Table of Contents
Praise for The Psychology of Diversity
About the Authors
Title page
Copyright page
Preface
What Is This Book About and Who Is It For?
What Is the Purpose of this Book?
What Is Special About this Book?
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Part One: Framing Diversity
Chapter 1: Psychology of Diversity: Challenges and Benefits
Introduction
The Goals of this Book
Perspectives on Diversity
The Diversity Divide: Benefits versus Challenges
Organization of this Book
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 2: Central Concepts in the Psychology of Diversity
Introduction
Understanding Diversity
Social Biases: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
The Structure of Social Bias
Research Methods for the Study of Social Bias
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 3: Historical Perspectives on Diversity in the United States
Introduction
Push–Pull: Dynamics of Diversity
Civil Rights
Challenges of Diversity
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Part Two: Psychological Processes
Chapter 4: Personality and Individual Differences: How Different Types of People Respond to Diversity in Different Ways
Introduction
Origins of Prejudice: Allport's Lens Model
The Abnormality of Prejudice: The Psychodynamic Model
The Normality of Prejudice
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 5: Social Cognition and Categorization: Distinguishing “Us” from “Them”
Introduction
We Are Social Animals
How We Think About People: Social Cognition
How We Think About Groups: Social Categorization and Group Membership
What Can We Do? Reducing Bias and Embracing Diversity
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 6: Social Identity, Roles, and Relations: Motivational Influences in Responses to Diversity
Introduction
Feeling Good about Us: Social Identity
Confusing “What Is” with “What Should Be”: Social Roles and System Justification
Slipping into the Darkness: Groups in Competition
What Can We Do? Changing How Groups Relate
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 7: Is Bias in the Brain?
Introduction
What's Under the Hood? The Organization of the Human Brain
Brain Structure, Diversity, and Intergroup Relations
Brain Function and Intergroup Bias
What Can We Do? Addressing Implicit Bias
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 8: Coping and Adapting to Stigma and Difference
Introduction
Social Stigma and Cultural Difference
Racial Socialization and Acculturation
Stresses Caused by Stigma and Difference
Coping with Perceived Discrimination
Collective Identities
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 9: Intergroup Interactions: Pitfalls and Promises
Introduction
Psychological Challenges of Intergroup Interaction
The Promise of Positive Intergroup Interaction
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Part Three: Culture, Power, and Institutions
Chapter 10: Cultural Diversity: Preferences, Meaning, and Difference
Introduction
What Is Culture?
How Do Cultures Differ?
Cultural Diversity
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 11: Social Roles and Power in a Diverse Society
Introduction
Power Matters
Who's Got the Power? Power Dynamics and Diversity
Psychological Sources of Power
Pathways to Fairness: Reducing Bias in Power Dynamics
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 12: The Challenge of Diversity for Institutions
Introduction
Portraits of Institutional Bias
How Institutional Bias Operates
Most Bias is Standard-of-Practice Bias
Preventing Institutional Bias is a Challenge
Summary
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Chapter 13: The Psychology of Diversity: Principles and Prospects
Introduction
Diversity Is Diverse
Diversity When It Is All Good
Diversity Is Normal
Doing Diversity Is Hard
Principles of Diversity: What Have We Learned in This Book?
Conclusion
Questions for Thinking and Knowing
Key Terms
Glossary
Index
Praise for The Psychology of Diversity
Unlike older and traditional texts on prejudice and intergroup relations, The Psychology of Diversity offers a sharply different approach—one much better suited to the complexities and subtleties of present-day intergroup phenomena. It is also authoritative as one would expect from a text written by leading social psychological experts in the field.
Thomas F. Pettigrew, University of California, Santa Cruz
This is the most comprehensive survey of diversity since the groundbreaking Jones Prejudice and Racism volume, the undisputed bible of the field for decades. The Psychology of Diversity, authoritatively written by some of the field's foremost leaders, will rightfully take its place as the go-to resource for students, researchers, and practitioners alike, to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Professor Susan Fiske, Eugene Higgins Professor, Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University
One could not hope for better guides through the maze of social-psychological work on diversity in America. Jones, Dovidio, and Vietze prove to be map-makers of “Lewis and Clark” quality, never losing their way over difficult terrain, and steering the reader through defining research on psychological processes, and an analysis of diversity in terms of culture, power, and institutions.
