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Beyond balance: To understand “bias,” social psychology needs to address issues of politics, power, and social perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2004

S. Alexander Haslam*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Exeter, ExeterEX4 4QG, United Kingdomhttp://www.ex.ac.uk/Psychology/seorg/
Tom Postmes*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Exeter, ExeterEX4 4QG, United Kingdomhttp://www.ex.ac.uk/Psychology/seorg/
Jolanda Jetten*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Exeter, ExeterEX4 4QG, United Kingdomhttp://www.ex.ac.uk/Psychology/seorg/

Abstract:

Krueger & Funder's (K&F's) diagnosis of social psychology's obsession with bias is correct and accords with similar observations by self-categorization theorists. However, the analysis of causes is incomplete and suggestions for cures are flawed. The primary problem is not imbalance, but a failure to acknowledge that social reality has different forms, depending on one's social and political vantage point in relation to a specific social context.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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