Egalitarianism is highly valued in Canada and yet some groups are profoundly disadvantaged. This can be explained by sociological and psychological theorizing that claims advantaged group members are motivated to maintain a system of inequality from which they benefit. The challenge is to explain the few advantaged group members who defy self-interest and support disadvantaged groups. My research objectives were to understand what motivates selected advantaged group members to support disadvantaged groups, and to understand how the majority of advantaged group members maintain their belief in egalitarianism in the face of clear social inequality. Results revealed that most advantaged group members value egalitarianism highly, but only those who define egalitarianism in terms of social responsibility unequivocally support the interests of disadvantaged groups. Most advantaged group members conceive egalitarianism in terms of equality of opportunity, rights or treatment, allowing them to legitimize inequality; consequently, they are less willing to sympathize with the demands for fair treatment by disadvantaged group.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.79828 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Caouette, Julie |
| Contributors | Taylor, Donald M. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002085507, proquestno: AAIMQ98420, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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