meyer, prejudice as stress,conceptual and measurement problems

8/12/2019 Meyer, Prejudice as Stress,Conceptual and Measurement Problems

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P r e j u d i c e a s S t r e s s C o n c e p t u a l a n d M e a s u r e m e n t P r o b l e m sIri the fiHlfJ of sociai sci-

onces, Lheio has boon a cenowed inleiesl irt studying prejudice ana discrim ination BSs^ressors and assessing iheirimpact on vanous heaith outcomes, Tnib raises a ncncl fortheoreticaiK' based anri psvchoHietncaily so^fnu nseasures0^ projudicc.

As I'esoaiChC'S s, ihe stress model hasbeen applied to stress related todisadv antaged class, ,s(',\. se\ uaiorientation, and other positionsin societ y.' '''

Hegardl


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minority group{e g studies of hypcr-

tlius detecting within-f^roup

Vhv impart of institutional

Iiowever. other

by the siress

obse r,'ations This allowed

\, A, Darit\ J ',. unpublishe d

Even ifwewere interested only

tt epi-

nCstress thai is sig-

eral approaches that underliestress diseourse. one viewingsh-ess as an cibjective phenome-non and the other \iev\ing it as asubjecti\E' phenomenon. The ob-jective view defines stressful lifeevents as real and observablephenomena that are experiencedas stressors because of the adapta-ticjna demancis they impose onmost irifJniduaLs under similar cir-cumstances, 'Tbe suhjective \iewdefines sh'ess as an expenencetiiat is contingent on the relation-ship between the indmduai andliis or her environment, Tliis rela-tionship depends on properties oftlie external event b ut also, signili-canily, on appraisal processes ap-plied by tlie individual,'*'*'

Th( distinction just describedhas important conceptual andmetliod ologica implications inthe context of stress due to prej-udice. Most, if not all, measuresof disenniination events thathave been developed to daterely on subjective perceptions, Atypical item asks the respondentwhether or not he or she hasbeen discriminated against (e,g,.in relation to employment);sometimes respondents areasked to recall sueh events overtheir lifetime, and sometimesthey are asked to limit them-selves to more recent penods. Incertain instances, respondentsare also asked to identify then^ason (or this discrimination(e,g., "Was tliis because of yourI'aee/ethnicity. gen der, religion,soeial status, sexual orientation,or something else'^"),'^ However,individual repo rts of discrtmina-tion depend on perception,vvhi(h j,iroduces discrep ancies mlindii g,s. For example, as de-scribed earlier, discriminationcan b(^ hidden and thus unde-tecti'd by its victims.

More reievant to the dis


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evcuLs and in(;iilal dLsorders.Sudi studies, which attemp ti)estimate prejudice iis it rclak's iociisease outcom es, require aniethodoiog}' ihat coneeptualizesstress as an obiective phenome-non independent of an individ-ual's own vicw.s and Icciitigs.f'Vom an ethical pcrspcrtivc. rely-ing only on subjective pcrccp-Liuns may have llu; beneiit oionipowcnng the minority respon-dent's voice, but it also mayimply that pi"e|udi(.-e anri( s cut like a mercilessknife ai my soul as1wiutc(i ihai godforsaken conier"^''''""

11 is possihie thai such mi(iiscriminaten j" events havegreater effects on health oui-coines llian their seeming matu


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otprejudiceand dis- iLS stress,butI offer

ana i l cm ptilResolutionmaybo un-

to lhcdependonthespccilu"re-

andon

as.stress,I'orex-aresearcher whoaliempLs

ex-insociety m aybeinter-

in(.imjnicling tlieir wo rldas it, andthei^efore

e( rshbleni of confounded meastires,/ ,\b-norm Psychol 1984:93:222-230,2f, We,stC,llace Matiers.Boslon,,Mass: Beaeon Press,1993,22 CiuyllM Matthew,sKA,BromhergecJ'LDiscrjrnmation and im-rair Iruatnicnt: relation,shiptoi:a -drovas-ailar reaetivily among African ,-\iTieri-


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meyer, prejudice as stress,conceptual and measurement problems

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