More than fair: Outcome dependence, system justification, and the perceived legitimacy of authority figures

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Volumn 47, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 127-138

  van der Toorn, Jojanneke ^a   Tyler, Tom R ^b   Jost, John T ^b  

^a YALE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b NEW YORK UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Legitimacy; Outcome dependence; Power; Procedural fairness; System justification

Indexed keywords

EID: 78650024564     PISSN: 00221031     EISSN: 10960465     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.09.003     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Adorno T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik E., Levinson D.J., Sanford R.N. The authoritarian personality 1950, Harper, New York.
2. Batalha L., Akrami N., Ekehammar B. Outgroup favoritism: the role of power perception, gender, and conservatism. Current Research in Social Psychology 2007, 13:1-49.
3. Bogart L.M., Ryan C.S., Stefanov M. Effects of stereotypes and outcome dependence on the processing of information about group members. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations 1999, 2:31-50.
4. Brockner J., Wiesenfeld B.M. An integrative framework for explaining reactions to a decision: The interactive effects of outcomes and procedures. Psychological Bulletin 1996, 120:189-208.
5. Clark J.T., Wegener D.T. Unpacking outcome dependency: differentiating effects of dependency and outcome favorability on the processing of goal-relevant information. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2008, 44:586-599.
6. Copeland J.T. Prophecies of power: Motivational implications of social power for behavioral confirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1994, 67:264-277.
7. Ditto P.H., Lopez D.F. Motivated skepticism: use of differential decision criteria for preferred and nonpreferred conclusions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1992, 63:568-584.
8. Emerson R.M. Power dependence relations. American Sociological Review 1962, 27:31-41.
9. Erber R., Fiske S.T. Outcome dependence and attention to inconsistent information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1984, 47:709-726.
10. Fiske S.T., Berdahl J.L. Social power. Social psychology: A handbook of basic principles 2007, 678-692. Oxford University Press, New York. A. Kruglanski, E.T. Higgins (Eds.).
11. French J.R.P., Raven B. The bases of social power. Studies in social power 1959, 150-167. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. D. Cartwright (Ed.).
12. Fromm E. Escape from freedom 1941, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York.
13. Gollwitzer P.M., Moskowitz G.B. Goal effects on action and cognition. Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles 1996, 361-399. Guilford, New York. E.T. Higgins, A.W. Kruglanski (Eds.).
14. Haines E.L., Jost J.T. Placating the powerless: effects of legitimate and illegitimate explanation on affect, memory, and stereotyping. Social Justice Research 2000, 13:219-236.
15. Henry P.J., Saul A. The development of system justification in the developing world. Social Justice Research 2006, 19:365-378.
16. Jarvis B.G. MediaLab (Version 2006.2.40) 2006, Empirisoft Corporation, New York, NY.
17. Jost J.T., Banaji M.R. The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology 1994, 33:1-27.
18. Jost J.T., Banaji M.R., Nosek B.A. A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo. Political Psychology 2004, 25:881-919.
19. Jost J.T., Hunyady O. Antecedents and consequences of system-justifying ideologies. Current Directions in Psychological Science 2005, 14:260-265.
20. Jost J.T., Ledgerwood A., Hardin C.D. Shared reality, system justification, and the relational basis of ideological beliefs. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 2008, 2:171-186.
21. Jost J.T., Liviatan I., van der Toorn J., Ledgerwood A., Mandisodza A., Nosek B. System justification: how do we know it's motivated?. The psychology of justice and legitimacy: The Ontario symposium, Vol. 11 2010, 173-203. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ. D.R. Bobocel, A.C. Kay, M.P. Zanna, J.M. Olson (Eds.).
22. The psychology of legitimacy: Emerging perspectives on ideology, justice, and intergroup relations 2001, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA. J.T. Jost, B. Major (Eds.).
23. Jost J.T., Pelham B.W., Carvallo M. Non-conscious forms of system justification: Cognitive, affective, and behavioral preferences for higher status groups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2002, 38:586-602.
24. Jost J.T., Pelham B.W., Sheldon O., Sullivan B.N. Social inequality and the reduction of ideological dissonance on behalf of the system: Evidence of enhanced system justification among the disadvantaged. European Journal of Social Psychology 2003, 33:13-36.
25. Jost, J. T., & van der Toorn, J. (in press). System justification theory. In P. A. M. van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology. London: Sage.
26. Kay A.C., Gaucher D., Napier J.L., Callan M.J., Laurin K. God and the government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2008, 95:18-35.
27. Kay A.C., Gaucher D., Peach J.M., Friesen J., Laurin K., Zanna M.P., Spencer S.J. Inequality, discrimination, and the power of the status quo: Direct evidence for a motivation to view what is as what should be. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2009, 97:421-434.
28. Kay A.C., Zanna M. A contextual analysis of the system justification motive and its societal consequences. Social and psychological bases of ideology and system justification 2009, 158-181. Oxford University Press, New York. J.T. Jost, A.C. Kay, H. Thorisdottir (Eds.).
29. Kelman H.C., Hamilton V.L. Crimes of obedience: Toward a social psychology of authority and responsibility 1989, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
