Using Self-Categorization Theory as a conceptual framework for understanding attributions to discrimination, the primary aim of this study was to move beyond focusing on the degree to which racial minorities define themselves in terms of their race (i.e., racial centrality). Specifically, the authors examined how multiple dimensions of Black racial identity affected attributions to racial discrimination in two attributionally ambiguous situations. For Black Canadians exposed to intergroup contexts, racial identity beliefs that emphasize the distinctiveness of the Black experience (low public regard and nationalist ideology) were associated with greater perceived discrimination across the two situations, whereas racial identity beliefs that stress the similarities between the Black experience and that of other groups (assimilationist and humanist ideologies) were associated with perceiving less discrimination. Racial identity beliefs did not predict attributions when the target and potential perpetrator were members of the same racial group. Implications for studying the relationship between Black racial identity and perceived discrimination are discussed.
Barnes, L.L., De Leon, C.F.M., Wilson, R.S., Bienias, J.L., Bennett, D.A., & Evans, D.A. ( 2004). Racial differences in perceived discrimination in a community population of older Blacks and Whites. Journal of Aging and Health, 16, 315-337.
2.
Barrett, L.F., & Swim, J.K. ( 1998). Appraisals of prejudice and discrimination. In J. K. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target’s perspective (pp. 11-36). New York: Academic Press.
3.
Boatswain, S.J., & Lalonde, R.N. ( 2000). Social identity and preferred ethnic/racial labels for Blacks in Canada. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 216-234.
4.
Blanz, M. ( 1999). Accessibility and fit as determinants of salience of social categorizations. European Journal of Social Psychology , 29, 43-74.
5.
Branscombe, N.R., Schmitt, M.T., & Harvey, R.D. ( 1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African-Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 135-149.
6.
Crocker, J., & Major, B. ( 1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review, 96, 608-630.
7.
Davidson, M., & Friedman, R.A. (1998). When excuses don’t work: The persistent injustice effect among Black managers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43, 154-183.
8.
Deitch, E.A., Barsky, A., Butz, R.M., Chan, S., Brief, A.P., & Bradley, J.C. ( 2003). Subtle yet significant: The existence and impact of everyday racial discrimination in the workplace. Human Relations, 56, 1299-1324.
9.
Dion, K.J., & Kawakami, K. ( 1996). Ethnicity and perceived discrimination in Toronto: Another look at the personal/group discrimination discrepancy. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 28, 203-213.
10.
Duck, J.M., & Fielding, K.S. (2003). Leaders and their treatment of subgroups: Implications for evaluations of the leader and the superordinate group. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 387-401.
11.
Ellemers, N., Spears, R. , & Doosje, B. (Eds.). ( 1999). Social identity: Context, commitment, content . Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
12.
Feagin, J.R. ( 1991). The continuing significance of race: Antiblack discrimination in public places. American Sociological Review , 56, 101-116.
13.
Feagin, J.R. ( 1992). The continuing significance of racism: Discrimination against Black students in White colleges. Journal of Black Studies, 22, 546-578.
14.
Fleming, J.H., & Darley, J.M. ( 1993). Actors and observers revisited: Correspondence bias, counterfactual surprise, and discounting in successive judgments of constrained behavior. Social Cognition, 11, 367-397.
15.
Fox, S., & Stallworth, L.E. (2005). Racial/ethnic bullying: Exploring links between bullying and racism in the US workplace. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 438-456.
16.
Friendly, M. ( 2003). Analysis of Toronto Police Database. Retrieved September 21, 2004, from http://www.thestar.com/static/PDF/021211_policeDB.pdf
17.
Hall, S.P., & Carter, R.T. ( 2006). The relationship between racial identity, ethnic identity, and perceptions of racial discrimination in an Afro-Caribbean descent sample . Journal of Black Psychology, 32, 155-175.
18.
Haslam, S.A., & Ellemers, N. ( 2005). Social identity in industrial and organizational psychology: Concepts, controversies, and contributions. In G. P. Hodgkinson (Ed.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 20, pp. 39-118). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
19.
