Shaun Wiley

Born in the USA: How immigrant generation shapes meritocracy and its relation to ethnic identity and collective action.

Endorsing meritocracy can make low-status group members more accepting of inequality. This study examined whether rejecting meritocracy is related to increased ethnic identification among Latino immigrants, and whether identity in turn is related to increased support for collective action. We hypothesize that these relationships depend upon immigrant generation. A survey was conducted with 184 first- and second-generation Latino immigrants in New York City. Second-generation Latinos endorsed meritocracy less than those in the first generation, at least in part because they perceived that other Americans viewed their group in a less positive light (i.e., lower public regard). Further, meritocracy was negatively linked to ethnic identity and, through it, support for collective action among the second generation. Among the first generation, meritocracy was not related to ethnic identity and was positively related to support for collective action. We discuss the implications of growing up near the bottom of the U.S. social hierarchy for ethnic identity and collective action.

Positive Portrayals of Feminist Men Increase Men’s Solidarity With Feminists and Collective Action Intentions

The present study examined whether positive portrayals of feminist men could increase men’s sense of solidarity with feminists and, through it, their intentions to engage in collective action in support of women. A sample of 102 mostly White men between the ages of 18 and 63 was recruited from Mechanical Turk, an online crowdsourcing marketplace. They were exposed to a short article either portraying feminist men in a positive light, a negative light, or describing the history of feminism without mentioning men. Men who read the positive portrayal article expressed more solidarity with feminists and greater intentions to engage in collective action in support of women than men who read either the history of feminism article or the negative portrayal article. Feminist solidarity fully mediated the relationship between positive portrayals of feminist men and collective action intentions. Consistent with research among women, the findings demonstrate that feeling connected to feminists is an important antecedent of men’s collective action in support of women. They also suggest a novel approach for involving men in collective action in support of women: building a positive image of feminist men. The implications of the findings for the men’s role in the feminist movement are discussed.

Rejection-(dis)identification and ethnic political engagement among first-generation Latino immigrants to the United States.

Immigrants to the United States face rejection from other Americans on the basis of their ethnic group membership. Among members of ethnic minority groups who were born in the United States, rejection is tied to higher ethnic identification and less positive attitudes toward the national majority. Relatively little research has examined this relationship among first-generation immigrants (i.e., people who were born in another country but who migrated to the United States) or has considered political engagement on behalf of ones ethnic group as an outcome. In this study we examined the relationship among ethnic-based rejection, ethnic and national identification, and ethnic political engagement among first-generation Latino immigrants in the northeastern United States. We found that first-generation Latino immigrants who perceived ethnic-based rejection were less likely to identify with Americans and less likely to report willingness to engage politically on behalf of their ethnic group in the United States. Perceived rejection was not significantly associated with ethnic identification, which was not related to ethnic political engagement. The study demonstrates that ethnic-based rejection has unique implications for identification and ethnic political engagement among first-generation Latino immigrants.

Moving People and Shifting Representations

The movement of people from one nation-state to another has become a dominant issue in these early years of the twenty-first century, engaging politicians, social scientists, and the general public throughout the world. The demographic data are striking in terms of both the absolute number of people who are moving and in the steadily increasing trend. In the year 2000, for example, nearly 180 million people were immigrants, moving from one country to another (United Nations 2002). The often-violent ramifications of this human movement can be seen in countries throughout the world—in the vigilante border patrols on the Mexican border of the United States, the unrest of Arab immigrants in Paris suburbs, and the political rhetoric and candidate assassination in the Netherlands.

One of us? How leaders can use subtle identity performances to build trust among ingroups and outgroups:

Leaders often face the dilemma of earning trust among different subgroups. How can leaders “reach across the aisle” to build trust among outgroup members without alienating their own ingroup in the process? We suggest one solution is for leaders to couple their efforts to appeal to the outgroup with subtle identity performances, behavioral cues that ingroup members understand as prototypical, but that are effectively invisible to outgroup members who are not familiar with ingroup symbols and norms. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the leader’s group membership (ingroup or outgroup) and favoritism (ingroup favoritism, outgroup favoritism, or outgroup favoritism with a subtle identity performance). Results show that leaders can maximize their perceived prototypicality, fairness, and trust among the ingroup and outgroup if outgroup favoritism is coupled with a subtle identity performance for the ingroup.