The Psychology of Diversity
Beyond Prejudice and Racism

The Psychology of Diversity presents a captivating social-psychological study of diversity, the obstacles confronting it, and the benefits it provides.

• Goes beyond prejudice and discrimination to discuss the personal and social implications of diversity for both majority and minority group members
• Considers how historical, political, economic, and societal factors shape the way people think about and respond to diversity
• Explains why discrimination leads to bias at all levels in society ? interpersonal, institutional, cultural, and social
• Describes proven techniques for improving intergroup relations
• Examines the brain's impact on bias in clear terms for students with little or no background in neuroscience
• Includes helpful study tools throughout the text as well as an online instructor?s manual

Preface xv

Dedication xviii

Acknowledgments xix

Part One Framing Diversity 1

Chapter 1 The Psychology of Diversity: Challenges and Benefits 3

Introduction 4

The Goals of This Book 6

What is Diversity About? 6

A Taxonomy of Diversity 9

When Diversity Does Not Add Up To Equality 10

Perspectives on Diversity 11

Behavioral Science and Diversity 11

Diversity within Diversity 13

The Diversity Divide: Benefits versus Challenges 14

What Are the Benefits of Diversity? 14

What Are the Challenges of Diversity? 17

Organization of this Book 19

Summary 22

Chapter 2 Central Concepts in the Psychology of Diversity 27

Introduction 27

Understanding Diversity 30

What is the Psychology of Diversity? 30

What’s in a Social Group Label? 33

Social Biases: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination 34

What Are They Like? Stereotypes 34

How Do I Feel About Them? Prejudice 35

How Do I Treat Them? Discrimination and Fairness 37

Biases Below and Above the Surface 40

The Structure of Social Bias 41

Racism: A Case Example of Social Bias 41

The Different Layers of Social Bias 42

Research Methods for the Study of Social Bias 45

The Scientific Enterprise 45

Making Sense of the World Scientifically: Theories and Research Methods 46

Testing Our Ideas: Research Designs 47

Making Meaning from Research: Measures and Analysis of Data 49

Summary 49

Chapter 3 Historical Perspectives on Diversity in the United States 55

Introduction 55

Push–Pull: Dynamics of Diversity 57

Immigration, Importation, and Citizenship 57

U.S. Population Growth is Fueled by Immigration 58

Who Are Citizens of the United States? 59

Immigration and Ethnic Diversity 61

Benevolent Sexism as Legal Argument 62

Cultural Conditioning of American Indians 63

Negative Responses to Diversity 64

Immigration Policy 65

Civil Rights 68

Diversity and Civil Rights 68

Expanding Diversity and Inclusion in U.S. Society Through Civil Rights 72

Affirmative Action as a Diversity Approach 74

A Nation of Minorities 78

Challenges of Diversity 80

Individual Rights, Diversity, and Prejudice Collide 80

Diversity and Difference 81

Majority and Minority 82

Summary 83

Part Two Psychological Processes 87

Chapter 4 Personality and Individual Differences: How Different Types of People Respond to Diversity in Different Ways 89

Introduction 89

Origins of Prejudice: Allport’s Lens Model 90

Personality and Prejudice 92

The Abnormality of Prejudice: The Psychodynamic Model 93

Psychodynamic Theory and Prejudice 93

Prejudice against Difference: The Authoritarian Personality 94

The Legacy of Authoritarianism: Contemporary Measures 96

The Normality of Prejudice 99

Conformity and Norms 99

Social Dominance 100

Authoritarianism and SDO: Sometimes a Lethal Combination 104

Religion and Prejudice 106

Politics and Prejudice 107

Individual Differences in Blatant and Subtle Prejudice 109

Summary 111

Chapter 5 Social Cognition and Categorization: Distinguishing “Us” from “Them” 117

