How Blame, Shame, and MoralIdentity Relate to DEI Efforts among Members of Privileged vs. Marginalized Groups (2023)

Undergraduate: Levin Low

Faculty Advisor: Kurt Gray
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Disagreements about DEI focus on demographic vs. viewpoint diversity and high vs. low blame and discomfort. White Fragility focuses on demographics and high blame/discomfort; and Diversity without Division stresses viewpoints and low blame/discomfort. We tested these competing views among white participants in 3 samples. Study 1, N=306, exposed participants to demographic or viewpoint diversity vs. control. Demographic diversity led to more discomfort, F(2,303)=14.08, d=0.63, and DEI motivation, F(2,298)=3.14, d=0.30, p’s<.05. Study 2 (N=611) exposed participants to high vs low blame for inequality. Blame boosted discomfort, t(609)=4.85, d=0.39, p<.001, but not DEI p>.09 (yet discomfort predicted DEI, r=.39). Study 3, N=373, unpacked these conflicting results: Discomfort promoted DEI among women (r=.17, p=.02), but not among men (r=-.07, interaction =-.17, p=.02). Identifying as a moral hero promoted DEI more strongly among men, r=.47 vs. women, r=.19, interaction =.19, p’s<.01. Thus, blame and discomfort affect DEI differently depending on marginalized status. We are testing these questions using behavioral paradigms of cooperation/trust, and among marginalized racial groups.

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