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Societal Actors Shape Collective Identities of Minorities: Procedural Fairness Climate Effects on Identification, Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Health

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Abstract

In the present studies, we aimed to show that the perceived procedural fairness of societal actors’ multicultural decisions promotes ethnic minority members’ societal identification. These enhanced identification levels, in turn, contribute to better psychological health and well-being. Firstly, a vignette study in a sample of African Americans explored the effect of procedural fairness climate on identification. The second and third studies used self-report questionnaires. Study 2 consisted of a sample of sojourners in a university context, Study 3 analyzed online data through an African American sample. The studies provided evidence for the effect of procedural fairness climate on increased societal identification, which in turn mediates the fairness effect on increased well-being and psychological health. Societal actors can use procedural fairness to increase well-being when making decisions that involve ethnic minorities.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Special Research Fund (BOF, Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds) of Ghent University, as a GOA Project, under Grant Number 01G00716 (BOF16/GOA/007).

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  1. Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Barbara Valcke, Alain Van Hiel & Kim Dierckx

  2. Department of Sociology, Ghent University, Campus Aula, Korte Meer 5, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Thomas Van Roey & Bart Van De Putte

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  1. Barbara Valcke
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Valcke, B., Van Hiel, A., Van Roey, T. et al. Societal Actors Shape Collective Identities of Minorities: Procedural Fairness Climate Effects on Identification, Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Health. Soc Just Res 33, 379–405 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-020-00357-6

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