Justification-Suppression Model

Definition

The Justification-Suppression Model is a theoretical framework that explains how individuals and groups can justify prejudiced attitudes and behaviors towards others, while simultaneously suppressing the expression of those prejudices. It provides insights into the cognitive processes and social dynamics that underlie the maintenance of prejudice in society.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. The Justification-Suppression Model proposes that individuals and groups can hold prejudiced attitudes, but suppress the expression of those attitudes in certain social contexts to maintain a positive self-image and avoid social sanctions.
2. The model suggests that people use various cognitive and behavioral strategies, such as stereotyping, rationalization, and moral disengagement, to justify their prejudiced attitudes and beliefs.
3. Factors such as social dominance orientation, system justification, and perceived threat from outgroups can influence the extent to which individuals and groups engage in justification and suppression of prejudice.
4. The model highlights how the suppression of prejudice does not necessarily lead to its elimination, as the underlying attitudes and beliefs may still be present and can be expressed in more subtle or indirect ways.
5. Understanding the Justification-Suppression Model can provide insights into the persistence of prejudice and discrimination in society, and inform interventions aimed at reducing prejudiced attitudes and behaviors.

Review Questions

• Explain how the Justification-Suppression Model accounts for the coexistence of prejudiced attitudes and the suppression of prejudiced behaviors.
  • The Justification-Suppression Model suggests that individuals and groups can hold prejudiced attitudes, but suppress the expression of those attitudes in certain social contexts to maintain a positive self-image and avoid social sanctions. This is achieved through cognitive and behavioral strategies, such as stereotyping, rationalization, and moral disengagement, which allow people to justify their prejudiced beliefs while outwardly appearing unprejudiced. The model highlights how the suppression of prejudice does not necessarily lead to its elimination, as the underlying attitudes and beliefs may still be present and can be expressed in more subtle or indirect ways.
• Analyze how factors like social dominance orientation, system justification, and perceived threat from outgroups influence the justification and suppression of prejudice.
  • According to the Justification-Suppression Model, factors such as social dominance orientation, system justification, and perceived threat from outgroups can influence the extent to which individuals and groups engage in the justification and suppression of prejudice. Individuals with a high social dominance orientation, who desire their social group to be dominant over others, are more likely to justify prejudiced attitudes and beliefs. Similarly, a strong motivation to maintain existing social systems and hierarchies (system justification) can lead to the rationalization of prejudice. Perceived threats from outgroups, whether real or imagined, can also trigger the need to justify prejudiced attitudes as a means of protecting the ingroup's interests. These factors shape the cognitive and behavioral strategies used to justify prejudice while suppressing its overt expression in certain social contexts.
• Evaluate the implications of the Justification-Suppression Model for understanding the persistence of prejudice and discrimination in society, and discuss potential interventions to address this issue.
  • The Justification-Suppression Model highlights the complex and multifaceted nature of prejudice, which persists in society despite efforts to suppress its expression. By understanding how individuals and groups use cognitive and behavioral strategies to justify their prejudiced attitudes while outwardly suppressing them, we can gain insights into the underlying mechanisms that perpetuate discrimination and inequality. This model suggests that simply suppressing the expression of prejudice is not enough, as the underlying attitudes and beliefs may still be present and can be expressed in more subtle or indirect ways. Effective interventions to address prejudice and discrimination must therefore target the root causes, such as reducing social dominance orientation, challenging system justification beliefs, and addressing perceived threats from outgroups. These interventions could involve education, intergroup contact, and the promotion of inclusive social norms that discourage the justification of prejudice. By addressing the cognitive and social factors that enable the justification and suppression of prejudice, we can work towards a more equitable and just society.

Related terms

Cognitive Dissonance: The mental discomfort experienced when an individual's beliefs or behaviors are inconsistent with their values or self-image, leading to the need to rationalize or justify their actions.

Moral Disengagement: The process by which individuals or groups selectively disengage their moral self-sanctions, allowing them to engage in unethical behavior without feeling guilt or shame.

Social Dominance Orientation: A personality trait that reflects the extent to which an individual desires their social group to be dominant over other groups, and supports hierarchical and unequal relationships between groups.