Introduction 117

We Are Social Animals 118

How We Think About People: Social Cognition 119

Acquiring Information: Attributions 120

Integrating Information: Cognitive Consistency 124

How We Think About Groups: Social Categorization and Group Membership 128

Who is “In” and Who is “Out”? Social Categorization 129

Thinking Differently About Us and Them 132

What Can We Do? Reducing Bias and Embracing Diversity 133

“Me” and “You” Instead of “Us” and “Them”: Decategorization 134

Playing on the Same Team: Recategorization 136

Implications and Applications of Category-based Models for Reducing Bias 138

Summary 141

Chapter 6 Social Identity, Roles, and Relations: Motivational Influences in Responses to Diversity 147

Introduction 147

Feeling Good about Us: Social Identity 148

Who Am I? Personal and Social Identity 149

Many Me’s: Multiple Identities 151

My Group Is Better Than Yours: Creating Positive Identity 152

Confusing “What is” with “What Should Be”: Social Roles and System Justification 155

Blaming the Victim: Attributions to Groups 155

Judging Who People Are by What Jobs They Do: Social Roles 156

Maintaining the Status Quo: System Justification 158

Slipping into the Darkness: Groups in Competition 161

“You Dirty Rattler”: Conflict between Groups 162

Threatening What We Have and What We Are: Realistic and Symbolic Conflict 162

What Can We Do? Changing How Groups Relate 164

Achieving More Together Than Alone: Superordinate Goals 165

Putting the Pieces Together: Jigsaw Classroom 165

You Complete Me (Us): Mutual Intergroup Differentiation 166

Which Approach is Best? 167

Summary 168

Chapter 7 Is Bias in the Brain? 173

Introduction 173

What’s Under the Hood? The Organization of the Human Brain 175

How We Know How the Brain Functions 176

Brain Structure and Function 177

Brain Structure, Diversity, and Intergroup Relations 178

Warning! Difference Ahead! 179

Who Are You? Race and Face Perception 183

Brain Function and Intergroup Bias 187

Explicit and Implicit Bias 188

Contemporary Prejudice 192

What Can We Do? Addressing Implicit Bias 195

Acknowledging Implicit Bias 196

Controlling Implicit Bias Through Unconscious Goals 197

Summary 198

Chapter 8 Coping and Adapting to Stigma and Difference 205

Introduction 205

Social Stigma and Cultural Difference 207

The Social “Stain” of Stigma 208

How Social and Cultural Difference Divides Us 210

Racial Socialization and Acculturation 211

Preparing Children for a Racialized Society: Racial Socialization 212

Adapting to a Different Culture: Acculturation 212

Stresses Caused by Stigma and Difference 213

Perceiving Discrimination is Bad for Your Health 213

Stereotype Threat is “in the Air” 214

Coping with Perceived Discrimination 220

How Group Membership Influences the Ways We Cope with Discrimination 220

The Ways We Cope with Discrimination Individually 223

Collective Identities 224

How We Relate to Our Racial Group: Racial Identity 225

How We Relate to Our Ethnic Group: Ethnic Identity 228

Summary 231

Chapter 9 Intergroup Interactions: Pitfalls and Promises 239

Introduction 239

Psychological Challenges of Intergroup Interaction 241

Preparing for the “First Date” 241

Where Do We Go from Here? Experiences in Intergroup Interactions 242

You (Can) Complete Me 246

Under the Radar? Implicit Bias and Intergroup Interaction 248

Some Conclusions About Intergroup Interactions 251

The Promise of Positive Intergroup Interaction 252

How Does Contact Work? 253

Friends of My Friends 255

Just Imagine! 256

Summary 257

Part Three Culture, Power, and Institutions 263

Chapter 10 Cultural Diversity: Preferences, Meaning, and Difference 265

Introduction 265

What is Culture? 268

When Do Race Preferences Begin? 270

Why Do Early Preferences Matter? 271

How Do Cultures Differ? 272

What We Value 272

How We See Power 274

How We Relate to Others: Individualism–Collectivism 276

How We Perceive “the Other”: Enemyship 278

How We Understand Time: Psychological Time 279

How We Create Meaning: Religion 280

Cultural Diversity 283

Now We See It, Now We Don’t: Perspectives on Cultural Diversity 285

