Acceptance of injustice among African Americans as a function of ideology and social comparison processes

False consciousness is a concept derived from Marxian theory that refers to the failure of an oppressed group to recognize the instruments of their own exploitation by adopting the views of the oppressors. Social psychological research has found extensive evidence of false consciousness among various low-status groups, including a preference for members of majority groups, rationalization of power differences between groups, and internalization of racist messages about their own group. The current research investigated the role that ideology and social comparisons play in the endorsement of false consciousness among members of a traditionally disadvantaged group (native and immigrant Blacks) (n=192). Correlation and regression analyses showed that assimilation and humanist ideologies were positively associated with false consciousness. In general, making comparisons with Whites was negatively associated with false consciousness, although this pattern was primarily associated with native-born and not immigrant Blacks. However, t-tests showed that there were higher expressions of false consciousness when high-status social comparisons were made salient (Whites) than when low-status social comparisons were made salient (Blacks). Implications for theories of false consciousness among low-status groups are discussed.