Individual Mobility
Abstract
Theory and research on prejudice has often characterized individual mobility as an effective and attractive strategy for members of devalued social groups to combat stereotyping and discrimination. It has been assumed that individuals who have sufficient merit and invest enough effort should be able to prove their personal value and hence move up in the status structure, despite the prejudice and discrimination directed towards their group. This chapter focuses on the limits of the effectiveness of individual mobility as a strategy to address negative group-based expectations about the self. We argue that due to the mechanisms addressed here individual mobility beliefs and the behaviours thus elicited tend to reinforce rather than challenge group-based inequality.
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Merely being aware of role models does not automatically increase educational success.
“evidence has shown that merely being aware of role models does not automatically increase educational success (Ellemers & Van Laar, 2010)”
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- Authors
- Ellemers, N., & Van Laar, C.
- ORCID
- Ellemers, Naomi
- Venue
- The SAGE Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications Ltd
- Published
- 2010
- Pages
- 561-576
- OpenAlex
- W4240524937
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 11.09
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Lirias (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Keywords
- individual mobility, prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, status mobility, social inequality, self-concept
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