Inman, M.L., & Baron, R.S. ( 1996). Influence of prototypes on perceptions of prejudice . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 727-739.
20.
Jetten, J., Branscombe, N.R., Schmitt, M.T., & Spears, R. ( 2001). Rebels with a cause: Group identification as a response to perceived discrimination from the mainstream. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1204-1213.
21.
Johnson, J.D., & Lecci, L. ( 2003). Assessing anti-White attitudes and predicting perceived racism: The Johnson-Lecci scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 299-312.
22.
Johnson, J.D., Lecci, L., & Swim, J. ( 2006). Predicting perceived racism and acceptance of negative behavioral intergroup responses: Validating the JLS in a college and community sample of Blacks. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 421-431.
23.
Johnson, J.D., Simmons, C., Trawalter, S., Ferguson, T., & Reed, W. ( 2003). Variation in Black anti-White bias and target distancing cues: Factors that influence perceptions of "ambiguously racist" behavior . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 609-622.
24.
Kravitz, D.A., & Klineberg, S.L. (2000). Reactions to two versions of affirmative action among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 597-611.
25.
Lalonde, R.N., Jones, J., & Stroink, M. ( 2008). Racial identity, racial attitudes, and race socialization among BlackCanadian parents. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 40, 129-139.
26.
Major, B., Quinton, W.J., & Schmader, T. ( 2003). Attributions to discrimination and self-esteem: Impact of group identification and situational ambiguity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 220-231.
27.
Major, B., Quinton, W.J., & McCoy, S.K. (2002). Antecedents and consequences of attributions to discrimination: Theoretical and empirical advances. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 251-330). New York: Academic Press.
28.
McCoy, S.K., & Major, B. ( 2003). Group identification moderates emotional responses to perceived prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 29, 1005-1017.
29.
Milan, A., & Tran, K. ( 2004). Blacks in Canada: A long history. Canadian Social Trends, 72, 2-7.
30.
Moy, J., & Ng, S.H. ( 1996). Expectation of outgroup behavior: Can you trust the outgroup ? European Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 333-340.
31.
Oakes, P.J. ( 1987). The salience of social categories. In J. C. Turner, M.A. Hogg, P. J. Oakes, S. D. Reicher, & M. S. Wetherell (Eds.), Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory (pp. 117-141). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
32.
Operario, D., & Fiske, S.T. ( 2001). Ethnic identity moderates perceptions of prejudice: Judgments of personal versus group discrimination and subtle versus blatant bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 550-561.
33.
Plous, S. ( 1996). Ten myths about affirmative action. Journal of Social Issues, 52, 25-31.
34.
Sellers, R.M., Copeland-Linder, N., Martin, P.P., & Lewis, R.L. ( 2006). Racial identity matters: The relationship between racial discrimination and psychological functioning in AfricanAmerican adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16, 187-216.
35.
Sellers, R.M., & Shelton, J.N. ( 2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 84, 1079-1092.
36.
Sellers, R.M., Smith, M.A., Shelton, J.N., Rowley, S.J., & Chavous, T.M. ( 1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 18-39.
37.
Shelton, J.N., & Sellers, R.M. ( 2000). Situational stability and variability in African American racial identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 27-50.
38.
Smith, C.C. ( 2007). Conflict, Crisis and Accountability: Racial Profiling and Law Enforcement in Canada. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2007/Conflict_Crisis_and_Accountability.pdf.
Swim, J.K., Hyers, L.L., Cohen, L.L., Fitzgerald, J.C., & Bylsma, W.H. ( 2003). African American college students’ experiences with everyday racism: Characteristics of and responses to these incidents . Journal of Black Psychology, 29, 38-67.
41.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (Eds.). (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
42.
Vivian, J.E., & Berkowitz, N.H. (1992). Anticipated bias from an outgroup: An attributional analysis. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 415-424.
43.
Winks, R.W. ( 1997). The Blacks in Canada: A history (2nd ed.). Montreal, Quebec, Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
44.
Wortley, S. ( 1996). Justice for all? Race and perceptions of bias in the Ontario criminal justice system: A Toronto survey. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 38, 439-467.
