Miguel M Unzueta
Biographic Data
| ID | 88405 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Miguel M Unzueta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Miguel M |
| FAMILY NAME | Unzueta |
| SIGNATURE | UNZUETA M M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 270 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
From Threat to Challenge: Addressing Resistance to Diversity Through Holistic Diversity Previews and Tools
Support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a core public value and central to public administration. Yet, as diversity is realized through shifts in employee representation, organizational norms, and implementation practices, some members of socially privileged groups (e.g., White employees, men) experience discomfort and anxiety in intergroup interactions and perceive status or resource threat. This creates a gap between diversity‐as‐…
My Kind of Guy: Social Dominance Orientation, Hierarchy-Relevance, and Tolerance of Racist Job Candidates
Social psychology suggests that racism, as captured by explicit prejudice and racial discrimination, is perceived negatively in the United States. However, considering the hierarchy-enhancing nature of racism, it may be that negative perceptions of racism are attenuated among perceivers high in anti-egalitarian sentiment. The reported studies support this, suggesting that racist candidates were tolerated more and had relatively greater hireabilit…
Dominant groups support digressive victimhood claims to counter accusations of discrimination
When dominant groups are accused of discrimination against non-dominant groups, they often seek to portray themselves as the victims of discrimination instead. Sometimes, however, members of dominant groups counter accusations of discrimination by invoking victimhood on a new dimension of harm, changing the topic being discussed. Across three studies (N = 3081), we examine two examples of this digressive victimhood – Christian Americans respondin…
Drawing the diversity line: Numerical thresholds of diversity vary by group status
This research estimates the points of relative group representation at which members of dominant and nondominant groups declare an organization to be diverse. Across 7 studies, members of dominant groups, relative to members of nondominant groups, reported that diversity was achieved at lower representations of the nondominant group within an organization. This was explained by the dominant group members' relative opposition to using the equal re…
In Good Company: When Gender Diversity Boosts a Company’s Reputation
Many companies highlight their gender diversity, in part to signal positive attributes about the organization. We explored whether or not advertising gender diversity improves White men’s beliefs about an organization. In four studies, we found that White men expected a company to have a more broadminded and tolerant climate when the company noted it was gender diverse––and the gender diversity was described as including White women––as compared …
Will you value me and do I value you? The effect of phenotypic racial stereotypicality on organizational evaluations
Deny, Distance, or Dismantle? How White Americans Manage a Privileged Identity
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 wh…
Social dominance orientation moderates reactions to Black and White discrimination claimants
Are admissions decisions based on family ties fairer than those that consider race? Social dominance orientation and attitudes toward legacy vs. affirmative action policies
Perceiving Ethnic Diversity on Campus: Group Differences in Attention to Hierarchical Representation
A field study tested whether Asian and White students use different criteria when judging the racial and ethnic diversity of their university. The university under study had roughly equal numbers of Asians and Whites, but Asians were heavily concentrated in the student body and had relatively low numbers in high-status university positions (the faculty and administration). Results showed that, as long as the student body was deemed diverse, the s…
Paying for positive group esteem: How inequity frames affect whites' responses to redistributive policies
This article finds that, when faced with racial inequity framed as White advantage, Whites' desire to think well of their racial group increases their support for policies perceived to harm Whites. Across 4 studies, the article provides evidence that (a) relative to minority disadvantage, White advantage increases Whites' support for policies perceived to reduce their group's economic opportunities, but does not increase support for policies perc…
Which racial groups are associated with diversity
This article examines which racial groups are associated with the concept of diversity. Results indicate that regardless of perceivers' racial in-group, minorities (Asians, Blacks, and Latinos) tend to be more associated with diversity than do Whites. In addition, members of minority racial groups were found to associate their respective in-groups more strongly with the concept of diversity relative to minority out-groups. Consequences for addres…
The effect of interethnic ideologies on the likability of stereotypic vs. counterstereotypic minority targets
How believing in affirmative action quotas affects White women’s self-image
The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological Well‐Being