Miles Hewstone, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
The successful management of increasingly diverse societies is a major imperative of our times. In their extraordinarily comprehensive volume, The Psychology of Diversity, Jones, Dovidio, and Vietze do a masterful job of presenting the latest scientific evidence concerning both the challenges to and opportunities for moving beyond prejudice and racism. This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in social diversity or intergroup relations.
Jim Sidanius, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
The Psychology of Diversity: Beyond Prejudice and Racism is an illuminating book on the psychological processes behind power, bias, and cultural difference, as well as the broad influences and challenges that diversity presents. In this outstanding book, distinguished authors James M. Jones, John F. Dovidio, and Deborah L. Vietze provide us with a historical perspective alongside up-to date information on the psychological principles that influence our diverse society. This book is unique in that it not only addresses the negative consequences of bias and discrimination, but also contributes research-based solutions to these problems by providing techniques to improve intergroup relations. The Psychology of Diversity has a wide applicability and utility; I highly recommend this book not only for students, but for professionals and all individuals who care about reducing prejudice and respecting and benefitting from diversity in our society.
Florence L. Denmark, Ph.D., Robert Scott Pace Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology, Former President of the American Psychological Association
About the Authors
James M. Jones is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for the Study for Diversity at the University of Delaware. He was Executive Director for Public Interest, and Director of the Minority Fellowship Program at the American Psychological Association. After earning his Ph.D. in psychology at Yale University, he taught at Harvard University, and Howard University. He was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 to study Calypso Humor in Trinidad. His book, Prejudice and Racism (1997) is a classic text on this subject. His awards include the Lewin Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, and the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Association of Black Psychologists.
John F. Dovidio is Professor of Psychology at Yale University. His publications include Reducing Intergroup Bias (with Samuel Gaertner, 2000) and The Social Psychology of Helping and Altruism (with David A. Schroeder, Louis A. Penner, and Jane A. Piliavin, 1995). He is co-editor of Blackwell's On the Nature of Prejudice (with Laurie A. Rudman and Peter Glick, 2005) and chair of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues' publications committee. Jack is also the editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and has been editor of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the Association of Psychological Science. He received SPSSI's Kurt Lewin Award in 2004 for his career contributions to the study of prejudice and discrimination.
Deborah L. Vietze is Professor of Psychology at the City University of New York in the Human Development and Urban Education Ph.D. programs. Her most recent work focuses on cultural influences on social behavior, social and spiritual orientations that predict recycling behavior, and the perception of institutional bias. She was a co-editor of the 2006 Child Development Special Issue on Culture, Ethnicity and Race. She is the 1990 recipient of the American Psychological Association's Minority Achievement Award for excellence in integrating research and service for ethnic minority populations and the 1991 C. Everett Koop (former Surgeon General of the U.S.) National Health Award for health-related services research. Deborah has also served as an American Psychological Association representative to the United Nations.
This edition first published 2014
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jones, James M.
The psychology of diversity : beyond prejudice and racism / James M. Jones, John F. Dovidio and Deborah L. Vietze.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-6214-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4051-6213-5 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Multiculturalism–Psychological aspects. 2. Prejudices. 3. Stereotypes (Social psychology) I. Title.
HM1271.J656 2013
305.8–dc23
2013006406
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Joy Baer, Dream Tree, fresco. Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library.
Cover design by www.cyandesign.co.uk
Preface
The idea for this book began when James Jones was asked about updating his earlier book, Prejudice and Racism (Jones, 1997). He was loath to do so because, in his view, diversity was the compelling challenge of the twenty-first century. The three of us met at a multicultural conference in New York and talked about what a new book addressing diversity issues would look like and how it could be accomplished. Thus began a collaboration that has produced the current volume.
The very last pages of Prejudice and Racism included a major heading, “Diversity is a Strength in the Species and Society.” This section argued for both the inevitability of diversity and its fundamental benefits. Subheadings began to explore the idea that diversity exists not only between groups but also within groups. Upon reflection, we realized that prejudice and racism, while continuing to be major deterrents to social justice and a better society, were not sufficient to capture the complexity and challenges of the twenty-first century. The United States and the whole world had changed too much. We began discussing the relationship of diversity to prejudice and racism, and how a textbook could help students and others understand the challenges of diversity and how managing and supporting it across all levels of society would make this a better nation.
