You can win but I canʹt lose: Bias against high-status groups increases their zero-sum beliefs about discrimination

What leads people to espouse zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs) – the perspective that gains for one social group come at the cost of another group – and what are the consequences of those beliefs? We hypothesized that high-status groups (Whites and men) would be more likely than low-status groups (Blacks and women) to endorse ZSBs, particularly in response to increasing perceptions of discrimination against their own groups. We found that high-status groups endorsed ZSBs more when they contemplated increasing bias against their group than when they contemplated decreasing bias against their low-status counterparts. Furthermore, we demonstrated that greater ZSB endorsement corresponded with efforts to decrease outgroupsʹ ability to compete in society and efforts to increase the ingroupʹs ability to compete. We discuss how this pattern may perpetuate social inequality.