This research examines how multiracial individuals chose to identify themselves with respect to their racial identity and how this choice relates to their self‐reported psychological well‐being (e.g., self‐esteem, positive affect) and level of social engagement (e.g., citizenship behaviors, group alienation). High school students who belong to multiple racial/ethnic groups (N = 182) were asked to indicate the group with which they primarily ident…
Negational racial identity and presidential voting preferences
Defining racism safely: The role of self-image maintenance on white Americans’ conceptions of racism
Framing Inequity Safely: Whites' Motivated Perceptions of Racial Privilege
Racial inequity was theorized to threaten Whites' self-image when inequity is framed as White privilege but not when framed as anti-Black discrimination. Manipulations of Whites' need for self-regard were hypothesized to affect their perceptions of White privilege but not of anti-Black discrimination. In Experiment 1, White participants reported less privilege when given threatening (vs. affirming) feedback on an intelligence or personality test;…
An unconscious desire for hierarchy? The motivated perception of dominance complementarity in task partners
In 6 studies, the authors examined the perception of dominance complementarity, which is the perception of a target as different from the self in terms of dominance. The authors argue that these perceptions are motivated by the desire for positive task relationships. Because dominance complementarity bodes well for task-oriented relationships, seeing dominance complementarity allows one to be optimistic about a work relationship. As evidence that…
Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action
The present experiments suggest that the desire to benefit the in-group drives dominant-group members' policy preferences, independent of concern for out-groups' outcomes. In Experiment 1, the effect of a manipulation of affirmative action procedures on policy support was mediated by how Whites expected the policy to affect fellow Whites, but not by the expected effect on minorities. In Experiments 2 and 3, when focused on losses for the White in…
Tall Poppies" and "American Dreams: Reactions to Rich and Poor in Australia and the United States
A comparative study conducted in Australia and the United States examined people's responses to protagonists who were either born rich or poor and who ended up either rich or poor as adults. Results reveal some cross-cultural similarities and some differences. Specifically, people in both countries perceive initially poor and subsequently rich individuals as more competent and likeable than initially rich and subsequently poor individuals, but th…
The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological Well‐Being
This research examines how multiracial individuals chose to identify themselves with respect to their racial identity and how this choice relates to their self‐reported psychological well‐being (e.g., self‐esteem, positive affect) and level of social engagement (e.g., citizenship behaviors, group alienation). High school students who belong to multiple racial/ethnic groups (N = 182) were asked to indicate the group with which they primarily ident…
Defining racism safely: The role of self-image maintenance on white Americans’ conceptions of racism
Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action
The present experiments suggest that the desire to benefit the in-group drives dominant-group members' policy preferences, independent of concern for out-groups' outcomes. In Experiment 1, the effect of a manipulation of affirmative action procedures on policy support was mediated by how Whites expected the policy to affect fellow Whites, but not by the expected effect on minorities. In Experiments 2 and 3, when focused on losses for the White in…
Which racial groups are associated with diversity
This article examines which racial groups are associated with the concept of diversity. Results indicate that regardless of perceivers' racial in-group, minorities (Asians, Blacks, and Latinos) tend to be more associated with diversity than do Whites. In addition, members of minority racial groups were found to associate their respective in-groups more strongly with the concept of diversity relative to minority out-groups. Consequences for addres…
The effect of interethnic ideologies on the likability of stereotypic vs. counterstereotypic minority targets
Paying for positive group esteem: How inequity frames affect whites' responses to redistributive policies
This article finds that, when faced with racial inequity framed as White advantage, Whites' desire to think well of their racial group increases their support for policies perceived to harm Whites. Across 4 studies, the article provides evidence that (a) relative to minority disadvantage, White advantage increases Whites' support for policies perceived to reduce their group's economic opportunities, but does not increase support for policies perc…
An unconscious desire for hierarchy? The motivated perception of dominance complementarity in task partners
In 6 studies, the authors examined the perception of dominance complementarity, which is the perception of a target as different from the self in terms of dominance. The authors argue that these perceptions are motivated by the desire for positive task relationships. Because dominance complementarity bodes well for task-oriented relationships, seeing dominance complementarity allows one to be optimistic about a work relationship. As evidence that…
Social dominance orientation moderates reactions to Black and White discrimination claimants
How believing in affirmative action quotas affects White women’s self-image
