Cited by 340Social and Intergroup PsychologyRacial and Ethnic Identity ResearchSocial Power and Status Dynamics

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Deny, Distance, or Dismantle? How White Americans Manage a Privileged Identity

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Knowles, Eric D., Lowery, Brian S., Chow, Rosalind M., Unzueta, Miguel M.·2014·Perspectives on Psychological Science

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Abstract

Social scientists have traditionally argued that whiteness-the attribute of being recognized and treated as a White person in society-is powerful because it is invisible. On this view, members of the racially dominant group have the unique luxury of rarely noticing their race or the privileges it confers. This article challenges this "invisibility thesis," arguing that Whites frequently regard themselves as racial actors. We further argue that whiteness defines a problematic social identity that confronts Whites with 2 psychological threats: the possibility that their accomplishments in life were not fully earned (meritocratic threat) and the association with a group that benefits from unfair social advantages (group-image threat). We theorize that Whites manage their racial identity to dispel these threats. According to our deny, distance, or dismantle (3D) model of White identity management, dominant-group members have three strategies at their disposal: deny the existence of privilege, distance their own self-concepts from the White category, or strive to dismantle systems of privilege. Whereas denial and distancing promote insensitivity and inaction with respect to racial inequality, dismantling reduces threat by relinquishing privileges. We suggest that interventions aimed at reducing inequality should attempt to leverage dismantling as a strategy of White identity management.

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“For example, denying the existence of the transgression or internally rationalizing it does little to repair the image of the group in the eyes of others (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Ignorance of History and Political Differences in Perception of Racism in the United States
Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2021) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/19485506211056493 · Cited by 33
“Consistent with the identity relevance explanation (Doosje et al., 1998; Knowles et al., 2014; Phillips & Lowery, 2018), White Republicans may identify more strongly with their racial group than White Democrats, which may exacerbate the denial of racism.”
Background
Racial bias confrontation in the United States: What (if anything) has changed in the COVID-19 era, and where do we go from here?
Marshburn, C. K., Folberg, A. M., Crittle, C. S., & Maddox, K. B. (2021) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/1368430220981417 · Cited by 37
“When the goal is self-interest (e.g., wanting to be liked) or to regulate self-focused emotions (e.g., guilt), the feelings of White allies and perpetrators are prioritized more than those of Blacks harmed by racism (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Ignorance of critical race theory predicts White Americans’ opposition to it
Richmond, B. S., Toosi, N. R., Wellman, J. D., & Wilkins, C. L. (2024) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/josi.12601 · Cited by 27
“…problem illustrates the effects of racial ignorance (Bonam et al., 2019; Nelson et al., 2013), while a focus on anticipated harm to White people echoes previous research on White racial identity threat curtailing efforts for equality (Chow et al., 2013; Knowles et al., 2014; Lowery et al., 2006).”
Background
Why benefiting from discrimination is less recognized as discrimination.
Phillips, L. T., & Jun, S. (2021) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspi0000298 · Cited by 26
“Speci ﬁ cally, group inequity can be described as a dis advantage for those who suffer from the inequity, or as an ad vantage for those who bene ﬁ t from the same inequity (Branscombe, 1998; Chow et al., 2008; Knowles et al., 2014; Lowery et al., 2012; Rosette & Koval, 2018).”
Background
Seeking Just Us: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Racism-Specific Support Among Black College Students
Marshburn, C. K., & Campos, B. (2021) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/00957984211034961 · Cited by 28
“White people’s anxieties during cross-race interactions stem from inexperience, a fear of being labeled racist, and a desire to protect their selfesteem against knowledge of systematic unfair racial advantage (Knowles et al., 2014; Toosi et al., 2012).”
Background
People who share encounters with racism are silenced online by humans and machines, but a guideline-reframing intervention holds promise
Lee, C., Gligorić, K., Kalluri, P., Harrington, M., Durmus, E., Sanchez, K. L., San, N., Tse, D., Zhao, X., Hamedani, M. G., et al. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2322764121 · Cited by 26
Perceptions of White Women’s Stigma-Based Solidarity Claims and Disingenuous Allyship
Chaney, K. E., Cipollina, R., & Sanchez, D. T. (2023) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/19485506231188757 · Cited by 26
“Furthermore, White women generally hold higher societal power than Black Americans due to racial privilege (Case, 2012; Knowles et al., 2014; McIntosh, 2018) and have historically excluded Black Americans from efforts toward gender equality (Roth, 2004).”
Background
Dominant groups support digressive victimhood claims to counter accusations of discrimination
Danbold, F., Onyeador, I. N., & Unzueta, M. M. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104233 · Cited by 32
“In response, they may deny their relative advantage (Knowles, Lowery, Chow, & Unzueta, 2014; SimanTov-Nachlieli & Shnabel, 2014) or dismiss charges of discrimination as illegitimate (Teixeira, Spears, & Yzerbyt, 2020).”
Self-citation
A Future for Organizational Diversity Training: Mobilizing Diversity Science to Improve Effectiveness
Onyeador, I. N., Mobasseri, S., McKinney, H., & Martin, A. E. (2024) · Academy of Management Perspectives · doi:10.5465/amp.2023.0230 · Cited by 29
The “gay agenda:” How the myth of gay affluence impedes the progress toward equality
Bettinsoli, M. L., Napier, J. L., & Carnaghi, A. (2021) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2762 · Cited by 26
Interest convergence and the maintenance of racial advantage: The case of diversity in higher education
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A brief diversity training: Raising awareness of ingroup privilege to improve attitudes towards disadvantaged outgroups
Ehrke, F., Ashoee, A., Steffens, M. C., & Louvet, E. (2020) · International Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1002/ijop.12665 · Cited by 38
“In this context, McIntosh (2012) emphasised that “we all have both privilege and disadvantage” (p. 203), implying that people enjoy privilege due to some of their group memberships (e.g., White), and disadvantage due to others (e.g., woman). Regarding the relationship between privilege awareness and intergroup attitud…”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Intergroup Inequality Heightens Reports of Discrimination Along Alternative Identity Dimensions
Brown, R. M., & Craig, M. A. (2019) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167219880186 · Cited by 26
Perceiving the World Through Hierarchy-Shaped Glasses: On the Need to Embed Social Identity Effects on Perception Within the Broader Context of Intergroup Hierarchy
Kteily, N., & Richeson, J. A. (2016) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2016.1215212 · Cited by 37
“…Kteily et al., 2013; Phillips & Lowery, 2015; Saguy & Kteily, 2014), as well as adopting ideologies (e.g., meritocracy), social policies (e.g., support for minimum wage), and stereotypes (e.g., of outgroups as incompetent, lazy or aggressive) that rationalize their advantage (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Help (Un)wanted: Why the most powerful allies are the most likely to stumble — and when they fulfill their potential
Knowlton, K. K., Carton, A. M., & Grant, A. M. (2022) · Research in Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.riob.2022.100180 · Cited by 25
“My Aim Is True”: An Attribution-Identity Model of Ally Sincerity
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Racial equity in social psychological science: A guide for scholars, institutions, and the field
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‘Blockchain for good’: Exploring the notion of social good inside the blockchain scene
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“Research in the ﬁ eld of social psychology has shown that those higher up in the social hierarchy are particularly inclined to embrace the ideology of meritocracy (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Americans Misperceive Racial Disparities in Economic Mobility
Davidai, S., & Walker, J. (2021) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672211024115 · Cited by 28
Psychologising meritocracy: A historical account of its many guises
Trevisan, F., Rusconi, P., Hanna, P., & Hegarty, P. V. (2021) · Theory & Psychology · doi:10.1177/09593543211057098 · Cited by 31
Different ally motivations lead to different outcomes: How self-transcendence and self-enhancement values predict effectiveness of self-identified allies
Phillips, L. T., Kreps, T. A., & Chugh, D. (2024) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2024.104333 · Cited by 20
Asymmetries in Mutual Understanding: People With Low Status, Power, and Self-Esteem Understand Better Than They Are Understood
Talaifar, S., Buhrmester, M. D., Ayduk, Ö. N., & Swann, W. B. (2020) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620958003 · Cited by 25
Group‐based guilt and shame in the context of intergroup conflict: The role of beliefs and meta‐beliefs about group malleability
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Scale dichotomization reduces customer racial discrimination and income inequality
