ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the concept of legitimizing myths and the protective, psychological function that such myths serve for the self-esteem of powerful individuals. It focusses on the legitimizing myths used by the powerful to justify advantages in the education arena, to emphasize that the concept of legitimizing myths has broad application to other domains as well. For instance, legitimizing myths can also be used to examine psychological reactions to racial inequality. The chapter are a mere sampling of the wide range of privileges enjoyed by the powerful and concealed by legitimizing myths. In fact, most researchers have assumed that powerful individuals endorse legitimizing myths out of a desire to keep the masses quiet so that the advantaged can freely enjoy the privileges that accompany their high-status positions. One strong motivation for cloaking power is to protect advantaged individuals from the damaging realization that their success in life has been achieved through unfair advantage, rather than by merit alone.