The Role of Indian Caste Identity and Caste Inconsistent Norms on Status Representation

Abstract

The Indian caste system is a complex social structure wherein social roles like one’s profession became ‘hereditary,’ resulting in restricted social mobility and fixed status hierarchies. Furthermore, we argue that the inherent property of caste heightens group identification with one’s caste. Highly identified group members would protect the identity of the group in situations when group norms are violated. In this paper, we were interested in examining the consequence of caste norm violation and how an individual’s status is mentally represented. High caste norms are associated with moral values while the lower caste norms are associated with immorality. We predicted a ‘black sheep effect,’ that is, when high caste individuals’ group identity (caste norm violation condition) is threatened their salient high caste identity would increase, thereby resulting in devaluing the status of their fellow in-group member if the latter is perceived as perpetrator. We presented participants with a social conflict situation of a victim and a perpetrator that is ‘Caste norm consistent’ (Lower caste individual as a perpetrator and higher caste individual as a victim) and vice versa ‘Caste norm inconsistent’ condition (higher caste individual as perpetrator and lower caste individual as a victim). Then, participants had to choose from nine pictorial depictions representing the protagonists in the story on a vertical line, with varying degrees of status distance. Results showed evidence for the black sheep effect and, furthermore, revealed that no other identity (religious, national, and regional) resulted in devaluing the status of fellow in-group member. These results help us understand the ‘black sheep’ effect in the context of moral norms and status representation and are discussed in the framework of the Indian society.

Cultural impediments to learning to cooperate: An experimental study of high- and low-caste men in rural India

“…All subcastes in a region are ranked. Marriage of a woman from a higher-ranked subcaste to a man of a lower-ranked subcaste impairs the honor of the higher-ranked subcaste; in North India, the offense is frequently avenged by honor killings of the bride and groom (34). In their open-ended responses to this vignette, 57% of high-caste respondents mentioned izzat, roughly translated as "male honor," compared with only 27% of low-caste respondents.…”

Justice reactions to deviant ingroup members: Ingroup identity threat motivates utilitarian punishments

“…In line with our predictions, we found that an observer experiences greater threat when faced with an ingroup rather than an outgroup offender, and in turn assigns more utilitarian punishment to this offender. This finding is in line with prior research which suggests that people experience increased identity threat when deviant members come from the ingroup rather than the outgroup (Okimoto & Wenzel, ; Rullo et al ., ; Sankaran et al ., ; Van der Toorn et al ., ). To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to show that people display stronger preference for (specifically) exclusionary punishments against ingroup offenders through the experience of increased ingroup threat.…”

“…Further, we hypothesize that perceived ingroup identity threat should mediate the effect of offender's group membership and ingroup typicality on justice decisions. People experience increased identity threat when deviant members come from the ingroup rather than the outgroup (Okimoto & Wenzel, 2010;Rullo et al, 2015;Sankaran et al, 2017;Van der Toorn et al, 2015) and when they are typical rather than atypical ingroup members (Levine & Moreland, 2002;Meeussen et al, 2012). This is because group values and reputation are highly jeopardized in such cases.…”

“…Indeed, morality is a major source of group pride (Branscombe, Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, ; Leach et al ., ) and immoral doing is experienced as aversive (Branscombe, Doosje, & McGarty, ). For instance, immorality, when displayed by ingroup as compared to outgroup members, is associated with ingroup‐directed hostility through collective shame (Piff, Martinez, & Keltner, ), psychological distress, and experience of threat to shared values (De Castella, Platow, Wenzel, Okimoto, & Feather, ; Okimoto & Wenzel, ; Rullo, Presaghi, & Livi, ; Sankaran, Sekerdej, & Von Hecker, ; Van der Toorn, Ellemers, & Doosje, ). Additionally, immorality is viewed as the greatest ‘threat to the image’ of one's group (Brambilla, Sacchi, Pagliaro, & Ellemers, ; Pagliaro, Brambilla, Sacchi, D'Angelo, & Ellemers, ).…”

Comparative Analysis of Educational Attainment among Different Social Groups in Some Selected Mouzas of Saltora C.D. Block of Bankura District, West Bengal, India: An Empirical Study

“…Forward castes /communities (FCs) comprise those of the more privileged high caste individuals. The FCs have historically been and, continuous to be, in a strong socioeconomic position with the highest status in society (Sankaran et al, 2017).…”