“Diversity” is a label that can be applied to any noticeable differences in a context or setting—a forest, a community, the world, the planet. Trying to understand and study diversity in its broadest sense is daunting. When we take too broad an approach, it is difficult to bring clarity to the discussion. When we take too narrow a view, then its meaning and relevance is challenged by all that is excluded from its purview. Finding the proper balance and perspective has been our aim. We know that differences matter and the world has struggled to deal with differences from the beginning of time. We have plunged into an effort to educate readers about the ways in which members of our society have collectively responded to differences among us, and the promise that our differences may combine to create better institutions, societies, and a better world.
Increasingly, diversity is a fact of life in the United States and globally. The Psychology of Diversity: Beyond Prejudice and Racism examines the challenges created by differences among us, and the opportunities these differences offer for creating stronger, more effective institutions and full participation of diverse members of society. This book is about the challenges diversity poses socially and psychologically and how people can choose to address and benefit from those challenges. The book is mainly for students in classes on prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination; multiculturalism and society; and intergroup relations. It should also appeal to a broad audience of people who are interested in understanding social diversity. The coverage is evidence-based; it is about the facts as we currently know them. These facts tell a story that we attempt to recount, of the past, present, and future of our society and the challenges and opportunities of diversity in everyday life.
The purpose of The Psychology of Diversity is to help people understand the ways in which differences among people produce a broad array of psychological responses that determine how they are perceived and the effects they have. Diversity is not simply about the experiences of members of selected traditionally disadvantaged groups or about people who bring different values and cultures to new countries when they immigrate. Diversity affects and includes us all. People usually find comfort from being around others similar to themselves, and seek support for their views of the world and their place in it. We document that sharing varied perspectives, talents, and worldviews is beneficial to human interaction and institutional performance. We also demonstrate the resistances that diversity elicits and the benefits that arise when we overcome them. We also focus on approaches that have been shown to produce positive outcomes; that we can learn and benefit from what makes us different from one another. This challenge of diversity is not simply to control or manage it; it is to understand and profit from it. Increasing diversity is inevitable. We use research, case studies, and historical illustration to show that by understanding diversity, we can more constructively navigate our everyday lives and prepare, individually and socially, for a world that is more diverse, more interdependent, and more complex.
Many books, including other ones we have written, focus more narrowly on bias and its consequences. This book is subtitled Beyond Prejudice and Racism, and also devotes considerable attention to the problems of prejudice and discrimination toward diverse groups. But each chapter also discusses the solutions to these problems; they describe research on techniques for improving intergroup relations in different ways. Moreover, this book goes beyond prejudice and discrimination to emphasize how an understanding of diversity offers unique insights and opportunities to better prepare people for a diverse society.
The story of diversity and its challenges is both broad and complex. This book can't tell it all, so it has particular emphases. The book is primarily social psychological in its orientation, but we consider how historical, political, educational, economic, and societal factors shape the way people think about and respond to diversity. The approach is multilevel, with coverage of the neuroscience of prejudice through the sociology and politics of diversity. Our discussions primarily center on racial and ethnic biases in the United States, partly because most research on these topics is based on people from the United States.
Another reason is because we believe that an understanding of the challenges of diversity should consider the particular historical, political, institutional, societal, and cultural context in which individual-level biases—the emphasis of social psychological approaches—are embedded. To tell that story within a limited number of pages, we have used race and ethnic relations within the United States as a thematic case study. However, we do not limit our discussion to these issues. We examine the implications to a range of other “isms” (e.g., sexism, heterosexism, weightism) regularly throughout the book and discuss diversity and social bias globally. And finally, we have included evidence-based examples that point the way to approaches to differences that have been shown to be effective in bringing people together for mutual benefit.
Dedication
To my students who really want to live fulfilled and meaningful lives in a diverse society and seek guidance in how to do that. We hope this book will help show the way.
J.M.J.
To Rita Kerins (my favorite sister) who spent a career in education learning about the challenges of diversity in everyday life.
J.F.D.
To my husband, daughters, and sons for unwavering support and love during the writing of this book.
D.L.V.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the many people and organizations supporting us in writing this book. We deeply appreciate the wisdom, patience, and guidance offered by Elaine Silverstein who helped us craft and organize the content of the book. Deirdre Ilkson at Wiley-Blackwell helped keep us on track with gentle prodding and sensitive guidance all in a soothing British accent. Thanks to Linda Dovidio for supporting our planning and writing with delicious meals and amiable company. Peter Vietze offered helpful editing and Rebecca Vietze provided “in-house” research assistance. We also thank our graduate students who helped with some of the research and provided useful comments on selected sections of chapters: Jordan Leitner at the University of Delaware and Beatriz Coronel at CUNY. Appreciation also goes to several anonymous reviewers who provided valuable insights and suggestions we have taken very seriously and have helped us make this a better book.
