Social psychologists have long debated the meaning of treating people as unique individuals for intergroup relations, as empirical evidence on the topic has been rather mixed. In the present research, we examine a normative explanation for this mixed evidence by focusing on colorblindness as an ideal for managing diversity that suggests people should be treated as individuals independently of their group membership. To do so, we contrast colorblindness as a utopian, future-oriented ideal based on individual justice principles from a descriptive observation of society's current functioning (the status quo; i.e., one's point of reference reflecting whether people are currently treated by virtue of their individual characteristics versus group membership). We argue that endorsing a colorblind ideal should be associated with a motivation to improve intergroup relations specifically when people are currently perceived to be treated according to their group membership (incongruent status quo) instead of as individuals (congruent status quo). Four studies and a preliminary study (3 pre-registered; N = 2049) support this hypothesis, using a measure, experimental manipulations, and a quasi-experimental manipulation of an individual- vs. group-focused status quo, three indexes for the motivation to improve intergroup relations, as well as an internal meta-analysis. Results suggest that, despite widespread claims that colorblindness is at the root of group-based tensions and disparities, endorsing such an ideal can be understood as either perpetuating or working to improve such issues, depending on its (in)congruity with the (perceived) status quo. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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色盲理想和改善群体间关系的动机：（不）一致现状的作用


社会心理学家长期以来一直在争论将人视为群体间关系中独特个体的意义，因为关于这个话题的经验证据相当复杂。在本研究中，我们通过将色盲作为管理多样性的理想来检查对这种混合证据的规范性解释，这表明人们应该被视为独立于其群体成员身份的个体。为此，我们将色盲作为一种乌托邦式的、面向未来的理想，基于个人正义原则，与对社会当前运作的描述性观察（现状;即一个人的参考点反映人们目前是否根据其个人特征与群体成员身份）进行对比。我们认为，支持色盲理想应该与改善群体间关系的动机相关联，特别是当人们目前被认为根据他们的群体成员身份（不一致的现状）而不是作为个体（一致的现状）来对待时。四项研究和一项初步研究（3 项预先注册;N = 2049）支持这一假设，使用测量、实验操作和对以个人与群体为中心的现状的准实验操作、改善群体间关系动机的三个指标以及内部荟萃分析。结果表明，尽管人们普遍声称色盲是基于群体的紧张和差异的根源，但支持这样的理想可以被理解为延续或努力改善这些问题，这取决于它与（感知的）现状的（不）一致性。讨论了理论和实践意义。