Christine Ma Social Science
Unpacking the Paradox of In-group Derogation Via Dialecticism, Power, and Affect
How do you reconcile the phenomenon of self-directed racism by certain minority/oppressed groups towards their own members with the universal trend of ethnocentrism? Given past documentation of such ingroup derogation, questions remain: if ingroup derogation indeed exists among minorities and leads to negative affect towards other group members, then it will exert pressing social implications; on the other hand, if it is entirely the cognitive product of dialecticism, the predominantly Eastern belief system that embraces contradiction/opposing sides of each issue, then it would be a desirable process, rather than a collective self hatred. Thus this study will seek to test the occurrence of ingroup derogation and examine whether such a pattern can be traced to dialectical thinking; furthermore, it will examine whether such negative cognitions of ones ingroup translate into undesirable affect towards the same ingroup members.
