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Status Anxiety, Reprise 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Steve Taylor takes issue with evolutionary psychologists who suggest “racism is prevalent because it was beneficial for early human beings to deprive other groups of resources.” Looking at the behavior of hunter-gatherer communities that still exist in isolated areas, such as the upper reaches of the Amazon River, he finds little evidence to support that reasoning.

He offers an alternative view. Here’s a snippet:

An alternative view is that racism (and xenophobia of all kinds) does not have a genetic or evolutionary basis, but is primarily a psychological trait – more specifically, a psychological defence mechanism generated by feelings of insecurity and anxiety. There is some evidence for this view from the psychological theory of ‘terror management.’ Research has shown that when people are given reminders of their own mortality, they feel a sense of anxiety and insecurity, which they respond to by becoming more prone to status-seeking, materialism, greed, prejudice and aggression. They are more likely to conform to culturally accepted attitudes, and to identify with their national or ethnic groups. According to Terror Management Theory, the motivation of these behaviours is to enhance one’s sense of significance or value in the face of death, or to gain a sense of security or belonging, as a way of protecting oneself against the threat of mortality. In my view, racism is a similar response to a more general sense of insignificance, unease and inadequacy.

January 21, 2018 | Posted by: Frank | Posted in: "That Conversation about Race" | Bookmark this post

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