Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T15:08:03.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Faustian bargains for minorities within group-based hierarchies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2012

C. David Navarrete  and
Melissa M. McDonald
C. David Navarrete
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology; Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. c.d.navarrete@gmail.com / cdn@msu.edumcdon348@msu.edu
Melissa M. McDonald
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology; Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. c.d.navarrete@gmail.com / cdn@msu.edumcdon348@msu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A dual-audience signaling problem framework provides a deeper understanding of the perpetuation of group-based inequality. We describe a model of underachievement among minority youth that posits a necessary trade-off between academic success and peer social support that creates a dilemma not typically encountered by nonminorities. Preliminary evidence consistent with the approach is discussed. Such strategic agent perspectives complement the psychological approach put forth by Dixon et al., but with minimal ancillary assumptions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 6 , December 2012 , pp. 442 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Austen-Smith, D. & Fryer, R. (2005) An economic analysis of acting white. Quarterly Journal of Economics 120:551–83.Google Scholar
Becker, G. (1957) The economics of discrimination. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fordham, S. & Ogbu, J. (1986) Black students school success: Coping with the burden of “acting white.” Urban Review 18:176–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fryer, R. (2010) An empirical analysis of “Acting White.” Journal of Public Economics 94:380–96.Google Scholar
Spence, M. (1973) Job market signaling. Quarterly Journal of Economics 87(3):355–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar