Psychology Colloquium: Privileged Identities and Response to Social Change
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Speaker
Dr. Yuen J. Huo, UCLA
Title
Privileged Identities and Response to Social Change
Abstract
The question of how members of dominant groups respond to newcomers and to growing diversity is explored in a series of studies across different social contexts: 1) Whites’ response to becoming an ethnic minority in the U.S.; 2) Men in STEM’s response to women entering their field; and 3) students’ response to the internationalization of the undergraduate population at their university. In each case, the dominant group holds an identity that is privileged because it is normative and closely intertwined with the commonly shared identity (American and White; men and STEM; university identity and domestic students). And in each case, the sharp influx of newcomers threatens dominant group members’ claim to be the group that best represents the nation, community, or institution. Our findings show that when reminded of social changes within each context, dominant group members experience prototypicality threat, a psychological experience that prompts resistance toward diversity efforts and aversion to diversity itself. This identity threat is experienced by members of dominant groups and not by other groups and uniquely predicts a range of psychological outcomes (e.g., policy positions, political candidate support, food preferences).
Faculty Host
Dr. Fathali Moghaddam