Inclusive victim consciousness predicts minority group members’ support for refugees and immigrants

Abstract

What motivates minority group members to support other minorities, rather than compete for resources? We tested whether inclusive victim consciousness -i.e., perceived similarities between the ingroup's and outgroups' collective victimizationpredicts support for other minority groups; and whether personal and family experiences of group-based victimization moderate these effects. Study 1 was conducted among members of historically oppressed groups in India. As hypothesized, inclusive victim consciousness predicted support for refugees. Personal experiences of group-based victimization moderated this effect. Conceptually replicating these findings, in Study 2 (among Vietnamese Americans, mostly second-generation immigrants) inclusive victim consciousness predicted less hostility toward other refugees and immigrants, and greater perceived responsibility to help victims of collective violence. This effect was moderated by family experiences of victimization.

Intersectional Consciousness in Collective Victim Beliefs: Perceived Intragroup Differences Among Disadvantaged Groups

“…Specifically, we extend the intersectional consciousness literature beyond WEIRD (Henrich et al, ) settings and examine the research questions among two underrepresented minorities in India. This context is also underresearched in the collective victimhood literature (but see Nair & Vollhardt, ; Vollhardt et al, ). A central strength of this article is therefore that it gives voice to underrepresented members of disadvantaged communities.…”

The case for and causes of intraminority solidarity in support for reparations: Evidence from community and student samples in Canada

“…Finally, we considered the possibility that collective victimhood would also directly affect support for reparations and, on balance, thought that the effect would be negative. Though we describe the effects of collective victimhood as positive above, it may also be that, in the absence of factors such as inclusive victim consciousness and the capacity to perceive privity, collective victimhood could manifest as exclusive victimhood construals (e.g., competitive victimhood, siege mentality), which are negatively associated with outgroup support (Noor et al, 2012;Vollhardt, 2012a;Vollhardt & Bilali, 2015;Vollhardt, Nair, & Tropp, 2016).…”

Inclusive Victim Consciousness in Advocacy, Social Movements, and Intergroup Relations: Promises and Pitfalls

“…A survey among Vietnamese‐American students showed that those who endorsed general inclusive victim consciousness to a greater degree also tended to be less supportive of restricting immigration to the United States (Vollhardt, Nair, & Mazur, , Study 2). Similarly, among members of different disadvantaged groups in India (e.g., lower‐caste Hindus), general inclusive victim consciousness was associated with more prosocial attitudes toward Bhutanese refugees in the country (Vollhardt, Nair, & Tropp, , Study 1).…”

“…For example, the multidimensional inventory of Black identity (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998) includes an "Oppressed Minority" subscale, measuring the degree to which African Americans perceive similarities between the racism and injustice directed against their group and against other minority groups. Similar measures of inclusive victim consciousness have been used in several other contexts, including Northern Ireland (Cohrs, McNeill, Miller, & Vollhardt, 2014), India (Vollhardt, Nair, & Tropp, 2014, Study 1), and among Vietnamese Americans (Vollhardt, Mazur, & Lemahieu, 2014, Study 2).…”