Priming meritocracy and the psychological justiWcation of inequality

The belief that status in society is based on merit is a central feature of the American Dream. This belief system justiWes status inequalities by locating the cause of status diVerences in the individual talents and eVorts of group members. We hypothesized that activating meritocratic beliefs increases the extent to which individuals psychologically justify status inequalities, even when those inequalities are disadvantageous to the self. SpeciWcally, we hypothesized that priming meritocracy prompts individuals to engage in system-justifying psychological responses when they experience threat either at the personal or group level. Across two studies, priming meritocracy led members of a low status group to justify both personal and group disadvantage by decreasing perceptions of discrimination (Studies 1 and 2) and increasing the extent to which they stereotyped themselves and their group in status-justifying ways (Study 2). © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.