A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo

Most theories in social and political psychology stress self-interest, intergroup conflict, ethnocentrism, homophily, ingroup bias, outgroup antipathy, dominance, and resistance. System justification theory is influenced by these perspectives—including social identity and social dominance theories—but it departs from them in several respects. Advocates of system justification theory argue that (a) there is a general ideological motive to justify the existing social order, (b) this motive is at least partially responsible for the internalization of inferiority among members of disadvantaged groups, (c) it is observed most readily at an implicit, nonconscious level of awareness and (d) paradoxically, it is sometimes strongest among those who are most harmed by the status quo. This article reviews and integrates 10 years of research on 20 hypotheses derived from a system justification perspective, focusing on the phenomenon of implicit outgroup favoritism among members of disadvantaged groups (including African Americans, the elderly, and gays/lesbians) and its relation to political ideology (especially liberalism-conservatism).

[1]  Aaron C. Kay,et al.  Exposure to benevolent sexism and complementary gender stereotypes: consequences for specific and diffuse forms of system justification. , 2005, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[2]  S. Reicher,et al.  The Context of Social Identity: Domination, Resistance, and Change , 2004 .

[3]  L. Huddy.  Contrasting Theoretical Approaches to Intergroup Relations , 2004 .

[4]  M. Hewstone,et al.  Social Identity, System Justification, and Social Dominance: Commentary on Reicher, Jost et al., and Sidanius et al. , 2004 .

[5]  Elizabeth W. Dunn,et al.  When to Fire: Anticipatory Versus Postevent Reconstrual of Uncontrollable Events , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[6]  H. Tajfel,et al.  The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. , 2004 .

[7]  J. Jost,et al.  Resistant versus Acquiescent Responses to Ingroup Inferiority as a Function of Social Dominance Orientation in the USA and Italy , 2004 .

[8]  Psychology of Terror , 2004 .

[9]  Aaron C. Kay,et al.  Complementary justice: effects of "poor but happy" and "poor but honest" stereotype exemplars on system justification and implicit activation of the justice motive. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[10]  Todd D. Nelson.  Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older persons. , 2003 .

[11]  Brian A. Nosek,et al.  Understanding and using the implicit association test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[12]  N. Branscombe,et al.  Attitudes toward group-based inequality: social dominance or social identity? , 2003, The British journal of social psychology.

[13]  J. Turner,et al.  Why social dominance theory has been falsified. , 2003, The British journal of social psychology.

[14]  F. Pratto,et al.  Social dominance theory and the dynamics of inequality: a reply to Schmitt, Branscombe, & Kappen and Wilson & Liu. , 2003, The British journal of social psychology.

[15]  Arie W. Kruglanski,et al.  Exceptions that prove the rule: Using a theory of motivated social cognition to account for ideological incongruities and political anomalies , 2003 .

[16]  Bertjan Doosje,et al.  Malicious pleasure: schadenfreude at the suffering of another group. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  J. Jost,et al.  Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. , 2003, Psychological bulletin.

[18]  M. Hogg,et al.  Relations Between High and Low Power Groups: The Importance of Legitimacy , 2003, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[19]  M. Knowles,et al.  Black Americans' Implicit Racial Associations And Their Implications for Intergroup Judgment , 2003 .

[20]  A. Markus,et al.  The politics of race , 2003 .

[21]  J. Greenberg,et al.  In the Wake of 9-11: The Psychology of Terror , 2003 .

[22]  C. Judd,et al.  The police officer's dilemma: using ethnicity to disambiguate potentially threatening individuals. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[23]  J. Jost,et al.  Non-conscious forms of system justification: Implicit and behavioral preferences for higher status groups , 2002 .

[24]  R. Spears,et al.  The emergence and effects of deviants in low and high status groups , 2002 .

[25]  H. Zinn.  Disobedience and Democracy: Nine Fallacies on Law and Order , 2002 .

[26]  V. Chanley,et al.  Trust in Government in the Aftermath of 9/11: Determinants and Consequences , 2002 .

[27]  S. Feldman,et al.  The consequences of terrorism: disentangling the effects of personal and national threat , 2002 .

[28]  Aaron C. Kay,et al.  Sour Grapes, Sweet Lemons, and the Anticipatory Rationalization of the Status Quo , 2002 .

[29]  Laurie A. Rudman,et al.  Minority Members' Implicit Attitudes: Automatic Ingroup Bias As A Function Of Group Status , 2002 .

[30]  J. Jost,et al.  The Estrangement of Social Constructionism and Experimental Social Psychology: History of the Rift and Prospects for Reconciliation , 2002 .

[31]  R. Livingston.  The role of perceived negativity in the moderation of African Americans' implicit and explicit racial attitudes , 2002 .

[32]  J. Jost,et al.  The psychology of system justification and the palliative function of ideology , 2002 .

[33]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Subgroup prejudice based on skin color among Hispanics in the United States and Latin America , 2002 .

[34]  K. Newman.  No Shame: The View from the Left Bank1 , 2002, American Journal of Sociology.

[35]  Mark E. Hill,et al.  Skin color and the perception of attractiveness among African Americans: Does gender make a difference? , 2002 .

