Perceived intentionality of societal discrimination as a moderator of preference for and effectiveness of approaches to difference

The present research identifies a novel measure of perceived intentionality of societal discrimination and demonstrates its value in predicting individuals' preference for and the effectiveness of different approaches to improving intergroup relations. Study 1 creates and validates a measure of perceived intentionality of societal discrimination, the extent to which an individual believes discrimination in society as a whole is generally caused by intentional actions. Individuals' responses on this measure are associated with their preferences for an approach to intergroup relations that advocates looking beyond differences, rather than recognizing differences. Studies 2 and 3 use experimental designs to investigate perceived intentionality of societal bias as a moderator of the effect of these approaches on attitudes toward interracial interactions and on comfort with conversations about race. Across the studies, the greater the extent to which participants perceive discrimination in society to be intentional, the more an approach advocating looking beyond differences is preferred and effective.

Department dc:contributor.department

Sloan School of Management.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Grunberg, Rebecca L

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Evan P. Apfelbaum.

• Sloan School of Management.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103208

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/103208