was completely closed to members oftheirgroup. Ss who believed they were near togainingentry into the high-staxad tus group favored individual protest, while Ss distant from entry were more likely to accept their position. The theoretical and societal implications ofthese findings are discussed.

The Personal/Group Discrimination Discrepancy: Perceiving My Group, but not Myself, to be a Target for Discrimination

An unexpected finding that has surfaced in research on discrimination is that respondents perceive a higher level of discrimination directed at their group as a whole than at themselves as individual members of that group. The present study directly tested this personal/group discrepancy by focusing on two groups of Canadian immigrants who have been the targets of much discrimination, Haitian and South Asian women. Respondents were questioned about their personal and group discrimination on four separate dimensions: race, culture, status as newcomers to Canada, and gender Strong support was found for the generality of the personal/group discrimination discrepancy. Three possible explanations for the discrepancy point to possible avenues for future research: the denial of personal discrimination, the exaggeration of group discrimination, and information-processing biases.

Disadvantaged Group Response to Perceived Inequality: From Passive Acceptance to Collective Action

Abstract Two experiments using the same paradigm were conducted to examine when members of a disadvantaged group will accept their situation, take individual action, or engage in collective action. In both experiments, Canadian undergraduate subjects received feedback that they had been unsuccessful in their attempt to gain entrance into a high status group. Experiment 1 involved a justice manipulation in which the main hypothesis was that collective action would be associated with procedural injustice, whereas distributive injustice would lead to individualistic action. The main hypothesis of Experiment 2 was that collective action would be instigated by those who are extremely close to gaining entry to the high status group. Although only partial support was obtained for the hypotheses, it was possible to specify conditions that discriminate between individual and collective action.

ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR TOWARD HUMAN RIGHTS ACROSS DIFFERENT CONTEXTS: THE ROLE OF RIGHT‐WING AUTHORITARIANISM, POLITICAL IDEOLOGY, AND RELIGIOSITY*

Abstract Three studies were carried out to examine attitudes and behavior toward human rights. ‘Universal’ human rights implies that there should be cross-situational consistency in attitudes and behavior toward human rights. An alternative interpretation is that attitudes and behavior toward human rights may shift across contexts, as a function of ideology. We reasoned that Canadian subjects would be more critical of the human rights records of Soviet and the Third World societies, and thus show stronger support for human rights in these than in Canadian society. Hypothesis two predicted that right-wing political ideology and support for human rights would be negatively correlated in contexts Canada and Third World, but not in the Soviet context; hypothesis three predicted the same pattern of associations between religiosity and support for human rights. Hypothesis four predicted that authoritarians, because of their fundamental opposition to individual liberties, would oppose human rights in all context...

A Generalized Personal/Group Discrepancy: Testing the Domain Specificity of a Perceived Higher Effect of Events on One's Group than on Oneself

Studies on the personal/group discrimination discrepancy show individuals to perceive higher levels of discrimination directed at their group as a whole than at themselves personally. The authors hypothesized that the discrepancy is not restricted to the domain of discrimination. Research participants in Studies I and 2 completed questionnaires asking them to rate the degree to which they personally, their close friends, their gender group, and the general population (in Study 2, the average person in these groups) were affected by events in eight domains, including gender discrimination. In both studies, participants rated group levels of affectedness higher than personal levels, demonstrating a generalized personal/group discrepancy. Study 3 showed that this discrepancy also extends to positive events, thus arguing against a denial hypothesis and perhaps supporting an availability heuristic interpretation.

Attitudes and Attributions Related to Psychological Symptomatology in Indian Immigrant Women

This study explored the patterns of attitudes and attributions associated with relatively high and low distress among a sample of (N = 104) immigrant women from India living in Montreal. Results showed the high distress group to be less satisfied with their roles in the home and in the job market, to be more in favor of modem sex roles, to want less to pass on traditional sex roles to their children, to attribute success and failure more to their own personal characteristics and less to destiny, and to perceive more racial discrimination in society. The findings underline the value of differentiating between aspects of immigration and incorporating social psychological variables in studies of possible links between immigration and distress.

What Constitutes an ‘Appropriate Psychology’ for the Developing World?

Abstract The impact of psychology on the developing world has begun to receive some attention, but there is a need for theoretical concepts in order to provide a framework for critical discussion. Using the concepts ‘dual perception’ and ‘parallel growth’ (Moghaddam and Taylor 1985) as a framework, the concept of ‘appropriate psychology’ is introduced to assess the transfer of psychology from the developed to the developing world. Six criteria for evaluating appropriateness are discussed: self-reliance, needs responsiveness, cultural compatability. institutional feasibility, economic suitability and political practicality.

Out-group Similarity and Intergroup Bias

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to illuminate the role of out-group similarity in intergroup behavior. A pilot study provided a “trivial” and an “important” basis of similarity for the subject population. In Experiment 1, British students (N = 36) whose in-group was formed on a “chance” basis were positively biased toward an out-group that was similar on both an important and a trivial criterion, demonstrating that similarity can have a more powerful effect on intergroup bias than social categorization. In Experiment 2, the effect of similarity promoted repulsion rather than attraction, when subjects (N = 36) were similar to both the in-group and the out-group on an important criterion. Findings suggest that the differentiation-provoking effect of similarity may come into play after identification has taken place with an in-group when the in-group is subjectively defined on the basis of similarity or “objectively” established on the basis of social categorization.

Social Comparison in an Intergroup Context

Abstract Social comparisons in a real intergroup context involving Anglophones and Francophones from Quebec, Canada, were examined. Three hypotheses were proposed: A variety of potential comparisons arise in an intergroup context, three different motivations for social comparison in an intergroup situation (reality testing, group enhancement, equity appeal) are associated with predictably different targets for comparison, and social comparisons are linked to feelings and actions. Some support for all three hypotheses was found. We suggest that the major dilemmas confronting social comparison theory could be approached more effectively if researchers studying comparisons at the individual level and those interested in intergroup comparisons worked more in concert.

Psychology in the developing world: An evaluation through the concepts of "dual perception" and "parallel growth."

Most psychologists in developed naxad tions are unaware of fundamental difxad ferences in the ways their discipline is practiced in developing countries. Those with CToss-cultural interests are beginning to sensitize mainstream psychologists to some of the issues through such publications as the Jourxad nal of CroSS-ClIllIIral Psychology and the Handbook of Cross-Cllltural Psyxad chology (Triandis. 1980-1981), and awareness ofthe insularity ofAmerxad ican psychology is increasing (Kenxad nedy. Scheirer. & Rogers, 1984). But there is still a need for more informaxad tion exchange. especially in the form of theoretical concepts to help explain the state of the discipline in the develxad oping world. We introduce two concepts-dllal perception and parallel growth. The term dualism is already well estabxad lished in the social sciences through such concepts as dual society and dual economy (e.g.. Jorgensen. 1967). Dualism refers to the existence of two sectors. one modem and the other traxad ditional. that coexist in the same