Papers by Nikhil Sengupta
Political Psychology, 2019
A noticeable feature of the political discourse accompanying the rise of nationalism in white-maj... more A noticeable feature of the political discourse accompanying the rise of nationalism in white-majority countries is that white people fare worse than other ethnic groups in their societies. However, it is unclear based on the extant literature why group-based relative deprivation (GRD) would correlate with majority-group nationalism. Here, we propose that the psychological function of nationalism for majority-group members lies in its ability to assuage the negative feelings arising from GRD. Accordingly, in a New Zealand national probability sample (N = 15,607), we found that GRD among whites was negatively associated with well-being. However, we also found an opposing indirect association mediated by nationalism. GRD was associated with higher nationalism, which was in turn associated with higher well-being. These findings suggest that endorsing beliefs about national superiority is one way a nation’s dominant ethnic group can cope with the negative psychological consequences of perceiving that their group is deprived.
Journal of Happiness Studies, 2019
In capitalist societies, individuals who occupy the highest positions in the economic hierarchy f... more In capitalist societies, individuals who occupy the highest positions in the economic hierarchy feature prominently in the political discourse under the moniker of the One Percent. However, little is known about how the psychology of One Percent might differ from that of the average person. Using a large, nationally representative sample in New Zealand (N = 14,650), we aimed to fill this gap examining the political attitudes and subjective wellbeing of the top one percent of the income distribution. We found that, compared to general public, the One Percent in New Zealand more strongly legitimize the political and economic systems in society, and express lower support for redistributive taxation. They also report higher life satisfaction, self-esteem and belongingness compared to everyone else. Thus, the One Percent benefit not only economically and politically from the current system, but also psychologically. Moreover, their political beliefs serve to bolster the inequality from which they benefit.
Objectives: The aim of the current research is to test predictions derived from the rejection-ide... more Objectives: The aim of the current research is to test predictions derived from the rejection-identification model and research on collective action using cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) methods. Specifically, an integration of these 2 literatures suggest that recognition of discrimination can have simultaneous positive relationships with well-being and engagement in collective action via the formation of a strong ingroup identity. Method: We test these predictions in 2 studies using data from a large national probability sample of Ma ori (the indigenous peoples of New Zealand), collected as part of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (Ns for Study 1 and 2 were 1,981 and 1,373, respectively). Results: Consistent with the extant research, Study 1 showed that perceived discrimination was directly linked with decreased life satisfaction, but indirectly linked with increased life satisfaction through higher levels of ethnic identification. Perceived discrimination was also directly linked with increased support for Ma ori rights and indirectly linked with increased support for Ma ori rights through higher levels of ethnic identification. Study 2 replicated these findings using longitudinal data and identified multiple bidirectional paths between perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, well-being, and support for collective action. Conclusion: These findings replicate and extend the rejection-identification model in a novel cultural context by demonstrating via cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) analyses that the recognition of discrimination can both motivate support for political rights and increase well-being by strengthening ingroup identity.
Ideologies that legitimize status hierarchies are associated with increased well-being. However, ... more Ideologies that legitimize status hierarchies are associated with increased well-being. However, which ideologies have 'palliative effects', why they have these effects, and whether these effects extend to low-status groups remain unresolved issues. This study aimed to address these issues by testing the effects of the ideology of Symbolic Prejudice on well-being among low-and high-status ethnic groups (4,519 Europeans and 1,091 M aori) nested within 1,437 regions in New Zealand. Results showed that Symbolic Prejudice predicted increased well-being for both groups, but that this relationship was stronger for those living in highly unequal neighbourhoods. This suggests that it is precisely those who have the strongest need to justify inequality that accrue the most psychological benefit from subscribing to legitimizing ideologies.
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2014
We propose and test the Social Dominance Paradox of majority opposition to minority political ent... more We propose and test the Social Dominance Paradox of majority opposition to minority political entitlement in a national sample of the European majority group in New Zealand (N = 4628). The paradox arises because for the majority ethnic group, Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) should simultaneously and differentially predict support for, and resistance to, minority political interests through opposing ideological mechanisms: Color-Blind Ideology (subjectively egalitarian ideology which functions to maintain inequality by de-emphasising group membership) and Ethnic System Justification (which recognises ethnicity and asserts that ethnic relations are fair). We argue that for the majority group, SDO should predict increased ethnic group salience, and should thus predict decreased Color-Blindness. However, SDO should also lead people to view existing hierarchical arrangements between ethnic groups as legitimate, leading to increased Ethnic System Justification. These dual ideologies should in turn both predict opposition to minority political entitlements. Predictions were supported, and occurred in addition to the strong direct effect of SDO on opposition to minority political entitlement. These findings provide an important, and theoretically predicted, paradox evident for those high in SDO; and emphasise the subtlety and explanatory power of Social Dominance Theory for understanding support for minority political entitlement.
