Confronting 鈥榠ntergroup anxiety鈥�: Can you try too hard to be fair?
Sometimes efforts to avoid bias can backfire聽in ways that actually deepen social divides. But that can be overcome, experts say, by focusing on the values and motivations behind the desire to appear fair.
Sometimes efforts to avoid bias can backfire聽in ways that actually deepen social divides. But that can be overcome, experts say, by focusing on the values and motivations behind the desire to appear fair.
Why do some of us, despite our best intentions, feel self-conscious when we meet people who are transgender, disabled, or otherwise marginalized by our society? Psychologists call it 鈥渋ntergroup anxiety,鈥� and it鈥檚 very common. But even though intergroup anxiety typically arises from a desire to appear fair to others, it can often end up perpetuating social inequalities. 鈥淏ecause your anxiety is so high, the irony is that you might exhibit more manifestations of discrimination and prejudice,鈥� says L. Song Richardson, Dean and Chancellor鈥檚 Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine. How do we overcome it? The answer may lie in what motivates our desire to actually be fair. When we鈥檙e driven by external factors such as appearance, we become anxious, says Gordon Moskowitz, Chair of Lehigh University鈥檚 Department of Psychology. 鈥淏ut another type of egalitarian goal is one which is derived from our value system.鈥� These 鈥渋nternally-set standards of how to live and act,鈥� he says, 鈥渄o not lead to anxiety.鈥�
This piece first appeared in the Jan. 29, 2019 edition of 海角大神 Daily.