James M. Jones acknowledges support from the Department of Psychology, the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Morris Library at the University of Delaware for support during the writing of this book. He is especially grateful to Olaive Jones for her patience and expert editorial hand and good judgment about words and ideas.
John F. Dovidio acknowledges the financial support provided by grants from the National Science Foundation (BCS-0613218) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH RO1HL 0856331-0182 and 1R01DA029888-01) during the course of writing this book. He also acknowledges the support provided by Yale University.
Deborah L. Vietze acknowledges the helpful resources provided by the Mina Reese Library at the CUNY Graduate Center. She also appreciates the support of the Psychology Programs at the City University of New York.
Part One
Framing Diversity
Chapter 1
Psychology of Diversity
Challenges and Benefits
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Thomas Jefferson
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
Major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today's increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints. High-ranking retired officers and civilian military leaders assert that a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps is essential to national security. Moreover, because universities, and in particular, law schools, represent the training ground for a large number of the Nation's leaders, … the path to leadership must be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. Thus, the Law School has a compelling interest in attaining a diverse student body.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
This book is about diversity. Diversity refers to those things that make us different from one another. Race, ethnicity, and gender are the most common differences that are mentioned in diversity conversations. But diversity is much more than demographic differences. We are different by virtue of our country of origin, our culture, sexual orientation, age, values, political affiliation, socioeconomic status, and able-bodiedness. Our psychological tendencies, abilities, or preferences also mark diversity.
There are more than 7 billion people on the planet and each person is uniquely different from every other. Diversity is a global reality. Diversity becomes significant in Germany and the Netherlands when increasing numbers of immigrants arrive from Turkey, Africa, and South America. African, West Indian, and South and East Asian immigrants diversify the United Kingdom and Canada. Sub-Saharan Africans immigrate to South Africa and challenge locals for jobs and opportunities. Ethnic differences in the Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe, Canada, and many countries of Africa highlight both differences and similarities. To this we add the pressures created by trying to meld the diverse countries of Europe into a common union, the European Union (EU). Differences in politics, economic policy, cultural traditions, and religious beliefs challenge the fabric of a common identity. All of these diversity trends reflect global dynamics of difference. A recent Google search of the term yielded 229,000,000 hits, evidence of its relevance to our everyday experiences. So how can we possibly address diversity of this magnitude?
Our approach is to narrow it down. Although our goal is to help people understand diversity and people's responses in the broadest global context, much of this book is a case study of diversity issues in the United States. In this book, diversity is examined primarily with respect to racial and ethnic differences, although we also cover differences in gender, religion, ability, and sexual orientation. Diversity, and how people respond to it, depends on the history, economics, and politics of a society and the psychology of its members. For this reason, we focus primarily on diversity in the United States. However, we also refer to diversity in other nations and cultures and how responses to diversity may be similar or different.
As the book's subtitle implies, prejudice and racism play an important role in the context of diversity; they are a challenge to achieving its positive potential effects. One of the challenges of diversity in everyday life is to understand and reduce the biases that hinder the creation of diversity in groups, institutions, organizations, and societies. But equally challenging is to find the proper balance of approaches to diversity that simultaneously strengthen the fabric of our institutions and society and enrich our individual lives, while preserving the cherished values of equality of opportunity and social justice for all.
Diversity is based in difference, but a variety of similarities intersect these differences. Tsui and colleagues, for example, propose that both demographic differences and similarities between co-workers and supervisors affect task performance and behavior in organizational settings, but in somewhat different ways (Tsui, Porter, & Egan, 2002). They call this idea relational demography. Objective similarities—actual similarity in a given context—are important, but subjective similarities, the extent to which people perceive how similar they are to others, and how people weigh them against differences often matter even more. In general, perceiving greater similarity among workers in an organization is related to better performance and commitment to the organization. But perceiving greater similarity does not mean that people do not recognize or respect differences, as well.