New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 2011
The Stereotype Content Model states that stereotypes express generalised evaluative beliefs that ... more The Stereotype Content Model states that stereotypes express generalised evaluative beliefs that vary according to the degree of warmth and competence ascribed to group members. The present study applied this model to examine
the societal stereotypes (or meta-stereotypes) of Pākehā, Māori, Pacific Nations, and Asian New Zealanders using a national random postal sample (N = 246). Pākehā (or New Zealanders of European descent) were viewed as highly warm and highly competent relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Asian and Pacific Nations New Zealanders were mixed, however. Asian New Zealanders were seen as highly competent (comparable to Pākehā), but low in warmth relative to other ethnic groups. Pacific Nations peoples, in contrast, were seen as highly warm (comparable to Pākehā), but low in competence relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Māori exhibited a strikingly different pattern, and indicated that Māori as a social group were
seen as low-to-moderate in both warmth and competence, relative to other ethnic groups. These different mixed stereotype combinations have important implications for understanding how socio-structural characteristics of ethnic
group relations (competition and status) foster fundamentally different forms of legitimizing ideology, prejudice and discriminatory behaviour toward different ethnic groups in the New Zealand context.
This study investigated the effects of ingroup contact in a large, national sample of Maori (a di... more This study investigated the effects of ingroup contact in a large, national sample of Maori (a disadvantaged ethnic group; N ! 940) on political attitudes relevant to decreasing ethnic inequality in New Zealand. We tested the role of 2 mediating mechanisms—ethnic identification and system justification— to explain the effects of ingroup contact on the dependent variables. Time spent with ingroup friends predicted increased support for the Ma!ori Party and support for symbolic and resource-specific reparative policies benefiting Ma!ori. These effects were partially mediated by increased ethnic identification. Although ingroup contact also reduced levels of system justification among Ma!ori, its effects on policy attitudes and party preference were not mediated by system justification. This suggests that a key antecedent to system challenging political attitudes is an increased sense of identification with a disadvantaged group resulting, in part, from interactions with ingroup friends.
Although income and inequality (objective measures of deprivation and the distribution of income ... more Although income and inequality (objective measures of deprivation and the distribution of income within a defined area, respectively) predict people’s self-appraisals, the psychological mechanisms underlying these relationships are largely unknown. We address this oversight by predicting that feeling individually deprived (individual-based relative deprivation [IRD])—a self-focused appraisal—mediates the relationship between these two objective measures and self-esteem. Conversely, believing that
one’s group is deprived (group-based relative deprivation [GRD])—a group-focused appraisal—mediates the relationship
between these two objective measures and ethnic identity centrality. We examined these predictions in a national sample of
New Zealand adults (N=6349). As expected, income negatively correlated with IRD and GRD, which, in turn, negatively
correlated with self-esteem and ethnic identity centrality, respectively. Moreover, after accounting for between-level variability in income, neighbourhood-level inequality had indirect effects on self-esteem and ethnic identity centrality through IRD and GRD, respectively. Thus, income and inequality independently predicted self-esteem and strength of ingroup identification through distinct mechanisms.
The status-legitimacy hypothesis revisited: Ethnic-group differences in general and dimension-specific legitimacy, Aug 25, 2014
The status-legitimacy hypothesis, which predicts that low-status groups will legitimize inequalit... more The status-legitimacy hypothesis, which predicts that low-status groups will legitimize inequality more than high-status groups, has received inconsistent empirical support. To resolve this inconsistency, we hypothesized that low-status groups would display enhanced legitimation only when evaluating the fairness of the specific hierarchy responsible for their disadvantage. In a New Zealand-based probability sample (N = 6,162), we found that low-status ethnic groups (Asians and Pacific Islanders) perceived ethnic-group relations to be fairer than the high-status group (Europeans). However, these groups did not justify the overall political system more than the high-status group. In fact, Maori showed the least support for the political system. These findings clarify when the controversial status-legitimacy effects predicted by System Justification Theory will – and will not – emerge.
Perpetuating one's own disadvantage: Intergroup contact enables the ideological legitimation of inequality, Nov 2013
Contact with the dominant group can increase opposition, among the disadvantaged, to social polic... more Contact with the dominant group can increase opposition, among the disadvantaged, to social policies that would benefit their group. This effect can be explained in terms of contact promoting support for an ideology of meritocracy, which privileges the distribution of societal resources based on individual merit, rather than group-level disadvantage. We tested this ideological mechanism in a large, nationally representative sample of Māori (a disadvantaged group in New Zealand; N =1,008). Positive intergroup contact with the dominant group (New Zealand Europeans) predicted increased opposition to a topical reparative policy (Māori ownership of the foreshore), and this was fully mediated by increased support for
the ideology of meritocracy. Intergroup contact may enable the ideological legitimation of inequality among members of disadvantaged groups, engendering political attitudes that are detrimental to their group’s interests. Contact with ingroup members had the opposite effect, increasing support for reparative policy by reducing subscription to meritocratic ideology.
The Wallpaper Effect: The Contact Hypothesis Fails for Minority Group Members Who Live in Areas with a High Proportion of Majority Group Members, 2013
We aim to provide one explanation for why the link between contact and prejudice is consistently ... more We aim to provide one explanation for why the link between contact and prejudice is consistently less strong for minority group members than it is for majority group members. Specifically, we propose a “wallpaper effect” such that contact works to increase minority group members' positivity towards majority groups when they live in areas densely populated with other minority group members. Conversely, we suggest that when minority group members live in neighborhoods patterned with majority group faces (as is so often the case), contact will be less transformative. We test this assumption using a large sample of both New Zealander minority (Māori; N = 925) and majority (European; N = 3805) group members. In line with predictions, Māori who lived in minority dense neighborhoods showed the traditional association between contact and increased warmth towards New Zealander Europeans. This relationship, however, was weak or non-existent when they lived in primarily European neighborhoods. Contact effects in majority group members were unaffected by neighborhood composition. The interaction held when controlling for, and was not explained by: gender, income, experiences of harm, cognitions of race-based rejection, or realistic threat. We provide the first evidence to suggest that when it comes to minority group members' intergroup attitudes, contact with majority group members may be a relatively ineffective predictor unless the “wallpaper” of their lives is minority-dense.
Sense of Community in New Zealand Neighbourhoods: A Multi-Level Model Predicting Social Capital, 2012
Feeling like one belongs and is accepted in meaningful social groups has been reliably linked to ... more Feeling like one belongs and is accepted in meaningful social groups has been reliably linked to wellbeing and health-related outcomes in numerous studies. Given the importance of belongingness as a form of social capital, we developed and evaluated a broad-scale Multilevel Random Coefficient Model predicting residents’ sense of community (belongingness in the community) in a large nationally representative telephone sample of New Zealanders (N = 6631). Our model integrated both neighbourhood-level characteristics (e.g., regional deprivation and the proportion of smokers) and person-level characteristics (e.g., income, perceptions of local community problems, age and engagement in sports) within a single unified framework. We organized these variables into two conceptual categories that are either (a) costly (or entirely unfeasible) to change or (b) feasible to change. By contrasting these various features within a single unified model with a multilevel structure, we provide base-rate information which can aid in informing policy decisions regarding the most readily applicable (and possibly costeffective) methods for improving residents’ sense of community. Our model identified the following feasible methods of increasing social capital within New Zealand communities: (a) reducing noise pollution, (b) increasing and
promoting participation in local sports teams, and (c) increasing the diversity and appreciation of the local arts scene.
How much happiness does money buy? Income and subjective well-being in New Zealand, 2012
The Stereotype Content Model states that stereotypes express generalised evaluative beliefs that ... more The Stereotype Content Model states that stereotypes express generalised evaluative beliefs that vary according to the degree of warmth and competence ascribed to group members. The present study applied this model to examine the societal stereotypes (or meta-stereotypes) of Pākehā, Māori, Pacific Nations, and Asian New Zealanders using a national random postal sample (N= 246). Pākehā (or New Zealanders of European descent) were viewed as highly warm and highly competent relative to other ethnic groups.
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2012
Results from a nationally representative sample of the New Zealand European majority and Maori (t... more Results from a nationally representative sample of the New Zealand European majority and Maori (the indigenous peoples of New Zealand) indicated that dual ideologies of symbolic exclusion and historical negation were differentially ameliorated and heightened through ingroup and outgroup contact (N = 4718). For New Zealand Europeans, contact with Maori friends increased the symbolic projection of Maori culture as representative of the national category. For Maori, contact with New Zealand European friends decreased the symbolic projection of ingroup culture as representative of the nation. Ingroup contact, in contrast, heightened support for the symbolic exclusion of M¯aori for New Zealand Europeans, and promoted symbolic projection for Maori. For both groups, outgroup contact was unrelated to levels of historical negation, an ideology relating to material reparation for colonial injustice. These results indicate that post-colonial ideologies relating to the symbolic promotion versus exclusion of indigenous culture are more amenable to change via contact than ideologies linked directly to reparative attitudes based on historical injustice. Furthermore, for indigenous peoples, contact with the majority group may increase system-favoring ideologies that exclude their own culture from representations of the nation.
