https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616686218
Psychological Science
2017, Vol. 28(4) 445–461
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0956797616686218
www.psychologicalscience.org/PS
Research Article
It is well established that certain contexts evoke identity
threats, or concerns that one’s social identity is devalued or
stigmatized by others (Abrams & Hogg, 1999; Crocker,
Major, & Steele, 1998; Major & O’Brien, 2005). When under
threat, stigmatized group members experience the perni-
cious effects of stigma, including cognitive impairments,
anxiety, feelings of exclusion, and a general desire to seek
less identity-threatening environments (Cheryan, Plaut,
Davies, & Steele, 2009; Murphy, Steele, & Gross, 2007;
Pinel, 2002; Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999). Yet it is unclear
whether women and racial minorities experience the
effects of stigmatization when they encounter prejudice
that targets a stigmatized attribute they do not possess (an
unshared stigmatized identity). Thus, the current research
raises an important question—does racism invoke con-
cerns about sexism and sexism concerns about racism?
While prejudice researchers have primarily theorized
about stigma by focusing on the correspondence between
the attitude of perpetrators (e.g., sexists) and their targets
(e.g., women; Swim & Stangor, 1998), we propose stigma
by prejudice transfer, which predicts that stigmatized
group members can be threatened by prejudice targeting
other stigmatized groups because they believe that preju-
dice can have monolithic characteristics (Allport, 1954).
Inspired by intraminority approaches (Craig & Richeson,
2016), we report a first test of whether prejudice directed
at one stigmatized group (e.g., African Americans) evokes
threats for individuals with unshared stigmas (e.g., White
women). We propose that White women and racial
minorities alike are threatened by both racism and sex-
ism, especially in contexts in which minorities and
women encounter similar challenges (e.g., competence
evaluations). This prejudice transfer may occur because
686218PSS XX X 10.1177/0956797616686218Sanchez et al.Stigma by Prejudice Transfer
research-article 2017
Corresponding Author:
Diana T. Sanchez, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, 53
Avenue E, Tillett Hall, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8040
E-mail: dianatsanchez@gmail.com
Stigma by Prejudice Transfer: Racism
Threatens White Women and Sexism
Threatens Men of Color
Diana T. Sanchez
1
, Kimberly E. Chaney
1
, Sara K. Manuel
1
,
Leigh S. Wilton
2
, and Jessica D. Remedios
3
1
Department of Psychology, Rutgers University;
2
Department of Psychology, Skidmore College; and
3
Department of Psychology, Tufts University
Abstract
In the current research, we posited the stigma-by-prejudice-transfer effect, which proposes that stigmatized group
members (e.g., White women) are threatened by prejudice that is directed at other stigmatized group members (e.g.,
African Americans) because they believe that prejudice has monolithic qualities. While most stigma researchers assume
that there is a direct correspondence between the attitude of prejudiced individuals and the targets (i.e., sexism
affects women, racism affects racial minorities), the five studies reported here demonstrate that White women can
be threatened by racism (Study 1, 3, 4, and 5) and men of color by sexism (Study 2). Robust to perceptions of liking
and the order in which measures were administered, results showed that prejudice transfers between racism and
sexism were driven by the presumed social dominance orientation of the prejudiced individual. In addition, important
downstream consequences, such as the increased likelihood of anticipated stigma, expectations of unfair treatment,
and the attribution of negative feedback to sexism, appeared for stigmatized individuals.
Keywords
sex differences, racial and ethnic attitudes and relations, prejudice, open data, open materials, preregistered
Received 7/27/15; Revision accepted 12/5/16