What differences and similarities mean in a given relationship will depend on the norms and expectations in that context. A Black and a White female nurse may work together better and show greater support for the organization because of their normative similarities—both are women in a field in which women are the norm—than might a White male and a White female nurse, who are demographically similar by race but normatively dissimilar in the nursing context. In this case, gender similarity is more important than racial similarity. The simple fact of difference then does not create problems. Differences relative to what, when, and where play an important role in determining what the effects are. Diversity offers many ways for us to see similarities with others; it's not just about differences.
The two quotes at the beginning of this chapter, one from the Declaration of Independence and the other from Justice O'Connor, illustrate a major challenge we face as a democracy. These statements, made at widely varying times, demonstrate that the United States has a fundamental commitment to equal opportunity and equal rights, and a compelling interest in diversity. As enunciated by Justice O'Connor, compelling interest provides the legal basis for determining when and how taking race into account may be used to further diversity objectives in higher education. This commitment to diversity raises three fundamental questions that are the subject of this book: How can we create equality in a society that is so diverse? What are the impediments or barriers to realizing this goal? What are the benefits when we achieve it?
The biggest barriers to equality, given the diversity of our society, have historically been prejudice and racism, because they are premised on the belief that people are not equal. Prejudice and racism shape how we think about diversity and difference. When the institutions of society, such as law and education, reinforce these beliefs, the result is a self-perpetuating social hierarchy in which some groups have more, privileges and wealth for example, and other groups have less. One national ideal is to treat everyone equally, and yet everyone is not equal, because we are a diverse society. There are real and imagined differences among us. The challenge is to treat people fairly, recognizing that we are not all equally qualified for the same job, and respect the differences among us. Diversity has come to be valued in global and local businesses, in educational institutions, and in the military. Justice O'Connor's statement recognizes this and argues that we have a compelling interest to engage every citizen in the social, educational, and economic institutions that provide direct paths to leadership. Do you agree? America has always been diverse, but over time we have become diverse in different ways. Despite our increasing diversity and the recognition by many that dealing effectively with diversity is essential to our security and economic well-being, engaging diversity remains controversial and raises challenging problems.
Sturm and colleagues refer to successfully achieving diversity in colleges and universities as full participation: “an affirmative value focused on creating institutions that enable people, whatever their identity, background, or institutional position, to thrive, realize their capabilities, engage meaningfully in institutional life, and contribute to the flourishing of others” (Sturm, Eatman, Saltmarsh, & Bush, 2011, p. 3). Diversity is not a static, or a fixed number. We think of diversity as a catalyst for full participation in our communities, institutions, society and in our lives.
This book's main purpose is to help readers understand the psychology of diversity by reviewing what we know about human behavior and how it shapes our experiences with diversity in a variety of settings and contexts. This book highlights some psychological reactions to diversity and the emotions, perceptions, and behaviors they activate. It also presents evidence that guides us toward promising pathways for reducing some of the adverse impacts that may accompany increased diversity, as well as demonstrates some of the important benefits that diversity can produce.
We have three main goals for this book. First we want to demonstrate the depth and breadth of diversity in the United States. Our perspective is that diversity has always been a feature of American society (see Chapter 3). This diversity has dramatically increased along race and ethnic dimensions since the 1960s. If the expanding diversity is properly understood and well managed, it will strengthen our security, economic prosperity, and innovation.
A second goal of this book is to describe how diversity is reflected in people, groups, institutions, and cultures, and how and why we react to these forms of diversity in the ways that we do. Prejudice and discrimination result not only from the actions of bigots, but also from the unexamined actions and attitudes of those of us who consider ourselves “unprejudiced.” We show that prejudice is “normal” in that it is rooted in basic human cognitive, neurological, and emotional processes. As a consequence, we must overcome powerful and ordinary predispositions in order to reduce prejudices. We present research-based strategies for overcoming some of these prejudices and thus create a more favorable environment for diversity to flourish. In this way, we hope to empower students to actualize their goals regarding equity and democracy.
Third, and finally, our goal is to present some of the problems, challenges, and differing perspectives on diversity, and we provide some historical and cultural perspectives about diversity in the United States. This book may lead you to ask more questions than we have raised here and perhaps it will help you understand and become aware of diversity's challenges. It may also encourage thinking about solutions to some of the challenges we raise. We hope this will help you better live in increasingly diverse settings, institutions, and societies. We want your understanding of diversity to be based on research findings that explain how diversity affects human behavior, and we also want you to appreciate the challenges that these findings present.
