Derogating the Victim: The Interpersonal Consequences of Blaming Events on Discrimination

Abstract

This experiment examines whether African Americans who attribute negative events to discrimination incur interpersonal costs, such as being viewed as troublemakers. An African American job candidate who attributed a rejection to discrimination was perceived as more of a troublemaker (e.g. hypersensitive, irritating) than an African American who attributed rejection either to his interviewing skills or to job competition. This devaluation occurred even when discrimination was blatant, such as when the employer made old-fashioned racist statements (e.g. `Black people are just not as smart as White people'). This suggests that members of stigmatized groups may be reluctant to publicly acknowledge being the target of discrimination because it is socially costly to do so.