[36]  Brian A. Nosek,et al.  Harvesting implicit group attitudes and beliefs from a demonstration web site , 2002 .

[37]  B. Major,et al.  Perceiving personal discrimination: the role of group status and legitimizing ideology. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[38]  Anthony G. Greenwald,et al.  E‐Research: Ethics, Security, Design, and Control in Psychological Research on the Internet , 2002 .

[39]  D. O. Sears,et al.  Racialized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America , 2002 .

[40]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  From prejudice to intergroup emotions : differentiated reactions to social groups , 2002 .

[41]  Christina Fong,et al.  Social preferences, self-interest, and the demand for redistribution , 2001 .

[42]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  The norm of self-interest and its effects on social action. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[43]  N. Branscombe,et al.  The effects of reasons given for ineligibility on perceived gender discrimination and feelings of injustice. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[44]  B. Major,et al.  Devaluing domains in response to threatening intergroup comparisons: perceived legitimacy and the status value asymmetry. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[45]  J. Crocker,et al.  Contexts of System Justification and System Evaluation: Exploring the Social Comparison Strategies of the (Not Yet) Contented Female Worker , 2001 .

[46]  B. Pelham,et al.  Underworked and overpaid: Elevated entitlement in Men's self-pay , 2001 .

[47]  S. Fiske,et al.  An ambivalent alliance. Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. , 2001, The American psychologist.

[48]  Bilian Ni Sullivan,et al.  Social Inequality and the Reduction of Ideological Dissonance on Behalf of the System: Evidence of Enhanced System Justification among the Disadvantaged , 2001 .

[49]  J. Jost.  Outgroup Favoritism and the Theory of System Justification: A Paradigm for Investigating the Effects of Socioeconomic Success on Stereotype Content , 2001 .

[50]  T. Tyler,et al.  Cloaking power: Legitimizing myths and the psychology of the advantaged. , 2001 .

[51]  F. Pratto,et al.  Legitimizing ideologies: The social dominance approach. , 2001 .

[52]  J. Jost,et al.  Conflicts of legitimation among self, group, and system: The integrative potential of system justification theory , 2001 .

[53]  Jolanda Jetten,et al.  The (Il)legitimacy of ingroup bias - From social reality to social resistance , 2001 .

[54]  John A. Bargh,et al.  The use and abuse of power: Multiple perspectives on the causes of corruption. , 2001 .

[55]  Iain Walker,et al.  Relative Deprivation: Specification, Development, and Integration , 2001 .

[56]  Rupert Brown.  Social identity theory: past achievements, current problems and future challenges , 2000 .

[57]  J. Jost,et al.  Group-based dominance and opposition to equality as independent predictors of self-esteem, ethnocentrism, and social policy attitudes among african americans and european americans , 2000 .

[58]  J. Jost,et al.  Non-conscious Forms of System Justification: Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Preferences for Higher Status Groups , 2000 .

[59]  John T. Jost,et al.  Attitudinal Ambivalence and the Conflict between Group and System Justification Motives in Low Status Groups , 2000 .

[60]  Matthew O. Hunt.  Status, religion, and the belief in a just world : Comparing African Americans, Latinos, and whites , 2000 .

[61]  J. Jost,et al.  Placating the Powerless: Effects of Legitimate and Illegitimate Explanation on Affect, Memory, and Stereotyping , 2000 .

[62]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  The norm of self-interest. , 1999, The American psychologist.

[63]  Martin Gilens,et al.  Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy , 1999 .

[64]  F. Pratto,et al.  Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression , 1999 .

[65]  Laurie A. Rudman,et al.  Wanting It Both Ways: Do Women Approve of Benevolent Sexism? , 1998 .

[66]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Immune neglect: a source of durability bias in affective forecasting. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[67]  Jim Sidanius,et al.  Ethnic Identity, Legitimizing Ideologies, and Social Status: A Matter of Ideological Asymmetry , 1998 .

[68]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[69]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  The disparity between the actual and assumed power of self-interest. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[70]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Immune Neglect: A Source of Durability , 1998 .

[71]  B. Altemeyer,et al.  The Other “Authoritarian Personality” , 1998 .

[72]  Naomi Ellemers,et al.  The social psychology of stereotyping and group life , 1998 .

[73]  John T. Jost,et al.  An Experimental Replication of the Depressed-Entitlement Effect Among Women , 1997 .

[74]  C. Stangor,et al.  Commentary: Individual, group and system levels of analysis and their relevance for stereotyping and intergroup relations. , 1997 .

[75]  W. Mcguire.  Creative hypothesis generating in psychology: some useful heuristics. , 1997, Annual review of psychology.

[76]  J. B. Mcconahay,et al.  The scar of race. , 1996 .

[77]  R. Pildes.  THE POLITICS OF RACE , 1995 .

[78]  M. Banaji,et al.  Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. , 1995, Psychological review.

[79]  F. Pratto,et al.  Social Dominance Orientation and the Political Psychology of Gender: A Case of Invariance? , 1994 .

[80]  B. Malle,et al.  Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. , 1994 .