Fundamentally, diversity is about differences between and within individuals, institutions, and societies. However, talking about diversity simply as difference is not what we mean in this book; we consider the kinds of social differences that society identifies as important for determining the experiences and futures of individuals and groups. There are many ways in which a person or group is related to diversity. This book will invite you to learn more about what is meant by diversity, our psychological responses to it, what we know about human behavior and diversity, and how it impacts us as people and as a nation. Although diversity often offers opportunities for positive benefits, it is not just any differences that are beneficial. We do not want more felons or bullies among us. But other things equal, we do believe that diversity of perspectives, experiences, talents, and backgrounds can enrich most contexts, institutions, and relationships.
However, as we will show in later chapters, there seems to be a general human tendency to avoid differences or react negatively to them. Moreover, when we focus on differences, we often fail to appreciate the similarities among us. These biases occur at all social levels: (a) individual attitudes and behavior, (b) institutional policies and programs, and (c) cultural beliefs and practices that often lead to biases in relationships and in institutions. Two of the major challenges of diversity in everyday life are to understand and reduce the many biases that hinder the creation and support of effective diversity in groups, institutions, organizations, and societies and then to maximize the benefits of diversity and to minimize the difficulties and adverse effects growing diversity can produce.
This book focuses on the psychology of diversity—basic psychological processes that are triggered when we encounter people who are different from us in significant and salient ways, or experience being treated differently by others because of our social status. It further explores the dynamics of mental representation and social interaction across individuals, institutions, and cultures, and how differential bases of power, privilege, and status affect these interactions. Finally, it identifies the effects of diverse contexts on the thoughts, actions, and feelings of people in them.
We begin with four real stories, based on student-to-student interviews done in a course on racism and prejudice, about experiences of prejudice. These stories come from student-led interviews about diversity and help to illustrate what we mean by diversity's challenges at these three levels.
Fahad H. is an exchange student from Pakistan who has lived in the United States for less than a year and is getting his Masters Degree at an ivy-league university. He has strongly defined typical Middle Eastern facial features and a golden hue to his skin. His hair is dark. He also has a slight Pakistani or Indian accent. His western dress, charming manner, excellent spoken and written English, and handsome features also define him. Fahad describes his experiences on his campus and those when not on the campus as being very different:
When I am not at the university I feel more conscious of my accent. I'm sometimes asked where I am from, but not in a kind or curious way, but with suspicion. I'm watched on the train. I've been stopped by transit cops asking where I am going and where I came from. This has never happened to me in Pakistan, my home. I know people treat me differently because of 9/11.
Fahad has a number of Pakistani friends, some of whom wear traditional dress, are Muslim, or have English-speaking characteristics similar to his, who have had similar experiences. Fahad is aware of the well-documented strong negative bias against Middle-Eastern and Muslim persons since 2001. Fahad and his friends are experiencing bias at the individual level.
Susanna G. is a college student who has worked for 5 years as an administrative assistant in a graphic design and marketing firm in New York City. She was born in the United States and her parents were born in the Dominican Republic. She came across an article in The New York Times about bias against and exclusion of Blacks and other minorities in her industry. Susanna brought the article to a class on racism and prejudice to discuss it with her professor. She stated,
My firm is an example of exactly what they are describing in this article. There has never been a person of color ever hired in or promoted to a management position in my company. All of the cleaning staff and most of the administrative assistants are Black or Hispanic. All of the supervisors are White. When there are meetings with other firms or when I have to cover a conference, I never see anyone who is not White calling the shots.
She asked, “Is this an example of institutional bias based on race in the workplace?”
Tameeka A. is a senior at a private university where she is a marketing major. She has always worked in fashion sales, and over the summer between her junior and senior year she applied for and was hired as a salesperson for a large national clothing chain that caters to preppy fashion for “all American” young men and women. She arrived on her first day dressed to impress. Her hair was neatly braided cornrows, she wore large gold hoop earrings, and a colorful skirt and blouse with coordinating African print. Tameeka was called into her manager's office and told she could not wear cornrows or large hoop earrings on the sales floor because they did not represent the image the store wanted to promote. She was also told to “tone down her clothing” because ethnic clothing was not allowed on sales personnel. Tameeka was also told that if she didn't want to change her style she would only be able to work in the stockroom. Is it fair to Tameeka that conforming to the company standards prohibits her personal expression in how she dresses? Does the manager not have the right to dictate appropriate dress code for the company? Is Tameeka experiencing a form of cultural bias?