Botelho, T. L., Jun, S., Humes, D., & DeCelles, K. A. (2025) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08599-7 · Cited by 17
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“Members of dominant groups can react in a variety of ways to their privilege, such as by denying the existence of their privilege, distancing themselves from the privileged group, or working to dismantle systems of oppres-sion (Knowles et al., 2014; Leach et al., 2009).”
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“White adolescents who hold color-blind views may also not identify as racial or may distance themselves from being white (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Race, politics, and perceptions of anti-Black and anti-White discrimination over time
Peacock, N., & Biernat, M. (2021) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/13684302211040107 · Cited by 17
“Pointing out White privilege threatens meritocratic beliefs and groupbased morality, and denying that one has racial privilege is one of the strategies White people use to dispel those threats (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Black Psychology and Whiteness: Toward a Conceptual Model of Black Trauma through the Prism of Whiteness
Tyler, K. M., Stevens-Watkins, D. J., Burris, J. L., Fisher, S. D., & Hargons, C. N. (2021) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/00957984211034948 · Cited by 18
“White privilege is granted without recognition or permission and exists even when White people seek to deny, distance, or dis-identify with being White (Leonardo, 2009; Knowles et al., 2014; Phillips & Lowery, 2015).”
BackgroundInfluential
They’re Comparing Me to Her: Social Comparison Perceptions Reduce Belonging and STEM Engagement Among Women With Token Status
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“, 1999) or on long-standing differences in social privilege and disadvantage that favor Whites (Knowles et al., 2014; Unzueta & Lowery, 2008).”
Background
High power mindsets reduce gender identification and benevolent sexism among women (But not men)
Vial, A. C., & Napier, J. L. (2016) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2016.06.012 · Cited by 20
Women evaluate ally men less positively and are less willing to work with them for gender equality when men deny their male privilege
Wiley, S., Park, J. W., & Catalina, N. (2023) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/13684302231162042 · Cited by 15
“Existing research and theory also demonstrate that advantaged group members employ privilege denial as a strategy to defend against threats to their (moral) reputation and self-worth (Knowles et al., 2014; Phillips & Lowery, 2015).”
BackgroundInfluential
Not all inequalities are created equal: Inequality framing and privilege threat for advantaged groups
Dover, T. L. (2022) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/13684302211018741 · Cited by 20
“Several research programs have demonstrated that members of privileged groups are averse to thinking about their unearned advantages (Branscombe, 1998; Knowles et al., 2014; Powell et al., 2005).”
BackgroundInfluential
The streaking star effect: Why people want superior performance by individuals to continue more than identical performance by groups.
Walker, J., & Gilovich, T. (2020) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspa0000256 · Cited by 15
Color‐Blind and Multicultural Strategies in Medical Settings
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European Americans' intentions to confront racial bias: Considering who, what (kind), and why
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Incorporating insights about intergroup power and dominance to help increase harmony and equality between groups in conflict
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White out of mind: Identity suppression as a coping strategy among Whites anticipating racially charged interactions
Marshburn, C. K., & Knowles, E. D. (2017) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/1368430216681178 · Cited by 9
“Although a form of identity distancing (Knowles et al., 2014), this process entails altering one’s explicit beliefs about ingroup identity and is distinct from thought suppression.”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Perceptions of the social status hierarchy and its cultural and economic sources
Breyer, M. (2024) · European Journal of Political Research · doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12712 · Cited by 14
“It is not surprising that high-status groups agree with or at least acknowledge the sources of the current status hierarchy, even though this acknowledgement can also motivate them to deny or distance themselves from proﬁting from inequality (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Understanding the challenges and opportunities of talking to children about race and racism in child‐facing institutions
Wilton, L. S., Sullivan, J. L., Albuja, A. F., & Perry, S. (2023) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/sipr.12098 · Cited by 16
“You get to understand we are all human beings”: Community solidarity initiatives as spaces of recognition, resistance, and change
Vine, M., & Greenwood, R. M. (2021) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/ajcp.12563 · Cited by 12
“At the same time, use of such strategies may also block transformational solidarity work that requires honest conversations about power asymmetries (Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Heterosexual Identity Management: How Social Context Affects Heterosexual Marking Practices
Davis‐Delano, L. R., & Morgan, E. M. (2016) · Identity · doi:10.1080/15283488.2016.1229611 · Cited by 15
“Thus, we are able to illustrate through our findings that an unequal social context can affect not only subordinate identity management practices but also dominant identity management practices (e.g., Knowles et al., 2014).”
Background
Sociocultural engagement in a colorblind racism framework moderates perceptions of cultural appropriation
Mosley, A. J., Biernat, M., & Adams, G. (2023) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104487 · Cited by 17
The Moral Case Revisited: Moral Framing as a Double-Edged Sword for Motivating Majority Group Leaders to Support DEI
Preston, M. C. (2025) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2023.1421 · Cited by 15
Diversity Discourse as Racialized and Double-edged: Findings from a National Survey
Rajasekar, N., Aguilar-Champeau, M., & Hartmann, D. (2022) · Sociology of Race and Ethnicity · doi:10.1177/23326492221078303 · Cited by 14
“…racial inequality, and opinions about racebased policy; findings often show that racial attitudes and racial identity are associated with how participants respond to different items about diversity (e.g., Bauman, Trawalter, and Unzueta 2014; Knowles et al. 2014; Unzueta, Knowles, and Ho 2012).”
Background

Authors: Knowles, E. D., Lowery, B. S., Chow, R. M., & Unzueta, M. M.
Affiliations: New York University (US)
Stanford University (US)
Carnegie Mellon University (US)
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
ORCID: Knowles, Eric D.
Lowery, Brian S.
Chow, Rosalind M.
Venue: Perspectives on Psychological Science
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2014-11
Volume: 9
Issue: 6
Pages: 594-609
ISSN: 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
1745-6924
DOI: 10.1177/1745691614554658
OpenAlex: W2144841272
Cited by: 340
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 35 · 2025: 63 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4
FWCI: 18.40
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
papers.ssrn.com
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Perspectives on Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
Keywords: whiteness, White Americans, privilege, denial, distancing, dismantling, racial inequality, anti-racism interventions, dominant group members
MeSH terms: Awareness, Humans, Models, Psychological, Race Relations, Self Concept, Social Identification, United States, White People

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Deny, Distance, or Dismantle? How White Americans Manage a Privileged Identity

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