System Justification
Even though racism is a severe violation of human dignity, it was the status quo in the corporate world and personal lives of people during the 1990s. However, the system justification theory explains that some people are interested in maintaining the political, economic, or social norms that are considered status quo, even though they are detrimental to certain social groups.
Racial prejudice and discrimination are the central themes in the novel “Brothers and Sisters.” Campbell (1995) was motivated to write the novel after the beating of Rodney King to depict the status of African Americans in the US. The corporate world adheres to the system justification theory, even though they employ an African American as a regional manager. That decision was made only to improve their public image while their prejudice and discrimination against African Americans remained the same.
Attraction
Research shows that similarities are more important in relationships because opposites rarely attract. According to Buss and Barnes (1986), people prefer partners with similar religious background, political viewpoints, and socio-economic status. Although Tyrone and Esther are in a similar position in society, Esther turns his relentless effort to take her on a date because he has a lower socio-economic status.
Esther’s attitude towards romantic relationships can be interpreted with the social exchange theory, which explains that people look for partners based on their analysis of cost and benefits. For Esther, the relationship with Tyrone was undesirable because she considered a man with a higher social status beneficial while the potential cost was high because Tyrone’s lack of ambition and social prestige could hold her career back.
Social Status and Mobility
Social mobility explains how individuals move within and between certain social positions. It can be divided into downward mobility and upward mobility, but most decisions are influenced by the aversion of downward mobility, which has a severe psychological impact on individuals with higher social statuses (Burleigh & Meegan, 2013). The consequences of the investigation that occurred in the bank on Esther’s values and behavior is an example how downward mobility can affect individuals, especially because Esther was constantly struggling to achieve upward mobility in her career and advance her social status.
References
Burleigh, T. J. & Meegan, D. V. (2013). Keeping up with the Joneses affects perceptions of distributive justice. Social Justice Research, 27. doi:10.1007/s11211-013-0181-3
Buss, D. M. & Barnes, M. (1986). Preferences in human mate selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(3): 559–570. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.3.559
Campbell, B. M. (1995). Brothers and sisters. New York, NY: Penguin Group, LLC.