30. Keltner D., Van Kleef G.A., Chen S., Kraus M.W. A reciprocal influence model of social power: Emerging principles and lines of inquiry. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 2008, 40:151-192.
31. Kruglanski A.W. Motivated social cognition: Principles of the interface. Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles 1996, 493-520. Guilford Press, New York. E.T. Higgins, A.W. Kruglanski (Eds.).
32. Kunda Z. The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin 1990, 108:480-498.
33. Lane R.E. The fear of equality. American Political Science Review 1959, 53:35-51.
34. Laurin K., Shepherd S., Kay A.C. Restricted emigration, system inescapability, and defense of the status quo: System-justifying consequences of restricted exit opportunities. Psychological Science 2010, 21:1075-1082.
35. Lerner M.J. The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion 1980, Plenum, New York.
36. Leventhal G.S. What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. Social exchange: Advances in theory and research 1980, 27-55. Plenum, New York. K. Gergen, M. Greenberg, R. Willis (Eds.).
37. Mackinnon D.P., Lockwood C.M., Hoffman J.M., West S.G., Sheets V. A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods 2002, 7:83-104.
38. Muller E.N. Aggressive political participation 1979, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
39. Muthén L.K., Muthén B.O. Mplus user's guide 1998-2009, Muthén and Muthén, Los Angeles, CA. 5th ed.
40. Neuberg S.L., Fiske S.T. Motivational influences on impression formation: Outcome dependence, accuracy-driven attention, and individuating processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1987, 53:431-444.
41. Osterreich D. Flight into security: A new approach and measure of the authoritarian personality. Political Psychology 2005, 26:275-297.
42. Overbeck J.R., Park B. When power does not corrupt: Superior individuation processes among powerful perceivers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2001, 80:549-565.
43. Pepitone A. Motivational effects in social perception. Human Relations 1950, 3:57-76.
44. Preacher K.J., Hayes A.F. SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 2004, 36:717-731.
45. Raven B.H. Social influence and power. Current studies in social psychology 1965, 371-382. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York. I.D. Steiner, M. Fishbein (Eds.).
46. Reich W. The mass psychology of fascism (V. R. Carfagno, Trans.) 1970, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, New York, (Original work published 1946).
47. Rodriguez-Bailon R., Moya M., Yzerbyt V. Why do superiors attend to negative stereotypic information about their subordinates? Effects of power legitimacy on social perception. European Journal of Social Psychology 2000, 30:651-671.
48. Rogowski R. Rational legitimacy: A theory of political support 1974, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
49. Sanford N. Self and society: Social change and individual development 1966, Atherton Press, New York.
50. Stevens L.E., Fiske S.T. Motivated impressions of a power holder: Accuracy under task dependency and misperception under evaluation dependency. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2000, 26:907-922.
51. Tyler T.R. The psychology of legitimacy: A relational perspective on voluntary deference to authorities. Personality and Social Psychology Review 1997, 1:323-345.
52. Tyler T.R. Procedural strategies for gaining deference: Increasing social harmony or creating false consciousness?. Social influences on ethical behavior in organizations 2001, 69-87. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. J.M. Darley, D.M. Messick, T.R. Tyler (Eds.).
53. Tyler T.R. Procedural justice, legitimacy, and the effective rule of law. A review of research 2003, Vol. 30:431-505. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. M. Tonry (Ed.).
54. Tyler T.R. Why people obey the law: Procedural justice, legitimacy, and compliance 2006, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
55. Tyler T.R. Legitimacy and legitimation. Annual Review of Psychology 2006, 57:375-400.
56. Tyler T.R., Blader S.L. Cooperation in groups: Procedural justice, social identity and behavioral engagement 2000, Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA.
57. Tyler T.R., Degoey P. Collective restraint in social dilemmas: Procedural justice and social identification effects on support for authorities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1995, 69:482-497.
58. Tyler T.R., Jost J.T. Psychology and the law: Reconciling normative and descriptive accounts of social justice and system legitimacy. Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles 2007, 807-825. Guilford, New York. 2nd ed. A.W. Kruglanski, E.T. Higgins (Eds.).
59. Tyler T.R., Lind E.A. A relational model of authority in groups. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 1992, 25:115-191.
60. Tyler T.R., Sears D.O. Coming to like obnoxious people when we must live with them. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1977, 35:200-211.
61. Van der Toorn, J., Feinberg, M., Jost, J. T., Kay, A. C., Tyler, T. R., Willer, R., & Wilmuth, C. (2010). Powerlessness increases system justification: Implications for the legitimation of inequality and authority. Manuscript submitted for publication.
62. Van Prooijen J.-W., Van den Bos K., Wilke H.A.M. Procedural justice in authority relations: The strength of outcome dependence influences people's reactions to voice. European Journal of Social Psychology 2007, 37:1286-1297.
63. Wakslak, C. J., Jost, J. T., & Bauer, P. (in press). Spreading rationalization: Increased support for large-scale and small-scale social systems following system threat. Social Cognition.
64. Walster E., Berscheid E., Walster G.W. The exploited: Justice or justification?. Altruism and helping behavior 1970, 179-204. Academic Press, New York. J.R. Macaulay, L. Berkowitz (Eds.).
65. Zelditch M. Theories of legitimacy. The psychology of legitimacy: Emerging perspectives in ideology, justice, and intergroup relations 2001, 33-53. Cambridge University Press, New York. J.T. Jost, B. Major (Eds.).