Subjective status and perceived legitimacy across countries

Mark J. Brandt*, Toon Kuppens, Russell Spears, Luca Andrighetto, Frederique Autin, Peter Babincak, Constantina Badea, Jaechang Bae, Anatolia Batruch, Julia C. Becker, Konrad Bocian, Bojana Bodroža, David Bourguignon, Marcin Bukowski, Fabrizio Butera, Sarah E. Butler, Xenia Chryssochoou, Paul Conway, Jarret T. Crawford, Jean Claude CroizetSoledad de Lemus, Juliane Degner, Piotr Dragon, Federica Durante, Matthew J. Easterbrook, Iniobong Essien, Joseph P. Forgas, Roberto González, Sylvie Graf, Peter Halama, Gyuseog Han, Ryan Y. Hong, Petr Houdek, Eric R. Igou, Yoel Inbar, Jolanda Jetten, William Jimenez Leal, Gloria Jiménez-Moya, Jaya Kumar Karunagharan, Anna Kende, Maria Korzh, Simon M. Laham, Joris Lammers, Li Lim, Antony S.R. Manstead, Janko Međedović, Zachary J. Melton, Matt Motyl, Spyridoula Ntani, Chuma Kevin Owuamalam, Müjde Peker, Michael J. Platow, J. P. Prims, Christine Reyna, Mark Rubin, Rim Saab, Sindhuja Sankaran, Lee Shepherd, Chris G. Sibley, Agata Sobkow, Bram Spruyt, Pernille Stroebaek, Nebi Sümer, Joseph Sweetman, Catia P. Teixeira, Claudia Toma, Adrienn Ujhelyi, Jojanneke van der Toorn, Alain van Hiel, Alejandro Vásquez-Echeverría, Alexandra Vazquez, Michelangelo Vianello, Marek Vranka, Vincent Yzerbyt, Jennifer L. Zimmerman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)
19 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The relationships between subjective status and perceived legitimacy are important for understanding the extent to which people with low status are complicit in their oppression. We use novel data from 66 samples and 30 countries (N = 12,788) and find that people with higher status see the social system as more legitimate than those with lower status, but there is variation across people and countries. The association between subjective status and perceived legitimacy was never negative at any levels of eight moderator variables, although the positive association was sometimes reduced. Although not always consistent with hypotheses, group identification, self-esteem, and beliefs in social mobility were all associated with perceived legitimacy among people who have low subjective status. These findings enrich our understanding of the relationship between social status and legitimacy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)921-942
Number of pages22
JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
Volume50
Issue number5
Early online date30 Jun 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2020

Keywords

  • legitimacy
  • social identity
  • status
  • system justification

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