A double-edged sword: Ideology and self-esteem among low-status groups

In this dissertation I explored the implications of ideology for self-esteem among low status groups. Ideologies are cultural beliefs that contribute to the maintenance of unequal power and social relations in a society. Ideologies assuage the threat of uncertainty by fostering perceptions of fairness, predictability, and personal control. Ideology should be positively associated with wellbeing among both high and low status groups. When the ideological belief system is violated by clear evidence of discrimination, however, ideology should be negatively associated with wellbeing among low status groups. I presented 5 studies testing the hypotheses that (1) the ambiguity of discrimination is a key determinant of whether ideology is positively or negatively associated with self-esteem among low status groups, and (2) perceptions of control mediate the relationship between ideology and self-esteem. Results were largely consistent with these hypotheses.;Ideology was positively associated with wellbeing when prejudice was ambiguous. In pilot study 3 and study 1, when women faced ambiguous sexism those primed with ideology were significantly more likely to blame themselves for the negative evaluation, felt less depressed, less angry, less anxious, and had higher self-esteem than women primed with neutral content. Further, women in study 1 and study 2 reported higher perceptions of personal control when primed with ideology than with neutral content. Finally, mediational evidence in study I suggests that ideology protects self-esteem when prejudice is ambiguous by preserving perceptions of control and lessening perceptions of threat.;In contrast, in the clear evidence of discrimination conditions results were mixed. In pilot studies 1 and 2, ideology was negatively associated with self-esteem as predicted. In the clear sexism condition of study 1, those who were primed with ideology blamed themselves more for the evaluation and, although not significant, tended to report lower self-esteem and lower perceptions of control than women primed with neutral content. In study 2, although ideology salience was unassociated with mood and self-esteem, women facing clear sexism reported lower personal control when primed with ideology than with neutral content. Thus, results generally support that ideology is protective when prejudice is ambiguous and harmful when prejudice is clear.