The Denial of Personal Discrimination

1984/01/01 by Faye J. Crosby, FAYE CROSBY · 549 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Cognition #Denial #Epistemology #Gender Diversity and Inequality #Phenomenon #Psychiatry #Psychology #Psychotherapist #Social psychology

paper · doi:10.1177/000276484027003008

published in American Behavioral Scientist 27(3), 371-386 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 1984/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Working women in one survey knew well that women workers do not generally receive the rewards they deserve. But in most cases, the women appeared to imagine—quite erroneously—that they personally avoided sex discrimination. After documenting the basic phenomenon, the article discusses cognitive and emotional barriers to the acknowledgment of personal discrimination. Ways to surmount the barriers are discussed.

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