Cultural group norms for harmony explain the puzzling negative association between objective status and system justification in Asia

Owuamalam, Chuma Kevin; Tan, Chee Meng; Caricati, Luca; Rubin, Mark; Spears, Russell

Abstract

Why do poorer and less educated Asians trust their institutions of governance more than their richer and well educated counterparts, despite their disadvantaged position within society? System justification theory (SJT) assumes that this trust is driven by a system-level motivation that operates independently from social identity needs. In two nationally representative surveys spanning several years (Ntotal = 221,297), we compared SJT's explanation with a newer social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA): that system justification amongst disadvantaged Asians is driven by a group norm for harmony, especially amongst those who are strongly invested in their national ingroup. The results supported SIMSA more than SJT. Specifically, a strong sense of national identification boosted trust in systems of governance amongst poorer and less-educated Asians, both when societal norms for harmony (Study 1), and personal endorsement of this norm (Study 2) were strong. Hence, social identity needs help to explain stronger system justification among objectively disadvantaged Asians.

Citation

Owuamalam, C. K., Tan, C. M., Caricati, L., Rubin, M., & Spears, R. (2023). Cultural group norms for harmony explain the puzzling negative association between objective status and system justification in Asia. European Journal of Social Psychology, 53(2), 245-267. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2901

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Nov 23, 2022
• Publication Date: 2023-03
• Deposit Date: Jan 5, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 24, 2023
• Journal: European Journal of Social Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0046-2772
• Electronic ISSN: 1099-0992
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 245-267
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2901
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1183803