ABSTRACT
The social identity approach suggests that the existing state of gender-group relations and how people understand it are critical determinants of whether women and men will work to maintain or change the status quo. In general, both women and men are at least partially aware of their different positions within the social structure. Perceptions of secure status relations between women and men are more likely when people accept ideologies that legitimate differential treatment according to gender, or suggest that men's dominance over women is inevitable. Such ideologies rely heavily on assumptions that women and men are essentially different, and that these differences are rooted in biology. Perceptions of discrimination require recognizing that social categories matter, and thus are inconsistent with the widely valued ideology of individualism. Similarly, individualistic explanations of prejudice and discrimination may also serve to reduce perceptions of discrimination. Psychologists and laypersons alike often explain discriminatory events in terms of prejudiced personalities.
