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From Manuela Barreto and Naomi Ellemers, Detecting and Experiencing Prejudice: New Answers to Old
Questions. In: James M. Olson and Mark P. Zanna, editors, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology,
Vol. 52, Burlington: Academic Press, 2015, pp. 139-219.
ISBN: 978-0-12-802247-4
© Copyright 2015 Elsevier Inc.
Academic Press
, Author's personal copy
CHAPTER THREE
Detecting and Experiencing
Prejudice: New Answers to
Old Questions
Manuela Barreto*,†,1, Naomi Ellemers{
*Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
†
Lisbon University Institute (CIS-ISCTE/IUL), Lisbon, Portugal
{
Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
1
Corresponding author: e-mail address: m.barreto@exeter.ac.uk
Contents
1. Do Members of Devalued Groups Over- or Underestimate the Extent to Which
They Are Targeted by Discrimination? 142
1.1 Base-Rate Expectations and Information Availability 144
1.2 Typicality of Prejudiced Events 147
1.3 Contextual Cues to Discrimination 151
1.4 Individual Needs and Dispositions 154
1.5 Conclusion 157
2. Is Perceiving Discriminatory Treatment Self-Protective or Harmful to Individual
Well-Being? 157
2.1 It Is Not Straightforward: Moderating Variables 158
2.2 Externalization of Negative Affect 160
2.3 Implications for the Self 163
2.4 Social Implications 167
2.5 The Role of Group Identification 169
2.6 Conclusions 170
3. Are Concealable Stigmas Less Problematic Than Visible Stigmas? 171
3.1 Identity Concealment and Psychological Well-Being 173
3.2 The Myth of Social Acceptance Through Identity Concealment 177
3.3 Conclusions 186
4. Is Individual Success Helpful or Harmful for the Disadvantaged Group? 186
4.1 Coping with Multiple Identities 187
4.2 Achieving Success Against the Odds 189
4.3 Becoming a Mentor or Role Model 191
4.4 Conclusions 192
5. Is Confronting Prejudice Socially Costly or Socially Beneficial? 193
5.1 The Infrequency of Confrontation 193
5.2 The Social Costs of Confrontation 194
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 52 # 2015 Elsevier Inc. 139
ISSN 0065-2601 All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.02.001
, Author's personal copy
140 Manuela Barreto and Naomi Ellemers
5.3 The Social Benefits of Confrontation 196
5.4 Conclusions 203
6. Overall Conclusions 203
References 208
Abstract
This contribution reviews the state of the art of research on the effects of prejudice on its
targets. We structure this review around ongoing debates and core questions that have
been guiding this field of research and how these are addressed by recent evidence. We
address five central themes that have characterized research on the way prejudice
emerges in modern societies, and the impact this has on its targets. First, we examine
whether members of devalued groups tend to over- or underestimate the extent to
which they are targeted by discrimination. Second, we assess the self-protective and
harmful effects of perceived discrimination on well-being. Third, we consider whether
concealable stigmas are less problematic than visible stigmas. Fourth, we examine
whether individual success is helpful or harmful for the disadvantaged group. Finally,
as a fifth theme, we review evidence of the social costs of confronting prejudice and
highlight the more neglected social benefits of confrontation. The research evidence
we present in this way aims to resolve a number of common misunderstandings regard-
ing the presence and implications of prejudice in modern societies.
Whether prejudice still exists, how this can be detected, and what the impli-
cations of this might be represent questions of long-standing interest in aca-
demic as well as public debates. Over the years, empirical evidence aiming to
shed more light on these issues has accumulated. Nevertheless, the answers
remain elusive. One reason is that—as is the case for many issues in the social
sciences—results of studies carried out reflect, at least in part, beliefs and
political debates that are salient at a given point in time, and yield different
results in different national, cultural, and historical contexts (e.g., Ceci,
Ginther, Kahn, & Williams, 2014; Miller, Eagly, & Linn, 2014). Hence,
it is not always self-evident how evidence from such studies provides cumu-
lative insights, or whether “inconclusive” results primarily document
changes over time and across contexts. As a result, the multitude of efforts
pertaining to this domain of inquiry has not inevitably resulted in the emer-
gence of clear and consistent answers to these questions. Nevertheless, with
ongoing changes in the social fabric relating to globalization, migration, and
inequality, the questions remain as relevant and challenging as ever.
In this contribution, we review the state of the art of research on the
detection and effects of prejudice on their targets. We address core debates,
recurrent questions, and frequent misconceptions relating to this field of
research and show how empirical research conducted by ourselves and other
, Author's personal copy
Experiencing Prejudice 141
researchers informs these issues. Our overarching aim in doing this is to
address and hopefully resolve a number of common misunderstandings
regarding the way prejudice is experienced in modern societies, with a par-
ticular focus on the impact this has on its targets. We thus follow up on prior
literature reviews addressing some of these issues (Crocker & Major, 1989;
Major, Quinton, & McCoy, 2002; Schmitt & Branscombe, 2002), advanc-
ing their insights by including additional evidence that has become available
since, elaborating on areas not covered by those papers, and structuring this
review around a number of key debates and questions in the field.
The first issue we address relates to the detection of prejudice and discrim-
ination. There is by now clear consensus that prejudicial views and discrim-
inatory treatment can take different forms, some of which are easier to detect
than others. Nevertheless, there is less agreement as to whether members of
devalued groups tend to downplay or exaggerate the extent to which they
encounter discrimination, or when and why they are most likely to do so.
We review evidence from experimental studies in which the objective pres-
ence versus absence of discrimination could be kept equal, as this allowed
researchers to isolate the cognitive and motivational factors that play a role
in prejudice recognition.
We follow up on this discussion by considering whether perceptions of
discriminatory treatment can help protect individual well-being, or are more
likely to be harmful instead. In this area of inquiry, a multitude of studies has
been recently carried out and both types of effects have been documented.
Reviewing this work allows us to identify relevant moderators that may help
understand and predict the systematic nature of these different patterns of
results.
We then move on to examine whether the experience of prejudice and
discrimination, as well as its implications, depends on the nature of the stigma
under consideration. Specifically, we compare the situation of those for
whom their devalued identity is immediately apparent, as it is implicated
in some visible characteristic or bodily feature (such as gender or race), to
the experience of those who have the choice whether or not to reveal their
stigmatized identity (e.g., relating to their health status, social background,
or sexual preferences). At first sight, having a concealable stigma would seem
to be less challenging, and a common view is that suffering in such cases
results from the choice to reveal or “flaunt” one’s stigmatized identity.
We present recent evidence suggesting the situation is not that straightfor-
ward, as there are important costs to hiding, as well as significant benefits
associated with revealing a stigmatized identity.
