An intersectional approach to understanding how race and social class affect intergroup processes

Abstract

Much of the current psychological literature investigates single category dimensions (i.e., race or social class), with little focus on the intersection of multiple social category dimensions. Yet some evidence suggests that the intersection of race and social class information influences (a) stereotype expression, (b) categorization, (c) impressions, (d) prejudice, and (e) discrimination, revealing common links between Blackness and low social class and Whiteness and high social class in at least the United States. The present article reviews evidence for considering both target race and social class as intersecting social categories that simultaneously influence intergroup processes. This analysis suggests that a more comprehensive understanding of intergroup processes can be achieved when considering the intersection of race and social class information. This review also provides a series of future directions to advance intergroup processes research.

Punishing the privileged: Selfish offers from high-status allocators elicit greater punishment from third-party arbitrators

“…Given that social hierarchies are an intrinsic and systemic part of human culture [29] and organizations [30]-which help to shape our motives [30,31], affect [32,33], self-presentation strategies [34][35][36], evaluations of others [37][38][39], and support for redistributive socioeconomic policies [40][41][42][43]-it is critical to examine how inequity is perceived and addressed in social hierarchies. In the real world, systemic inequalities stemming from race and poverty [43][44][45] form the backdrop against which many fairness judgments are determined. Although several decades of research have examined fairness and punishment in the context of stratified social hierarchies [13,[46][47][48][49][50][51], these studies typically focus on the participant's own status in that hierarchy [e.g., [47][48][49].…”

Salient target populations and the subcategorization of deviants in the release of inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Using the inmate as the salient population has perpetuated social injustices and reinforced existing social hierarchies by allowing individuals to be defined based on their crimes, thus deeming them worthy of punishment. The intersectionality of different social categories often exacerbates discriminatory practices (Blessett, 2020;Gaynor, 2018;Moore-Berg & Karpinski, 2019). For those involved in the criminal justice system, the intersection of this target population with other negatively constructed categories has led to the further domination of subordinate groups in society, such as minority inmate populations.…”

Black people are convicted more for being black than for being poor: The role of social norms and cultural prejudice on biased racial judgments

“…However, this has not yet been satisfactorily addressed from a social psychological point of view. In fact, social class has received less attention in studies on discrimination, particularly in terms of its interaction with skin color [8], highlighting a gap in the prejudice-discrimination literature, which has only recently been addressed [9,10].…”

“…Indeed, although we find white and black people in all social classes, official data indicate there is a correlation between being black and belonging to more disadvantaged social classes [11]. In light of this social reality, it is common for individuals to associate characteristics related to the lower social class with stereotypes about blacks [10,12]. This effect is in line with what Jones [13] claimed in his classic textbook Prejudice and Racism : “one of the big difficulties we have is disentangling race from class, given that (…) blacks, in particular, and ethnic minorities in general, are found disproportionately in the lower economic strata” (p. 441).…”

“…Since lower-class black people are proportionally more incarcerated than white ones from the same social class, it is very probable that skin color is a primary factor in convicting decisions, which can indicate that black people are convicted more for being black than for being poor. Thus, it necessary to take into account together information about social class and skin color in the process of making a decision [10,15,16], especially about convicting individuals accused of crimes.…”