ABSTRACT
In this chapter we examine how the different goals pursued by majority and minority group members may help sustain the belief that individual upward mobility is possible, in a social system characterized by group-based outcome differences. In modern societies, members of the majority group generally allow for individual upward mobility (although this is often highly selective), and suppress blatant expressions of discrimination. At first sight, this seems to be beneficial for members of disadvantaged minority groups. However, we posit that this forms the root of an important misunderstanding between members of majority and minority groups, as minority and majority group members have fundamentally different goals when endorsing individual mobility opportunities. Indeed, we argue and show that these developments actually give rise to a number of psychological mechanisms that tend to diminish (instead of increasing) the likelihood that minority group members will be successful in their upward mobility attempts or that their group will attain equal standing in society.
