It's Not My Fault: When and Why Attributions to Prejudice Protect Self-Esteem

This study tested the hypothesis that awareness of the possibility of being a target of discrimination can provide individuals with a means of self-esteem protection when they are faced with negative outcomes. Men and women contemplated being rejected from a course due to sexism, personal deservingness, or an exclusively external cause. Regardless of gender, participants in the sexism condition blamed themselves less, attributed the rejection less to internal causes, and anticipated feeling less depressed than those in the personal deservingness condition. Furthermore, the more participants discounted the rejection—blamed it more on discrimination than themselves—the less depressed emotions they anticipated feeling. Discounting did not buffer participants from feeling hostility or anxiety. These findings advance our understanding of when and why attributions to prejudice protect emotional well-being.

[1]  K. Dion,et al.  The phenomenology of being a target of prejudice. , 1975, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[2]  B. Major,et al.  Group Identification Moderates Emotional Responses to Perceived Prejudice , 2003, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[3]  G. Affleck,et al.  Blaming others for threatening events. , 1990 .

[4]  J. Henne,et al.  The impact of homophobia, poverty, and racism on the mental health of gay and bisexual Latino men: findings from 3 US cities. , 2001, American journal of public health.

[5]  A. Elliot,et al.  Prejudice with and without compunction , 1991 .

[6]  Thomas R. Shultz,et al.  Intervening causation and the mitigation of responsibility for harm , 1981 .

[7]  J. Crocker,et al.  Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. , 1989 .

[8]  N. Branscombe,et al.  Perceiving Discrimination Against One’s Gender Group has Different Implications for Well-Being in Women and Men , 2002 .

[9]  K. Dion Women's reactions to discrimination from members of the same or opposite sex , 1975 .

[10]  J. Crocker,et al.  The stigma of overweight: affective consequences of attributional ambiguity. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  B. Major,et al.  Attributions to discrimination and self-esteem: Impact of group identification and situational ambiguity , 2003 .

[12]  C. R. Snyder,et al.  Excuses: their effective role in the negotiation of reality. , 1988, Psychological bulletin.

[13]  Richard D. Harvey,et al.  Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. , 1999 .

[14]  B. Weiner An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. , 1985, Psychological review.

[15]  Nyla R. Branscombe,et al.  The Internal and External Causal Loci of Attributions to Prejudice , 2002 .

[16]  Nyla R. Branscombe,et al.  Who Considers Themselves Victims of Discrimination?: Individual Difference Predictors of Perceived Gender Discrimination in Women and Men , 1997 .

[17]  B. Weiner Judgments of Responsibility: A Foundation for a Theory of Social Conduct , 1995 .

[18]  Melissa J. Ferguson,et al.  Everyday Sexism: Evidence for Its Incidence, Nature, and Psychological Impact From Three Daily Diary Studies , 2001 .

[19]  N. Branscombe,et al.  The Meaning and Consequences of Perceived Discrimination in Disadvantaged and Privileged Social Groups , 2002 .

[20]  J. D. Vorauer,et al.  Is this about You or Me? Self-Versus Other-Directed Judgments and Feelings in Response to Intergroup Interaction , 2001 .

[21]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  Disrespect and the experience of injustice. , 2001, Annual review of psychology.

[22]  Cheryl R. Kaiser,et al.  Expectations about the Future and the Emotional Consequences of Perceiving Prejudice , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[23]  Diane M. Mackie,et al.  Affect, cognition, and stereotyping: Interactive processes in group perception. , 1993 .

[24]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  Excuses and Character: Personal and Social Implications of Excuses , 2001 .

[25]  M. Zuckerman,et al.  MEASUREMENT OF EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED AFFECTS. , 1964, Journal of consulting psychology.

[26]  B. Major,et al.  Antecedents and consequences of attributions to discrimination: Theoretical and empirical advances , 2002 .

[27]  H. Kelley The processes of causal attribution. , 1973 .

[28]  E. E. Jones,et al.  Control of Attributions about the Self Through Self-handicapping Strategies: The Appeal of Alcohol and the Role of Underachievement , 1978 .

[29]  J. McClure Discounting causes of behavior : Are two reasons better than one ? , 1998 .

[30]  Jennifer Crocker,et al.  Reactions to stigma: The moderating role of justifications. , 1994 .

[31]  M. Seligman,et al.  Learned helplessness in humans: critique and reformulation. , 1978, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[32]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  Kristin E. Voelkl,et al.  Social Stigma: The Affective Consequences of Attributional Ambiguity , 1991 .

[34]  Kelly G. Shaver,et al.  The attribution of blame : causality, responsibility, and blameworthiness , 1985 .

[35]  Jennifer Crocker,et al.  Social Stigma: The Consequences of Attributional Ambiguity , 1993 .

[36]  F. Heider The psychology of interpersonal relations , 1958 .