Dominant groups support digressive victimhood claims to counter accusations of discrimination
When dominant groups are accused of discrimination against non-dominant groups, they often seek to portray themselves as the victims of discrimination instead. Sometimes, however, members of dominant groups counter accusations of discrimination by invoking victimhood on a new dimension of harm, changing the topic being discussed. Across three studies (N = 3081), we examine two examples of this digressive victimhood – Christian Americans respondin…
Negational racial identity and presidential voting preferences
In Good Company: When Gender Diversity Boosts a Company’s Reputation
Many companies highlight their gender diversity, in part to signal positive attributes about the organization. We explored whether or not advertising gender diversity improves White men’s beliefs about an organization. In four studies, we found that White men expected a company to have a more broadminded and tolerant climate when the company noted it was gender diverse––and the gender diversity was described as including White women––as compared …
Are admissions decisions based on family ties fairer than those that consider race? Social dominance orientation and attitudes toward legacy vs. affirmative action policies
Tall Poppies" and "American Dreams: Reactions to Rich and Poor in Australia and the United States
A comparative study conducted in Australia and the United States examined people's responses to protagonists who were either born rich or poor and who ended up either rich or poor as adults. Results reveal some cross-cultural similarities and some differences. Specifically, people in both countries perceive initially poor and subsequently rich individuals as more competent and likeable than initially rich and subsequently poor individuals, but th…
Drawing the diversity line: Numerical thresholds of diversity vary by group status
This research estimates the points of relative group representation at which members of dominant and nondominant groups declare an organization to be diverse. Across 7 studies, members of dominant groups, relative to members of nondominant groups, reported that diversity was achieved at lower representations of the nondominant group within an organization. This was explained by the dominant group members' relative opposition to using the equal re…
Perceiving Ethnic Diversity on Campus: Group Differences in Attention to Hierarchical Representation
A field study tested whether Asian and White students use different criteria when judging the racial and ethnic diversity of their university. The university under study had roughly equal numbers of Asians and Whites, but Asians were heavily concentrated in the student body and had relatively low numbers in high-status university positions (the faculty and administration). Results showed that, as long as the student body was deemed diverse, the s…
Will you value me and do I value you? The effect of phenotypic racial stereotypicality on organizational evaluations
Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action
The present experiments suggest that the desire to benefit the in-group drives dominant-group members' policy preferences, independent of concern for out-groups' outcomes. In Experiment 1, the effect of a manipulation of affirmative action procedures on policy support was mediated by how Whites expected the policy to affect fellow Whites, but not by the expected effect on minorities. In Experiments 2 and 3, when focused on losses for the White in…
Tall Poppies" and "American Dreams: Reactions to Rich and Poor in Australia and the United States
A comparative study conducted in Australia and the United States examined people's responses to protagonists who were either born rich or poor and who ended up either rich or poor as adults. Results reveal some cross-cultural similarities and some differences. Specifically, people in both countries perceive initially poor and subsequently rich individuals as more competent and likeable than initially rich and subsequently poor individuals, but th…
Framing Inequity Safely: Whites' Motivated Perceptions of Racial Privilege
Racial inequity was theorized to threaten Whites' self-image when inequity is framed as White privilege but not when framed as anti-Black discrimination. Manipulations of Whites' need for self-regard were hypothesized to affect their perceptions of White privilege but not of anti-Black discrimination. In Experiment 1, White participants reported less privilege when given threatening (vs. affirming) feedback on an intelligence or personality test;…
An unconscious desire for hierarchy? The motivated perception of dominance complementarity in task partners
In 6 studies, the authors examined the perception of dominance complementarity, which is the perception of a target as different from the self in terms of dominance. The authors argue that these perceptions are motivated by the desire for positive task relationships. Because dominance complementarity bodes well for task-oriented relationships, seeing dominance complementarity allows one to be optimistic about a work relationship. As evidence that…
Negational racial identity and presidential voting preferences
Defining racism safely: The role of self-image maintenance on white Americans’ conceptions of racism
How believing in affirmative action quotas affects White women’s self-image
The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological Well‐Being
