Hurricane Katrina's Impact on African Americans' and European Americans' Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic

Abstract

The Protestant work ethic (PWE), the belief that hard work leads to success, is a quintessentially American belief. The present research addresses a critical gap in psychological research on PWE: can a single, large‐scale sociopolitical event (government's response to Hurricane Katrina) produce changes in PWE? We review evidence showing that the salience of Katrina led to a reduction in African Americans' (not European Americans') endorsement of PWE and that this result appears explained by African Americans' greater belief in the government's inadequate response to Katrina victims, who were predominately African American. The implications of differential endorsement of PWE for future expectations of societal treatment, motivation to pursue important goals, and willingness to endorse structural corrections of inequality are discussed.

Post-Hurricane Katrina Racialized Explanations as a System Threat: Implications for Whites’ and Blacks’ Racial Attitudes

“…(2008) 21:192-203 199 In contrast to the findings observed among Whites, Blacks exhibited high levels of ingroup attachment and ingroup positivity, regardless of experimental condition. Because Blacks endorse most system-justifying beliefs to a lesser degree than Whites (Jost & Thompson, 2000;O'Brien & Major, 2005;Schmader et al, 2001), the racialized claims presented in this study may not have posed a strong challenge to their beliefs about the status hierarchy; in fact, simply thinking about hurricane Katrina more generally may have caused Blacks to see the system as illegitimate (Levy et al, 2006). Additionally, because Blacks in both experimental conditions watched videos depicting ingroup members suffering, exposure to these images may have led to enhanced feelings of solidarity with the group, which could result in the especially positive (in fact, near ceiling level) ingroup attitudes observed in this study (Branscombe et al, 1999;Napier et al, 2006).…”

“…Therefore, Black Americans may have less motivation to defend the legitimacy of the status system after exposure to racialized explanations. Indeed, in the weeks following hurricane Katrina, Black Americans reported lowered endorsement of Protestant Work Ethic beliefs than they did both prior to the storm and several months after the storm (Levy, Freitas, Mendoza-Denton, & Kugelmass, 2006). White Americans did not show a dip in Protestant Work Ethic beliefs in the weeks following hurricane Katrina.…”

Diversity Science: What Is It?

“…Such divergent perspectives can have further downstream consequences for behavior and cognition. As Levy, Freitas, Mendoza-Denton, and Kugelmass (2006) have shown, the events following Hurricane Katrina led to a reduction in the endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic among African Americans (due to a loss of confidence in the power of the individual to overcome systemic racism), whereas no such effect on the Protestant Work Ethic was seen among Whites.…”

The Relation Between the Protestant Work Ethic and Undergraduate Women's Perceived Identity Compatibility in Nontraditional Majors

“…Because both PWE‐Justifier and PWE‐Equalizer are deeply woven into the social fabric of U.S. society, members of both advantaged and disadvantaged groups are expected to have exposure to and awareness of both meanings (e.g., Katz & Hass, 1988; Kinder & Sears, 1981; Levy et al, 2010; Levy, West, & Ramírez, 2005; Levy, Freitas, Mendoza‐Denton, & Kugelmaas, 2006; Levy, West, Ramírez, & Karafantis, 2006; Ramírez, Levy, Velilla, & Hughes, 2010). However, because PWE‐Justifier presents an argument that justifies the disadvantage of some groups, it may be less likely to be emphasized to members of disadvantaged groups by their family and friends, for example.…”