Oppression Mechanisms - Eppp Knowledge
- What is internalized oppression?
- Adoption of negative societal beliefs about one's own group. Internalized oppression leads marginalized individuals to perpetuate self-devaluation, sustaining cycles of psychological harm.
- What is system justification theory in the context of oppression?
- Motivation to defend and rationalize existing social and power arrangements. System justification theory explains how individuals legitimize inequalities to reduce cognitive dissonance and maintain stability.
- What is a microaggression in the context of oppression?
- Brief, commonplace slights that convey demeaning messages to a group. Microaggressions subtly communicate hostility, accumulating to erode psychological well-being in oppressed groups.
- What is scapegoating as a mechanism contributing to oppression?
- Blaming an outgroup for problems to reduce frustration or threat. Scapegoating redirects societal frustrations onto vulnerable groups, justifying oppression and reducing collective guilt.
- What is oppression in psychological terms (as distinct from single acts of prejudice)?
- Systemic, institutionalized power that harms a group across contexts. Oppression involves pervasive structural forces maintaining inequality, unlike isolated prejudicial incidents which lack systemic impact.
- What is right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) as a cause/driver of oppression?
- Submission to authority, aggression toward outgroups, conventionalism. Right-wing authoritarianism promotes conformity and outgroup hostility, enabling oppressive policies and actions.
- What is moral disengagement as a mechanism that facilitates oppressive acts?
- Cognitive processes that reduce guilt (e.g., justification, diffusion of blame). Moral disengagement allows perpetrators to detach from ethical standards, enabling sustained oppressive behaviors without remorse.
- What is the Pygmalion (Rosenthal) effect as a mechanism relevant to oppression?
- Higher expectations elicit improved performance (self-fulfilling prophecy). The Pygmalion effect demonstrates how positive biases from authority figures enhance outcomes via expectancy confirmation.
- What is allostatic load as a health-related effect of chronic oppression-related stress?
- Cumulative physiological wear from repeated stress activation. Allostatic load results from chronic adaptation to oppression-induced stress, accelerating health deterioration over time.
- What is interpersonal oppression?
- Oppression enacted through person-to-person behaviors and interactions. Interpersonal oppression occurs in direct encounters, reinforcing systemic inequalities through everyday discriminatory behaviors.
- What is the key distinction between prejudice and discrimination?
- Prejudice is attitude; discrimination is behavior/unequal treatment. Prejudice reflects internal biases, while discrimination manifests as actions that perpetuate oppression through unequal opportunities.
- What is the most central mechanism of stereotype threat affecting performance?
- Increased anxiety and cognitive load that reduces working memory. Stereotype threat disrupts performance by heightening vigilance and depleting cognitive resources needed for tasks.
- What is the difference between overt discrimination and subtle (modern) discrimination?
- Overt is explicit; subtle is indirect, ambiguous, or normatively justified. Overt discrimination is direct and intentional, while subtle forms mask bias under social norms, evading detection.
- What is dehumanization as a mechanism of oppression?
- Denying full human qualities to a group, enabling harm and exclusion. Dehumanization facilitates oppression by stripping groups of empathy-worthy traits, rationalizing exploitation and violence.
- What is social identity theory's core mechanism that can promote oppression?
- Ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation to enhance self-esteem. Social identity theory highlights how deriving self-worth from group membership fuels bias against outgroups.
- What is minority stress (Meyer) as a psychological effect of oppression?
- Chronic stress from stigma, prejudice, and expectations of rejection. Minority stress arises from navigating prejudiced environments, leading to heightened mental health vulnerabilities.
- What is the Golem effect as a mechanism relevant to oppression?
- Lower expectations elicit worse performance (negative self-fulfilling prophecy). The Golem effect shows how negative expectations from others diminish motivation and achievement in oppressed individuals.
- What is the key distinction between stereotypes and prejudice?
- Stereotypes are beliefs; prejudice is evaluative affect/attitude. Stereotypes form cognitive generalizations, whereas prejudice adds emotional judgment, contributing to oppressive attitudes.
- What is the just-world hypothesis, and how does it relate to oppression?
- Belief the world is fair; promotes victim-blaming and system-justification. The just-world hypothesis maintains social order by attributing misfortune to victims, thus perpetuating oppressive systems.
- What is social dominance orientation (SDO) as a cause/driver of oppression?
- Preference for group-based hierarchy and inequality. Social dominance orientation drives support for hierarchical structures, fostering discriminatory attitudes and behaviors.
- What is realistic conflict theory as a cause of intergroup oppression?
- Competition over scarce resources increases hostility and discrimination. Realistic conflict theory posits that resource scarcity escalates intergroup tensions, leading to discriminatory practices.
- What is stereotype threat?
- Performance impairment when a negative group stereotype is salient. Stereotype threat activates anxiety about confirming negative stereotypes, impairing cognitive performance in evaluative situations.
- What is attributional ambiguity as a psychological effect of oppression?
- Uncertainty whether outcomes reflect bias versus personal factors. Attributional ambiguity creates psychological strain by complicating interpretations of feedback in discriminatory environments.
- What is institutional (structural) oppression?
- Policies and practices that systematically disadvantage a group. Institutional oppression embeds bias in societal structures, ensuring persistent disadvantages beyond individual actions.
- Which concept best describes overlapping, interacting systems of oppression across identities?
- Intersectionality. Intersectionality reveals how multiple identities compound oppressive experiences, creating unique forms of disadvantage.