[81]  Mark Levine,et al.  Deindividuation, power relations between groups and the expression of social identity: The effects of visibility to the out‐group , 1994 .

[82]  M. Jackman,et al.  The Velvet Glove: Paternalism and Conflict in Gender, Class, and Race Relations , 1994 .

[83]  M. Banaji,et al.  The role of stereotyping in system‐justification and the production of false consciousness , 1994 .

[84]  B. Major,et al.  From social inequality to personal entitlement: the role of social comparisons, legitimacy appraisals, and group membership , 1994 .

[85]  John C. Turner,et al.  Stereotyping and Social Reality , 1994 .

[86]  N. Ellemers,et al.  Effects of the legitimacy of low group or individual status on individual and collective status-enhancement strategies. , 1993 .

[87]  Donald W. Fiske,et al.  Foretelling the Judgments of Reviewers and Editors , 1993 .

[88]  Felicia Pratto,et al.  The inevitability of oppression and the dynamics of social dominance. , 1993 .

[89]  P. Sniderman,et al.  The scar of race , 1993 .

[90]  Jim Sidanius,et al.  The psychology of group conflict and the dynamics of oppression: A social dominance perspective. , 1993 .

[91]  Brian Mullen,et al.  Ingroup bias as a function of salience, relevance, and status: An integration , 1992 .

[92]  M. Hogg,et al.  Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances. , 1991 .

[93]  A. Tsui,et al.  Being different: Relational demography and organizational attachment. , 1991 .

[94]  T. K. Srull,et al.  The content, structure, and operation of thought systems , 1991 .

[95]  D. O. Sears,et al.  The Role of Self-Interest in Social and Political Attitudes , 1991 .

[96]  Donald M. Taylor,et al.  Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group : from acceptance to collective protest , 1990 .

[97]  D. Mackie,et al.  Intergroup relations. , 2019, Annual review of psychology.

[98]  Dalmas A. Taylor,et al.  Eliminating Racism: Profiles in Controversy. , 1989 .

[99]  M. Hogg,et al.  Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. , 1989 .

[100]  Rupert Brown,et al.  Group Processes: Dynamics Within and Between Groups , 1988 .

[101]  L. Bobo.  Group Conflict, Prejudice, and the Paradox of Contemporary Racial Attitudes , 1988 .

[102]  Donald M. Taylor,et al.  Review of Theories of Intergroup Relations: International Social Psychological Perspectives , 1987 .

[103]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism , 1986 .

[104]  T. L. Schwartz.  The Logic of Collective Action , 1986 .

[105]  M. Hewstone,et al.  ETHNOCENTRISM AND CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION IN SOUTHEAST-ASIA , 1985 .

[106]  H. Tajfel.  The Social Dimension: European Developments In Social Psychology , 1984 .

[107]  M. Hewstone,et al.  The social dimension: Social dimensions of attribution , 1984 .

[108]  D. Ward.  Right-Wing Authoritarianism , 1982, American Political Science Review.

[109]  G. Moskowitz.  Cognitive social psychology : the Princeton Symposium on the Legacy and Future of Social Cognition , 1981 .

[110]  Robert B. Cialdini,et al.  Two Indirect Tactics of Image Management: Basking and Blasting , 1980 .

[111]  A. Greenwald.  The totalitarian ego: Fabrication and revision of personal history. , 1980 .

[112]  B. Ekehammar,et al.  Political socialization: A multivariate analysis of Swedish political attitude and preference data , 1979 .

[113]  M. Brewer.  In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis. , 1979 .

[114]  H. Tajfel.  Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. , 1978 .

[115]  T. Beauchamp.  Distributive justice. , 2019, Bioethics digest.

[116]  R. Cialdini,et al.  Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies , 1976 .

[117]  J. Turner,et al.  Social status, cognitive alternatives, and intergroup relations: (668292012-213) , 1976 .

[118]  R. A. Wicklund,et al.  Perspectives on cognitive dissonance , 1976 .

[119]  V. L. Allen,et al.  Categorization, belief similarity, and intergroup discrimination , 1975 .

[120]  H. Tajfel,et al.  The exit of social mobility and the voice of social change : Notes on the social psychology of intergroup relations , 1975 .

[121]  Glenn D. Wilson,et al.  The Psychology of conservatism , 1973 .

[122]  R. T. Green,et al.  Working‐Class Conservatism: A Review and an Empirical Study , 1971 .

[123]  A. Hirschman,et al.  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States , 1970 .

[124]  T. Gurr,et al.  Why Men Rebel. , 1970 .

[125]  P. Berger,et al.  The Social Construction of Reality , 1966 .

[126]  M. Olson,et al.  The Logic of Collective Action , 1965 .

[127]  S. Lipset.  Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics , 1960 .

[128]  R. Lane.  The Fear of Equality , 1959, American Political Science Review.

[129]  A. Downs.  An Economic Theory of Democracy , 1957 .

[130]  G. Āllport.  The Nature of Prejudice , 1954 .

[131]  T. Adorno.  The Authoritarian Personality , 1950 .

[132]  R. Centers.  The psychology of social classes , 1949 .