This study extends the Mini-IPIP, a short measure of the Big-Five personality dimensions, to a Bi... more This study extends the Mini-IPIP, a short measure of the Big-Five personality dimensions, to a Big-Six model of personality structure based on the HEXACO. Exploratory and Confirmatory analyses of a representative New Zealand sample (N = 5,562) validated the original Mini-IPIP five-factor structure, and supported an extended six-factor model also indexing Honesty-Humility. The Mini-IPIP6 reliably predicted variation in hours spent performing activities relating to aspects of personality (e.g., socializing, voluntary/charitable work, housework, and computer games). The Mini-IPIP6 also differentially predicted criterion outcomes such as religious affiliation and identification, political orientation, beliefs about climate change, and willingness to make personal sacrifices for the environment. The 24-item Mini-IPIP6 (four items indexing each personality dimension) fills a niche where brief markers of the Big-Six dimensions of personality are desired. A regression equation demonstrating how to integrate parameters derived using representative New Zealand data with a given individual's Mini-IPIP6 scores to estimate his or her predicted value for each criterion outcome is provided (e.g., predicted housework in a given week), along with a copy of the scale itself, coding instructions and norms. This study represents the most detailed validation of a reliable and comprehensive broad-bandwidth public domain personality inventory for use in New Zealand to date.
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Papers by Nikhil Sengupta
the societal stereotypes (or meta-stereotypes) of Pākehā, Māori, Pacific Nations, and Asian New Zealanders using a national random postal sample (N = 246). Pākehā (or New Zealanders of European descent) were viewed as highly warm and highly competent relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Asian and Pacific Nations New Zealanders were mixed, however. Asian New Zealanders were seen as highly competent (comparable to Pākehā), but low in warmth relative to other ethnic groups. Pacific Nations peoples, in contrast, were seen as highly warm (comparable to Pākehā), but low in competence relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Māori exhibited a strikingly different pattern, and indicated that Māori as a social group were
seen as low-to-moderate in both warmth and competence, relative to other ethnic groups. These different mixed stereotype combinations have important implications for understanding how socio-structural characteristics of ethnic
group relations (competition and status) foster fundamentally different forms of legitimizing ideology, prejudice and discriminatory behaviour toward different ethnic groups in the New Zealand context.
one’s group is deprived (group-based relative deprivation [GRD])—a group-focused appraisal—mediates the relationship
between these two objective measures and ethnic identity centrality. We examined these predictions in a national sample of
New Zealand adults (N=6349). As expected, income negatively correlated with IRD and GRD, which, in turn, negatively
correlated with self-esteem and ethnic identity centrality, respectively. Moreover, after accounting for between-level variability in income, neighbourhood-level inequality had indirect effects on self-esteem and ethnic identity centrality through IRD and GRD, respectively. Thus, income and inequality independently predicted self-esteem and strength of ingroup identification through distinct mechanisms.
the ideology of meritocracy. Intergroup contact may enable the ideological legitimation of inequality among members of disadvantaged groups, engendering political attitudes that are detrimental to their group’s interests. Contact with ingroup members had the opposite effect, increasing support for reparative policy by reducing subscription to meritocratic ideology.
promoting participation in local sports teams, and (c) increasing the diversity and appreciation of the local arts scene.
the societal stereotypes (or meta-stereotypes) of Pākehā, Māori, Pacific Nations, and Asian New Zealanders using a national random postal sample (N = 246). Pākehā (or New Zealanders of European descent) were viewed as highly warm and highly competent relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Asian and Pacific Nations New Zealanders were mixed, however. Asian New Zealanders were seen as highly competent (comparable to Pākehā), but low in warmth relative to other ethnic groups. Pacific Nations peoples, in contrast, were seen as highly warm (comparable to Pākehā), but low in competence relative to other ethnic groups. Stereotypes of Māori exhibited a strikingly different pattern, and indicated that Māori as a social group were
seen as low-to-moderate in both warmth and competence, relative to other ethnic groups. These different mixed stereotype combinations have important implications for understanding how socio-structural characteristics of ethnic
group relations (competition and status) foster fundamentally different forms of legitimizing ideology, prejudice and discriminatory behaviour toward different ethnic groups in the New Zealand context.
one’s group is deprived (group-based relative deprivation [GRD])—a group-focused appraisal—mediates the relationship
between these two objective measures and ethnic identity centrality. We examined these predictions in a national sample of
New Zealand adults (N=6349). As expected, income negatively correlated with IRD and GRD, which, in turn, negatively
correlated with self-esteem and ethnic identity centrality, respectively. Moreover, after accounting for between-level variability in income, neighbourhood-level inequality had indirect effects on self-esteem and ethnic identity centrality through IRD and GRD, respectively. Thus, income and inequality independently predicted self-esteem and strength of ingroup identification through distinct mechanisms.
the ideology of meritocracy. Intergroup contact may enable the ideological legitimation of inequality among members of disadvantaged groups, engendering political attitudes that are detrimental to their group’s interests. Contact with ingroup members had the opposite effect, increasing support for reparative policy by reducing subscription to meritocratic ideology.
promoting participation in local sports teams, and (c) increasing the diversity and appreciation of the local arts scene.