Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-fqc5m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T16:56:00.070Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Why does the “mental shotgun” fire system-justifying bullets?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2014

Danielle Gaucher
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada. d.gaucher@uwinnipeg.cahttp://ion.uwinnipeg.ca/~dgaucher/lab.html
John T. Jost
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003. john.jost@nyu.eduhttp://www.psych.nyu.edu/jost/

Abstract

We suggest that people privilege explanations relying on inherent rather than contingent factors not only because of an innate cognitive tendency to monitor reality, but because doing so satisfies the desire to perceive the societal status quo as legitimate. In support, we describe experimental studies linking the activation of system justification motivation to the endorsement of inherence-based (essentialist) explanations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blanchar, J. & Eidelman, S. (2013) Perceived system longevity increases system justification and the legitimacy of inequality. European Journal of Social Psychology 43:238–45.Google Scholar
Brescoll, V. L., Uhlmann, E. L. & Newman, G. N. (2013) The effects of system-justifying motives on endorsement of essentialist explanations for gender differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 105:891908.Google Scholar
Eagly, A. H. & Steffen, V. J. (1984) Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46:735–54.Google Scholar
Gaucher, D., Jost, J. T. & Laurin, K. (2013) [System threat and essentialism.] Unpublished raw data.Google Scholar
Hoffman, C. & Hurst, N. (1990) Gender stereotypes: Perception or rationalization? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58:197208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jost, J. T. & Banaji, M. R. (1994) The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology 33:127.Google Scholar
Jost, J. T., Gaucher, D., & Stern, C. (2015). “The world isn't fair”: A system justification perspective on social stratification and inequality. In: APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology. Volume 2. ed. Dovidio, J. F. & Simpson, J., pp. 317–40. American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Jost, J. T. & Hamilton, D. L. (2005) Stereotypes in our culture. In: On the nature of prejudice: Fifty years after Allport, ed. Dovidio, J. F., Glick, P. & Rudman, L., pp. 208–24. Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kay, A. C. & Friesen, J. (2011) On social stability and social change: Understanding when system justification does and does not occur. Current Directions in Psychological Science 20:360–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, J. (2005) In genes we trust: The biological component of psychological essentialism and its relationship to mechanisms of motivated social cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88:686702. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.4.686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurin, K., Shepard, S. & Kay, A. C. (2010) Restricted emigration, system inescapability, and the defense of the status quo: System-justifying consequences of restricted exit opportunities. Psychological Science 21:1075–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lerner, M. J. (1980) The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. Plenum CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahalingam, R. (2003b) Essentialism, culture, and power representations of social class. Journal of Social Issues 59:733–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Napier, J. L., Mandisodza, A. N., Andersen, S. M. & Jost, J. T. (2006) System justification in responding to the poor and displaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 6:5773.Google Scholar
Solak, N., Jost, J. T., Sümer, N. & Clore, G. (2012) Rage against the machine: The case for system-level emotions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 6:674–90.Google Scholar