This research examines how multiracial individuals chose to identify themselves with respect to their racial identity and how this choice relates to their self‐reported psychological well‐being (e.g., self‐esteem, positive affect) and level of social engagement (e.g., citizenship behaviors, group alienation). High school students who belong to multiple racial/ethnic groups (N = 182) were asked to indicate the group with which they primarily ident…
Which racial groups are associated with diversity
This article examines which racial groups are associated with the concept of diversity. Results indicate that regardless of perceivers' racial in-group, minorities (Asians, Blacks, and Latinos) tend to be more associated with diversity than do Whites. In addition, members of minority racial groups were found to associate their respective in-groups more strongly with the concept of diversity relative to minority out-groups. Consequences for addres…
The effect of interethnic ideologies on the likability of stereotypic vs. counterstereotypic minority targets
Are admissions decisions based on family ties fairer than those that consider race? Social dominance orientation and attitudes toward legacy vs. affirmative action policies
Perceiving Ethnic Diversity on Campus: Group Differences in Attention to Hierarchical Representation
A field study tested whether Asian and White students use different criteria when judging the racial and ethnic diversity of their university. The university under study had roughly equal numbers of Asians and Whites, but Asians were heavily concentrated in the student body and had relatively low numbers in high-status university positions (the faculty and administration). Results showed that, as long as the student body was deemed diverse, the s…
Paying for positive group esteem: How inequity frames affect whites' responses to redistributive policies
This article finds that, when faced with racial inequity framed as White advantage, Whites' desire to think well of their racial group increases their support for policies perceived to harm Whites. Across 4 studies, the article provides evidence that (a) relative to minority disadvantage, White advantage increases Whites' support for policies perceived to reduce their group's economic opportunities, but does not increase support for policies perc…
Deny, Distance, or Dismantle? How White Americans Manage a Privileged Identity
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 wh…
Social dominance orientation moderates reactions to Black and White discrimination claimants
Will you value me and do I value you? The effect of phenotypic racial stereotypicality on organizational evaluations
In Good Company: When Gender Diversity Boosts a Company’s Reputation
Many companies highlight their gender diversity, in part to signal positive attributes about the organization. We explored whether or not advertising gender diversity improves White men’s beliefs about an organization. In four studies, we found that White men expected a company to have a more broadminded and tolerant climate when the company noted it was gender diverse––and the gender diversity was described as including White women––as compared …
Drawing the diversity line: Numerical thresholds of diversity vary by group status
This research estimates the points of relative group representation at which members of dominant and nondominant groups declare an organization to be diverse. Across 7 studies, members of dominant groups, relative to members of nondominant groups, reported that diversity was achieved at lower representations of the nondominant group within an organization. This was explained by the dominant group members' relative opposition to using the equal re…
Dominant groups support digressive victimhood claims to counter accusations of discrimination
When dominant groups are accused of discrimination against non-dominant groups, they often seek to portray themselves as the victims of discrimination instead. Sometimes, however, members of dominant groups counter accusations of discrimination by invoking victimhood on a new dimension of harm, changing the topic being discussed. Across three studies (N = 3081), we examine two examples of this digressive victimhood – Christian Americans respondin…
My Kind of Guy: Social Dominance Orientation, Hierarchy-Relevance, and Tolerance of Racist Job Candidates
Social psychology suggests that racism, as captured by explicit prejudice and racial discrimination, is perceived negatively in the United States. However, considering the hierarchy-enhancing nature of racism, it may be that negative perceptions of racism are attenuated among perceivers high in anti-egalitarian sentiment. The reported studies support this, suggesting that racist candidates were tolerated more and had relatively greater hireabilit…
From Threat to Challenge: Addressing Resistance to Diversity Through Holistic Diversity Previews and Tools
Support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a core public value and central to public administration. Yet, as diversity is realized through shifts in employee representation, organizational norms, and implementation practices, some members of socially privileged groups (e.g., White employees, men) experience discomfort and anxiety in intergroup interactions and perceive status or resource threat. This creates a gap between diversity‐as‐…
Psychology (19 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (19 works) · Social Psychology (16 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Gender Studies (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Gender Studies (10 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (9 works) · Gender Diversity and Inequality (9 works)