Majority group members’ response to social change issues: the implications for diversity policy support
Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The current study examines how majority group members react to social change in terms of \nethnic and gender equality, and detects specific factors that influence majority group members \nto engage in and support diversity policies. To do this, it considers responses in terms of \nemotions and heart rate measures. Guided by literature on the influence that emotions can have \nin transforming behavioural intention, we study how frames of privilege awareness and the \nperception of social stability interact with emotional responses. Furthermore, it utilises these \nframes and theorical knowledge to investigate their relation with diversity policy support \nintentions explained by the report of negative emotions. 219 white men were asked to respond \nto these frames while being recorded and to engage in a writing and speaking task where heart \nrate was measured. The results of the study show that privilege listing is linked with higher \nnegative emotional responses. In addition, privilege listing predicts higher behavioural \nintentions to support diversity policies, and this effect is mediated by negative emotions. The \nfindings of this study provide potential insight into the importance of managing diversity \npolicies and their implications, as well as concrete determinants for white men’s behavioural \nengagement in social change.
Author: L. Prieto Cadenas
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3198368277