Culture Wars Promote Conflict and Contest 287

Culture Peace Promotes Representation and Belonging 289

Preventing Bias and Favoritism 291

Summary 293

Chapter 11 Social Roles and Power in a Diverse Society 299

Introduction 299

Power Matters 302

Who’s Got the Power? Power Dynamics and Diversity 305

It’s Just Natural: The Power of Social Roles and Social Groups 306

Who’s at the Top and Why? CEOs, Lawyers, and Janitors 307

Multiple Me: Intersectionality and Power 308

A Social Hierarchy: What’s Diversity Got To Do With it? 310

Psychological Sources of Power 310

Skin Color, Social Role, and Power 312

Social Dominance: My Group Versus Your Group 314

Social Class as a Source of Power 315

Pathways to Fairness: Reducing Bias in Power Dynamics 316

You Have More Power—What Should I Expect? 317

Maybe the Status Quo Has Too Much Power 318

Stereotyping: Can it Help and Not Harm? 319

Summary 320

Chapter 12 The Challenge of Diversity for Institutions 327

Introduction 327

Portraits of Institutional Bias 329

Texaco: Recognizing Diversity Bias and Doing Something About it 329

An All-Girls Math Class: Educational Bias on Purpose 330

How Institutional Bias Operates 332

The Origins of Institutional Bias: A Case Example 333

Types of Institutional Bias 333

Most Bias is Standard-of-Practice Bias 335

Can Affirmative Action Address Institutional Bias? 336

Home Ownership and Mortgage Lending 337

Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Age Disparities in Unemployment 339

The Criminal Justice System and Ethnicity Disparities 340

Ethnic Disparities in Capital Punishment 341

Healthcare, Marriage, and Environmental Safety 341

What Makes Institutional Bias so Challenging? 343

Effects of Institutional Bias Are Far-reaching 344

Emotions May Run High 345

Maybe Poverty Leads to Institutional Bias 347

Preventing Institutional Bias is a Challenge 348

Valuing Diversity 348

Diversity Training in Higher Education 349

Summary 350

Chapter 13 The Psychology of Diversity: Principles and Prospects 355

Introduction 356

Diversity is Diverse 357

Diversity When it is All Good 359

Diversity is Normal 361

Doing Diversity is Hard 362

Diversity Demands Change 363

Diversity Sometimes Stands Opposed to Fairness 363

Bias Has Deep-seated Psychological Roots and Consequences 363

Diversity Complicates Interpersonal and Intergroup Interactions 364

Principles of Diversity: What Have We Learned in This Book? 365

Bias Against Diversity is Not Inevitable 365

Diversity Presents Opportunities to Learn 366

Interaction Improves Attitudes Toward Other Groups 366

Diverse Contexts Promote Flexibility, Adaptability, and Creativity 366

Personal Motivation Can Limit or Prevent Bias 367

Belief That Biases Can Be Changed Increases People’s Interest in Diversity 367

People Can Learn To Be Unprejudiced 367

Approach and Avoidance Motivations Are Keys to Diversity Dynamics 368

Individual Ideology and Values Determine Diversity Attitudes, Support, and Actions 368

People Are Resilient in the Face of Discrimination 368

Respect Promotes Diversity Among Members of Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups 369

Support for Diversity is Greatest When it Includes Your Group 369

Programs to Promote Intergroup Relations Can Succeed 370

Trust is Crucial for Dealing with Difference and Change 370

Organizational Values, Goals, and Practices Determine the Success of Diversity Efforts 371

Conclusion 371

Glossary 377

Index 401

James M.  Jones is Professor of Psychology at the University of Delaware and Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity. He received the Lifetime Contribution to Psychology award from the APA in 2011.

John F. Dovidio isProfessor of Psychology at Yale University. He has received numerous awards for his scholarship, service, and teaching, and served as president of several professional societies.

Deborah L. Vietze is Professor of Psychology and Urban Education at the City University of New York.  She has received awards for her contributions to research on ethnic minorites and has served as a representative from the American Psychological Association to the United Nations.