The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Paid Worker Role and Health 473

Why do women deny personal dis-

crimination? There are a couple of expla-

nations (Crosby, 1984; Sechrist & Swim,

2008). First, it is difficult for a person to

infer discrimination on the basis of a single

case. We can always find another reason

why we did not receive the job, the promo-

tion, or the salary increase: Other people

had more experience, education, or knowl-

edge. It is difficult for a single person to

compare himself or herself to a group of

individuals. Second, perceiving discrimi-

nation arouses discomfort. If an individual

suffers discrimination, someone specific is

to blame. Perceiving that a group of people

suffer discrimination (i.e., all women) does

not cause as much discomfort because the

source of the discrimination is more diffuse:

society as a whole.

Third, even if one personally acknowl-

edges discrimination, there may be conse-

quences to the self and the perpetrator if a

public announcement is made. A study of

college students showed that both women

and men are less inclined to perceive dis-

crimination when the source is a person

than a rule and when there are negative

consequences to that person. When stu-

dents were discriminated against (i.e., re-

ceived less credit than another person for

a superior performance) due to either a

sexist experimenter or a sexist rule, people

were more inclined to perceive discrimina-

tion if the cause was a rule than a person

(i.e., the experimenter; Sechrist & Delmar,

2009). Females were especially unlikely to

perceive discrimination when the source of

the behavior was the person than the rule.

A follow-up study showed that students

were especially unlikely to perceive dis-

crimination due to a sexist experimenter

when the possibility existed for the ex-

perimenter’s supervisor to know about the

The vast majority of women said yes to

questions 1 and 3, but no to question 2. They

believed they receive the benefits they deserve,

that they do not suffer personal discrimination,

but that other women are victims of discrimi-

nation. Crosby refers to this phenomenon as

thedenial of disadvantage. That is, women

(and men) are more likely to agree that women

in general are subject to discrimination and

that women do not receive the same salary as

men for comparable work, but women deny

any personal disadvantage. See if this phenom-

enon appears at your school in Do Gender 12.4.

DO GENDER 12.4

Denial of Personal

Discrimination

You probably will not be able to measure

actual discrimination in this exercise, but

you can determine the extent to which

women perceive that others compared to

themselves are subject to discrimination.

Ask a group of men and women Crosby’s

(1984) three questions:

1. Do you currently receive the ben-
   efits from your job that you deserve
   to receive?


2. Are you at present the victim of sex
   discrimination?


3. Are women discriminated against?
   For interest, ask an additional question:


4. Are men discriminated against?
   What percentage of women and
   men perceive that women are victims of
   discrimination? That men are victims of
   discrimination? What percentage of men
   and women perceive they are victims of
   sex discrimination?

M12_HELG0185_04_SE_C12.indd 473 6/21/11 9:16 AM