Robert S., when he is asked, describes himself as White. His mother is Italian and his father is Irish, but he says, “I'm White,” when asked his racial and ethnic identity. Robert has no ethnicity that he acknowledges day to day—it is only part of his background, called up when asked, but he does not see it as self-defining. When interviewed he cannot describe any ways in which he has experienced individual, institutional, or cultural biases. Robert says in this interview, “I don't see color, we live in a society where everyone has equal rights and a chance to prove himself.” Is Robert unbiased? What is his place in the social diversity of America?
These brief descriptions illustrate how people perceive or experience bias on an individual, institutional, and cultural level. They also illustrate that some majority group members may not experience such biases, based on their racial status. But we also go beyond this three-prong framework to propose that not all challenges to diversity are because of biased perceptions, intentions, or beliefs. There are two basic ideas that reflect this viewpoint. First, at times it is not the right and wrong of a situation that we must consider but rather the difference between two positions or among several that may be reasonable, appropriate and worthwhile and therefore difficult to resolve. Second, the more diverse perspectives and points of view there are, the more difficult it is to formulate policies and programs, articulate values, and accept principles that are equitable for all.
The psychology of diversity considers different meanings and aspects that diversity can assume. Often diversity is used only to refer to ethnic and racial differences and it is also often confused with affirmative action. Scott Page (2007) provides a useful taxonomy for distinguishing among different types of diversity. He proposes four main diversity categories: cognitive, identity, demographic, and preference.
Cognitive diversity reflects differences in patterns of thinking, analysis, perception, and point of view, including:
Identity diversity represents differences among people based on sex, gender orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, immigrant status, and so on that are reflected in their affinity for and identification with those social categories.
Demographic diversity occurs when differences among people are based on social categories or social roles without regard to their psychological salience for the person. These differences usually consist of the same categories as identity diversity.
Preference diversity reflects differences in taste and values, including:
We are used to thinking about identity and demographic diversity. Complications arise when we introduce cognitive or psychological diversity and preferences or values. Even when people agree about valued outcomes like fundamental preferences, they may disagree about the best way to achieve them—instrumental preferences.
Another useful taxonomy is provided by Milem (2003). He proposes three interrelated ways to view diversity: structural diversity (numerical and proportional representation), diversity-related initiatives (cultural awareness workshops, ethnic studies courses, etc.), and diversity interactions (exchanges between and among people who are different). Structural diversity does not guarantee either of the other two forms. And you cannot have the last two if structural diversity does not exist, thus all three are interconnected. Research supports the positive benefits of both diversity initiatives and diverse interactions (Chang, 1999; Gurin, Nagda, & Lopez, 2004).
Diversity is not one thing, it is many things. Its varied nature is one of its challenges; diversity introduces a higher level of complexity to various contexts than does homogeneity. However, the varied nature of diversity is also a principal source of its benefit; from complexity comes better problem solving, greater understanding, and better citizens.
Political and economic power is unevenly distributed in society but social hierarchy is normal (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Groups vary in their ability to make decisions that affect the well-being of others. In this case, the group may have considerable influence that can disadvantage less-powerful groups, and advantage their own group. In the United States, men, particularly White men, have historically had greater educational and professional opportunities than have women. On average men get paid more and have more prestigious jobs. Is the reason for this simply because they are better at these jobs? Or is it because they have had more advantages? Or is there something about our cultural values and beliefs that assign greater prestige to things men do? It is hard sometimes to distinguish the influences of privileged opportunity, societal practices and cultural beliefs, and merit-based accomplishment.
We believe in merit, equality of opportunity, and fairness. But accomplishing all of these is challenged by historical patterns of advantage and disadvantage, and by ongoing biases. Many of these biases occur without awareness or intention.
Take a moment and think about the social groups with which you identify and their relative position in the U.S. social hierarchy. Do you belong to or identify with groups that have traditionally been disadvantaged? Groups that have been advantaged? Do you believe that one may be advantaged by virtue of not being disadvantaged? In those instances, disadvantage is hidden. People's understanding of advantage and disadvantage is often limited to what is salient. So calling attention to yourself or your group may be a way to transform disadvantage into advantage.
This book addresses many questions you have probably thought about as you have encountered diversity such as the following.
You may have a number of other questions about diversity and more may come to mind as you read this book. Try to remember them—write them down in fact—so that when you finish reading this book, you can determine if your questions have been answered or if you need to look elsewhere for additional resources to answer them.